At the Giza Plateau, three pyramids lie perfectly aligned. With the Great Sphinx, they make up the necropolis complex that housed ancient burial sites from around 2600 B.C. This plateau stands on the outskirts of Cairo only 12 kilometers (just over 7 miles) from the modern city.

The largest pyramid, called Khufu (Cheops in Greek), measures 138 meters (approximately 452 feet) in height and contains around 1,300,000 blocks ranging in weight from 2.5 tons to 15 tons. This pyramid represented the tallest structure on Earth for over 3,800 years. It took tens of thousands of workers 20 years to build it.

You can ride a camel around the pyramid or from the Great Pyramid to either of the smaller pyramids. The camel kids have fun with the tourists (many of the owners are kids about 10 years old; smiling youths trigger weightier tips), but beware they want handsome compensation. Fees for camel riding are about $10 plus a $3 tip. And pictures are still more.

If a camel jockey rides up to you and says to take his picture, expect to pay. If you take his picture, he will dismount faster than John Wayne jumping off his horse to capture a bad guy. And he may harass you even more.

Thirty years ago when I visited here, the camel people would wrap you in native robes and headgear to take pictures. They don't do that now. My guess as to why is that it takes too much time. There are literally thousands of tourists now, and they need to move on to their next mark.

Everywhere you go, the Egyptians want you to buy something or be tipped for a service. And yes, that includes the restroom. With a towel boy or not, you will pay $1 if you don't have Egyptian currency. If you carry Egyptian money, it will be what amounts to about a quarter.

The Old Kingdom capital city of Memphis is also found just outside of Cairo, and a monumental statue of Ramses II lies housed there in a covering to protect it from further damage. It originally stood 14 meters (45 feet) high but was felled by an earthquake in the 1700s. It still stretches more than 10 meters (32 feet) and can be viewed from above in the tailor-made housing. A current archaeological dig operates in Memphis, with new discoveries being made every day.

Just down the road a few kilometers is found another necropolis site at Saggara. The oldest pyramid in the world stands here, constructed about 3200 B.C. In the courtyards around this site, 40,000 shards have been found from which 4,000 vases have been reconstructed.

From the beginning of the New Kingdom (1550-1069 B.C.), kings were no longer buried in the north of Egypt. Rather, the Valley of the Kings became the select place for the pharaohs to be buried in elaborate tombs similar to those of Ramses II and King Tut.