Pyramids of Giza Favorites

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Favorite thing: I have visited a papyrus factory or they call their store 'museum' in the vicinity of Giza. In some photos, salesmen demonstrate the basic ways of making papyrus.

To make papyrus paper, the inner pith of the stem is cut lengthwise into strips and soaked in water. The strips are placed with a second layer placed at right angles to the first. The two layers are beaten with a mallet to break down the fibres and bond the strips together. The sheets are dried under weights for several days afterwhich are polished with a flat stone to make them smooth and ready for use.

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Favorite thing: I took a couple of photos close to the Pyramids of Giza. I was amazed and so with my family how huge the boulder of rocks are. I am - we are wondering how people during those ancient times were able to arrange and make these wonders possible.

You will see in the photos what I am talking about. Huge, huge rocks.

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Favorite thing: Yes, the city of Giza in Egypt is not only pyramid and sphinx. Many foreign embassies are here and the government hold many of its offices in the city. The state University of Cairo can be found here too.

Giza City was the necropolis of Memphis of old Egypt. The whole Giza Plateau is situated west of the Nile, bordering the Sahara Desert. Giza becomes one of the favourite holiday destinations second to Cairo.

There are lots of high-rise apartments in Giza, most have different shapes, and crowded. Did not see much traffic though - not like in Cairo.

Fondest memory: At first, I thought visiting Egypt and Pyramids of Giza in particular is an experience once in a lifetime. I am mistaken, I know I am coming back to Egypt. This is because I want to see more.
More than the pyramid and sphinx.

Favorite thing: You can book a limo at Cairo airport itself .. there are desks for three or four different companies just as you leave the customs area. Be prepared to haggle but you will probably get charged around LE 70 or LE 80 for that trip. These operate 24 hours / day so the time of your arrival does not really make a difference. Some hotels also offer airport pick up service , either free of charge or at a cost (that may be more expensive than the airport limo) & it may help to check with them . Enjoy your trip !

Favorite thing: Not only for Giza but every places i have been in Egypt, it is so easy to get friends with the people there. If i would like to have someone with me there i would take him/her just into where more Egyptian people are to talk and experience society there.

Fondest memory: Ready to smile People with their Cultural / Ancient monument's background views.

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Favorite thing: When I arrived at Giza to visit its famous Pyramids in November 2007, I expected to find a grand visitors centre and a lavish ticket office. I thought there would be a souvenir shop, a café and a row of cashiers to take money from the thousands of visitors. This is what I have come to expect from international tourist sites.

So, I was surprised when my taxi pulled up in the car park and pointed me in the direction of a small stone-built cubicle, with a couple of small openings (tiny windows, covered by bars), behind which two people were issuing tickets. The only sign on the building was a simple Arabic sign hanging haphazardly above the windows. This was a rather unlikely looking ticket office for such a popular tourist attraction!

To be honest, my initial thought was that this must be a scam. I had visions of handing over my cash and receiving a meaningless piece of paper that would cause the guards at the entrance to turn me away with a sympathetic smile and point me in the direction of the *real* ticket office.

The driver of my taxi told me not to pay any more than 50 EGP (5 GBP) for my ticket, irrespective of what anybody outside the ticket office told me. I made my way to one of the windows, handed over my 50 EGP and was issued with a simple paper ticket. I walked to the nearby entrance, showed my ticket to the guard with a sense of trepidation, underwent a security check and was admitted into the site. Relief!: The ticket office was genuine!

Look out for touts and would-be guides around the ticket office and entrance. As soon as I passed through the entrance, I was pounced upon by a man asking to see my ticket. He told me that he was a guide and that all visitors were legally required to have a guide with them when visiting the site. I told him that I didn’t believe him and attempted to shake him off. He called over a policeman/guard and to my surprise (or rather my lack of surprise given the reputation of the Egyptian police force and my general cynicism!), the policeman confirmed his story and told me that I needed a guide. I knew this wasn’t true, so I told them that I didn’t want one and walked off in the direction of the Pyramids. The guide followed me for a few steps, but soon gave up.

Favorite thing: There are many friendly and kind natives around the pyramids, they will chat with you and offer you to wear a head-scarf, give you scarab and smile! Not all of them are annoying some are very nice and friendly and decent!
This man was thrilled to hear I was from Yugoslavia (Serbia all right...), and he kept repeating Tito-Nassr, Tito-Nassr!!! :)))

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Favorite thing: As the most people I believed that the Great Pyramids of Giza lie out in the desert. I was rather surprised when I looked out of the window of my Hotel which was situated in the center of Giza I saw the Pyramids right in front of the city area among the distant buildings. In fact they sit on the city limits of Greater Cairo because Giza is its suburb.

And on the contrary, when you are walking around the Plateau of Giza among the Pyramids you may see Cairo and Giza on a distance. As I read in Michael’s page in 1970-80th it was possible to climb up the Pyramid and admire the Cairo scenery… Now you can’t do it unfortunately. I knew it before visiting the Plateau but was sorry having no opportunity to climb up even 20-30 meters…

You may watch my VIDEO-Clip from my personal YouTube channel: 5 min 43 sec Egypt Giza Traveling around Plateau by bus 2007

Fondest memory: You may watch my Giza Plateau high resolution photos on Google Earth in Giza according to the following coordinates 29º 58' 21.07" N 31º 7' 14.31" E
or on my Google Earth Panoramio Giza Plateau, Giza Plateau 2.