Western Desert Trip - Pyramids

Step Pyramid at Saqqara

I got back from my trip safe and sound. I’m not sure how many blogs I’ll take up with my trip, but I’ll see how I go.

The first part of the trip was to get to Cairo by bus.

I’d ordered a taxi to the bus stop in Hurghada, but my usual taxi driver didn’t have a car (he didn’t have enough money to pay for the license any more – sad times [this is not Esmat; it’s another driver called John]). Then I called ABC taxis, who are usually very good. I stood outside. A taxi was waiting and I got in. He took me to the Baron hotel in Sahl Hasheesh, so I asked if he was picking someone else up. It turned out I’d got into the wrong taxi.

At this point I was stressed, because I had to get to the bus station on time and I was now running late. On top of that, the driver didn’t seem to know where he was going. It wasn’t exactly a relaxing start to my trip. When we arrived at the bus stop, he overcharged me, but I didn’t argue as he’d probably get a bad review for messing up his own customer while he took me to the bus stop (I insisted he not go back to his own customer or I’d miss my bus).

Anyway, I got to the bus stop in time. I’d booked first class, which meant a single seat quite spaced out from other seats. I wore my antiviral mask the whole time, although the air conditioning was pretty severe to promote air flow. I was a bit nervous about being on the bus when coronavirus cases in Cairo are high. We were picked up in Cairo by Joke’s friend and we stayed at his hotel.

All mornings were early starts, including the first one. Generally, we had to leave at 6am each morning, but now I’m thinking maybe Cairo was a bit of a lie in by comparison and we left at 7am. I can’t really remember. No matter.

Our first three stops were pyramids: the stepped pyramid, the red pyramid, and the bent pyramid. These were all precursors to the famous pyramids in Giza in Cairo. It’s a mistake to think that the only pyramids in Egypt are the ones at Giza. There are pyramids all over the place in Egypt, just not necessarily so well preserved.

Our first stop was at the step pyramid (top photo) in Saqqara. The limestone pyramid was built in c. 2600 BC, which is pretty mindboggling. There’s a complex to the side, with pillars representing bundles of plant stems (photo), and then tombs to another side, still bearing depictions of sacrifices to the gods (photo).

Columns into the Court

Food for the Afterlife

The second stop was to the red pyramid (photo below), built in 2500 BC. Here, we were able to climb down, but not take photographs. It was a scary descent as the ceiling was low and you had to go down backwards for 60m on a stepped plank where the grip was not always that great (and I was in flip flops!). My thighs ached the next day with all the exertion! The photo is of me coming out. If you look carefully, you can probably see that I’m sweating!

Red Pyramid

Finally Made It!

The third stop was to the bent pyramid (photo), built in 2600 BC. We had another climb inside and then up wooden steps (modern) constructed inside so that we could see the top of the pyramid from within.

Bent Pyramid

After that, it was finally away to the desert….