Journey to the Pyramids

 

Seeing the pyramids in Egypt has long been on my bucket list. Did you know there are at least 118 pyramids in Egypt? I had no idea there were so many kinds nor so many pyramids. I also had no idea how hot it would be in the desert in October!

I definitely feel like it was a journey to get to Egypt. We took a bus ride to ATL, which takes at least 2 1/2 hours. We then boarded a plane and flew to Istanbul and then boarded a plane to Egypt. Then a bus picked us up at the airport and I think it was about a 30 minute drive to the hotel. It was about 10:00 their time and we had left Alabama around 1:00 the day before.

We had a couple of days on the ground in Egypt and we crammed in so much stuff. I think the pyramids were our second stop of the day - maybe?

Here we are at the step pyramid. It was HOT! The step pyramid is 204 feet tall with six stepped layers.

We were able to go down into one of the pyramids. I was literally dripping sweat onto the floor at this point. I think that may be the only time I sweated while in the desert. I'm only 5 feet 5 inches tall and I had to bend over this much to go down and up. The taller guys (and girls) had to bend much farther. (You can see better a few pictures below)

Seeing something that I had always wanted to see with a group of close friends was really special. Duane, the tallest man, and Mark have been good buddies for many years and when I can't teach our adult class on Sunday mornings, Duane is my go-to sub. He is the "president" of our class. We've been friends with the McCains for even longer.

They told us to take a bottle of water with us. We needed about 10 bottles of water. It was so hot and so dry.

I work with Laura Ellis below and she was such a fun traveling companion!

Mark and Lu were looking at the drawings inside this same pyramid. The drawings and carvings were so ornate. It is truly an amazing thing to see.

You can't see it very well, but there are stars painted inside this pyramid. The outside of this pyramid looks more like a mound of dirt, but its beauty is found on the inside. You have to go down that steep and narrow and short tunnel (where you see my sweating face above!) that opens up to the antechamber. The King’s burial chamber is on one side and another tomb and chapel on the other side. The walls inside the Unas pyramid are covered in text carvings and some form of paint, while the ceiling is covered in a blanket of stars. This is the first pyramid to use carvings and painted embellishments to honour its inhabitants.

I've searched high and low for the picture of us going down into the tunnel and I can't find our photo. I found this one online.

photo cred and an interesting article here

I found it! Can you see how far they are having to bend over to enter?? They are going down even though it almost looks like they are climbing up due to the angle of my photo.

Here are those stars I mentioned above!

The strangest thing is that you can see the pyramids from the interstate. Even in my photos, it looks like you are out in the middle of a desert (which you are) in the middle of nowhere (which you aren't). The city is very close to the pyramids.

The journey of a million hours was worth it. I'm so glad that I've been to Egypt and I've not only seen the pyramids BUT have been insde one, too.

Have you been inside a pyramid? Is seeing the pyramids on your bucket list?