Posted on Thursday, 27 November 2014

Claire would have preferred to lounge by the pool at our four star hotel in Sharm El Sheikh, sipping cocktails and generally unwinding from her demanding job in London –  but I insisted that she would love the pyramids at Giza.

"It's just a pile of old rocks," said Claire, when I mentioned my desire to visit the area before we booked our trip.

"Of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Claire, this is the last one in any kind of shape. We can't go to Egypt and not see it. It'd be like visiting London and not going to see Buckingham Palace."

Reluctantly she agreed.

After touching down in Sharm el Sheikh we spent a few days relaxing in our rather wonderful Four Seasons Resort by the Red Sea. Eventually though it was time to take our very early morning coach tour (1 am!) to Giza, situated to the south west of Cairo.

The trip would include a visit to the Egyptian Museum, lunch on a Nile boat, and visits to the three pyramids at Giza – along with the Sphinx.

The air conditioned coach was comfortable enough – although it wasn't as relaxing as reclining on a sun lounger. As the sun rose we arrived in Cairo where we got a glimpse of the real Egypt which simply wasn't possible in the rather cloistered seaside resort.

The Egyptian capital looked chaotic – but nothing like the images of the trouble in Tahrir Square I had seen on the news many months before. While parts of Egypt are no-go, Sharm el Sheikh has been unaffected by the recent problems, benefitting from many security patrols in the airport and the resort. Equally the zones around Giza are considered safe to visit. The UK government website gives up-to-date travel advice for the area.

Claire was a bit worried about the attention she would get from men in Egypt, but I told her not to believe all the stories. From what I had read, it was true that foreign women did get a lot of attention in Egypt, but as long as we were sensible and didn't draw too much attention to ourselves, we would be fine. We were in a tour group travelling in areas deemed safe by the Foreign Office and did not plan on going near any protests, where there might well be problems. The most common advice I had read for female tourists was to cover your shoulders and not wear skirts or shorts above the knee.

Cairo was big and busy, and while I enjoyed the chaotic atmosphere I was glad to get into the relative quiet of the Egyptian Museum with all its incredible artefacts; highlights for me were the Gold Mask of Tutancarson (11kg of solid gold!) and the intact tombs of Tutankhamun and Psusennes I. I could see Claire's interest in ancient Egypt was finally being stirred by these astonishing objects.

But soon it was time to get back on the coach and travel to what we had really come to see.

I have wanted to visit the Pyramids at Giza all my life – and finally seeing them was the fulfilment of a lifelong dream.

They wavered in the Egyptian heat, pointing skywards, with the oldest and largest catching my attention in particular. Built as a tomb for the Fourth Dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu, the Great Pyramid stands at 138.8 metres, although it has lost around seven metres from its original height due to erosion and its missing capstone – or pyramidion. I told all this to Claire and could see she was becoming ever more intrigued.

It was incredible to be so close to the Great Pyramid at last – it's so big in fact that it was hard to get the entire structure in my camera frame!

As part of the tour we were able to explore the King's Chamber. If you're considering visiting the inside of this pyramid, you should be in reasonably good shape. There are a lot of steps and inclined ramps, and you need to stoop down low in some passages. Claire suffers from mild claustrophobia, too, but held out – mainly because there were lots of eager tourists behind her, blocking her way! But if you have serious claustrophobia, I wouldn't recommend entering this immense, dark structure.

Along with the King's Chamber we were also permitted to explore the Subterranean Chamber, along with our fellow tourists. The spookiest bit was the 300 foot descending corridor which is approximately four foot high. We had to stoop all the way. The lighting in this section was quite poor making Claire really scared and causing her to curse me for ever suggesting a trip to Giza! But personally I thought the low light added to the atmosphere. We took a small flashlight with us, which Claire gripped tightly all the way down.

Claire's mood improved when we emerged into the chamber at the end of the corridor, where we could stand up properly. Without the few flashlights in our group we would not have been able to see anything in the chamber. But what we saw was impressive, and ever so slightly scary. It hadn't been finished, as I informed Claire – who was now clearly more interested in the history of the pyramid than she was back in Sharm el Sheikh. The Subterranean Chamber was very different to the King's Chamber, which was cleaner, more complete – and above all well-lit!

We eventually clambered back out into the hot, bright day and dusted ourselves down. Claire joked that she almost wanted to go back into the cool dark of the pyramid. But not quite.

I could see that my friend enjoyed the pyramid as much as I did, which was a great deal.

After being further amazed by the Sphinx – the famous limestone statue of a lion with a human head – we returned to the coach and were taken for lunch on a Nile cruise boat.

Sphinx, Giza, Cairo, Egypt

The river is surely a sight to behold at any time of day, but witnessing the dying sun cast its crimson light over this legendary river was unforgettable. And that's to say nothing of the food. We sampled some wonderful Egyptian treats, including koshary, a delicious blend of rice, macaroni, lentils, chickpeas and crispy fried onions – with lots of spicy sauce. We also devoured several pistachio baklavas and both agreed that Egyptian food was seriously underrated.

We were then taken back into Cairo for some souvenir shopping, where I have to say the hawkers were very persistent – but avoiding eye contact and saying 'no' firmly seemed to deter them. Then, weary but happy after our whirl-wind tour of ancient Egypt, we headed back to Sharm El Sheikh.

Souvenirs, Cairo, Egypt (meunierd/Bigstock.com)

It was a very long day and we didn't get back to our hotel until past midnight.

“Shame we didn't stay in Giza for a little longer,” said Claire as she disappeared into her room with a yawn.

After washing the dust of Giza off my body with a hot shower, I slipped between my cool bed sheets for some well-earned sleep – my dreams filled with pharaohs and pyramids.

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