Pyramids of Giza, Giza

The Great pyramid of Giza is the biggest of all the pyramids in the complex! Photography is not allowed inside the tomb. Security checks your camera sometimes! Best is to click pics using your phone. It tends to get claustrophobic as the tunnel leading to the tomb can barely accomodate two lines of visitors ( one line going in and one coming out). You have to bend and move most of the times. The tomb area is surreal and you get to spend some time there. Summers are really hot and you can feel the heat in the tomb! Overall a Memorable experience!

There are an estimated 138 surviving Egyptian pyramids, with the Great Pyramid of Giza, near Cairo, the most famous. The 455ft Great Pyramid is the only surviving landmark out of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Many have questioned how it would have been possible for the ancient Egyptians to build such incredible constructions using 4,000-year old technology. While some conspiracy theorists have suggested aliens may be involved, scientists and archaeologists aren’t convinced. They believe that workers used sledges to pull blocks around and a pulley system to haul them up the pyramid’s slopes. Water would be used to lubricate the stone blocks as they were lugged along the sand, before being winched into place on the slopes. While many of the earlier “step” pyramids didn’t have smooth slopes, later pyramids all did, reflecting how much the Egyptians’ techniques improved over time. However, we still don’t know exactly how the extremely sophisticated buildings were constructed, and historians still disagree on many of the details.

Built during a time when Egypt was one of the richest and most powerful civilizations in the world, the pyramids—especially the Great Pyramids of Giza—are some of the most magnificent man-made structures in history. Their massive scale reflects the unique role that the pharaoh, or king, played in ancient Egyptian society. Though pyramids were built from the beginning of the Old Kingdom to the close of the Ptolemaic period in the fourth century A.D., the peak of pyramid building began with the late third dynasty and continued until roughly the sixth (c. 2325 B.C.). More than 4,000 years later, the Egyptian pyramids still retain much of their majesty, providing a glimpse into the country’s rich and glorious past.

It is just mind blowing. Everything about this experience is just fantastic - to be able to see this ancient time wonder, trying to imagine how did they build it back then, the scenery, the pictures you can take. Highly unmissable and, although it is a classic tourist destination, it is not one of those “been there, done that” kind of attractions - you can keep coming back for the energy and the views!

I visited the Great Pyramids at Giza in 1988 and hope to return again to this extraordinary historic treasure. I took some amazing photos during a guided tour, the sound and light show, camel ride and visit to the interior burial chamber (accessed at that time through a wood-plank walkway). The Sphinx was simply splendid. I later viewed the solid gold King Tut sarcophagus at the Cairo Museum!