Egypt: Day 4 (Great Pyramid of Giza and Saqqara Pyramids on a very HOT day)

Day 4 was exciting because we visited the Great Pyramids! They were GREAT and definitely worth seeing. There are three pyramids in Giza and THE Great Pyramid was built as the burial place for pharaoh Khufu and was 479 feet high until the top white casing was stolen - it's now about 450 feet high. The medium size pyramid, Pyramid of Khafre, was built for Khufu's son. The smallest pyramid, Pyramid of Menkaura, was built for Khafre's son.

Notice how small everyone looks in the background.

It was a HOT day, reaching 114 deg F! There are a lot of "vendors" selling postcards, fake Papyrus bookmarks, Arab-type hats, sunglasses, jewelry, etc. all around the pyramids. Also there were Egyptians walking around and conversations would go something like:

Egyptian: American?
Us: Yes.
Egyptian: Ohhh! OBAMA!!! (and they would motion to take your picture)

They would insist on taking your picture but of course it's not free! We never got our picture taken with them because we heard they would demand tips for taking your picture and would not give your camera back until you gave them an amount they were okay with it.

Dave, on the Great Pyramid.

Missy, on the Great Pyramid (in the red/pink t-shirt).

This is the middle pyramid, Pyramid of Khafre.

Inside of the pyramids, one may think it's decorated but there's nothing fancy about it! More creepy, actually. If you have a little bit of claustrophobia, going inside of the pyramid would not be a good idea. To get in, you go through a very small opening (about 4 ft tall, 3 1/2 ft wide) so you're crouching for a good portion of it. It's very hot and muggy and was quite the experience. You can then walk at a normal height (not Dave though) and then it's tall at the tomb location. Getting out, you have to go the same way as the people entering. It was a funny, crazy experience and unfortunately, no cameras allowed inside.

Now a view of all the pyramids from a panoramic location.

***

It was now time to ride the camels! By ride, it simply means get on the camel, walk for 1 1/2 minutes, take a picture and then walk back. The cost was $5 and then $1 for tip.

Missy's camel.

One of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Dave's camel getting up.

Dave's camel driver gave him a cool pose with the pyramids in the background.

My camel driver instructed me to give the peace sign, probably because I'm Asian.

Us.

My camel driver was not very nice. Dave and I were together the whole time and when it was time to get off, he purposely brought me away from him (and other people). After I got off, he wouldn't give me my camera but I insisted no tip without my camera back. He kept saying "$10 dollars, $10 dollars...". I stood firm and grabbed it from him and then gave him his $1 tip and insisted that I pay more. Fawzy said $1 tip was more than enough.

However, Dave had a good experience with his camel driver. The camel driver let him go fast with the camel only (the driver wasn't pulling the camel). He too asked for more tips but that's just part of the culture, I guess.

***

We then took the nice, air-conditioned bus to the Sphinx. It's within walking distance but it was very nice to get out of the heat!

Lots of tourists. "The three pyramids in Giza are the oldest and biggest tourist sites ever, and they've been attracting visitors since before Greek historian Herodotus names the biggest of the three as one of the Seven Wonders of the World."

1/2 human & the other 1/2 cat.

The Benson's!, Pyramid and Sphinx.

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For lunch we stopped at a buffet restaurant. They had really good falafel which made us happy.

Interesting story:
We sat next to a couple at lunch that had a bad experience at the Great Pyramids which they shared with us. A small group of locals took a digital SLR camera from the husband's neck. They demanded money to get the camera back. The wife was getting money out and they grabbed $30-$40 from the wife's hand, gave the camera back and ran off. $30-$40 is a very decent amount of Egyptian pounds.

***

We then went on the optional tour (more $) to the Saqqara Pyramids. These pyramids are older than the Great Pyramids. They were built by Imhotep for the 3rd dynasty king Dsojer (2667-2648 B.C.). The Saqqara Pyramids are several pyramids but the most popular one is the Step Pyramid. Fawzy said something like "to fully appreciate the Great Pyramids, you have to go to the Saqqara Pyramids" and this was because these older pyramids represent important elements in engineering and without them, the Great Pyramids could have not been possible.

Notice the random dog on the pillar.

Tombs.

Step Pyramid.

This was our first experience with the hot temperatures of Egypt. It was very hot and very windy. Sweat + Desert Sand + Wind = Feeling of grainy sand on any exposed skin. A shower felt really nice after this excursion!

It was windy. Check it out for yourself.