The Great Pyramid of Khufu was made of 2.3 million limestone blocks over 4,500 years ago.

For over 3,000 years the ancient Egyptians stuffed their mummified royalty along with their slaves, pets, possessions, and any unlucky friends into secret tombs deep in pyramids with the assurance that all would make the trip to the next world. The greatest of the pyramids, the ones written about by the Greeks and pictured in books about the Wonders of the World, are in a suburb of Cairo called Giza.

No matter how many times one visits the Pyramids of Giza, it is still breathtaking. "Wow! There they are! Look! Look!" everyone on the bus shouted as we rounded the corner. Like magic, we were drawn through the lines of buses, by the fences of razor wire, past shouts of camel touts to the three great pyramids and the sphinx.

The Big One, Khufu or Cheops, was 479 feet tall when it was built in 2570 BC with 2.3 million limestone blocks weighing 2.5 tons each. It has lost about 30 feet over the years, but it is still impressive. I climbed (almost crawled) through its passageways to the empty tomb back in 1983 so I passed on that claustrophobic experience this time. So did my wife Linda.

The architect's wife serves us a wonderful homemade Egyptian meal in Cairo.

The Second One (Khafre or Chephren, the son of Khufu) seems larger but is actually just 446 feet high. A little bit of its original polished white casing still remains on the top. The Third One, Menkauare or Mycerinus, stands 203 feet tall and shows the results of an attempt in 1186 AD by Saladin's son to take it apart.

The Sphinx, always smaller than expected, lost its nose to Napoleon's sharpshooters. Still, it is an impressive piece of sculpture. This pharaoh's head on a lion's body was carved from one monadnock of limestone and was never a tomb. Its royal beard was toted off by 19th century English thieves and is now in the British Museum. Its paws and tail are being protected from modern poachers.

One of our fellow adventurers, Luigi, took what he called his "Three Generational Shirt" to Giza and wore it proudly as he galloped on a camel in front of Khufu. He first wore the shirt 40 years ago in the same place and has the photo to prove it. His son wore it 20 years later and his grandson 35 years later. This was the fourth time the shirt has paraded before Khufu.

Luigi's Three Generational Shirt has been to Giza four times in 40 years.

That night Ali's Group celebrated the design of the Pyramids of Giza with a meal at the home of an Egyptian architect. His wife, son, and daughter served us a wonderful Egyptian meal. It was a delight to meet the family and discuss culture and politics with them. They were excited about our new president and told us so. From then on, whenever local people found out we were Americans, they broke out in a chorus of "Obama, Obama, Obama." It felt good.

(Next week: The Citadel, the Mosque, and the Market)