Pyramids of Giza

Post written by Laura

Located in Giza on a rocky plateau on the outskirts of Cairo, the Egyptian Pyramids have stood for around 4,500 years. As one of the original wonders of the ancient world, they are among the largest structures ever built.

I was fortunate to visit them as part of a short break to Cairo with my friend Bridget, this being the second section of our little trip.

We were staying in Giza and had several options for visiting the Pyramids. Having firmly ruled out the option to visit by camel riding or horse and cart we had considered getting an uber to the entrance and walking around by ourselves. However after discussing this with our hotel reception staff, we decided the best option would be for a driver take us in his taxi. I hadn’t realised that cars, buses and any vehicle can enter the site of the Pyramids and drive people around!

For a cost of $25 US in cash per person we had booked him the day before for 9 am. The following morning it was misty which is often the case first thing in the morning during December so with poor visibility we re-arranged this for 10 am by which time we hoped the mist would have cleared!

In the meantime we had breakfast in the hotel and as we were staying next to the ‘Sphinx entrance’ to the site we watched from our balcony as morning preparation commenced!

Muhammad Ali our driver arrived and thankfully by 10 am the mist had started to lift. He drove us along the busy streets of Giza for about 10 minutes to the main entrance and here we purchased our tickets by credit card (550 EGP so around £14.20 each).

As we entered the site, Muhammad gave us some information and explained the names, heights and history of the 3 main pyramids. From left to right above are Khufu, Khafre and Menkaura. When first constructed at 147 m tall, Khufu is the largest and is known as the ‘Great Pyramid’. But due to erosion and vandalism, its height has been reduced to 137.5 m today.

Our first stop was at the panoramic view point and while still hazy this was actually a blessing as it hid the city of Cairo in the background! We soon realised this was one big advantage of having a local driver who knew what he was doing to ensure we had the best experience of visiting the pyramids.

Mohammad ensured we looked the part and took some perspective photos of us!

The rest of the morning involved a mix of walking and driving with Muhammad taking us to strategic stopping points and waiting in his car while Bridget and I explored the 3 main pyramids. We didn’t go inside any of them as firstly it didn’t really appeal to either of us, we were quite happy to view them from the outside and secondly there are limited tickets each day which would have meant queuing.

As we explored the site I was surprised that we didn’t get much hassle at all from vendors. There were a few stalls selling dusty souvenirs and the odd camel owner asking if we wanted a camel ride but it was pretty light touch compared with the hard core harassment I remembered from my visit to some of the places in Luxor in 2005.

Nobody really knows how the pyramids were built 4,500 years ago and it remains a mystery how such a magnificent feat was accomplished. Not only the physical building using blocks weighing several tons, but the precision of the structures and the alignment with the stars is incredible. Apparently even using modern technology, knowledge and skills, it would be impossible to re-create the pyramids today.

A couple of tips:

Climbing any of the pyramids is strictly forbidden and they are guarded by the police. If you attempt to climb a pyramid you could face a hefty fine and a month in prison.

If you need the restroom while there, those located near the panoramic viewpoint are recommended. For a cost of 10 EGP (25 p) they were very clean, hardly used and even had soap and paper hand towels!

Giza is around 17 km from the centre of Cairo and as the mist had cleared, Cairo was clearly visible in the background.

For the final part of our visit Muhammad drove us downhill for just under a km to visit the Sphinx. He led us through the temple courtyard which surrounds the Sphinx and gave us some information.

The Sphinx is one of the largest monuments of the world measuring 20 meters high and 73 meters long. Built around the same time as the pyramids it is also one of the oldest at around 4,500 years old.

Muhammad explained the reason the Sphinx doesn’t have a nose is that it was shot off by the French and now resides in the British Museum… hmmm… a quick check afterwards shows the nose is still missing and there are several theories about what happened to it.

That concluded our 3 hour visit and by now it was lunchtime. Mohammad offered to take us to a papyrus factory to which we agreed. He drove us out of the Sphinx exit of the site, past our hotel and he asked if we both like mango, explaining Egyptian mango is naturally sweet and is the best. As we both agreed we like mango, the next thing he did was to pull over to a little shop and buy us a freshly squeezed mango juice each. Which tasted amazing 🙂

He took us to the papyrus factory and we had the obligatory demo which lasted for about 3 minutes. We were given mint tea and shown some beautiful examples of papyrus pictures for sale. After a bit of hard sell, I declined and came away with a complimentary book mark!

Accommodation

While the pyramids are only 17 km from downtown Cairo, it can take at least 30 minutes to drive there due to heavy traffic. We had decided it would be best to stay in Giza for this part of the trip.

We stayed in the Shadow Pyramids Inn which is highly recommended. Not only for it’s amazing panoramic view of all of the 3 main pyramids but also for the high quality of the rooms and hospitality of the staff. And all for just $60US in cash for both of us! We had a clean and comfortable room with a fantastic view and this price also included a substantial breakfast.

Upon arrival we were shown to the roof terrace of the hotel, seated at a table overlooking the pyramids and given a cool and refreshing welcome mint and lemon drink.

Having just arrived from 2 days in the desert and 2 days without wifi, we relaxed for a couple of hours on the roof terrace, uploading photos, doing general phone stuff and watching the sunset.

Our twin room had two large queen size beds and a balcony which overlooked the pyramids. Later that evening we had a delicious dinner back on the roof terrace where I had a fabulous shrimp curry but unfortunately there was no alcohol for sale in the hotel so no glass of wine to accompany it.

Summary

I felt we made an excellent choice by arranging our visit with a local driver, something we did once we got there. This was much cheaper than an organised tour and we had the freedom to spend as much or as little time at each of the stops as we wished. And the site of the pyramids is large, so had we chosen to walk around the same places it would have taken us all day!

How incredible to have finally visited the Pyramids, something I’ve had in mind for many years but never actually got there for one reason or another. I booked the flights about 6 months ago having been inspired by a documentary on ancient Egypt. My philosophy is to just do it! Do what you want to do when you have the opportunity. So I booked flights the following day.

One final tip:

When planning a visit to the Pyramids of Giza I suggest to consider arranging this for a Wednesday to Sunday night to enable you to experience the Sound and Light Show. Unfortunately we were there on a Monday night and so missed it but apparently this is quite spectacular and can be seen from the roof terrace of the Shadow Pyramids Inn.