Monday, February 16, 2009

The Pyramids

I awoke early and headed out to Giza to see the pyramids in a taxi. I was preparing to be disappointed, expected to be but I was in for a surprise.

My driver talked incessantly the whole way and whilst he was perfectly pleasant i wished i could be impolite and cease the chatting. I was not feeling well, my body ached and my arm was still really sore.

I was fascinated looking at the enormity of the city as we drove ... it seems to go on forever. I thought it was interesting that there seemed to be hundreds of unfinished high rise apartment buildings on the way...partly lived in but with windows and doors missing on some floors ...the result of the credit crunch perhaps? I asked my driver who told me that the government only taxes the owners when a building is completed and so to avoid tax people live in half finished dwellings....bizarre.

My first glimpse of the pyramids came from the highway and I was inspired, they seemed to rise out of the dessert and they are truly are massive.

I was captivated and wanted more.

On entry, i managed to avoid a few touts ad tricksters and was in. I could not help thinking that they are the first building i have ever seen that is better in the flesh than in photos. They are majestic and it is easy to see why they attract so many visitors each year and have done for the last 4500 years. I was struck by their size- one of them is almost 150 metres tall with stones bigger than i am.

I cant even begin to explain how wonderful they are... but will say this.... Go there and see them for yourself... you will not be disappointed...they live up to the hype and then some.

It is strange how the sit on the edge of the desert but still in the middle of the city ...

After my trip to Giza I was feeling really unwell for the first time on my trip. I decided not to take my night train to Aswan as planned, forgoing my 25 USD ticket...I was annoyed at myself for being so unwell but I had a fever and was worried I might have caught something nasty... malaria or dengue fever were top of my list. I contemplated going to the hospital but decided i would assess things in the morning. And so i slept.. could of got a gold medal for my efforts as i woke up more than 18 hours later in a cold sweet.

I feel better now, not 100% better but well enough to leave the hotel and walk around a little. I spent the day in the Coptic Christan quarter and loved the gorgeous old buildings of old Cairo. I visited some Churches and saw where king Herod escaped too. I have now canned the idea of going to Luxor and instead am off to Alexandria for 3 days before i head to Kenya. I thought some time by the sea my do me good.

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