Before going to Egypt, I really thought that climbing the Pyramids is a big No-No thing to do because they’re ancient, fragile and they have to be protected at all cost. Boy, I was so wrong!
Apparently you can climb the Pyramid as high as you can–that is if you can find your way to the top. Well, you aren’t allowed to climb in all three of them but in only one: The Pyramid of Khafre (or the middle Pyramid).
Somewhere, I read warning signs, “No Climbing” but only in certain areas of the said pyramid. Nearby, guards are watching people go up and down the steps. And if they think you’ve gone high and far, they’ll remind you to stop and come down.
By Alain – Full Story at Keep Calm and Wander
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Though Egypt’s tourism has experienced a big slump in the past years, the Pyramids of Giza has no shortage of visitors everyday. There are more local tourists going in (mostly students on one-day excursions), and only few are foreign travelers going around and about the pyramids—on foot. Most foreign tourists come in the comfort of their aircon buses, taking them from one place to another.
If you’re adventurous enough and you’re traveling with friends or alone, there’s a way to beat the crowd: don’t follow where most of them go. Make a detour.
There are three things, however, that you need to bring: a hat, water, and a few chocolate bars or some nuts. And oh, wear shoes, not sandals or beach flip flops.
After a delayed flight, I finally landed in chaotic Cairo at 3 in the afternoon. From there, someone helped me to get a visa on arrival and whisked me off to the guest house right in front of The Great Pyramids.
It took us almost an hour drive from Cairo International Airport to Giza. The traffic was the worst I’ve experienced and drivers don’t really follow traffic rules. Most of the streets have no lanes at all and some buses and vans leave their doors open.
Avoiding cars AND accidents left and right is another story to tell. If you survive or are expert in driving around topsy-turvy Cairo, you’ll be great driving anywhere—even in Bangkok, Manila or Mexico–all combined.
After trips to Ukraine and Uganda last year, International Mr. Leather Patrick Smith has taken his LGBTI awareness mission to the African countries of Egypt and Morocco.
Wrapping up his visit this week, Patrick used the opportunity to meet with local LGBTI activists, including a co-founder of the Moroccan LGBT group ASWAT.
‘It is pretty discouraging to hear how underground these groups must be,’ Patrick says on the ‘less-organized’ gay rights movements in the countries in question . ‘How do you build an infrastructure when any sort of visibility can land you in jail, or dead?’