The Great Pyramid - Exterior

The first sight

We landed in Cairo at around 2am local time, and arrived at our hotel, the superb Mena House Oberoi right next to the Giza plateau, at around 4am. Having not slept on the flight, we were pretty tired, but try as I did, I couldn't get to sleep - my mind was full of thoughts about the pyramids, and I guess it couldn't accept waiting any longer, now that I was this close. I had hoped to get a glimpse of the pyramids when we arrived at the hotel - I suppose I had assumed they would be illuminated at night, but I saw nothing.

So it was about 5:30am when I got up, grabbed my camera, and headed out to the hotel grounds. On the way out, I asked the doorman which direction the pyramids were in - he pointed straight ahead. It was still dark, and again I saw nothing, so I thanked him and wandered off into the grounds. After spending half an hour exploring the old palace wing of the hotel, I made my way to the furthest extent of the hotel grounds in the direction that the doorman had indicated, and waited. The night air was decidedly chilly, and I immediately regretted wearing just a T-shirt, but by now it was gone 6am, and I just couldn't leave, not now. So I shivered, and waited.

And then it happened. Not knowing how far away it was, and only knowing the rough direction to look in, an almost inperceptable lightening of the sky revealed an enormous, triangular black shadow in front of me - it was so close, and so massive, it almost seemed to be above me, bisecting the slowly lightening horizon. It was an incredible sight that I will never forget.

During the course 1998, I knew from my research that the Great Pyramid had been undergoing some internal renovation work, and the inside was closed to the public. Anxious to ensure we could see the interior (which, in construction terms, is a technological masterpiece), I checked the website of Dr Zahi Hawass, the Undersecretary of State for the Giza monuments which informed me that it was indeed open to the public. However, when it turned out this wasn't the case, I found it difficult to hide my disappointment - I'm not sure what more I could have done.

2001 update: On our 2nd visit, the interior was indeed open to the public, with the 2nd pyramid being closed for work. You can see the full story of the interior by following the link from the title page, or just clicking here.