Egypt continued...

This is our plane ride from Cairo to Luxor which is Southern Egypt or also called Upper Egypt or Kingdom in the olden days because the Nile river actually flows in the direction of south to north toward the Mediterranean sea. Jesse McLean is doing his thing.

Ancient wall carvings at the Step Pyramid of Zoser. Located in Memphis, Egypt. (Saqqara)

The colors are so vivid even after thousands of years.

Ancient Hieroglyphics

I think we were posing as the Pharaoh and the queen? Behind us is the roofed colonnade entrance to the burial complex for the step pyramid and other things.

This pyramid of Zoser in Saqqara built during the 27th century BC, is considered to be one of the first pyramids in the world, and also one of the first large stone constructed building. This pyramid consiste of several mastabas (a flat roofed, square or rectangular Egyptian tomb) built on top of each other.

Most of the guys...not all of them though

This guy showed us how papyrus was made...then this whole store ripped everyone off. They were really cool papyrus though.

I couldn't zoom out enough so I had to tilt the angle to get all of the pyramids

Represent BYUH

After about an hour of taking pictures and exploring the pyramids up close, we drove up to a near by hill to get a overview of the three greatest pyramids in the world.

That's how big they were. Miss all these faces. Adri, Kate the Jew, and Bryan Oats from left to right.

Had to include a jumping picture at the pyramids of Giza. Each block of stone was SO HUGE. It is truly a wonder how they put these pyramids together.

I don't know if the picture does justice but looking up at the pyramids at this angle was amazing.

I have dreamed of going to the pyramids in Cairo for as long as I can remember. I remember making sure to catch any kind of shows on TV about them. This is the biggest of the three of the Giza pyramids, the Pyramid of Khufu. If you look closely you will see a big hole or dimple at the bottom of the pyramid. That's where tomb raiders blasted a hold using explosives to forcefully enter the pyramid and raid it. It is also the entrance used today for tourists to go in to the chambers inside.

Inside was really hot and humid, and there was nothing there but an empty sarcophagus. The stone structure was impecable in its artisanship. The space between two stones that made up the walls of the main chamber was so tight and perfectly fitted, that they were barely noticeable. To see and experience all that I had seen on TV growing up was a dream come true.

Loads of people lining up to get tickets to get into the pyramid. Only 200 tourists are allowed to enter the main chambers of the pyramid of Khufu. Most of our BYU students got to go in. We got there early in order to get in line for our tickets, but the concept of being in line is non existent in Egypt. There were SO many people trying to cut in line we had to create a barricade, box out, do whatever we can to keep our places in line. This was one of the few times we were actually told to be rude and stand up for ourselves, otherwise other people will cut in line and you won't get a ticket to go in the pyramids. It seriously got pretty intense. There were people yelling at each other...we told people that they didn't belong in that part of the line to go back to the end of the line. A fun experience.