The Great Pyramids of Giza!

On our Middle Eastern trek in 2008 Lindsay and I spent a few days in Cairo, Egypt. Of course one of the biggest draws of this place is the incredible and iconic Pyramids of Giza. On about our second day we decided to make the trek over to the Pyramids. They are only a few minutes outside of Cairo in the city of Giza which looks/feels alot like Cairo. We walked from our cute little guesthouse to one of the Hilton's along the Nile. We liked going there for the Air Conditioning and the ATM. :) Walking out we found a very nice taxi driver so we decided to ask him if he could take us to the Pyramids. He of course almost jumped for joy at the chance to take two westerners out to the countries most iconic monuments. The drive was quick and painless and actually very enjoyable. Riding in taxi's and getting to see the day to day routine of the locals at street level is one of my favorite traveling activities. About 5 minutes before getting to the Pyramids our taxi driver stopped at what he called "a museum." We were aware that this is a very common scam in Egypt so kindly refused and said "only Pyramids please." After a minute of trying to convince us he finally kept going. We eventually spotted the Pyramids and it was almost a "surreal" experience seeing these structures in person. One of the things that struck us the most is how close they are to the city. One minute you are in a crazy Egyptian city and the next you are staring at the Pyramids. As the cab driver stopped we knew we were in for another scam. He pulled behind his "friends house" and we could see numerous camel and horse touts (men trying to sell you a ride) waiting for us. We immediately jumped out of the cab, paid our driver as fast as possible and literally ran away from the touts. All the while they were yelling "you need ride?", "Camel?", "tickets," etc, etc. We eventually found the small entry gate and began our approach. The first structure we saw was the amazing Sphinx (large statue with Pharaoh face and tiger body). It was smaller then we thought it was going to be but it was just as beautiful as we imagined. We then spent the rest of the day exploring the 3 giant pyramid structures. We walked around all 3 and even went inside one of them. Going inside was one of the most uncomfortable experiences of our lives! :) You have to crouch down as you walk through these incredibly tight tunnels. It eventually opens up into a "tomb room" which was completely empty but very cool. We could not wait to get out of there as it was INCREDIBLY hot and we were getting very claustrophobic. We came out of that Pyramid just dripping and purchased a warm coke and water from one of the millions of young Egyptians selling them. We noticed that there was a hill off in the distance and we knew if we could get out there than we would have an amazing view. Dipite Lindsay getting a little frustrated with the walk we made our trek through the sandy desert and after about 15minutes we were on the hill and were treated with a view that can only be described in one word...BREATHTAKING! The 3 pyramids stood tall and strong in the distance and the blue Egyptian sky was the perfect backdrop. We literally burned through our camera memory card and eventually made our way back to the main tourist area. Towards the end of the day we were so hot and tired that we paid the extra money to go into a building that displayed an ancient boat that had been discovered a few years ago. Although this was cool to see we were mostly excited about the AC and sat next to it for a good 20 minutes! :)

The worst part about seeing the pyramids are the "touts." These are men, and sometimes women, who want to sell you something. Whether it is postcards, camel ride or cheap souvenirs they will simply not leave you alone. Numerous times our patience was tested to the end as they would follow us around saying "good price," "you need a ride," etc, etc. This mixed with the heat got so frustrating that both of us would get very angry and say in our meanest voice things like: "No", "Never", "I don't want it", Etc. On our short walk out to the "hill with a view" we were followed by a camel tout the entire way! We also saw one elderly tourist women who stepped off the bus and was so annoyed and uncomfortable from the touts that she just got right back on. Although this was incredibly annoying we were able to laugh about it once the whole experience was over.

Seeing the Pyramids is a once in a lifetime opportunity and it is not just the structures themselves. You have to experience the heat, touts and overall feeling of exhaustion that inevitably accompanies this experience. All in all we thought it was one of the most amazing travel experiences we will ever have.