The Majestic Pyramids of Egypt

Eric and Laura at the pyramids of Egpyt!

After an 8 hour bus ride (we had to run to catch it, in the 100 degree hot and dry Sinai desert air, with our backpacks on…ugggh), we finally mad it to Cairo. We got a taxi to our hostel, and checked in, which was quite an experience. Apparently in Cairo, the taxis don’t use meters. If you try to talk price with them before you enter the cab, they know you are a foreigner, and you will be overcharged. The way ti works is, you get in, tell the driver your destination, and only upon arrival, do you pay him what you think is a good fare, which is usually about 5 Egyptian pounds, or $1. He will always ask for more, but only if he gets out of his cab is he really serious. it’s a very interesting system, and you always have to have exact change.


Eric on the bus.


Eric and Laura in front of the bus.


Our hostel, called Dahab Hostel, is located on the rooftop of a 6 story building, about 10 minutes walk from the infamous Egyptian Museum. The guys that work there ar great, and very helpful. They have a lot of cute cats running around. The whole place is setup like a beach camp, so there are pictures of fish and plants everywhere. It is a pretty neat place, however, after the bus ride, we crashed ASAP. The next day, we took care of some business, went to the post office, and applied for our Tourist Visas for India. We then went shopping for a bit, and Eric picked up an Egyptian Soccer Jersey.


The next day, we had booked a private car to take us to the different pyramid sites south of the city of Cairo. Our first stop, of course, were the fabulous pyramids of Giza. We first stopped at the Sphinx and marveled at its grander, before moving on to get a closer look at the bigger pyramids. We also got a bit of a guided tour by a local guy looking for tips. So we threw him a few bucks and moved on. Eric excitedly wore his new Egyptian football jersey, which unhappily gave ever tout, camel driver, and shop owner something to try to get his attention with. One thing you have to realize is that everyone in the tourism industry in Egypt is looking for a tip. Anyone will happily show you a hidden statue or take your picture, but they all want a tip/bribe, called baksheesh. Even the tourist police will try to get tips for taking pictures, or showing you neat picture spots.


It is HOT in Egypt. It must be 120 degrees F outside. The day of the pyramids, we drank 6 liters of water in 6 hours. WOW! But, there are not that many tourists here, since this is understandably the low season, so it works out nicely.


Eric and Laura in front of the Nile, on the way to the Giza Pyramids

Eric and Laura in front of the Sphinx

Eric and Laura in front of an ancient egyptian tomb.

Taking a break on a pyramid

Eric in front of the pyramids.

Eric and Laura sitting on a sarcophagus in a tomb on the Giza plateau.

Laura exploring an ancient necropolis

Taking a break on a coffin, in front of the pyramid of Khufu.

Eric and Laura, on the great pyramid of Cheops.

Eric in front of the sphinx and the pyramids of Khufu and Menkhefre.


We had lunch at Pizza Hut, not because we were craving American food, but because it had the best view of the sphinx and pyramids. You could tell the staff were american trained, but didn’t have the service thing down quite right, because they were slightly awkward. But they were trying…



Our next stop was at Saqqara, where Zoser’s step pyramid (the first pyramid) was built by an architect named Imhotep. It was really awesome seeing a huge part of history. We were also led through some old kingdom tombs, which were very intricately decorated. Because of its large size, this site is still being excavated. There were several pyramids, and dozens of tombs, as well as a few temples. There were quite a few things we didn’t have time to check out, so Saqqara definitely warrants a return trip.


Eric and Laura in a tomb at Saqqara.

Laura in a tomb at Saqqara.

Laura discovering some buried hieroglyphics.

Laura, inside the big temple next to Zoser's step pyramid at Sa.

Laura, in front of the step pyramid.

Eric in front of the step pyramid.

Then we went to the site of ancient Memphis, the administration capital of the Egyptian kingdom. While not much was left of the city, due to it being in a flood plain, as well as the locals using it as a quarry, the museum was interesting and the outdoor statue park was impressive. Once could certainly imaging the huge city that once sat on the banks of the Nile.

Laura in front of a colossal statue of Ramses II, at Memphis

Laura in front of a colossal statue of Ramses II at Memphis

Laura and Eric in front of a giant alabaster sphinx at Memphis.

Sacoughogus of Amenhotp III

Our last stop was at a site called Dashur, which had only recently been opened to the public. Until about 7 years ago, this area was all a military base. We saw the red, black and bent pyramids there. While the black pyramid was badly eroded, the bent pyramid and red pyramid, built by the Pharaoh Snefru were in great shape. We crawled the 180 feet down into the red pyramid, which was an eerie experience. There was an overpowering stench of ammonia, which occurs naturally, and it was hot and humid. Also, imaging countless tons of stone above your head in a 4000 year old structure is quite humbling, ha-ha. After that, we went back to our hotel, had a quiet dinner, showered, and headed for the train station for our trip to Aswan. But that’s another blog!!!

Eric in front of the Red Pyramid

Eric down inside the Red Pyramid.

Eric and Laura in front of the Red Pyramid, which we climbed down into...

Eric in front of the Bent Pyramid.

One more thing. We’ve been to a lot of places in the past few months, and been in a lot of taxis on a lot of roads. We thought we had seen some pretty outrageous driving to this point. Up until now, we thought the Italians were the craziest drivers, by only a small margin. However, now we know that Cairo drivers take the cake, and even the ice cream, when it comes to insane driving. There are no lanes, no right of way, and tailgating is not an option. Even the roundabouts don’t have a common direction. Traffic lights are more of a guideline than a rule, while is routinely broken all at high speed. Oh yeah, and almost none of the cabs came with seat belts. Mr. Toad’s wild ride, indeed!

A castle in the middle of a lake. We saw this from the bus, and thought it was awesome.

Laura at McDonald's, with a tasty McArabia Sandwich



Dont forget to un check your spelling.

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