Ashlyn and Ashley (this could get confusing) choose to pose with the second pyramid of Khephren in the background, while Megan and Ashlyn pick the great Sphinx. So many monuments; so little time.

Our first full group pic, with both the Sphinx and the Khephren pyramid as our setting. What could be bad, and now we are about to have a treat.

We are allowed down into the Sphinx amphitheatre between the great paws of the colossal beast where we are met by none other than Dr. Zahi Hawass, the best known Egyptologist in the world. Shaina nearly faints at the sight of the man she has dreamed of meeting for many years.

Dr. Hawass spoke to us for nearly half an hour about the excavation work being conducted at the Giza plateau area, and as ever his excitement enthralled all who listened. Tourists were leaning over the barricades above us to catch of glimpse of the great Egyptian celebrity, but we were the ones privileged to hear highly interesting and impressive archaeological information, much of it new and as yet unpublished.

Of course at the end of the talk we got another group shot – with Dr. Zahi. Then he kindly left us inside the Sphinx enclosure to look on our own and then be given the opportunity to visit monuments such as the Great Pyramid and the Workmen’s cemetery (excavated by Dr. Zahi himself).

Trudging back up the plateau by the Great Pyramid to the Khufu boat museum, where Sarah, Betsy, and Shaina share a little joke about a recent episode of “Digging for the Truth” (which Betsy particularly thinks you should avoid seeing if at all possible).

One by one they all entered and climbed up to the burial chamber of Khufu, then returned triumphant. Megan, Hili, and Jen emerge from the visit as the truly initiated, and eventually they all happily resting after their visit to the ancient king’s resting place.

Skipping many elite tombs that we visited over the afternoon, we show only our last stop of the day, at the Workmen’s cemetery located just south and east of the pyramids. The tombs are tiny but emulate the larger ones of the Giza burial ground.