Giza Pyramids

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Our hotel view when we arrived at the Giza pyramids in Egypt

The view from our hotel rooftop restaurant where we enjoyed breakfast every morning.

We stayed a week in an affordable inn with a view of the pyramids and sphinx. The room was fine and their restaurant wasn't the greatest compared to another one we went to next door. However, this view every morning is reason enough to stay at an inn or hotel on Abou Al Hool street.

We were across from the Sound & Light Show entrance in one of several hotels available there, so we could see and hear the show most nights. I wouldn't pay to see it from the seats, but it was good from the hotel rooftops for free. You could also stay in much nicer hotels and travel to see this on one day during a short trip. I preferred waking up to this view for a week and travelling everywhere else in Cairo.

The Giza area isn't so nice to walk around with the constant harassment from people trying to sell stuff or offer a taxi. Speaking of taxis, definitely stick to Uber. They're cheap and reliable, particularly if you don't speak Arabic. The app takes care of the payment and communicating the destination, so no haggling, rip-offs, or confusion.

We hired a guide and driver for the day to take us through the Giza Pyramids, ride camels for a pic, visit the step pyramid at Saqqara, have lunch, and see the huge statue in Memphis (not Tennessee).

It actually wasn't very expensive for what the day included. I recommend it over trying to navigate through all of this on your own. The guide and driver were able to navigate us around the big tour groups and get us through the day efficiently. It also gave us a sense of how it was to be in Cairo before we switched to Uber and started taking our own paths around the city.

We took a short camel ride alongside many other tourists to get pictures on camels in front of the pyramids. It was a somewhat short obligatory experience. The camels looked healthier than most of the horses. I hope the camels are treated well, but I wouldn't ride horses here with how they looked. Let's focus on the nice side of Giza, check out those pyramids!

sphinx butt

Saqqara

a very deep hole with a sarcophagus coffin in it

Inside a tomb with color hieroglyphs you could touch, but shouldn't. This was now at ground level with natural light from the roof that was added.

false door

Down into a tomb without as much to see, but more to experience going into a buried tomb.

watch your head!

sarcophagus coffin box

stars

Memphis (not Tennessee)

A huge statue of Ramesses II

a sphynx

There's a Pizza Hut in Giza near the hotels. It isn't a great Pizza Hut, but it has a view.

We also rented ATVs to see the sunset and the pyramids again from a different angle and in different light.

full moon

Pics of the Sound & Light Show from a rooftop restaurant