So now that i have a morning to myself (luther is sleeping. he has an awful cold) i figure i would update the blog. Everyone keeps asking me when i'm seeing the pyramids.
So one morning, a large group of teachers (and a masters student!) climbed into 2 taxis to take us to Giza and experience 'Egypt'.
Giza is quite an interesting place. Its not quite Cairo but its not quite outside of the city either. You literally enter through a gate and go through an instant transition of car traffic to camel traffic. The site isn't organized through the government so its a huge free-for-all for taxis, tou guides, food vendors, horse and camel tours, souvineers etc... 3 taxis full of young people are like fresh meat to these people. Luckily, we had organized a guide/driver through a friend we had made in our travels earlier. Driving up to the pyramids we had people banging on the windows demmanding us to buy their goods and ride their horses or camels. There were children hanging off the car yelling at us. The taxi drivers swerved a bit and yelled at them in Arabic to get them away. When we got up to the site, we got our tickets (50%student discount!!!) and trudged through the sand, past the cheesy (yet alluring..) souvineers and landed smack dab in front of the largest pyramid in Giza.
Giza is made up of 3 pyramids and a few museums and temples/burial chambers which are now just piles of rubble. I am sorry to inform everyone that it is now forbidden to climb the pyramids. :( We paid extra to go inside of the largest and entered through a tiny hole on the side. There isn't much to see because the entire room is gutted. There are no inscriptions inside of it either because it is so old. It is still an amazing thing to experience. Luther explained the book of the dead to us in Cheops burial chamber standing over his large granite tomb. It was eery and beautiful. I drive by the pyamids everyday and am baffled as to how the ancient egyptians managed to build such amazing structures in such heat. And sand. Have you ever walked through deep, dry sand?? its exhausting!! Some of the more interesting things i learned...
Khufus (or some people refer to him as 'cheops') pyramid is the largest pyramid of the three on the Giza plateau. He began construction while he was in his 20s.
He was also not the nicest guy around. As described by Herodotus: “Cheops moreover came, they said, to such a pitch of wickedness, that being in want of money he caused his own daughter to sit in the stews, and ordered her to obtain from those who came a certain amount of money." PSYCHO.
Slaves were not forced to make the pyramids.(we all know it was aliens. or angels.) Seriously though, Khufu actually provided food and clothing. According to Herodotus: “On the pyramid it is declared in Egyptian writing how much was spent on radishes and onions and leeks for the workmen'
The pyramids were covered in smooth limestone before people began tearing it off. The ancient writer, Strabo, said: “It seemed like a building let down from heaven, untouched by human hands.” It has been calculated that the original pyramid with its casing stones would act like gigantic mirrors and reflect light so powerful that it would be visible from the moon as a shining star on earth.
After a long day at the pyramids, we quickly drove over to the sphinx (yes, THAT sphinx. With the missing nose! His chin is in the british museum somewhere) We took a ton of cheezy touristy pictures and headed for the BEST view is ALLLLL of giza to witness the pyramids at dusk.
PIZZA HUT!
If you ask them nicely, (and buy lost of pizza) they will take you up to their rooftop where you can perfectly see the pyramids in the sunset. (And catch the overpriced Sphinx light show for free)
On our way home, we had already made friends with our taxi driver and he invited us all over for tea one weekend to meet his family. More on this next posting...
So one morning, a large group of teachers (and a masters student!) climbed into 2 taxis to take us to Giza and experience 'Egypt'.
Giza is quite an interesting place. Its not quite Cairo but its not quite outside of the city either. You literally enter through a gate and go through an instant transition of car traffic to camel traffic. The site isn't organized through the government so its a huge free-for-all for taxis, tou guides, food vendors, horse and camel tours, souvineers etc... 3 taxis full of young people are like fresh meat to these people. Luckily, we had organized a guide/driver through a friend we had made in our travels earlier. Driving up to the pyramids we had people banging on the windows demmanding us to buy their goods and ride their horses or camels. There were children hanging off the car yelling at us. The taxi drivers swerved a bit and yelled at them in Arabic to get them away. When we got up to the site, we got our tickets (50%student discount!!!) and trudged through the sand, past the cheesy (yet alluring..) souvineers and landed smack dab in front of the largest pyramid in Giza.
Giza is made up of 3 pyramids and a few museums and temples/burial chambers which are now just piles of rubble. I am sorry to inform everyone that it is now forbidden to climb the pyramids. :( We paid extra to go inside of the largest and entered through a tiny hole on the side. There isn't much to see because the entire room is gutted. There are no inscriptions inside of it either because it is so old. It is still an amazing thing to experience. Luther explained the book of the dead to us in Cheops burial chamber standing over his large granite tomb. It was eery and beautiful. I drive by the pyamids everyday and am baffled as to how the ancient egyptians managed to build such amazing structures in such heat. And sand. Have you ever walked through deep, dry sand?? its exhausting!! Some of the more interesting things i learned...
Khufus (or some people refer to him as 'cheops') pyramid is the largest pyramid of the three on the Giza plateau. He began construction while he was in his 20s.
He was also not the nicest guy around. As described by Herodotus: “Cheops moreover came, they said, to such a pitch of wickedness, that being in want of money he caused his own daughter to sit in the stews, and ordered her to obtain from those who came a certain amount of money." PSYCHO.
Slaves were not forced to make the pyramids.(we all know it was aliens. or angels.) Seriously though, Khufu actually provided food and clothing. According to Herodotus: “On the pyramid it is declared in Egyptian writing how much was spent on radishes and onions and leeks for the workmen'
The pyramids were covered in smooth limestone before people began tearing it off. The ancient writer, Strabo, said: “It seemed like a building let down from heaven, untouched by human hands.” It has been calculated that the original pyramid with its casing stones would act like gigantic mirrors and reflect light so powerful that it would be visible from the moon as a shining star on earth.
After a long day at the pyramids, we quickly drove over to the sphinx (yes, THAT sphinx. With the missing nose! His chin is in the british museum somewhere) We took a ton of cheezy touristy pictures and headed for the BEST view is ALLLLL of giza to witness the pyramids at dusk.
PIZZA HUT!
If you ask them nicely, (and buy lost of pizza) they will take you up to their rooftop where you can perfectly see the pyramids in the sunset. (And catch the overpriced Sphinx light show for free)
On our way home, we had already made friends with our taxi driver and he invited us all over for tea one weekend to meet his family. More on this next posting...
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| camel photo-bomb |
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| part-taking in ancient egyptian ritual of taking cheezy sphinx photos |
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| pizza hut + pyramids = an awesome day |
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