The Necropolis at Giza

After snorkeling in Makadi Bay, the plan was to fly from Hurghada to Abu Dhabi. As I recall now, I guess there weren’t direct flights — most itineraries went through Cairo. Rather than fly, I figured, why not take the bus to Giza and visit Egypt’s most famous site?

IMG_20220320_101202_5 by bryandkeith on flickr

I had visited the Giza pyramids on my only other visit to Egypt 24 years ago. It was a foggy November day, and we practically tripped over the corner of the pyramids before we could see them. The poor weather and the constant harassment from camel ride touts made it a very disappointing day of sightseeing. For this visit I had low expectations. I’m glad I went back.

It was after dark by the time we got to our hotel in Giza (after spending perhaps three hours in Cairo’s traffic). Our room wasn’t ready so the man took us up to the rooftop balcony to wait.

IMG_20220319_195059 by bryandkeith on flickr

Wow, not a bad view!

The hotel’s breakfast was one of the best meals we had in Egypt with eggplant curry, lentil curry, plenty of pita bread (oddly called “Lebanese Bread” on at least one package we saw in Egypt), eggs, cheese, falafel, tea, coffee. And of course there’s that view again.

IMG_20220320_080444 by bryandkeith on flickr

One of the reasons that it’s taken me so long to return to Egypt is because I remember the touts being so annoying and persistent everywhere that it was hard to enjoy anything. Have the Egyptians cleaned up their act in a generation or am I better able to ignore them or perhaps better able to tell them no and really mean it? Ferda got suckered into some of their antics as we were leaving the site and bought some souvenir junk (that we saw later in shops for half the price!).

Overall, though, we walked around the site undisturbed.

IMG_20220320_095144 by bryandkeith on flickr
IMG_20220320_095657 by bryandkeith on flickr
IMG_20220320_100225 by bryandkeith on flickr

We had been warned that the entrance fee for the Giza Necropolis was high. It’s not. If you want to burn through cash on overpriced sites, go to Sri Lanka’s Cultural Triangle (which I recommend). In Egypt it’s the food that’s overpriced — lousy meals cost more than fantastic meals in Turkey, Sri Lanka, or even Abu Dhabi!

The kushari I got here was much better than the kushari we had in Hurghaha.  I'm glad I tried it again.  It's quite tasty.  The restaurant decor and ambiance reminded me of Syrian restaurants from many years ago.  The food, of course, isn't at all like in by bryandkeith on flickr
IMG_20220320_141959 by bryandkeith on flickr

Not a culinary paradise so let’s stick to the tomb tour.

IMG_20220320_101909 by bryandkeith on flickr
IMG_20220320_102504 by bryandkeith on flickr
IMG_20220320_105043 by bryandkeith on flickr
IMG_20220320_104920 by bryandkeith on flickr

You can kind of walk around wherever you want. The site isn’t huge, but it’s big enough that it doesn’t feel crowded.

IMG_20220320_111505 by bryandkeith on flickr
IMG_20220320_111818 by bryandkeith on flickr
IMG_20220320_112340 by bryandkeith on flickr

Please don’t ask me any questions about who’s buried here, what it all means, how old it is. We didn’t learn anything. There’s no museum onsite though one is being constructed nearby. The main archaeological museum in the center of Cairo is supposed to be excellent (it was a mess 24 years ago), but we didn’t have time for that this trip.

IMG_20220320_113437 by bryandkeith on flickr
IMG_20220320_114831_1 by bryandkeith on flickr

The only paintings we saw were in the Tomb of Iymery.

IMG_20220320_120310 by bryandkeith on flickr
IMG_20220320_120251 by bryandkeith on flickr

There are a bunch more smaller tombs in the NE corner of the site, but there are no signs indicating what’s what.

IMG_20220320_121944 by bryandkeith on flickr
IMG_20220320_125023 by bryandkeith on flickr
IMG_20220320_125826 by bryandkeith on flickr
IMG_20220320_123932 by bryandkeith on flickr
IMG_20220320_124334 by bryandkeith on flickr

That was a fun day. We left Giza in the dark the next morning (avoiding all traffic :)) for our flight to Abu Dhabi. Stay tuned.

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One Response to The Necropolis at Giza

  1. Mike Painter says:

    I’ve always wanted to see the area. It looks wonderful, especially with so few tourists.

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