Our First Impressions of Giza & Visiting the Pyramids in Giza, Egypt
We saw the pyramids in the distance as we pulled up to our hotel, but the anticipation was growing as we dropped off our bags in the hotel lobby and walked upstairs to the rooftop where we were greeted with tea and the incredible sight of the pyramids.
These are the pyramids that we learned about in the history books, one of the wonders of the ancient world, right in front of our eyes. And to think this was a last-minute trip.
In case you are new here, we are Will and Katy. We are a travel couple that is traveling around the world. The last time we left you, we had just shared our horrific experience getting out of Tanzania in order to fly to Cairo.
As we were wrapping up our time in Tanzania we were planning on going to start our adventures in Central America, but it dawned on me, we donโt have our drone on us, why donโt we go ahead and squeeze in a trip to Cairo (they donโt allow drones to even enter the country there). Another reason we were holding off on visiting Egypt was due to the misconception that Cairo was too dangerous to visit without a tour guide. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ท๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ด, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐บ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ.
The biggest thing would be dealing with touts trying to sell you their tours, rides, and souvenirs, which is not a safety issue, just a nuisance, but we had already been dealing with that in Tanzania & Kenyaโฆ So here we are in Egypt.
Hotel in Giza
We planned on splitting our stay between Giza and Cairo. The first 4 days we stayed in Giza, within walking distance of the pyramids. Our hotel, Comfort Pyramids Inn, had an amazing backdrop of the Pyramids that we enjoyed from the rooftop of the hotel. The decorations in the rooms were spot on, and the best part wasโ this hotel only cost us $31 a night!
First Impressions
Because this was a last-minute decision to go to Cairo, we didnโt do nearly as much research as we have for other countries, as a result, I was surprised by a few things:
What is unfortunate is all the trash everywhere. We had seen and experienced this in Kenya and Tanzania, but I didnโt expect it in Cairo. I guess I was thinking because itโs a more touristy destination, it should be kept up a little more. Unfortunately, it wasnโt. The old run-down buildings throughout the city made sense since this is a very old city. But it was sad to see barely any trash cans around resulting in litter everywhere. (Now this is specific to Giza when we stayed in downtown Cairo the trash wasnโt nearly as bad)
The most interesting thing was seeing horses on the major roads/highways alongside the cars. We knew that locals offered camel and horse rides near the pyramids, but I didnโt expect horses galloping on the major roads and used for actual transportation by the locals.
Visiting the Pyramids of Giza
The day we visited the Pyramids & Sphinx, we wanted to get there as early as possible, to beat any crowds (like we did when we visited The Acropolis in Athens). We got there so early we beat the vendors and touts! We were able to walk in and enjoy the Sphinx platform without anyone around! Wow, what an incredible experience.
Once we left that area and started walking towards the pyramids more tourists began arriving, along with the vendors and touts trying to sell us camel rides. We made our way to enter the second biggest Pyramid (Khafre), and as tight of a space as it was to get down into it, we entered it! We werenโt allowed to film or take photos down there, but there wasnโt much left. It was an empty area where you can see where they would put the sarcophagus (stone coffin). There was nothing on the walls, its been removed and I believe it has been put in museums. Still an incredible experience into ancient times.
After coming up out of the pyramid we were so thankful to be out in the open cool air! Yes, it was cold, something we were not expecting when we arrived in Cairo. We continued our walk around the Giza pyramids, we went to the viewing point, where we could see all 3 pyramids lined up, and left the best for last, The Great Pyramid!
By this point it was almost noon and this area was filled with many tourists and touts, and we didnโt realize this but on this side of the grounds is the main entrance, I guess we had come in through the entrance near the Pizza Hut.
Another thing to make note of is that we were able to bring in some snacks (we had granola bars packed), and we had walked up with tea in our hands, they allowed us to enter with that as well. We were not sure what the protocol on food and drinks was, we were pleasantly surprised it wasnโt taken from us. It could be because we entered from this side, not sure.
As we wrapped up our time admiring these 4,500-year-old pieces of art we made our way back to the entrance we came through in hopes that the empty market we walked through earlier in the day was now filled with vendors!
We enjoy walking through markets and it was a surreal moment when we realized we were walking through a market right in the shadows of these great pyramids.
This is just the beginning of our time in Cairo, we plan to see a lot more!
Until next timeโฆ
What could possibly be next?