"My favorite of the three of them is the one of Menkaure". My uncle Ulises was driving back from the viewpoint at the Giza Plateau; after all, it was almost 3 or 4 o' clock (I don't remember very well, since I didn't carry any watch or phone with me) and all Egyptian attractions and important landmarks close at 5 and we still wanted to see the Sphinx. He made a last stop right next to the smallest of the Pyramids of Giza.

The Pyramid of Menkaure lies a few hundred meters from Khafre and Khufu, which is why it remains a less popular attraction than the other two. The smallest but not less interesting than the other two, it was built to serve as the tomb of Pharaoh Menkaure, who by the way according to a legend by the Greek historian Herodotus (who is referred to as the Father of History, because he was the first one to collect his materials systematically and critically and then arrange them into a historiographic narrative), was more benevolent than his predecessors and Egyptians praised him more highly than other monarchs.

The damages of the Pyramid of Menkaure.

When we approached the Pyramid, my uncle showed me a curious detail that otherwise I wouldn't have noticed. "Most people ignore some facts about the Pyramids of Giza, for example that just the one of Menkaure has hieroglyphs".

Hieroglyphs of the Pyramid of Menkaure. This is the only one of the three of them that has this feature.

The Pyramid of Khafre as seen from the Pyramid of Menkaure.

The smallest of the three largest Pyramids, the Pyramid of Menkaure is a jewel and was a haven of peace at the Giza Plateau during my visit.

My uncle Ulises, a great connoisseur of  Egyptian History and Politics.

While we wandered around the Pyramid, I realized we were completely alone. The whole crowd remained a couple hundred meters away from us, focused in the Great Pyramid or in taking great pictures from the Giza Plateau Viewpoint. I had just discovered a haven of peace amidst the busy Giza Necropolis, where mass tourism is so common: huge tour buses arriving constantly with tourists from all over the world anxious to discover the wonders of Ancient Egypt, men offering camel or horse rides in such an insistent manner that you end up accepting the offer. Even though the day we went wasn't such a busy day, it was just amazing to sit down in this place, take it all in while I enjoyed the most perfect silence.

The Pyramid of Menkaure has also much smaller satellite pyramids like this one.

Giza in the background. Well, a little part of it.

 Not even all the stories and legends I had heard about the Pyramids could have topped this moment of happiness and quietness. The desert in its vastness, the city with its energetic and dynamic vibe, the immense Pyramids: it was all quiet, almost as if it were a part of a silent film. It was as if someone had clicked the mute button in the remote, but the whole world was still watching from a very far away distance.

I was granted an instant of perfection.



Don't miss my next post, the last one of the Pyramids, here on SpiegelEye travel blog! Keep reading for more adventures!