As long as I can remember, I have wanted to see the pyramids and Egypt in general has always been on my top three wish list. After months of anticipation, I finally got to cross it off my list on a private tour of the Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis, and Sakkara.
Our guide for the day, Akhmet (though he prefers to go by the name David Beckham), is an Egyptologist and archaeologist, spending his days showing tourists the sites of Cairo or on his knees sweeping vast quantities of sand from ancient sites with a tiny little brush. Working for the Egyptian government ten days a month, he searches for lost treasures and was a man who clearly loves his job.
Leaving our hotel behind, the thirty-minute drive to Giza was predictably terrifying, as every experience in Cairo roads tends to be. Along the way Becks, as he will be forever known, told us a little about Cairo, a brief of the history of the city and casually pointed out a few of the famous landmarks. Chatting away oblivious to our surroundings, we crossed over the river and Becks nonchalantly mentioned “Oh, there’s the Pyramids … ”
Just like that, there they were. Only a few kilometers away, and literally a few meters from the edge of Cairo city limits, the Pyramids loom on the horizon for all to see.
When you see photos of them, they always seem to be in the middle of the desert with no sign of civilization around. Surely they are miles and miles from the city on some lonely plateau in the middle of the desert, only accessible after days of traveling on the back of a camel through harsh terrain. Okay so that’s a slightly exaggerated impression, but you get my point. The only remaining member of the original Seven Wonders of the World seems slightly out of place sitting next door to the joint KFC/Pizza Hut franchise! Where exactly do those romantic desert photographs come from?
The answer became apparent as we arrived at the edge of the city. Just as abruptly as the sides of the pyramids rise from the sand, the city stops and there’s nothing but desert. It’s like there is an invisible wall holding back the city; you can physically turn your back on modern civilization and step into ancient Egypt.
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