I had a really good sleep last night. I woke at 7am and got ready for my sightseeing tour today. I took me awhile to find where breakfast was being held. This hotel is spread out as apposed to being a high rise. Breakfast had been moved to the first floor of the main reception as apposed to the building at the other end of the resort. Nevertheless I eventually found it and made sure I was well fed.
My guide for today is Randa. A lovely egytian women who is married with two children of her own. She is also observing Ramaddan and said she finds it hard to fast when she is working, but just does it. It's her way of life.
First, it's off to the Pyramids in Giza. Like I said before, I saw them last night under the veil of the light show, but now I get to see them with my own eyes and when I finally do I am not disappointed. Beautiful, grand, ancient structures, thousands of years old and still here for all to see. All have been damaged by the winds of time, but still show an awe of majesty that is timeless. Since I can remember I've marvelled at their splendour and have been amazed by the cleverness of the the ancient egyptians, to have the ability to build these structures. Randa said that each Pyramid took approx 25 years to build, working only during the rainy season, which was 3 months of the year. No slaves were employed, all those that worked there were paid.
I even went inside one of the pyramids, it was the second tallest one. Don't ask me what it was called, I'm having a information brain overload. You can go inside to the burial tomb. Beware! The corridors down to the tomb are low and you have to bend down to walk. It's also a fair distance from the entrance, and very hot inside. Take water with you. You can dehydrate very easily.
Once in the tomb the ceiling is high and there is plenty of room to stand. All the artifacts that were inside had been removed, but the stone tomb was still there. I've been inside a Pyramid and I am absolutely amazed at how it was built. Just incredible. I spent about ten minutes before I had to leave because of the heat. By the time I returned to the surface, I was drenched in sweat, and had completely drunk all of my water. For 25 egyptian pounds (about $8 NZD), I thought is was worth it.
I didn't see Randa at the entrance so I went for a wonder to find her. Eventually I returned to the van, after having a good look around, and the driver said she wasn't there. So I went to the entrance to find her there looking very worried. She was relieved to see me safe and thought that something had happened to me in the tomb. She had sent some men down to look for me and when they returned they said I wasn't there. She was very puzzled. I told her what had happened and she laughed. I must have come out when she was distracted by a phone call she got.
We then went up to the Upper plateau and from there you can get a great view of the 3 pyramids. Great photo opportunity. It is there that she got a camel ride for me and now I have pictures of me on a camel with the pyramids in the background, all just for you Crystal and everyone else who told me I should do it.
Next it was down to the Sphinx. I had always imagined it being really huge. At 57 metres in length and 20 metres high, it is huge. I just though it was bigger. I'm not disappointed that it wasn't as big as I thought, I'm just not that surprised that the Pictures etc that I have seen have distorted my view of it. Randa said it was made of one big limestone rock and is completely solid.
Next were off to Memphis to see the open air museum with many artifacts of Ramesus II. It's not as big and grand as the Natural Museum of History in London, but it does boast a huge statue of Ramesus II and several other smaller ones. There is also the Sphinx of Memphis there. It is a very small version of the one in Giza carved from Alabster stone or Egyptian Marble. It still has it's nose.
Finally we went to Sakkara to see the First Pyramid ever built in about 3200bc ( I think that's right??) It's a step pyramid, or in other words it was built in stages and resembles six steps that lead to heaven. It's an incredible sight and from a certain advantage point you can see, in the south, more pyramids, and in the north some more too including those in Giza. It's amazing that these monuments were built so long ago and they still survive to this day.
All in all, I had a wonderful day visiting the last remaining wonder of the ancient world, a ride on a ship of the desert, and being in presence of incredible history.
Tonight, I'm off to a Dinner and Cruise, and then off to Luxor tomorow.
More thumbnails ...
![[11] Camel and Pyramids](/travel-photo/el_condor/asia_2005/1143747660/picture_032.jpg/tpod.html "[11] Camel and Pyramids")
