Egypt - Pyramids and statues and sphinxes oh my!

  

I mean...  What a place to spend my birthday :)

I mean, this was Chris’ bday trip, but I was definitely happy to be spending my birthday as the Sphinx - and the pyramids, and, and, and…. ;).  But really the Sphinx.  I’ve been fascinated by it forever.   AND - we got there early enough that we were *alone*!?!?!   At the Sphinx.  In Giza.   Like yes we’ve been lucky all along, but this was unbelievable.   And just So. Very. Cool.   

I still can't believe we had the place to ourselves, even for a few minutes!

Our guide does get full credit for that one.  So at Giza when you arrive it’s very structured, and unless you’re on a very large bus, you have to board a shuttle - so our lovely private mini-bus had to stay behind, and we boarded the shuttle.  Our guide was the one who told us to skip all the stops.  The scenic view.   The pyramids.  Really?

I think what fascinates me is how much is still unknown about the Sphinx

Yes really.  There’s a reason he’s in charge.  And that reason brought us to the Sphinx - before anybody else.  It. Was. Incredible.   I was disappointed we couldn’t go down between the paws; that’s the real dream but apparently requires significant price tag and special approvals.  Neither of which we had.  So side view it was, but still super cool.

Riding camels was not recommended by the tour company due to the standard of care of the animals.
We respected that, and continued on our way.

Next stop after the Sphinx was, of course, the pyramids.  The only remaining wonder of the ancient world.  Shockingly close to the city of Cairo.  The sand is soft and flowing, you can quickly start to imagine how the various tombs etc have been buried over time.  

It's almost disconcerting how close the city is to the pyramids

This was the busiest of all the places we’ve been in Egypt and yet still wouldn’t be considered crowded even by Canadian terms. If you wandered from the one or two prime tourists spots, you could easily get people-free images.

Yup, it's a pyramid.  Also note the lack of people!

We had the potential to go in the pyramid here OR the step pyramid.  When the guide described the two options (option one - extremely tight, will probably need to crawl, nothing at the end, but bragging rights for Giza; option two — can stand the whole way and something to see at the end.   

Where the ship we saw yesterday was found

Neither C nor I care much about bragging rights, so we chose the Step pyramid and at Giza just walked around the outside.   Which is still pretty friggin cool.   I have actually touched the great pyramid.  That’s a thing that’s a true statement now.  I still don’t really believe it.   We also saw where the ship we saw yesterday was unearthed.

We had a fair bit of guide-free time to explore

Then we hit up the viewpoint we drove past right at the start - not surprisingly, the view was still good.  But by now the Sphinx was crowded.  Guide win :).  

The view point was worth the stop!
*After* visiting the other areas ;)

Next up was the Imhotep Museum in Memphis.  It was tiny but had had a couple Very Large statues in it - including two of Ramses II (one standing outside, one lying flat inside) and the second-biggest Sphynx. 

I got to be in front of this one ;). Not quite the same, but still!

Most of these were not in great condition.  The outdoor pieces were all found around the Memphis area. 

Outdoor Ramses II

The most fascinating part about this is that it’s still interesting after everything else we’ve seen ar experienced on this trip - also, I did get to stand in front of this one ;)

This one was indoor Ramses II.

Then on to the Step Pyramid at Saqqara - which is the oldest cut stone architecture in the world.   

Unedited.  Count the people.

This one - A, we were pretty much the only people there.  

Many areas to explore around the pyramids;
several of which we could go in

B, we could wander around - lots of other tombs around it and an interesting wander.  

Inside the pyramid!

And C - we got to go inside?!?!   What an experience.  The entrance has reinforced steel beams, the rest is as it originally was.  There’s a coffin at the end, buried deep down a shaft.  We were the only ones in there at that time.

At the end there was this giant shaft, with the coffin at the bottom.
Don't drop your phone!

And to top it all off, when we got back to the hotel, this arrived at the door :).  

This was an extremely nice touch.
Gonna admit I laughed when there was only one fork ;)

Other random photos:

At the entrance to they Pyramids and the Sphinx,
where you catch the shuttle

It felt almost surreal

Heading into the Step Pyramid

Walking around the Step Pyramid

Step Pyramid

Inside the step pyramid

At the step pyramid before reaching "the front lawn" for lack of a better description
Several of these pillars that are no longer supporting anything had dogs sleeping on top of them.
I have no idea how they got up there.

Exploring at Giza

Inside the step pyramid, looking towards the entrance