When you drive to the Giza Plateau, the first and permanent thought that's in your mind (or at least this was my case) is how huge the Pyramids are. I couldn't stop looking at them from afar while we drove through the desert:the closer we got, the more questions I had.

We drove towards an entrance with a police checkpoint. The minute my uncle stopped to greet the policemen with a "Salamaleikum", four men gathered around the car offering Pyramids and camel tours. "La, la shokran habibti", was my uncle's response, which means "no, thanks", but they just kept coming  towards us. Habibti is a very common word used in Arabic and it means "dear one"; you use it both for men and women.
The tour operators insist until you agree to take one of their tours. This is just another sign of how difficult life is now for those who once made money with the mass tourism at the Giza Plateau.

We parked near the entrance and the moment we got out of the car, some guy opened the door and walked us to the ticket office. He also proceeded to offer us a tour, but the "la, la shokran" line made him go away. Once inside the Plateau, we walked towards the amazing Great Pyramid or Pyramid of Cheops (Also Pyramid of Khufu), referred to as the Seven Wonder of the Ancient World. The Pyramid is the oldest and largest of the three of them, and it is opened for visitors.

Posing in front of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

We climbed up to the entrance of the Great Pyramid and the view was astonishing: from that point, you could see the Cairo skyline (even Cairo Tower!) and in the foreground the town of Giza.  Behind me, a big great wall of stone blocks rose to the sky and rivalled the sun in magnificence. It was definitely a moment for making a pause and taking in all this grandeur. After a round of pictures, it was about time to start the climb to the King's Chamber.

The town of Giza on the background.

Unbelievable! The Great Pyramid was once covered with casing stones (made of highly polished limestone), which reflected the sun's light and made it shine like a jewel. Some of them are kept in museums, like the British Museum.

The policemen guarding the entrance won't let you take your camera inside, so you'll have to give them all your equipment before entering the Pyramid. Once inside, you get the feeling you're part of an Indiana Jones film or any action/sci-fi movie. We walked a narrow corridor until we got to the wooden passage that you climb in order to get to the Grand Gallery. The very steep steps made me want to hold on to anything within reaching distance. This is also why it is only possible for one person at a time to climb this passage. 

At last, you arrive to the Grand Gallery, which leads to the King's Chamber. It is here where you see how finely chiseled the stone blocks of the Pyramids are! It is just incredible to look at the precision of the cuts and how they all fit in, like a fantastic puzzle that not even the most clever person could start putting together.

The King's Chamber is just a few minutes away, but the narrowness of the passage in the Great Gallery makes it only possible for one or two persons to go up at the time. This wasn't so much our case, since there were almost no visitors that day. We were completely alone inside the King's Chamber!

Looking very marveled at every detail in the Grand Gallery of the Great Pyramid.

Lauren and me in the Grand Gallery, a few steps away from the King's Chamber.

Ulises and I inside the King's Chamber. We pose right behind the granite coffer, the only object inside the room. The coffer is too big to fit the passages leading to the chamber, which is why it is believed it was put in place during the construction.

Looking closely at the walls, I noticed a hole in one of the stone blocks. I introduced my hand and felt an empty space, stretching even further down. My uncle explaind this is part of the Djedi Project,which intends to explore the interior of the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Temple 20 in Palenque, Mexico. The name derives from Djedi, the ancient Egyptian magician consulted by Pharaoh Khufu when planning his Pyramid.

The Djedi Project is made up of a group of international  and Egyptian experts. The experiments consist in sending a highly specialised robot through small spaces and corners to find out more about the Pyramid's interior design.

Descending through the narrow passages of the Great Pyramid.

The light at the end of this passage is the Queen's Chamber, which is not opened for visitors.

Three explorers inside the Great Pyramid

Taking a break for a quick photo in the Pyramid's narrow passages.

Exploring the Great Pyramid was amazing. How on Earth did the Ancient Egyptians built it? When you stop and consider the facts it seems impossible! The Pyramid has an estimated of 2,300,000 stone blocks which weigh 2 to 30 tons each! Some of them weigh even 50 tons! Just to think about how they transported the blocks and how they assembled it makes me wonder and continue wondering. And the granite coffer for an instance! It was made of a solid block of granite whose modeling would have required bronze saws of 8-9 ft. long; hollowing the block would have required drills of the same material applied with great vertical force.

Well, who knows if we'll ever unravel all the secrets behind the construction of the Pyramids.
Maybe some secrets are meant to stay that way: as complete mysteries....

One of the world's greatest mysteries: the Great Pyramid of Giza!!!!!

This is the second of a series of posts about the Pyramids. More coming up on the blog this week!
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Inshallah!