Pyramids Galore!

Today was our second full day in Cairo. And, of course, Wendy and I spent it looking at pyramids! First, we went south to the ancient capital of Memphis and then on to the see the Dashur Pyramids.

Our favorite was the Red Pyramid (built by Snefru circa 2600 BC). It was great: no tourists at all. It's about 110 meters tall. We climbed half-way up and then down inside through a long narrow corridor into the tomb. Pretty spooky! We also visited the "Bent Pyramid," and the "Step Pyramid." Impressive as well. Amazing engineering in these nearly 5,000 year old monuments!

Later in the day we visited the famous Great Pyramids of Giza (Khufu about 140 meters tall on left, Chephren in middle, and Mykerinos on right). Here is our panorama shot. Quite windy as you can see.

Finally, it was time to consult the Sphinx. I showed him my pyramids (all 30 of them conveniently wrapped in the Ball of Whacks). "I like it," he whispered. We swapped riddles. And then Wendy heard him say, "Stay on your path!" Good advice to ponder.

Comments

[Mark McGuinness]

thanks for sharing a fabulous trip. Could you make a Ball of Whacks out of pyramids? Or would it be more like a Square of Whacks?

[Stephen Denny]

Reading your post, I was reminded of Robert Benchley's famous quote via telegram to, I believe, his publisher while on his first visit to Venice:

"Streets filled with water. Stop. Please advise. Stop."

[Mr. Zeus]

The long awaited debut of your beautiful wife has finally come. What took you so long to introduce Wendy to the blogosphere?

[ann michael]

Wow, Roger! What a trip. I can't wait to see all the pictures!!!

[Mack Collier]

An endorsement from one of the Seven Wonders of the World! Let's see the A-Listers top that! Sounds like you are having an amazing time Roger, I can only imagine what it's like to see the pyramids up close.

[David Anderson]

"stay on your path" the Sphinx whispered...

My take on your article is that probably this actually was heard.. & is not simply a creative fiction or literary device.

an interesting INJUNCTION...

I also received such a message several weeks ago.. in the form of "trust your way".

which is also similar to "have faith, my son".....

meaning not as George Bush constantly emphasizes "stay the course", but rather have enough trust, faith, perseverance to BE OPEN to a winding, likely un-foreseen, path with unexpected twists & turns... thereby leading perhaps to currently unknown places of understanding .....

[Roger von Oech]

Thanks to all of you for your good wishes. The Internet is hard to come by in south Egypt (sorry for tardy response).

[Green]

I always believed that the sphinx is a she, isn't she?

[Kent]

You're so lucky! When I visited the Sphinx it was undergoing some sort of restoration.

Still, it is definately an impressive site (as well as the pyramids).

@Green: If I remember correctly (and this is going back 16 years) the Great Sphinx of Giza was believe to have the head of the pharoh of the pyramid it guards. So likely Chephren (I cannot tell in the photo above if that is the one, but I think it is).