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GIZA
The Pyramids
This is standing right in front of the pyramid of Khufu, followed by that of Khafre, with the far smaller of Menkaure behind. You may spot a fourth pyramid somehow, one of the queens of Menkaure.
So, you though the Pyramids were out in the desert, far away from settlements. When driving up to the pyramidal area you realize. Above the roofs the two largest pyramids rise up. From some angles you feel like they're coming down from the sky, just about to land on the houses of Giza. The truth is not far from this. The residents area ends, then there is a border of shacks, before the bedrock carrying the pyramids rise some five metres above everything else.
Even if the photos lie, the photographers did not. Just 2 minutes walk up the hill to the middle pyramid, makes you forget all about the metropolis lying behind you. Hustlers here are just as they have been for centuries. A bit aggressive, and all set on leading you away from what you set out for. Shun them, they're okay, but they don't seem to comprehend that 4,500 years old pyramids are more interesting when you can touch them, than they are from the hills a kilometre away.
If there ever was anything positive about militant Islamism, then clearing the Pyramids of the hordes of tourists that used to come here, is the one thing. Today you can wander without the numberless groups of tourists, who are friendly, but who destroy the feeling the pyramids can offer.
Entering the inside of the smallest and the largest pyramid is possible. It's easy, but not that rewarding, to come as far as the core of this.
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