Day 21: Cairo – Giza. 

We’ve got three things to do today, check the ferry’s running (it’s EID), pickup Rob’s South Sudan visa, and try and see some pyramids.

We fight our way through the Cairo traffic, it’s still unbelievable, probably the worst traffic I’ve encountered anywhere. It just doesn’t move. Ferry checked (it will be running, but two days late), we double back and head for Giza.

My anticipation levels are through the roof, every corner we eventually make it too I’m praying, dreaming, there’s a massive pyramid beyond it. I’ve seen the first road signs ‘Giza Pyramids’. I’m so excited. But after an hour, still no sign.

Rob shouts across some traffic “Look left”. What’s he talking about, that’s just some shops and dust. Another glance (that’s all I can afford in the traffic). Boom! Massive pyramid! Funking sweet, I’m grinning from ear to ear and filled with joy. I can’t remember the last time I was so excited about something. The pyramids are pretty much the only thing I’ve ever wanted to see, and they aren’t a let down. They are magnificent, truly spectacular, my boat is floated J.

We barge through a couple of check points, and manage to get our bikes pretty close to the pyramids. Sweet. I’m loving the whole setup, it’s almost as if they were discovered last week. There’s none of the overly organisedness you’d get at most British attractions. There’s donkeys, horses and camels wondering around, no gift shops, no McDs, it’s unspoilt. I’m in my element, mesmerised. We flukily get to the entrance to the Great Pyramid 20 mins before it opens, and we’re first in the queue. Excited! Getting to go in first is epic, the entrance is so bizarre, just a few removed stones randomly in the side of the pyramid, and then a small entrance with a metal gate that’s locked until one. I feel like an explorer. Once released inside, we have a narrow winding passage to navigate, before a 45 degree slope. The slope is like a tunnel that is approx one meter high and one and a half wide, it’s maybe 20m long. And it brings you into a large chamber. Again, the chamber is an upwards slope, approx 45 degrees and 50m long. It’s wider and higher, about 2.5m wide, and the ceiling is horizontal. So I guess in cross section it looks like a wedge. Climb up this, then along a flat tunnel, approx one meter high and 15m long, and you’re in! The tomb. It’s a very strange room, being just that, a room. Kind of like a tall shoebox (perhaps three meters tall), smooth granite walls, with no features. It’s pretty cool though, and so bizarre to be here.

Escaping from the pyramid, Rob has to head back into town to collect his visa. This gives me time to wander about, check out the Sphinx, and then just chill until he returns.

Reunited, we luck into some accommodation, renting someone’s flat for the night for £20. The owner then takes us back to see the ‘Sound and Light’ show. This is brilliant, probably produced in the 70s or 80s. Some really impressive lighting of the Sphinx and pyramids, 100% worth going to see. The narration is as you’d expect of a 50s British animal doc, I’m completely taken in by it all.

If nothing else, the whole trip would’ve been worth it for this!

Luxor tomorrow, and the Valley of the Kings...