And we’re talking the place outside of Cairo (the ancient predecessor of Cairo) not the one near Nashville.

It’s taking me a while to realize what sightseeing is all about albeit that I’ve been doing it. It’s about going to famous places camera in hand to take pictures that will prove you were there and with luck to have pictures taken of you in front of some monument or other.

It’s not something to do to satisfy a drive to become an accomplished photographer. Those are the frustrated folks waiting for Koji to move from the front of the statue so they can get a shot without Koji’s smiling face. I fancied myself in this category, but it’s not easy to discern that from looking at the pics I’ve taken. If I try to do anything special with the pictures I take of well-photographed sites it is to wander off the “beaten path” to take photographs from a different perspective. Anderson Cooper directed me to an entry on another traveler’s blog that informs what I was trying to say here.

So the question becomes where do I stand with Egypt. I remember explaining to someone years ago that Paris was a place to be not a place to see. Egypt, for me (I fear), is a place to see.

Since the above ruminations worked their way out of my head and into this blog while I was once again sitting on a bus waiting for the rest of the folks, I will leave them for now.

Before I forget I wanted to mention the only free time I had on the trip. Our last night in Luxor, I took a stroll along the Nile as far as the Luxor Temple. The air was cool and delightful and I especially enjoyed the night view of the temple.

First of all, the question arises for any reader who knows at least a small bit of Egyptian geography — how did I get to Memphis which is outside of today’s Cairo when the last time you heard from the intrepid reporter he was in the environs of Luxor? Early Monday morning we got on a bus, went to the Luxor airport and flew back to Cairo. Then another bus in Cairo and to our first stop, the Mit Rahina Museum. The few pictures taken are here.

After Mit Rahina we were back on the bus and driven to our last site of the trip, the Saqqara Necropolis containing the oldest know pyramids. My pictures are here.