MUMBLINGS September 14, 2006

Over the years hundreds of people have asked me which are the most interesting in the 100 countries in which I have traveled. Frankly, all of them were interesting. I need to do a little more thinking on this subject as it covers a period roughly from 1965 until last year or about 41 years. Maybe I can rate some of them numerically between 1 and 10.

With a rating of 1-10, I will tell you about one of the most interesting, if not the most, was Egypt. Although it has been 26 years ago, I still have a vivid memory of sights on that day. It involved the Cheops Pyramid and the Sphinx of Egypt near Cairo.

The Cheops Pyramid is located ten miles west of the huge semi-modern city of Cairo. We were able to get a hotel where we could look out the window while eating and admire the huge structure, which is almost beyond description.

The idea of the Pharaohs was to build huge tombs for themselves and to hold great treasures of silver, gold and other valuables since they thought that when they died, they would take all of these treasures with them to heaven. Over the centuries, thieves have stolen the treasures. The room I visited had no treasures but it still was amazing to see.

Walking to the pyramid from the hotel we encountered a couple of interesting things. Arabs with camels were begging us to ride one. I did for the first time ever, and the last time ever. You seem high up and a little afraid you might fall. These Arabs were the greatest beggars I had ever seen.

From there I went to the entrance of Cheops. I climbed the narrow passageway all the way to the top. Our wives did not attempt it because it was rather precarious. At my present age, I would not be able to climb it either.

Built with 2 1/3 million blocks of limestone and granite, it rises 450 feet and covers 13 acres. Each block weighs up to 2 ½ tons. The base of the Cheops, also known as the Great Pyramid, is 755 feet long.

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Continued

Once inside and up near the top was the tomb of the Pharaoh, it was quite interesting and astonishing.

The stones, placed in perfect order and fit exactly at the height of 300 plus feet, were so huge it was amazing how they were ever put in place. Remember, this was built in 2000 – 2500 B.C; some 4000 or more years ago.

There are several pyramids built in Egypt, all built for the same reason. That is to store valuables so that Pharaoh could take them with them when they died. There are thousands of stories about the Pyramids, how they were built and for what purpose, etc.

The two main cities are Cairo and Alexandria. Cairo is up the Nile River from the Mediterranean Ocean, south several miles, but Alexandria is on the ocean.

Egypt is a very interesting country, and is worth visiting as there are many other sites to see, not mentioned here.

Claimed to be the longest river in the world, the Nile River is very important to the country. While fifty or more million people live in Egypt, all live on four percent of the land, which is on the banks of the Nile River. The rest of the country is desert, the Sahara, which is the largest in the world.

The Nile River, which furnishes water for farming, bathing, washing, and for drinking, you can imagine it is not very clean and looks muddy.

Although I am not ready to say this is the number one site ever visited, it is certainly close to the top.

See you again soon, I hope.