The pyramids of Giza
We wore up early this morning, and arranged a cab to take us to the pyramids in Giza and Saqqarah. It was foggy when we woke up, but we were surprised to hear that the pyramids were only about 15 minutes from our hostel. As we got close, our driver said pointed to the left and mentioned that on non-foggy days, you could see the pyramids from our location. As soon as he got done talking, the outline of the Great Pyramid became visible through the fog. Although only for a second, it was an amazing sneak peek!
We pulled into the site and there was the Great Pyramid of Khufu standing right before us. I have traveled a bit in my day, but this had to be the most spectacular thing I have ever seen. The Great Pyramid is even more massive and magnificent in person than it was in all the tv shows, pictures, etc.
We picked the Great Pyramid, paid the fee and went inside. The passageway is only waist high, so most the time you are ducking as you move around. There are some very steep inclines that we had to conquer to get to the top of the pyramid - to the burial room. The burial room is marble, not the stone that's on the outside of the pyramids. It was quite toasty, but it was neat to see the tomb of Khufu. After we left the pyramid, we continued walking around outside before taking a walk over to the sphinx.
As if the pyramids weren't enough, the sphinx stands equally impressive, nose or no nose. He carefully guards the pyramid of Khafre, standing tall with the pyramids in the background. After spending 5 hours at the pyramids and the sphinx, checking out the tombs and pyramids of the queens as well, we went outside the site to a stable where we took a camel ride. Although it is possible to ride a camel in the site, we took the camels out into the desert to get a great view of all three pyramids.
We had a guide with us the entire time, but we were each able to steer our own camel. Moving the reign to the right or the left tells the camel where to go. So we raced into the Sahara desert and got some great shots of the pyramids from a distance. It was a once in a lifetime experience! We managed to drive the camels back to the stable, and we told our driver (who spoke good english for a change) that we wanted to see the pyramids at Saqqarah.
|
|
|||
|
|
