The Journey Begins....

There are very few things that have captured my imagiations as much as the Pyramids.Those innumerable episodes I've watched on Discovery & NGC, the umpteen stories I'd been hearing about Tutankhamen, Cleopatra, Ramesses and the other pharoahs of the land of the Nile. All these stories had fuelled my expectations and my impending journey to the country of the mummies was something I was really looking forward to.

It all seemed a fairy tale for me...a guy who until a couple of years back was still in college, content with travelling to and fro in the packed buses of a bustling metro and here I was2 years down the lane sitting on a plane watching the clouds beneath me and reading about the incredible history of the land on which I was about to set foot on.

First Impression...

It was 3.00 am by the time the two of us were done with the fomalities at the Cairo airport. The moment we exited the airport we were swarmed by a dozen taxi drivers asking for our destination. If not for the taxi sent by our hotel, we would have had a little more interaction with them. By now this place was giving me an impression of a country very similar to India, which would be justified a in the days to come but it sure was a lot more chaotic. We were a bit tired but nothing could take away the anticipation and excitement we had for the week that lay ahead.

In the morning it was a welcome change to wake up to the warm and pleasat sun of Cairo after spending the last few months in the cold weather of the Queen's country where the sun was hardly a manly force to reckon with. After an English breakfast we hired a driver from our hotel and we were on our way to visit The Pyramids.

The Pyramids...

The moment we caught a glimpse of the magnificent pyramids far in the horizon seated somewhat uncomfortably on our horses we knew that this would be one trip we would never forget in our lives. These magnificent pieces of architecture, which has been standing for eons and the thought of they were erected made me take a bow at those countless number of individuals who were a part of creating arguably the most fabulous buildings every to grace the face of mother earth. After a half hour's bumpy horse ride over the Sahara listening to our guide we are at the foot of the smallest pyramids where we stopped to take a few pics and then decided to walk around the other two pyramids.

There was only one corridor open for public and we got to know that there was nothing much to see inside the pyramids cos almost all the artefacts belonging to the pharoahs were put on disply in the Cairo museum. But nothing could deter us from entering it and since we were not allowed to take our cameras inside, not trusting the locals there we took turns to go inside.

The effort we had to make to enter the corridor and the hot temperatures inside made many of the foreigners around sweat like they were walking the treadmill for a good hour. Added to that, doing the same being crouched half the time forced some of them to stay outside in the cool breeze. We were told that the entrance was so because that everybody entering had to bow down to the resting pharoah, which I thought was a cunning but ingenious way of gaining the respect. Though there was nothing of worth inside it sure was worth the effort, just to be able to say that "I was inside the Great Pyramids" makes me .

Back in the open, in the middle of the Giza site I just gave a moment for the whole aura of the place to sink in and the feeling was even better than I expected. We just the let the feeling soak in, took a lot of pictures and then headed towards our next destination The Sphinx.

As our guide reeled out the history behind this statue one can't fail but notice the defeatured nose. There have been two theories on the reason behind the same. One being that Napolean 's soldiers fired a cannon ball and the more widely belived one where a Sufi fanatic disfigured it because of egyptian peasants were considering it as God. I overlooked the disfigured face and stood transfixed when I was told that the entire staute was carved out of one single stone.

Despite the fact about the various mysteries surrounding the actual purpose of the statue, the time at which it was built, by whom it was built, whose face does the statue depict........over a period of few centuries thanks to the efforts thousands of people this magnificent piece of art stands proudly guarding The Great Pyramids, as many believe it has been doing since the day it was erected.

By the end of the day we were basking in the glory of these timeless pieces of history which have stood the test of time and which I hope will stand for ever so that all our future generations will get to have a glimpse of one of the seven wonders of a world which would be more alien than ancient to them.

Another dream of mine had materialised!!!