I suppose that we saved the 'best' for last, or perhaps just the most famous. On our last full day in Cairo and Egypt we travelled out to the Pyramids of Giza. Giza is basically a suburb of Cairo, though they are two different cities, they are close neighbors. When I thought of the pyramids before travelling to see them I imagined them in the middle of the desert, traveling to them by camel, raising from the sand in the distance like a mirage. I imagined standing at the base staring at their great bulk and marveling at their construction. At least the second part of my dream lived up to its expectation.
The pyramids are on the outskirts of Cairo, in fact, if the day is clear you can see them even before getting to the parking lot. Before leaving the car we were given extremely direct and detailed instructions. Do not talk to anyone, don't buy anything, don't look at anyone, don't walk off with anyone, don't let anyone take your picture, don't let anyone tell you how to take your picture, etc. While we came to a true highlight in our tour we also came across more salesmen which could sometimes lead to scary experiences for tourists. These were by far the most aggressive, and dare I say annoying salesmen. Even the guards and police who are there to protect tourists will demand baksheesh for any 'service' given.
The day before we set out on our tour of the pyramids our guide asked if any of us were interested in going into one of them, there are only 150 tickets sold each day and they start early and go fast. The pyramids were built as tombs after all, so you are able to go into one of them to view the funerary room. I wasn't really sold on the idea, then our guide explained to us what it was like and I knew that it was not for me. Call me a chicken, I don't care, there was no way I was going in there. Let me tell you why. The passage in some areas is only 4 feet high and 3 feet wide, leading into the middle of a pyramid constructed of 2.3 million limestone blocks each weighing 2.5 tons. No thank you. I have a mild case of claustrophobia, and there was no way that was appealing to me. Besides even our guide told us it wasn't that impressive, though perhaps that was because she wanted to sleep in.
There are three pyramids (duh!), for three generations in the same family: the grandfather, father, and son. What I didn't know are there are six much (much) smaller pyramids for mothers and wives near two of the pyramids as well. The pyramids now look as though they are large steps, but when they were first constructed there was a smooth limestone facade on all four sides. The pyramid in the middle has a bit left at the top. The stone would have been white and polished to a high sheen to be able to gleam in the sun.
The next stop was down the road at the Sphinx. The sphinx was constructed in the bedrock near the bottom channel to the middle pyramid. The nose was hammered off somewhere between the 11th and 15th centuries. However, some attribute Napoleon for the act. Saying that he used the nose as target practice. Not much is known about the sphinx, for instance why it was built, who it was built by, or how it was built.
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| Patrick, Emily, Colleen, Stephen |
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| This is the view I saw of Patrick most of the time. He likes to take over picture taking duties. |
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| Why not? |
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