Finally, the Pyramids

Yes, we did eventually make it to the pyramids, on our second-to-last day in Egypt:



I must say, with the first glance as we were entering the pyramid complex, I felt a little like we were entering an amusement park - some addition to Universal Studios, I suppose.



It's not until you're right up against them that you really get a sense of how massive they are. And you're simply struck for a moment. Wow.


And then you turn the corner and you see the self-proclaimed "Dr. Photo," who looks suspiciously like an armed policeman holding both a large weapon and a camera, as he directs a lady, "Okay, move your arm a little higher, higher, there. Now smile!" And you have to wonder if she's really going to have a photo of herself touching the top once she gets the roll developed...

We were lucky to get into the pyramid complex just before it was technically open, such that we were allowed to climb into the Great Pyramid without the typical claustrophobia-inducing nightmare of inching up the tight shafts behind hundreds of other crouched and inching tourists on the way to the main chamber.

After taking a round of photos in front of it, we worked our way to the second pyramid and hired a camel named Columbus out to a hill with a view of the pyramids nicely aligned. J was trapped into buying some soft drinks and the camel driver didn't exactly get us all the way to the Sphinx as promised, but we checked the experience off our lists and were thankful the ride hadn't been much longer.

I'm still not sure what to make of the Sphinx, and it seems I'm not the only one- no one really knows why it was built. It's really an odd sight to see - interesting, impressive, and a bit bizarre (and maybe even a little kitch?) all at the same time. It's much closer to the pyramids and smaller than I had imagined.



From Giza we moved on to Sakkara to see the Step Pyramind (precursor to the pyramids),








and from there to Dashur for the Bent and Red Pyramids. Dashur is something of a military zone, and so we had a miliary escort in the vehicle with us. The Bent Pyramid, which I was perhaps most interested in seeing, is off limits, so we had to take our photos from a distance. It was something of a"practice" pyramid. You can see the base that was built at a steeper angle than the rest. As far as they can tell, it didn't seem sufficiently stable, so the angle was adjusted to that of the top half. The second angle was then used for the Red Pyramid - the first of its style - and then the rest of the pyramids.