Here I am in front of the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid, a dream come true! If I ever come back to Egypt I would like to stay at the Mena hotel next to the pyramids and see the sun rise and set over them. Spending one day there isn't nearly enough time to soak in the environment and history!

About 2,550 B.C.E., King Khufu, the second pharaoh of the fourth dynasty, commissioned the building of his tomb at Giza. Some Egyptologists believe it took 10 years just to build the ramp that leads from the Nile valley floor to the pyramid, and 20 years to construct the pyramid itself. 

On average, the over two million blocks of stone used to build Khufu's pyramid weigh 2.5 tons, and the heaviest blocks, used as the ceiling of Khufu's burial chamber, weigh in at an estimated 40 to 60 tons and covers 13 acres.

 The granite slab that is the roof of Khufu's burial chamber weighs 50 tons in itself. Khufu's pyramid stands about 450 feet (137 meters) high. It is also in almost complete form, despite being the World's oldest Wonder.