The Great Pyramid of Khufu or Cheops ) 146m high, the oldest and largest pyramid in Egypt!
I never understood the word, surreal until I saw the Great Pyramids of Giza. It is like watching a dream of seeing the sole survivor of the Ancient Seven Wonders of the World. It is like being transported 2,500 years before the birth of Christ when these great Pyramids where build by three generations of Pharaohs –the father, Khufu (Cheops); the son Khafre (Chephren) and the grandson, Menkaure (Mycerinus). I even hesitated to use the word, awesome, because it felt like these pyramids were built by aliens and it was an out of this world experience. Until now, I still look back at the pictures, and I can’t believe that I saw, I touched and I even entered the Great Pyramid of Khufu — the oldest and largest pyramid in Egypt!
This is my humble attempt to share the experience with you, and I feel that there are no words to describe accurately the experience. I immediately went over to www.new7wonders.com to vote for The Great Pyramids of Egypt as part of the new 7 wonders of the world which will be announced on July 7, 2007. Thanks to papa Procter for making this surreal experience with the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt a reality!
There are two best times to visit the pyramid. The first, watching the sphinx’s face touched by the Giza sunrise at 7am in the morning with the Egyptian blue sky as a background. Second, watching the pyramids while the sun sets in the desert horizon and listening to the silence of the peaceful Sahara desert. These are two priceless experience that I will never forget. I wished Rache and Aidan were with me so that I can share the experience with them.
The sphinx is the guardian of the pyramid of Khufu and the subject of legends and superstitions because of its mysterious appearance. Nobody would know for sure the cause of its broken nose, whether it was hammered off or deteriorated on its own due to poor materials. “Known in Arabic as Abu al-Hol (Father of Terror), the feline man was called the Sphinx by the ancient Greeks because it resembled the mythical winged monster with a woman’s head and lion’s body who set riddles and killed anyone unable to answer them.” (lonely planet)
The South face of the Great Pyramid of Cheops has two structures that you can explore. The first one, the white structure on the left is the solar Barque Museum which contains the Pharoah’s boat. This ancient cedar wood vessel unearthed in 1954, might have brought the mummy of the pharaoh across the nile to the valley temple. The second structure on the right with the two post is the burial ground of one of the priests.
Here is a perspective up close on how huge the great pyramid is.
There is the tomb of one of the high priest. It is obviously empty, but it is an experience to go under a small tunnel to see this tomb. This is a similar tomb that can be seen inside the great pyramid.
This is the ancient pharaoh boat that you can only see sometimes in Egyptian movies. It is simply amazing to see this ancient boat — I really can’t believe that such civilization exist in the past.
This is the great pyramid up close. Despite the hot mid-day sun, when you touch these ancient limestone rocks, it is so cold like touching the bottle of cold water kept inside a refrigerator. Climbing the pyramid is not allowed but it is free to wonder how did the Egyptians build this great pyramid!
In the northern face of the pyramid, you can see the two entrance to the Great Pyramid of Cheops. I can still remember the late, Ernie Baron preaching about the exact construction of the the great pyramids to concentrate the cosmic energy into 1/3 of the altitude of the pyramid. I don’t know if it was true, but if you lie down in the tomb of the pharaoh for 5 minutes, you would feel the electrical energy generated by the pyramid opening up your chakras.
An IT manager, Finance Manager, and a Sales Manager, explored the inner tomb of King Cheops. Most people say that paying 100 egyptian pounds was not worth to see an empty room 5m wide and 10m long. The experience of going inside the great pyramids is a priceless experience that I will never forget. It is too bad, camera is not allowed inside the tomb.
One of the great experience we had was riding the camel to travel across the sahara desert to explore these great pyramids. I already mastered camel riding 101after 2-3 hours– lean forward when going up, lean backward when going down, pulling the head left/ right to direct the camel. It was a surreal experience to explore the pyramids with camel as the sahara dessert sun sets in the horizon.
In the morning, we went back during sunrise to explore the pyramids via horses. We had to use the back door to get inside the pyramid complex before 8am in the morning.
The Pyramid of Khafre (Chephren) which seems larger because it stands on higher ground but it is only 136m high. Its peak is still capped with a polished limestone casing to the envy of the other pyramids whose limestone casing were stripped away and used to build palaces and mosques.
One of the best experiences on earth — watching the light and sound show of the Great Pyramids at night while sitting on the camel’s back with the glow of the sahara sunset in the horizon and listening to the peaceful sound of the desert. I got goose bumps watching these pyramids and this is one of the places that would have an emotional impact on you just by looking at it. I forgot my tripod to capture this surreal experience, but I will never forget this ever in my life. I promised to bring Aidan to this place someday.
The Great Pyramids of Giza. This place deserves to be voted as one of the new 7 wonders of the world! (place your votes @ www.new7wonders.com)
hi! it’s my first time posting here. i too, just came back from egypt and i know exactly how you feel after seeing the pyramids! they really are wonders of the world. i can’t imagine how an ancient world built it (and the other temples like karnak) without modern tools. all of egypt’s ancient ruins are definitely must-sees and see it now since the artwork on the walls are expected to fade in 10 years (according to out guide).
You’ve just brought back so many great memories from my trip to Egypt over a year ago! Like you, I was in awe of these wondrous structures and the mystery behind them. Your pictures are beautiful as to be expected! None of the ones I took come close. BTW, you did more than we did when we went , like entering the pyramid and seeing the pharaoh’s boat. I wanna hear more! What else did you see? Did you also go on a Nile cruise? Visit the Egyptian museum and see King Tut’s mask?
Did you go for work or was it a paid vacation? Lucky you! 🙂
kaya pla wlang update nsa egypt ka! 🙂
From what I know, the Pyramids have long been a part of the Seven Wonders of the World. So is this list a new one?
Hi Anton,
nice pics. did P&G exceed its sales targets last year? 🙂
by the way i think you need to clean your sensor.
danny
akala ko you got sick na naman that’s why you have no current posts lately, omigosh nagpunta ka pala sa egypt, very nice pictures and thanks for sharing! wish we could also go there 🙂
Wow, Anton. Egypt is one of the places i would like to see before leaving this earth.. Your pix are awesome! I can imagine seeing it would take your breath away. Truly a wonder of civilization.
Anton,
Fantastic trip to Egypt!! Wish I had known you were going — my in-laws could have given you and your crew an authentic Egyptian welcome (with added Egyptian character, ha!ha!) Your photography is a work of art. You captured everything beautifully. Good going!!
Wow, sobrang nakakainggit! Great pics, Anton, thanks for sharing them. Safe naman ba pumunta ng Egypt? With all the conflict happening in the Mideast and after watching Babel, I’m kinda hesitant to pursue a trip to Egypt kasi. Pero it’s in my things to do list.
Anton ok sa team bldg ah =). The water is better daw in Egypt from people I knew who visit it.
wow, great pictures. i love egypt! i heard they’ve expanded the passageway inside the great pyramid of khufu(?) i was there when they first opened that pyramid to the public and we had to enter the pyramid single file with just some measly ropes [good thing i was younger then..around 15 yrs old! hehe]..it was really rough. so worth the experience though 🙂 i hope you enjoed your trip in egypt. i really enjoy reading your posts! take care 🙂
Egypt eh? Isnt that the ultimate? Well, its a start…wait till you visit Angkor Wat or the Great Wall!
konnichiwa.
Exciting!! It’s great landmark.
Thank you for beautiful picture!
Egypt is one of my priority countries to visit. Hey, Joey, Christine and you can compare notes soon! 🙂 Great pictures, as usual. You truly are extremely lucky to be able to travel abroad so often for work. Was this a business trip, or an incentive from P&G?
I was already wondering where you dissapeared for such a long time!
Never thought you were in Egypt ! Great pictures!
I have to echo Christine and say that this brought back so many awesome memories! 🙂 That trip was a blast! Let’s exchange notes soon!
So that’s what you’ve been up to!! 🙂 The place looks amazing – I think this SHOULD be included in the new 7 wonders of the world… 🙂
hey anton, i bumped into your site linked from a friend’s and i’m so proud that a P&G’er (like me) can actually have such a great life-work balance! Galeng, keep it up and I hope to meet you soon in the Mla GO (so you can give me more recommendations!!).
keep it up,
moan
hi, anton!
I stumbled into your site… The photos are fantastic! I recently got into blogging though Im not so much of an e-person but I’m enjoying it.
I see that your son is quite big na. He’s so cute!
Regards to your family!
God bless!
Salen
Anton! You are so LUCKY!!! When I saw the post I was like, WHOA. Just reading your entry sent shivers up and down my spine. I love history and everything that goes with it. Ãœ I swear I’ll get my chance at those gorgeous pyramids (and camels) and more. You really never fail to surprise people. Ãœ More power and Godbless+ Ãœ
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hi anton! 🙂 decided to check out your blog. astig! 😀
aside from the pyramids, any other place in egypt you think people shouldn’t miss?
hello anton! just came across this blog of yours. my family and i are planning to go to egypt this december. my only concern is security. is it safe there? did you join a guided tour? which one? are tourists safe there? thanks.
Thank you for the great information .I’ve travelled a lot and I’ve never met a warmer, more hospitable, down-to-earth and downright funny bunch of people.
this is a country where a smile goes a long way. That’s the way life should be.
whether it’s sly, bawdy, raucous, smart or just plain hilarious, everyone here appreciates a good joke. There’s very little that can’t be, or isn’t, laughed at.
Cairo. I read and dreamt about this crazy, beautiful, fascinating city when I was a child and, so far, it’s never disappointed me.
That it’s multi-layered and multi-faceted and never, ever dull – from the chaos of Cairo to the beauty of Siwa to the hippy charm of Dahab and the sophistication of Gouna. And that’s just a fraction of its charms.
That nearly everything is open nearly all of the time, which makes life so much easier. I can buy my groceries at midnight if I need to, which takes away a lot of the stress of city living.
The sense of community and the ease with which people relate to each other –
One final thing: if you’re outside the country and ever thought of visiting, A lot of things happened but, for most of us, the good definitely outweighed the bad. If anything, it’s made the majority of us, Egyptian and non-Egyptian, fall in love with Egypt even more…
What are you waiting for? Now seems to be as good as time as ever.
for further information about Egypt read my web site http://www.egyptraveluxe.comand too much information is to be found on my blogger http://egyptraveluxe.blogspot.com/