In the unexpected ease of an Uber, a motorway bounded by stark sandy-brown apartment blocks, channeled us to the great monuments; the Pyramids of Giza. The first sight of the three giant prisms rising from the desert edging the city had all the excitement of a childhood dream come true. Monumental in size and impressive in age these enduring symbols of the power of the pharaohs showcase the incredible endeavours of the Ancient Egyptians.
After thousands of years of looting the smooth limestone exterior has all but disappeared leaving behind the visible precision of the incredible work it took to stack these huge stone blocks exactly in place. Up close there are no smooth edges and the huge stones resemble a giant’s brick staircase leading to the once star-aligned apex. It is impossible not to stand in awe in the shadow of the worlds most famous triangles.
It is unlikely however that you will be left to stand in awe for long! The hustle of the hawkers soon interrupted our wonder with continuous, competing offers of camel rides and tour guides. As we turned the corner of Pharaoh Khufu’s Great Pyramid, we were met with the gauntlet of camel owners who we just about managed to outpace. Even as seasoned travellers we only just about escaped the many ‘gifts’ that were offered, but still ended up arguing our way out of traditional headdresses that had already been firmly secured in place. Even though the hassle interrupted our reverie, it is hard not to feel sorry for the people whose livelihoods have been impacted by the huge reduction in tourism in recent years.
Diving in to the smaller rubble like pyramids of the queens of the Pharaohs gave us our first glimpse of the inside of an ancient tomb. An almost vertical staircase descends into an unadorned cavity that once would have been brimming with grave goods, now long looted. These small, almost discarded tombs are nothing in comparison in size to the three Pharaoh’s pyramids however at one time would have been the sacred resting place of some of the most powerful women in Ancient Egypt.
Between exploring the Queen’s tombs we managed to pick up a tour guide we had no intention of employing. Abdullah charmed us with his same-named daughter Natasha and took us on a tour of sites we would not have discovered on our own. Pointing out hidden hieroglyphics, statues and ensuring we got those all important ‘jumping in front of a monument’ pictures meant that we were nicely surprised by this tourist trap we had fallen into. It also had the perk of keeping at bay all other guides as we were fair and squarely Abudllah’s.
As we approached the Sphinx we knew it was time to say goodbye to our tour guide when he began insisting on us posing for pictures kissing this man-headed feline. Meeting the Sphinx was slightly disappointing and lived up to what the guide book had suggested the encounter would be like…meeting your favourite celebrity and discovering that they are shorter and not as funny as you thought they would be. It is however still an impressive monument, unusual in its design given the surrounding site.
There is nowhere to buy food in the pyramid site but luckily we had bought our usual staple of a plastic bag full of plain local bread. We sat happily munching this on one of the cornerstones of the Great Pyramid, contemplating the workers of 4500 years ago and wondering if they had sat on the very same stone to have their lunch. We timed our rest with the lunchtime closure of the Great Pyramid, a break which allows for some much needed oxygen to circulate the interior, making it safe to visit again. Invisible from the outside there are a number of perfectly positioned air vents that made it possible for the workers of the time to breathe whilst they built.
Even with this pause the air inside the pyramid was humid and stifling. Once through a small opening, a steep narrow staircase leads to the inner chamber at the heart of the pyramid. This route would be claustrophobic with a single steam of traffic however given its popularity there are people pushing past each other in both directions. Arriving sweaty in the main chamber is a relief as it opens up and you feel you can breathe again.
The plainness of the burial chamber comes as a bit of a surprise however the feat of engineering that can be seen in the precision of the gigantic pink and black granite blocks is the real showstopper. Standing in the core of the pyramid the idea of the sheer weight of stone surrounding us was both terrifying and awesome, a sensation not possible to imagine from the outside.
The Giza Solar Boat Museum, our last stop of the day, turned out to be one of our highlights. This painstakingly excavated and reconstructed funerary barge of Pharaoh Khufu was discovered next to his pyramid in 1954 and is the only one of five to be brought back to life. The ancient Lebanese cedars that made this exquisite ship are bound together with ties making this vessel watertight, showcasing impressive craftsmanship. Khufu’s barge is another example of the incredible skills the ancients Egyptians possessed and well worth the extra ticket price.
We finished this once-in-a-life time day trip with a glass of Egyptian red in the immaculate setting of Mena House Hotel, where the views of the Pyramids of Giza are second to none. This was a sensational ending to a perfect day, one where childhood images came to life and the adult reality was just as mind-blowing.
