The Pyramids at Giza

Yesterday we saw the 3 great Pyramids at Giza, which is about 10 miles from Cairo. In fact, greater Cairo is slowly creeping closer and closer to the Pyramids, and will overtake them if Egypt does not stop the process.


We've all seen pictures of the Pyramids since we were "knee-high to a grasshopper" -- and the pictures look exactly like they are...what the pictures don't convey is their texture and color. The texture is rough hewn. These are not finished stones like you see in Machu Picchu or stones layered in a design like Chaco. There was a finely finished layer of limestone as a top "coat" on the Pyramids, but over time that has eroded away. What is left is an organized pile of blocks—2.2 to 2.5 million of them, averaging 50,000 lbs each. Of course, some are larger and some are smaller. Only one Pyramid of the 3 has a portion of the finishing "coat" of limestone left--and it's on the very top of the second Pyramid. The engineering feat boggles the mind.

Then there is the color that changes depending on the light...when we first arrived in the morning, they were gray; then when the sun was clouded over by a bit of sand, they changed to tan; then the sun burned thru the sand and they were burnished; then the sand started to blow and you could not see them all. A sandstorm came up just as we were getting into the bus after seeing the Sphinx. The huge Pyramid of Cheops was there...and the next minute it was completely gone! No warning at all...the sand storm gobbled it up!

The highlight of the day was riding a camel. I'm not a horse person, so riding does not “come” second nature to me, but I've wanted to ride a camel since I was 10. At that time, my cousin Stella May sent my family a postcard with her riding a camel in front of the Great Pyramid of Cheops and I said to my mom "I want to do that." Well, Mom and Stella May, I did it! And, it was great fun!