The Grand Pyramid of Giza, Egypt

Originally we were just travelling to Luxor but after our flight was cancelled and the prospect of spending 9 hours in Cairo airport from midnight we decided to rearrange our itinerary and visit Cairo for the whole day. Getting up at 4am, flying to Cairo, a city of 25 million people we dumped our bags in the hotel and set off for what was to be an amazing day in Cairo.
The city is huge and bussling. With that many people and 6 million of them trying to get into the centre of the city it was hardly surprising that our car suffered a few bumps and shoves. They don't really have official road lanes and it is quite acceptable to weave randomly though the traffic.

Our first stop was The Cairo Museum. This is an unbelievable treasure house of riches and there was so much to see that desptite our couple of hours there I could have spent a whole day looking at the amazing artefacts.

The highlight for us all was the Gold Mask of Tutankamun. Circa 1336-1327 BC the mask is made of
Gold, Lapis Lazuli, Calcite, Alabaster, Travertine, Obsidian and Glass.

The mask was only excavated from the Valley of the Kings by H. Carter a British archeologist, in 1922. They only found the tomb accidentally. After 5 years of searching high and low in the valley of the kings with no luck, one day when making a cup of tea, the water seeped away beneath their feet and they realised they had been camping on the tomb all that time.
Egypt has kept most of the antiquities (despite a few choice bits in The British Museum. The mask has to be most magnificent thing I have seen in a long time, in fact a life long ambition to see it. I remember as a child it coming to the UK on tour and the face being on our UK stamps. People queued for days to see it.
It has recently been to Vegas too but there we were in the museum just us and the mast with no crowds looking at this fascinating object.
Our tour guide was keen to press on to the pyraminds. "Every Friday we have a revolution" and this Friday was no exception. 100 meters from the museum the Egytians were protesting against the military and the new atrocities that are happening as the new democratic Egypt emerges. There was lots of shouting but in a way it was strangely comforting to hear Egyptians using their right to protest - here is the Gaurdian Article on what happened on Friday In a city of history, history was being created before our eyes and it felt like a privilege to be there.

On to the Pyramids next and here is a picture of my son at the base of the Grand Pyramid. It is so huge that you just wonder how on earth it was ever created.
Modern thinking now believes that no slaves were used just armies of master craftsman that resided in a huge village next to the pyramids. Evidence of fish bones, cattle bones and bakeries indicate that these were well nourished artisans built up to build the monument of the ancient world.
What an amazing day in my life and so worth the detour. I feel very privilege to have visited and would recommend this to anyone.