Cairo/Giza Plateau

After a three hour drive, we made it alive from Alexandria to Cairo (actually to the area they call the Giza Plateau, which is where the Great Pyramids are). What we had experienced on the way, was no different upon arrival - dust, litter, poverty... When you see pictures of the Great Pyramids, you tend to believe that they are in the middle of nowhere with nothing for miles - not the case. Unlike our preservation of National Parks, they have allowed the city of Cairo to creep right up to the edge of the pyramids on one side (while desert is still on the other side). With all of negative observations, the pyramids themselves truly were a sight to see - unbelievable to think that they were able to construct them so long ago. The pyramids are actually tombs for the Kings (Pharaoh's) that took years to build throughout a Pharaoh's lifetime. Once he died, he was buried in the pyramid with his riches. It was believed that he would be able to go into the afterlife with wealth. They even buried boats ("Solar boats") to carry the king into the afterlife. The largest one is actually the only remaining Wonder of the Ancient World - almost too much to take in in one day. The oldest Pyramid was built in 2560 BC. In Giza, there are 3 pyramids of enormous size (although sizes vary from Largest to smallest). Besides the famous 3, there are also 3 much smaller pyramids that were created for the wives, and female family members of the kings. There is also the famous Sphinx, which is located right there as well. I will talk about it more in the next post, but the payoffs and corruptness are rampid there. We were actually able to climb up and stand on the Pyramid when our guide paid someone off (a very small sum, but even so...)