Pyramids of Giza

“Welcome to Alaska!” was the first thing our driver, Egyptian Bob, told us as we climbed into his car for our visit to the pyramids. I still don’t really get the joke, but it’s turned out to be a popular one among Egyptians when they discover you are from America. All the touts at the pyramids (guys trying to get you to take their picture, ride their camel, or receive a “gift” from them, always for a mandatory donation) had their own little phrases for Americans. Most of them were cowboy-related, such as “howdy!” and “hi-ho silver!”  but I especially liked the one guy who seemed shocked that “how now brown cow” was not a popular phrase in the US. Most of them were friendly so long as you were a potential client or were friendly to them, but I suspect they were ready to scam you first chance they got. It’s truly the greatest shame when visiting Egypt - the constant fear and paranoia that everyone you meet is trying to cheat you. The guys at our hotel told us not to trust anyone (does that include them?), so even if some of the guys who come up to you on the street asking where you are from or if you need help are sincerely trying to help, you just have to ignore them and keep walking. You feel rude but there simply is no way to tell the sincere from the scammers. It’s too bad. Anyways, the pyramids. In true Egyptian fashion, Egyptian Bob took us directly to a stables that tried to pressure us into taking a horseback tour of the pyramids. "It’s 12 kilometers to walk!" they tell you, but that's a gross exaggeration. We eventually convinced them that we wouldn’t be riding one of their emancipated horses (I spotted a couple dead ones on the side of the road on the way in), and did the unthinkable - we walked into the pyramid complex (along with hundreds of other tourists).

the Sphinz and Khafra's pyramid

It’s funny how your expectations set the stage for your perceptions. I had heard the Sphinx was small, so I found it to be even bigger than expected (though it is small compared to they pyramids). I expected the pyramids to be huge, which they were, but not mind-blowingly big. I knew that the city stretched right to the edge of the pyramid complex, so this wasn’t exactly surprising. It wasn’t until the next day when we’re on a bus heading out of the city and I glance out the window to unexpectedly see two huge pyramids towering over a city that benefited from over 4,500 years of technological advance but still was nowhere near as impressive in construction. That’s when I was blown away. Despite their impressive construction they do need to be kept up with. The Sphinx’s legs seem to have been redone recently as they look nowhere near as aged as it’s head. It’s crazy to think that the Sphinx has been the subject of renovation work for at least 3,500 years since the pharaoh Thutmose IV cleared his legs from underneath sand that had accumulated over them.

Looking from the pyramids towards the city. "You want ride my camel? Cheap price. You know how much?"

Of the three main pyramids at Giza, I’m not really sure why the Great Pyramid gets all the credit. The ‘third’ pyramid is much smaller than the other two, but the ‘middle’ pyramid certainly doesn’t appear to be any less ‘great’ than the one named so. To be honest, it took us a while to figure out which one was the “big one.” The Great Pyramid was the first one built, in around 2570 BC by the pharaoh Khufu. His son, Khafra, built the ’middle’ pyramid as well as the Sphinx and his grandson, Menkaura, later built the ’small’ one. Khafra’s was originally only 10 feet shorter than his father’s, plus it is situated at a slightly higher elevation. Finally, the original limestone casing at the top of Khafra’s pyramid is still in place but missing on Khufu’s, so I’m not sure Khafra’s pyramid isn’t taller than the Great Pyramid as they stand today. Either way, even if it’s not the “great” pyramid due to it’s size, Khufu’s pyramid was certainly a great engineering feat. Just listen to some of these facts I’ve taken out of our book: 2.3 million stone blocks; 481 feet high; believed to have been completed in about 30 years which would mean each block of stone, weighing 2.5 tons, would have to be put into place every two to three minutes for 10 hours a day; it’s base of 756-foot sides differ in length by two inches at the most; the sides are aligned to compass directions to within a fraction of a degree; it’s internal air shafts point to the northern polar stars at one end and Orion and Sirius at the other; it’s 13-acre base is level to within less than an inch! I find the last stat to be the most impressive, especially when 4,565 years later the Olympics dorms are built on a sinking foundation… Finally, this gargantuan project isn’t thought to have been built by massive teams of slaves as you’ve probably always pictured, but small teams of craftsmen and engineers backed by large numbers of citizen workers that came, possibly voluntarily, for intermediate periods between their ordinary lives of farmers or peasants. That’s good to know, I guess.

the Great Pyramid

We walked around the pyramid complex as long as we could stand the heat. This wasn’t helped when I took the opportunity to climb into one of the three small pyramids in front of the Great Pyramid. We were sent down a dark, narrow tunnel a couple hundred feet down before opening up into an empty tomb. It was pretty cool but also unimpressive since it was empty. Most impressive was probably the heat, and once the long line of Japanese tourists pushed their way into the tomb, I was the first one out of there. Everyone else was doing it, so we took all the typical clever photos with the pyramids - leaning on it, holding it up, etc. We ran out of ideas fairly quickly so made our way back out to find Egyptian Bob.

From there we went to the site of Saqqara, about 20 minutes farther south of Giza. Saqqara is home to Djoser’s Step Pyramid - the first true pyramid - built less than 100 years before the Great Pyramid. It’s nowhere near as impressive, as it’s original limestone shell is completely gone and is frankly in pretty bad shape. I guess they are trying their best to slow or stop it’s decay since most of it was covered by scaffolding. We got to explore a nice temple near the Step Pyramid that contained tons of cool paintings and hieroglyphs. Somehow we picked up a “guide” along the way, who of course knew very little English except “five meters”, since every tomb he pointed out that was dug below our feet was apparently five meters deep. You’re not supposed to take pictures inside pretty much anything of relevance here, but whenever we’d find ourselves alone he’d make a gesture to take a picture then put his finger over his lip. We gave him the equivalent of about a dollar on our way out, which he was happy with.

Djoser's Step Pyramid at Saqqara - not much to look at these days

Steph with our "guide" inside a tomb. The walls were covered in hieroglyphs

Some wall paintings/carvings - this picture is illegal

From there Egyptian Bob drove us back to our hostel as we napped from the oppressive heat, which really takes it out of you. He was a really nice guy and kept referring to Steph as “my daughter”, but he turned a little sour after we refused to visit the papyrus museum, which is just another place to pressure you into buying a souvenir. After what happened at the stables, Egyptian Bob wouldn’t be getting any kickbacks that day so I think he was happy to get rid of us. Still an amazing day and it’s still hard to grasp that we have been to "the pyramids", which were built 4,500 years ago. I still shake my head just thinking about that. Crazy.