Woolly says – Today was the day, after two days of looking across at the pyramids from our hotel we were finally going into the complex.

The Giza pyramid complex (also called the Giza necropolis) is home to the Great Pyramid, the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Menkaure, along with their associated pyramid complexes and the Great Sphinx. All were built during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt, between c. 2600 and c. 2500 BC. The site also includes several temples, cemeteries, and the remains of a workers’ village.

The site is at the edge of the Western Desert, approximately 9 km (5.6 mi) west of the Nile River in the city of Giza, and about 13 km (8.1 mi) southwest of the city centre of Cairo. It forms the northernmost part of the 16,000 ha (160 km2; 62 sq mi) Pyramid Fields of the Memphis and its Necropolis UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 1979.

After long conversations on how we would get round the site we had all decided to take a horse drawn carriage, we could have walked, and I was up for that, but the women said that they might struggle given the temperatures. At nine on the dot Micky our horse and his driver arrived and as we clambered aboard, through the small back streets we went at a fast pace passing camels galore, horses and goats to the ticket office.

Grasping our tickets tightly we headed into the complex and set off to see one of the seven wonders of the world, for me it was a particularly special day as I was the first mammoth, to my knowledge, to ever come to them.

Micky galloped up the sloping roads and the carriage bounced us up and down on the uneven surfaces. Following a range of advice we had elected to go into one of the smaller pyramids due to cost and the fact that they were all very similar once inside. We paused our galloping boy to take pictures of the Great Pyramid.

The Great Pyramid and the Pyramid of Khafre are the largest pyramids built in ancient Egypt, and they have historically been common as emblems of Ancient Egypt in the Western world.  They were popularised in Hellenistic times, when the Great Pyramid was listed by Antipater of Sidon as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It is by far the oldest of the Ancient Wonders and the only one still in existence.

The Great Pyramid, also known as the Pyramid of Cheops or Khufu was constructed between c. 2580 – c. 2560 BC, Khufu’s pyramid complex consists of a valley temple, now buried beneath the village of Nazlet el-Samman, paving and nummulitic limestone walls have been found but the site has not been excavated fully. The causeway led to the Mortuary Temple of Khufu, which was connected to the pyramid. Of this temple, the basalt pavement is the only thing that remains. The king’s pyramid has three smaller queen’s pyramids associated with it and three boat pits.  The boat pits contained a ship, and the two pits on the south side of the pyramid contained intact ships when excavated. One of these ships, the Khufu ship, has been restored and was originally displayed at the Giza Solar boat museum, then subsequently moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum.

It was most impressive and up close was far bigger than expected, I pondered how spectacular it must have been on its completion, whereas now the décor has long gone.

Micky set off again, taking us past the slightly smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or Chephren) a few hundred metres to the south-west, Khafre’s pyramid complex consists of a valley temple, the Sphinx temple, a causeway, a mortuary temple, and the king’s pyramid. It might have been smaller, but it sure didn’t look it.

On we trotted finally arriving at our chosen pyramid. We climbed out of the carriage and took quite a while to take it in.

Menkaure’s pyramid complex consists of a valley temple, a causeway, a mortuary temple, and the king’s pyramid. The valley temple once contained several statues of Menkaure. During the 5th Dynasty, a smaller ante-temple was added on to the valley temple. The mortuary temple also yielded several statues of Menkaure. The king’s pyramid, completed in c. 2510 BC, has three subsidiary or queen’s pyramids, of the four major monuments, only Menkaure’s pyramid is seen today without any of its original polished limestone casing.

Having shown our tickets, we climbed up the steps and as the ladies crouched down to centre I headed on down the ridged slope.  Within moments we noticed a change in the air and a slight aroma of spices, I wondered if this was the same smells that the ancient Egyptians had also smelt. We arrived at a small section where the walls still showed panelling although all of the finery had long gone, some taken by looters and some by archaeologist’s and now resided in museums in Cario and other countries.

Down another slope we found ourselves in the ante chamber of the burial chamber, there was nothing to show where the tombs would have once been, but we knew that this area would have been filled with vast treasures. With some photo’s taken we started to make our way back which meant battling through the hordes of people coming down, a lady from Manchester led the way to the top and within minutes we were back outside in the sunshine.

We walked to the corner of the giant structure and stood looking upwards before turning to take in the views across Giza where we could see lines of camels carrying tourists in all directions.

Climbing back into Micky’s carriage we passed by the sellers before the galloping and bumpiness started again as we raced back through the site. Thanking Micky and his owner we headed towards the other magnificent feature on the complex.

The Sphinx, dating from the reign of king Khafre, during the New Kingdom, Amenhotep II dedicated a new temple to Hauron-Haremakhet, and this structure was added onto by later rulers.

We walked through the area beneath her which showed us rows of square columns with some curious pits in the ground where huge statues might once have stood.

Going up a slight slope we were able to see it incredible monument up close, although nose less it was still amazing to see. Although the winds and sand has obliterated some of the decoration that had once adorned it, we could still make out the paws, face and the tail from the rear. 

With more photos in the bag, we wandered across to a large seating area where people would sit at night to see the light show. We sat for a while just taking the whole site in.