Giza and Saqqara

  Cairo, Egypt
Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Tuesday, Oct 17, 2006 A day in the desert!

Tuesday morning I got up early to catch a cab to arrive in Giza before the pyramids opened at 8 AM. In an effort to minimize impact to the pyramid and due to the difficulty of climbing to the top, Egypt is now only issuing 300 tickets per day to climb up inside the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops). They sell 150 tickets when they open in the morning, and then offer another 150 tickets at 1:30 in the afternoon. Since the tour buses start lining up early, and approximately 8,000 people visit Giza daily, it was important to arrive first thing to secure one of the 150 tickets. After the usual Egyptian cabbie confusion as to which entrance to arrive at to get these tickets (of course you must first allow him to take you to the wrong side of the pyramids where he knows someone who can sell you a camel or horse ride, etc), figuring out where the ticket office is since all 8,000 tickets really are sold from a little hut that you trek through the sand to up on the side of the road, I was finally able to get both my entrance ticket to the site and one of the 150 tickets to actually enter the Great Pyramid.

Giza was amazing!

28 Pyramids of Menkaure, Khafre, Khufu and Queens

The site contains the Pyramids of Menkaure, Khafre, Khufu, and six smaller Queens pyramids. I was able to climb all the way up to the sarcophagus rooms of both the Great Pyramid of Khufu and the Pyramid of Khafre. Giza also includes some smaller tombs including the Tomb of Seshemnufer IV and Senegemib. This is also were you find the Sphinx. I hired a camel so that I could go off into the desert for a great view back at the pyramids!

31 A ride in the Desert at Giza

What an awesome experience!

After spending several hours touring Giza, I walked back into the town of Nazlet as-Samaan which is right outside the Giza gates. I got lunch (a falafel sandwich for 50 Piastres which is less than 10 cents) and a 10 Egyptian Pound haircut and goatee trim which is less than two US dollars. Forget about the haircut....I would have paid $20 USD just to sit in that chair for a half hour and have my head washed in that cold water sink!

Freshly trimmed and cooled down, I negotiated a cab to take me down to Saqqara to see the Step Pyramid of Zoser (which is the oldest standing pyramid in the world) along with Hypostyle Hall and Heb-Sed (Jubilee) Court at Saqqara.

57 The Step Pyramid of Zoser at Saqqara

I also toured the inside of the Tomb of Akhethotep and Ptahhotep. Since Saqqara was discovered buried under the desert sands, the clarity of the cartouches around Saqqara and the colors of the paints within the tomb of Akhethotep and Ptahhotep were both amazing. Since Saqqara is a bit remote, and less visited than Giza, I had negotiated with the cabbie to wait at the site while I toured and then take me back to the island of Zemalek in downtown Cairo. After 8 hours walking around the desert in Giza and Saqqara, a cocktail and dinner beside the Marriott pool was calling my name.

Earlier in the week I had traded emails with Couchsurfer Muni who attends the American University of Cairo. So after a few hours relaxing by the pool, I walked across the river and over to Tahrir Square to join her for a coffee across from the University. Muni is good friends with Garf who would soon become my 2nd host while visiting Egypt.

Tuesday was an absolutely incredible day and by itself would make the trip down to Cairo a huge success. I have always wanted to see the pyramids in Egypt and accomplished this goal today.