I've discovered that I really like the sound of the muezzin calling the faithful to prayer. The sound has a peaceful quality to it that I find soothing. I imagine it would be easy to live here without a watch and instead keep time according to the sonorous melody of the muezzin's voice, which echoes throughout the city five times a day. While we were at the Pyramids at Giza today, the wind carried the sounds of perhaps a dozen muezzins, all calling at once but from different parts of the city.
The Giza Pyramids are the only of the seven wonders of the ancient world that still stands, even after 4600 years. At one time they were smooth-sided limestone, but are now down to rough limestone blocks, creating a slightly jagged effect. We went inside one of the pyramids and though there isn't much to see down there, it was an experience to descend into the pyramid bent in half to squeeze into the tiny corridor. Were the ancient Egyptians really that small...or did they also struggle with the small size of these passages? The humidity in that corridor was pretty intense with all of the breathing tourists steaming up the joint ;-) Also at the Giza complex is the Sphinx, which lounges stoically at the foot of the Great Pyramid, sans schnoz. It's much smaller than I imagined it, but no less majestic when considering its age and the workmanship that went into such a monument.
Tomorrow we board a sleeper train to Luxor, after which we embark upon a 7-day cruise on the Nile. More on that later...
