The Pyramids – we are Going to see the Pyramids!

Finally – after 12 days in Egypt we are going to go where everyone who visits Egypt thinks of first – the Great Pyramid.

Hussein tells us that isn’t just one Pyramid in Egypt – there are over 185 of them. But the truly famous ones are of course the three Pyramids of the Khufu family. King Khufu who was buried in the Great Pyramid, his son and his grandson who were buried in the middle and smallest of the Giza Pyramids in their turns.

We’d been able to see them from the GEM (Great Egyptian Museum) – but this time we’re going to up close and personal.

On the ride from the Kempenski to the Pyramid Complex, Hussein explains that we all have tickets to climb inside the Great Pyramid to the place where King Khufu was buried, but it’s a challenging tour and our guides can not come with us.

First you climb up large blocks to the entrance to the Pyramid, craved by the Muslins who were certain there was treasure inside, and were I suspect sorely disappointed to discover that the tomb raiders had been there long, long, long before them. Then you walk thru a 2 way narrow stone tunnel to the staircase and go up a narrow staircase. Then you are at the first of 3 ramps that climb ever upward. It is 340 meters to the top of the ramps, the ceiling becoming increasingly lower until people must stoop or even crawl. And your reward? An empty Stone Rectangle with nothing inside. The worst part – you must reverse the journey to get back.

He continues to explain that folks have complained of back and thigh pain for 2 and 3 days after this experience.

Hmm – not sure that sounds like much fun.

But then I tell myself – I travel here for 24 hours on airplanes – and I’m going to admit to my friends and family that I didn’t go inside the Great Pyramid. Does that sound like me? I think not.

So – the bus drops us off, we gather near the foot of the Great Pyramid to be told a bit of it’s history, along with the fact that for over 3000 years it was the tallest man made structure in the world and is the last of the 7 great wonders of the ancient world still standing.

We walk the short distance up to the foot of the pyramid – and it is a lot larger from this perspective than it was from the GEM windows.

There is a crowd of people lined up climbing the big stones to the begining of the tunnel that marks the entrance to the Pyramid, and Hussein asks – ok – who is going to go inside.

Bravely, I raise my hand. I’m not even alone of our group to do this. This is highly reassuring. I’m not the only nut!

Naturally, I quickly fall the rear of our group – I’m easily going to be the slowest climber – but my first thought is to just do the tunnel – say I’ve been inside – and be done with it.

But in for a nickel, in for a pound. Of course I do the first tunnel, then I climb the stairs, and now I’m going up the first of the ramps. These are wooden ramps with wooden ‘steps’ going across at about 9” intervals. The ramps will get increasingly steep as we go higher, but at this point I don’t know that. This first ramp, which extends out of view above me looks very do-able.

So I start climbing. I bang my head on the ceiling from time to time – it is quite low and the height changes suddenly – hence the ‘bangs’ but I’m doing ok. What is most challenging is that folks are going down the same ramp, and the ramp is only about 2’ wide. Some folks slip by easily – but the guy going down sitting on his bum and taking up the entire 2’ does pose a climbing challenge.

First ramp completed – now I’m at a flat part about 2’ square (just enough to breathe and stretch) before I start the next part. A guard is stationed at this point, and his job is to encourage folks to keep moving! This time there is one ramp going up, and another ramp going down – so it’s much much faster. But the ceiling is getting lower – and I’m definitely having to stoop. It’s the stooping that slows you down.

This ramp ends, and the third and last ramp is now visible. We’re back to the 2’ wide 2 way ramp design, so I’m frequently forced to stop while someone passes me on their way down.

And this ramp is much much steeper, and the ceiling is quite a bit lower. I’ve figured out that my head is safer if I keep a hand raised over it, dragging my fingers along the ceiling. When my fingers find a down part – I duck a bit further.

340 meters upward – that’s about 340 yards or 1000 feet – I’m at a flat tunnel that is seriously small. This is where some folks crawl, but I’m ok walking with my back bent, hand above my head, and my knees stretching out straight ahead with each step.

At the end – as promised – the actual burial space of King Khufu. Hurrah – I made it! And I’m very proud of mysel.

But as promised – it’s an large empty space. I take a photo of a fan to prove I’ve been there, look around and stretch – and then start the long crouch back down.

I suppose if figures that if I’m polite on the way up, I’ll be polite on the way down – so bottom line – I’m slow. But I make it back down all the ramps, the stairs and thru the tunnels to daylight. The guards at the entrance greet us with “You’ve been born again” – which makes me chuckle.

I DID IT! I climbed to King Khufu’s burial Chamber. Yea Me!

We re-group, and get back on the bus to go to the Sphinx. This is actually easy to visit – although it’s finally getting a bit crowded and there’s a bottleneck where we have to squeeze thru a narrow doorway. But it’s totally worth it – it’s the Great Sphinx. I even spot the location where Detective Hercule Poirot sat at the being of Death on the Nile! If you’ve never seen it, or it’s been too long – the 1978 version is such a classic – Check it out.

Folks are posing as if they are kissing the Sphinx – if you stand on the high edge of the walkway and bend over – from the right angle it does look like you are exchanging kisses.

We walk back slowly, it’s the SPHINX! I’m so excited to finally come face to face with something so beautiful, so historic, so old!

Hussein gives us a bit of a talk about the Sphinx, then Victor takes the mike to explain that Napoleon definitely didn’t blow the nose off – there are written reports from years before he came to Egypt describing the Sphinx as having no nose.

Back to the bus, and it’s time for our camel rides. I can’t resist. I’ve climbed up inside the Great Pyramid – I can sit on a camel. And I now have the picture to prove it. I even got a ride – albeit very short. But enough to realize that a camel is a lot like a horse with a very awkward way of kneeling. First they put their front legs out and bend their knees toward the back. Then they bring down their back legs – with the knees bending towards the front. It makes for a bit of a pitch forward then backwards – which some folks in our group find surprising, but it’s quite fast.

The Camel Handler signals me to raise both my hands to frame the Great Pyramid behind me – and snaps my picture.

Very Cute!

And no – my camel did not spit at me, or behave in the last bit inappropriately. He was easy down for me to get on, easy up with me on his back, a bit of posting while he walked around, and then absolutely still when asked to stop by the driver so we could get the photos.

Next stop – the smaller of the Pyramids, where we walk around looking at the pits where the boats we saw in the GEM were discovered – and Hussein explains a bit more about how these momuments were built. They have found ruins of mud brick ramps in other places, so they are quite certain that the same method was used here. The most interesting – I didn’t know that – thing is that they discovered above the burial chamber of King Khufu a series of decreasing empty chambers ending in one that is triangular. They suspect that these were used to reduce the pressure on the burial chamber by redirecting the weight of the stones above it on all 4 sides. Neat.

Back to the bus, a drive along the highway linking the GEM to Cairo proper past the crowded and half empty appartment buildings, and crowds of folks pushing and shoving their way on the streets to a Fish Restaurant. It’s relatively new and actually interviewed Victor for a TV advertisement they were working on after each of us was served a whole grilled fish (a small sea bream we decide) with skewers of 3 grilled shrimp (head and tail on). I like the Mezze the best to be honest.

Then it’s back to the hotel – and I opt for a lovely afternoon on the roof terrace, hidden from the sun by a large umbrella – working on my blog of course.

For dinner we go back to the Taboula with Ed and Todd. We have a very very lovely time, the food is even better than last time. The host remembers us from the night before (I think it’s my hat with it’s purple flower – or maybe Victor’s destinctive sideburns and ponytail?) and greets us warmly. He suggests different dishes – although we insist that one of the main courses be the Beef with Pomegrante and Citrus Sauce. Dessert is 3 unique dishes – and I love everything. Best place we’ve eaten since we arrived in Egypt – for sure.

The walk home is past the security guards for the British and American Embassys again – and it still feels awkward.

Cairo just feels like a city in big trouble. So many men just standing around, not even talking in small groups, just standing around at all hours of the day and night. Hussein says unemployment is about 30% amoung younger men – which tallies with what we see. Although when I look up unemployment in Egypt – officially it’s at 6.5%. Hmmm – hard to believe.

Although they are doing the 3rd world thing of throwing people at problems, not equipment as we would in the 1st world. There are donkeys used to pull carts – not just one or two, but clearly the obvious choice. And while I don’t see the thousands of motorbikes that I did in Thailand and Vietnam – there are ‘common’ taxis.

These are white vans that pick up folks standing on the highways. Hand signals determine where the van with it’s load of riders is heading so the folks needing a ride can quickly determine if this van will work for them. And everyone – old and young, men and women – use these services. Apparently a ride is 1/2 an Egyptian pound. We see crowds of people just standing around waiting – literally blocking an entire lane of the highway on each side.

And I can see that the much advertised Metro to the GEM is very closed.

Signing off to go to bed – tomorrow is another busy day.

The Soup Lady