It's difficult to convey the experience in words, and the pictures are only a little bit better. The thing that surprised me the most is just how big they are. The above picture is what you usually see, but the next few pictures are successively closer and they help to put things in perspective a bit.
The big hole in the center is the original entrance, and just underneath is a small hole that is the current entrance.
You can kind of see people walking into the entrance towards the bottom left of the picture. We did go inside but we weren't allowed to take cameras with us. If you ever decide to try this make really sure that you aren't in the least bit claustrophobic. I didn't think that I was, but I did have a few moments of panic in the first section where you can't stand anywhere near upright as you proceed up the pathway!
After seeing the Great Pyramid we drove past the other two pyramids to a plateau just above the site. This is where you can see all three big pyramids together and some of the smaller ones as well.
The pyramid to the left is the Great Pyramid, the one on the right is actually smaller- just higher up on the plateau. On the right hand pyramid you can see the smooth limestone that used to cover all the pyramids. If you remember from one of my first posts, Saladin, a ruler of Egypt during the crusades, removed the limestone from the pyramids to make a mosque.
The smaller and less well preserved pyramids in this picture are queens' pyramids. Apparently all the good rock was gone by the time they got around to building these!
Our guide found us a reliable camel guide so we took a ride on a camel named Ramses. Here is the view from his back. (If you want a better picture just let us know.) I thought it was a joke made by tourists, but it seems that the rumor is true. If you don't get a reliable camel guide they will charge you one price to get on to take a ride and another (much increased) price to get off again. You might be able to tell from the picture just how far away the ground was and how difficult it would be to get off without help!
Our final stop in Giza was the Sphinx. We hear that the Sphinx is the main character in a sound and light show every evening that tells the history of the pyramids. We hope to go see it once even if it might be a bit silly.
We also toured the Egyptian Museum on Friday but no cameras are allowed inside. You will just have to come visit to see that one!
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