Pyramids, Pyramids, etc.

Ok, at last I can really say I've been to Egypt. I have pictures of myself in front of THE Pyramids. So, it's official: I've been to Egypt.

Never mind the fact that I'd seen roughly 20 pyramids before ever setting foot on the Giza plateau. Whatever.

Koos, Brenda, and Gui and I headed to Giza on Saturday (28.Nov.09) It's completely insane up there. You think the pyramids are out in the middle of the desert. But no, they're right on top of the city. And the whole area is just crawling with tourists and Egyptians who want your money. "You want camel ride? Maybe later?" You just have to ignore them, but it's rather annoying.

The site isn't all bad, of course. The pyramids really are beautiful, and huge. The Sphinx is also really cool. There's a pretty nice mastaba you can go into. It's a pretty compact site, so it's easy to do in half a day. It's a cool place. Though, not even close to being my favorite so far. :-) I'm used to far fewer tourists. :-)

Afterwards, Brenda and Gui headed home, and Koos and I headed out to Dahshur. For me this site is much much more powerful. Here you have the first true pyramid (the Red Pyramid) and the Bent Pyramid. In addition you have a couple of Middle Kingdom pyramids (the Black Pyramid and the Pyramid of Amenemhet II) I like Middle Kingdom pyramids. :-)

To add to the glory of the site, there were almost no tourists. Much better that way. Koos and I made our way to the back of the Red Pyramid (there's supposed to be a cache back there somewhere, though we couldn't find it) and explored a little bit. A guard got a bit suspicious of us, but I just showed my permit, and explained that we were researching, and he smiled and let us continue. :-) Nice to have a tiny little bit of power.

Then we went inside the Red Pyramid. The hardest part of being an Egyptian explorer is getting into things. Consider this: the tunnel leading into this tomb is about 3ft high, at an angle of about 27º (which is to say, REALLY STEEP) and about 200ft (62m) long. And ends in complete darkness. Yeah. Ouch.

And totally awesome. :-p

So, I'm glad to say that Koos not only finally saw some ancient stuff, but finally also managed to climb around in a mastaba and a pyramid. :-) Too bad we can both hardly walk thanks to said exploring. Indiana Jones must have had thighs of steel.