Visiting the Great Pyramid of Giza

We were up early this morning ready for an 8am start on the first day of our tour.

The first stop was at the Great Pyramid, the biggest Egyptian pyramid and the tomb of fourth dynasty pharaoh, Khufu. It was built in the early 26th century BC and took about 27 years to complete. The pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact. When it was built, it stood 146.6 metres high and was the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3800 years. The Great Pyramid was built by quarrying an estimated 2.3 million large blocks weighing 6 million tonnes in total. The majority of stones are not uniform in size or shape and are only roughly dressed. No-one really knows how this great feat of engineering was achieved. However, American claims that aliens were responsible, were dismissed when the tombs of thousands of Egyptian workers were found next to the site!

When we arrived at the Great Pyramid this morning, it seemed like the world and his wife had got there before us!! It is high season for tourists and the weather is particularly good at the moment. We queued for over an hour to buy tickets to enter the pyramid. (Our tour included the tickets to enter the archaeological site but not to go inside the pyramid).

Inside the site, Nabil gave us an interesting and informative talk on the pyramids and the Egyptian dynasties involved in their construction. As a qualified Egyptologist, he is going to be the perfect guide for this tour. He has an entertaining style and explains everything in ways the layman (i.e. us!!) can understand.

Then, armed with our tickets, we queued again to enter the pyramid. I can't say I enjoyed it! It was quite claustrophobic inside - and incredibly hot!! We made our way through narrow tunnels and up and down steep, low staircases to see the King's Chamber containing a granite sarcophagus. I lost count of the number of times I banged my head!!

The Chamber itself was distinctly underwhelming. They recommended that you didn't stay in there for longer than 10 minutes so as to give everyone a chance to see it. We were in there for barely 10 seconds! It was so hot!! I just wanted to get out - and I knew we had to retrace our steps!

Back out in the fresh air, I felt much better and was glad we'd gone inside. We can now say that we've been inside a pyramid!

Outside, we avoided the tat sellers and pushy guides and walked all the way around the pyramid, taking photos 📸 from all angles. It was too hazy to get clear shots but I hope my photos give a sense of the scale and beauty of the place.Read more