1:30 a.m. Saturday: 22 hours after leaving my Washington, D.C., apartment I arrive in Cairo. It's late by my standards, but scores of Egyptian families line the city's green spaces and bridges, picnicking late to beat the suffocating summer heat. Straight to sleep for me.

8 a.m.: I'm off early to Saqqara, a royal necropolis more than 4,500 years old. To get there we pass through the green Nile Valley. Lining the road are palm trees and poincianas, many with their lower trunks painted white to serve as road markers. The green turns abruptly to brown as the desert begins and we arrive at Saqqara.

Guards on camels (photo) seem to be nearly the only other living things here. It is so hot—high 90s (30s Celsius) at least, and no clouds to stop the sun glinting off the sand.

Looming over the sandy necropolis is Pharaoh Djoser's huge Step Pyramid (photo), built around 2630 B.C. My guide explains it's nothing compared with the ones we'll see tomorrow at Giza. Still, I'm awed.

We go into the tomb of Mereruka, chief executive to Pharaoh Teti (who ruled circa 2323 to 2291 B.C.). It's darker and a little cooler in here. The walls are covered with intricate 4,000-year-old carvings detailing life in Mereruka's time—how jewelry is made, wheat is cut, and more (photo).

Noon: Getting hotter. You could fry a falafel on the sand, or at least that's the way it feels.

1 p.m.: On to Memphis, a capital of ancient Egypt. Not much remains here, but what does is amazing, especially the fallen colossus of Ramses II (photo)—nearly 40 feet (12 meters) long even without its legs.

Ramses II (who ruled from about 1279 to 1213 B.C.) seems to be the most beloved pharaoh in modern Egypt. Everywhere I go I see shops, restaurants, even dry cleaners bearing his name. The guide says he will forgive me if I forget my own name, but not if I forget the name of Ramses the Great.

10 p.m.: After dinner and the second shower of the day, I'm out like a light.

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