My summer abroad group woke up far too early this morning for our pyramid visit. We were all excited to be visiting the pyramids on the summer solstice and I think some of us were half-hoping that one of us would get possessed while climbing inside Khufu's Pyramid. No such luck. We met our amazing guide, Hany, and boarded a van to Giza. On the way, Hany quizzed us about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and gave us some quick facts about the pyramids. He also warned us about the people we would find on our trip. As Hany said, "Every city has both good people and bad people. Egypt is very smart, much smarter than America - we rounded up all of the bad people and put them all in one place! They're all at the pyramids."
We got a couple of quick glimpses of the pyramids themselves in the van on the drive over, but when we first got out of the car the view was absolutely stunning. The pyramids are huge - I had no idea how big they would be! Each block is almost as tall as I am.
We took a couple of photos and then got in line to head inside the Pyramid of Khufu (the Great Pyramid). They only allow 100 visitors per day to climb inside and our group made up 10% of the total for that day, so I felt better about being dragged out of bed at the crack of dawn. On our way to the entrance, we met a few of the vendors/harassers Hany had warned us about - at every step someone tried to sell us overpriced souvenirs and knickknacks, or offered to take our picture for money.
We finally reached Khufu's Pyramid and scrambled up several meters of pyramid blocks to the entrance. The climb to the inner chamber seemed like it would never end. The passage was narrow and steep, and I was worried I was going to tumble down to the bottom as I climbed up the makeshift ladder/stairs for a good 10 minutes. For part of the climb, the ceiling dropped drastically and we all had to bend over as we continued to climb up (or in my case, pull myself to the next step using the handrail). At last we reached the inner chamber. Honestly, the room was kind of a letdown after the long climb - it was just a small, dark, and empty room where Khufu's body used to be before everything was moved to the Egyptian Museum. Our group waited inside for a bit as we caught our breath and then made our way back down to the bottom. Unfortunately, like I said earlier, no one got possessed along the way...
After we emerged into the daylight, we got back into the van to make our way up to the highest point of the sand dunes, where we could ride camels back down to the base of the pyramids. I was able to see the other pyramids along the way - there are actually 9 remaining pyramids, 3 large (Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure) and 6 small (for the king's wives and family). We stopped for souvenirs at a couple of vendors that Hany recommended who would give us honest prices, then made our way over to the camels.
We got a couple of quick glimpses of the pyramids themselves in the van on the drive over, but when we first got out of the car the view was absolutely stunning. The pyramids are huge - I had no idea how big they would be! Each block is almost as tall as I am.
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| Tall Pyramid blocks! |
We took a couple of photos and then got in line to head inside the Pyramid of Khufu (the Great Pyramid). They only allow 100 visitors per day to climb inside and our group made up 10% of the total for that day, so I felt better about being dragged out of bed at the crack of dawn. On our way to the entrance, we met a few of the vendors/harassers Hany had warned us about - at every step someone tried to sell us overpriced souvenirs and knickknacks, or offered to take our picture for money.
We finally reached Khufu's Pyramid and scrambled up several meters of pyramid blocks to the entrance. The climb to the inner chamber seemed like it would never end. The passage was narrow and steep, and I was worried I was going to tumble down to the bottom as I climbed up the makeshift ladder/stairs for a good 10 minutes. For part of the climb, the ceiling dropped drastically and we all had to bend over as we continued to climb up (or in my case, pull myself to the next step using the handrail). At last we reached the inner chamber. Honestly, the room was kind of a letdown after the long climb - it was just a small, dark, and empty room where Khufu's body used to be before everything was moved to the Egyptian Museum. Our group waited inside for a bit as we caught our breath and then made our way back down to the bottom. Unfortunately, like I said earlier, no one got possessed along the way...
After we emerged into the daylight, we got back into the van to make our way up to the highest point of the sand dunes, where we could ride camels back down to the base of the pyramids. I was able to see the other pyramids along the way - there are actually 9 remaining pyramids, 3 large (Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure) and 6 small (for the king's wives and family). We stopped for souvenirs at a couple of vendors that Hany recommended who would give us honest prices, then made our way over to the camels.
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| Our souvenir stop |
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| Khafre's Pyramid - the only one with the original granite covering remaining |
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| Alice (the camel) and me |
The camel ride was my favorite part of the day! Getting on the camel was a bit tricky, even with all the camels laying down to wait for us. You had to put your foot in the makeshift stirrup, swing your leg over the camel's massive back, and then lean your body backwards as your guide had the camel stand up. Once I was on the camel and she was standing, getting down was out of the question - I was too far off the ground!
When everyone in our group was on their camel (with a bit of screaming on a couple of people's parts), we set off on our trek down through the dunes to the pyramids. The view along the way was incredible - we could see all three of the greater pyramids and most of the lesser pyramids as we made our way down to the pyramid base. I spent most of the ride bouncing up and down on the camel and trying to focus my camera as I took as many photos as possible. I think I only got a few centered photos from how much I was bouncing all over the place, but the pictures look great regardless. Our guides (who were leading the camels and even let us trot for a bit) stopped us halfway through the journey and took some pictures of us on our camels. I got a couple of really great photos, but my roommate's guide was about 8 years old and cut off her head in every photo since he was too short. (Luckily the rest of our group had enough pictures of her to sort of make up for it.)
We made our way to the base of the pyramids far too soon and the camel ride ended - it lasted more than an hour but it felt like no more than 20 minutes to me. (I didn't realize how long it had been until the next day, when I was so sore from the ride and the climb inside the pyramid that I couldn't walk at all.) We regretfully headed back to the van and drove over to the Sphinx for the last part of our visit.
The Sphinx was huge and incredible, although I still preferred the pyramids. Hany told us a bit about the Sphinx's history and how various leaders had used the mystical powers and superstition surrounding the Sphinx to their advantage. Hany had a great anecdote about President Obama's visit to Egypt (Hany had actually been Obama's guide!) and how Obama asked for a private moment with the Sphinx to convene with her. According to Hany, Obama came back a changed man and the two of them (Obama and the Sphinx) had had a really powerful moment. Maybe that will be me during my next visit? :)
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| My future BFF? |
We headed back to Cairo a little before noon, none of us believing that our trip had only lasted several hours. Hany talked to us a bit about our long weekend getaway options (Luxor/Aswan, which is a bit unstable right now versus snorkeling at the Red Sea with a day trip to Luxor) and about safety in general, since some of the girls in our group had gotten a bit too close for his liking to one of the boys at the pyramid. We got back right after the Friday noon prayers, when the city was still quiet and traffic wasn't too bad.
Now I'm spending the quiet afternoon uploading photos before we head out for dinner - I can't believe I've taken so many pictures this far. 360 and counting!
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