After the overnight journey from Luxor, the train gently landed at the Giza station. Our FirstClass sleeper compartment wasnt too bad and we got a small breakfast as well. Immediately upon coming out onto the platform, our local representative Mahmoud picked us up and we were greeted by our guide Mustafa. We had a very jam-packed plan for the day and started off towards Memphis.
He kept droning incessantly much to Manasi's displeasure. When we reached Memphis, we were surprised to see only a small park with a few monuments on display - thats it! Coming from magnificent temples in Luxor, this was mundane. But we saw the phoenix of Memphis and a huge statue (broken) of Ramases II. We moved on quickly towards Sakkara. On the way, we stopped at a govt authorized shop making a Cartouche. We bought silver cartouches for ourselves and also watched the process by which they made them. It was a shade expensive, but a very good and unique buy!
Heading on to Sakkara, where we saw the world's first pyramid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Before Djoser, kings' tombs were just under a square shaped box structure. But since Djoser wanted something fancier, ImHotep just arranged the boxes on top of each other to give the world the first pyramid (ca 2600 BC). In front of the pyramid, there is open ground fortified by walls. The original walls are still standing! Our guide told us that the king used to battle an Ox in front of everybody on the open ground every 30 years to renew his credentials to rule another 30 years. Funnily, it didn't matter if the King lost - he would still rule, except that they would make a statue of the king and bury it at the south corner of the ground, while the pyramid would stand at the north side. Just before visiting this pyramid, we briefly went to the new Imhotep museum where we saw the statue of a reading scribe (Ptah-Shepses) and a very old and well preserved mummy of one of the kings of earlier dynasty.
Heading on to Sakkara, where we saw the world's first pyramid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Before Djoser, kings' tombs were just under a square shaped box structure. But since Djoser wanted something fancier, ImHotep just arranged the boxes on top of each other to give the world the first pyramid (ca 2600 BC). In front of the pyramid, there is open ground fortified by walls. The original walls are still standing! Our guide told us that the king used to battle an Ox in front of everybody on the open ground every 30 years to renew his credentials to rule another 30 years. Funnily, it didn't matter if the King lost - he would still rule, except that they would make a statue of the king and bury it at the south corner of the ground, while the pyramid would stand at the north side. Just before visiting this pyramid, we briefly went to the new Imhotep museum where we saw the statue of a reading scribe (Ptah-Shepses) and a very old and well preserved mummy of one of the kings of earlier dynasty.
After the stepped pyramid, we visited the nearby pyramid of Teti and here Rohit went inside. It was fairly steep down with a lot of paintings of the king giving various offerings to various gods (a very common theme) and at the end of the tunnel was a sarcophagus. Near the pyramid was a tomb of a nobelman Ka'gmni that had amazing carvings on the walls depicting the day-to-day life then. It was very interesting to see the fishing, farming etc.
After Sakkara, we started towards the main destination for today - the Giza pyramids. On the way, we stopped for a quick bite at Felfela - an Egyptian fast food chain (like Joshi vadewale). Felafel was extremely cheap (only 1 Egyptian pound = 20 cents), but we could tasted that the oil was bad :( Our momentary disappointment vanished when we saw the spectacle of the great pyramid. It is HUGE made of HUGE rocks... it rocks :) . We took a few Patel shots quickly and also climbed up a bit to go towards its entrance. We did not go in since there was a special ticket for that and most of the things which were in there are either stolen or in the Egyptian museum. We came down and our guide told us that people routinely used to climb the pyramid with a particular man who climbed it multiple times a day in only about 10 mins! When that man died (of natural causes) and there were a few fatalities, they banned climbing the pyramid.
We walked to our car and drove around the 3 big pyramids:
The Great Pyramid of Khufu - the first and the tallest, with biggest stones
The Pyramid of Khefre - the second and a little shorter than Khufu's (out of respect for his father Khufu) but very well finished
The Pyramid of Menkaure - the third and the smallest (out of respect for this father and grandfather).
Behind the Great Pyramid, there are in-turn 3 small satellite pyramids for Khufu's wives and mother.
Behind the Great Pyramid, there are in-turn 3 small satellite pyramids for Khufu's wives and mother.
We went at a nearby vantage point and shot a picture with all 3 pyramids in the background . It was very hazy and the visibility is not that great. But you get the idea :) . From there, we came by car to the
Tired of the overnight journey and the long exciting day, we went to the great Sphinx (with Lion's body signifying strength and man's head signifying wisdom) guarding all the pyramids. It is magnificent piece of work and pretty amazing that it is still standing. An earthquake around 27BC damaged some overhanging parts on the face, but otherwise its so well-preserved and timeless! Khefre built it and hence the sphinx has his face. We took some funny pictures, observed it in awe and started back to our hotel which was thankfully nearby for a brief rest. We were tired.
After 2 hrs of rest (in which we watched a bit of "Dillagi" playing of local channel), at 6:30 PM we went back again to a nice gallery facing the pyramids and the sphinx for the Sound and Light show. The show was great and to see the pyramids lit up with powerful lights and lasers was out of the world - they have been standing there for 5000 years! The oldest man-made gigantic structures which have weathered multiple earthquakes, floods and extreme temperatures. It indeed gets very cold in the evening in Cairo and good thing we had carried thick jackets. After enjoying the show (amidst loud prayers from the minarets), we grabbed a pizza at a nearby Pizza-Hut and went to the hotel. Slept on a bed after 2 days.
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