Day 2, Part 2

Just outside the Tomb of Hemon

Just arrived and ready to tackle the Pyramids.


Notice the little graves. Over to the left is the Pyramid of Khafre and to the right is Khufu. The Tomb of Hemon is to out right, off picture.

So just off the Khufu pyramid are these little, what I presume are, tombs and graves and just outside the door of a much larger building called the Tomb of Hemon, stands a guard. So we take a look around and follow some people in, the guard gives me the stern "no photography" and I make a mental note to make sure no one is around me when I do. I get the no-photography of paintings, light damages them... but stone? Their photography rules are draconian around the Giza pyramids, no tripods either... which I'll get to later.

Anyway, there they are. The real deal. Hieroglyphics carded into the walls, none of which I understand but wished I did. I snapped a few photos, knowing that it would probably look like crap with the flash. But still, I mean, Hieroglyphics, you gotta get a picture of them, right?

I really have no idea what's going on in this picture, but it was the biggest drawing so it seemed best for photographing. A tour guide later told us they would put pictures of animals to be eaten in the after life on the walls, I presume this is what's going on here.

There was a little wooden ramp off to the side and it looked like it was meant to be climbed on, so naturally, we did. It took us up onto a platform, dimly lit by electric lights tied to extension cords. There's a 3-4 foot wall jut ahead, and poking out of the top were the two poles of a ladder.

"Wow... you can go down there?" I said and looked over the edge and down the rickety ladder at a good 8 foot drop. "I'm going."

I later found out that this particular shape of the stone was the sign that someone was buried behind this part of the wall. It was designed this way to allow the movement of the person's ka or spirit.


And there you get a sense of the color of the tomb... and James.


So I climbed down this ladder into a reasonably large room, lots of Hieroglyphics from the floor to the ceiling. I started taking pictures and checking the place out, James got his eye full and headed back up the ladder. Then he gave me the warning that the guard was coming. I wasn't entirely sure what would happen if I got busted taking pictures where I shouldn't but I didn't really want to find out. So I stashed the camera back int he bag and started the ascent out of the room. The guard pointed some stuff out, nothing of real consequence, and showed us the matching hieroglyphic symbols to some letters. Then, not surprisingly, asked us for a tip on our way out. For our money, he let me take a photo of the room. Yippee.

So then, upon exit, we found our driver and he took us over to the distant hill where you get a nice view of all three pyramids. I casually avoided the Bedouins and took to the wall which seemed the best place to take photos and also the most desolate. I had my tripod with me and it made me nervous to leave it standing there while I posed for a photo. I snapped a few and took an adventurous pose, one foot on the wall with my backpack slung over my shoulders and the pyramids of Egypt in the distance. It's one of my favorites from the trip.

From left to right: Khufu's Pyramid or the Great Pyramid, Khafre Pyramid and Menkaures Pyramid (the red granite one).


From the hill in the far back, we had started on the opposite side of Khufu's Pyramid (the one without the stonework on top)... good thing we took the car.



Love this photo.


After that, we hit the small pyramid of Menkaure. Though it was tiny in comparison with the two giants next to it, when it originally stood it gleamed red from the red granite that provided the finish layer of stone. Upon seeing the red stones (which my pictures don't convey so well), tumbled and on their sides at the base of the pyramid, I recalled the what I had read in Paul Johnson's The Civilization of Ancient Egypt; mentioning its uniqueness in contrast with the other Pyramids of Egypt.

Not surprisingly, the armed guard at the base of the pyramid offered to take our photo for us.. for an unmentioned fee. I counteroffered to take his picture with James at the pyramid, you know, cause he had that awesome assault rifle in his hands. Despite my continued requests, he politely declined.
The stone in the foreground is red granite, though the photos don't show it so well. Beyond it you can see the underlying stone structure that the red granite would have been positioned on.


Menkaure's Pyramid from the distance, to the right of it are the less impressive Pyramids of the Queens.


I may keep referring to it as the small Pyramid, but this ought to give you a sense of the scale.

Day 2, Part 1

So we woke up late. Though I wasn't sure that I wanted to complain... the trip had been exhausting and I didn't mind a few more hours of sleep. But after a few minutes I was ready to get out and see the pyramids. I'd travelled so far and finally I was going to see what so many and so few have seen. They were one of the great wonders of the world, some of the oldest and largest structures of the old world; a testament to the greatness and glory of a civilization long gone. I hoesntly couldn't believe I was going to see them and touch them. Maybe go in them...

So we woke up quick, cleaned up and opened the door into the hotel. The first thing that struck me was that our room must have been the temperature of a meat locker cause it was pretty warm inside the hotel. Who knew how hot it was outside. We caught a complimentary breakfast from the hotel, which included some fruit, yogurt and toast. Nothing too big but that was alright, I expected to be on the move.

The lady at the hotel recommended we use their travel guides who would follow the hotel's recommended plan. It sounded decent, so we went with it and payed up front, so to ensure we didn't get overcharged by the taxi man. The taxi man was kind, gave us the usual spiel and had us on our way. James seemed to think that the driving was much calmer than our initial ride in, but I could see it was still quite crazy. Cars intermingled with donkeys and carts, no lanes and no laws.



The first stop after crossing the Nile and before arriving at Giza was a papyrus museum. I found it pretty interesting, they showed you how to make Papyrus and then tried to sell everything possible to you. Of which they were somewhat successful, I mean, I'm not going to leave Egypt without buying papyrus, right?

So then there they were. Between the dirty and blocky buildings were the pyramids of Egypt. Stuart had told me not to get too excited about them cause he found them quite disappointing, and I hadn't hyped them up in the lead up to the trip. I'd seen major historical monuments before, I've over hyped them and ruined the surprise and awe. That's the trouble of our society and this communication and information revolution we live in. It's easy to become desensitized to the grandeur of the world. But not this time. There it was in all its immensity, I couldn't even see the other two.


Now at the base of this giant four-sided work of art were countless Bedouins. I've dealt with them before in Jordan and Israel. They're a pain in ass cause they don't give up until they've sold you some inconsequential piece of plastic courtesy of the factories in China. Don't be rude, but be firm and walk away. Ignore their words. So I set about my buesiness of walking around and taking photos and no more than two minutes they've sighted us and headed towards James and I.

"Just keep walking and don't say a word to them." I said to him and I kept going.

But, poor James, he didn't listen and gave them the polite "No Thanks."

Big mistake, you're on your own now. I thought. So I kept on walking but tried to keep an eye on him just to make sure nothing serious happened. There he was, with a handful of trinkets and some goofy hat on his head, getting his picture taken with two Bedouins and looking a very false happy. So I sat down and waited until they walked away from him, having sold a load of junk to him.

He said to me, "I just bought a bunch of stuff I don't even want. But at least I didn't manage to get one of those tea towels."

I laughed. Everyone has to learn, sometime the hard way. I tell him to just keep on walking and that you're going to have to be a little rude because these people do not give up. It's not like England, the rules of commerce don't apply in Egypt. So I hoped he took a lesson from all that and we wouldn't have to deal with it again.