Welcome to Alaska

This is what the street vendors yell out to get your attention before they start harassing you. It's supposed to be funny, since, you know, it's about 115 degrees on a "nice day."

We arrived in Luxor early this morning after taking the overnight train from Cairo. It has been non-stop since we got here! Yesterday we went to Saqqara and saw the famous step pyramid of Djoser. Saqqara is a vast, ancient burial ground serving as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. It was amazing!

It is so incredibly hot here. I had every intention of dressing respectfully in pants and sleeves but it's unbearable! It was about 125 today in Luxor and at one point our guide said, "It's starting to get hot." STARTING to get hot!!!

We also went to Giza yesterday and saw the Great Pyramid and the Sphynx. It is absolutely astonishing to see these monuments in person. You can't fathom the magnitude of them!!

Maybe the coolest part of the entire day was riding camels around the pyramids. SO much fun!!! I had to convince a few members of my family to do it but no one regretted it!

Everyday has been full of new and VERY interesting experiences! If you think traffic and parking are bad in L.A., come to Cairo; you'll never complain again! Everywhere you look you see buildings missing floors, walls, roofs. Almost none of the apartment buildings are completely finished. This is because people don't have to pay taxes as long as the building is unfinished. So no one every finishes building; they just keep adding new levels and always leaving it incomplete.

The people here are very nice and extremely accomodating. The vendors (which are EVERYWHERE) are like nothing I have ever seen before! They will follow you for 50 feet, "5 pounds for you, beautiful lady. You princess. Veddy special for you." They are relentless! We have all been full-on grabbed by these guys. It gets annoying to say the least but it's a small price to pay. I am loving every minute!!