Cops on camels

Sunday, Nov. 8 -- What can I say about the pyramids that hasn't been said? Absolutely nothing. They're awesome, unbelievable, huge, mind-boggling. I can say the same for the Sphinx. They're certainly visited by thousands and thousands of people, and surrounded by hawkers, camel and horse drivers and the antiquities police, who sit astride camels.

After buying some street food -- falafel, schawerma (a kind of burrito-type thing with chicken or beef) we headed to the Egyptian Museum, where if a visitor spent one minute looking at each of the 120,000 objects, she would stay in the museum for eight months. How's that for a factoid? Of course the main attraction is the Tut section, where everything Tut, except what's currently in San Francisco, is on display. Hundreds and hundreds of objects, most of them gold inlaid with turquoise or faience. Chariots, jewelry, thrones, weapons and four enormous gold boxes that held the sarcophagus. And of course the solid gold mask. Unbelievable.

We also stopped at a papyrus museum, where a cute guide explained the process to us, as well as how to tell the difference between real and fake (banana leaves). The papyrus flower looks like the sun's rays, so is considered a holy plant. The stem is triangular, signifying eternity or immortality. They cut the stem into thin strips, soak them for six days and then spend six more days crushing the water out between two pieces of carpet. The sugar that is left melds the reeds together to form paper.

Long train ride tonight to Luxor. We're in carriage 12, but there's room for only nine or 10 cars in the station, so we have to drag our stuff through the train.