Tuesday, 2nd of April, 2019.
When I first see the Pyramids from the car, I think I will cry. At least once I get in there. But no. Although they look absolute staining and I could barely believe I was finally in there, no tears.
I walk through the Sphinx entrance. The annoying constant offer of camels (of which I was so much warned about it) starts and do not finish until the end of the day. I have no idea about the best spots for pictures yet, so when I first see the three Pyramids together and also the Sphinx in between, I ask to this nice, although quite weird guy, to take a picture of me. He could not fix all of us together. The little Mekaure stayed aside.
At the entrance of the Sphinx, the first building I see at my right, they ask to see my ticket again. In the morning, it is not as much as crowed as in the afternoon. Luckily, I take my time to appreciate and also o take my photo.
The exit of Sphinx guides me in the direction of the Pyramids. I do not keep straight otherwise I will end up at Khafre, and I want to start by Khafus, so I take a short cut at my right, which guides me to a road and then to The Great Pyramid. Nearby there are other smaller pyramids, to which ones we do not need to pay to go inside! A very nice guy, Ahmed Aid, is the one who tells me that. He first offer me a camel but them just walk with me a bit, telling me some history and being very kind. I totally recommend him if you decide to take a camel. This is his number: +20 1145616434
Now I walk into Khafre. Is just so beautiful! I think it is my favorite! I stay around for a while and instead of going around to check Mekaure, I decide to take the road. I actually do not know where I am going. I just follow the flood and I believe I will get in a good spot for a picture. So I see further away all the cars and buses and horses. So I presume (and I am right) that is the lookout which I read about in a blog. I keep walking through the road until I figure that there a secondary road (cut in the middle) that I can use as a short cut. Warning: it is very sandy! Once in there, waiting a while until some people get up from the perfect spot for my picture, helped by a really nice Egyptian tourist (country side) I got a wonderful picture.
Pause for lunch, sitting somewhere there (but not in front of any good spot, still with a great view because is not everyday that you can have your lunch in front of the Egypt / Giza Pyramids) and then another pause at the Mekaure. Rest, water, admiration, time to go. That was when the nightmare started.
Asking for information about where to get the bus to Tahir Square. A few people told me not have any bus going there. But I trusted in what Amira said and kept asking about it. I finally got the directions: keep walking to your left until you pass the police barricade, walk a little more until you see a street at you right, where will be some horses and carriages “parking”. The bus come from town, makes the turn there and wait a few minutes before to leave. It is the number 3. You pay 5 EGP and you need to ask for Tahir Square. I get a lot of help from the owner of one carriage, Mohammed, such a nice simple man, who waits and chats with me for the 30 minutes it takes for the bus to come. He talks with the driver, the cashier, and warns everybody about me. Such a nice person! The bus does not leave you at the Tahir Square though. But do not that far either. You just need to keep walking straight, you will cross two bridges, and when you see the KFC, you know you are there. It might take from 15 to 20 minutes walking slow. You can and should take you time. There will be loads of people on the bridges taking photos and enjoying the view. Unfortunately I was in a rush.
I keep straight in the street just beside the KFC. It will lead me to where I should take the next bus, M5, to New Cairo: AUC Terminal (Lotus Terminal). It is a 45 minutes walking until another big street encounters the one you are on it (you will see a bridge just in front of you) so you turn right. You might see some people waiting on the street for the buses so you know where you should be. If you don’t, just ask for El Helal Hospital and wait in front. For some reason one of the buses do not shows up so I wait for over one hour. I meet a lot of nice people though, who are very whiling to help. M5 it cost a lot more than the other buses (just because is all new), 15 EGP, and you stop is the last one. If the driver do not stop for you, do not panic! It is probably full and he knows that another bus is coming ride away. I do not know that yet so I run after it, until the traffic lights and ask him why he did not stop. When he tells me it is full I say I do not care because I’ve been waiting over one hour. Once I get in the Lotus Terminal, two other M5s arrive in the next 10 minutes. It is now almost 9.30p.m. Just a note: I left the Pyramids at 4p.m. It is very cold and I cry a little bit. I am sad because at the beginning I was happy and excited for manage to get back home on my own and I was getting so much help, but now I am exhausted, starving and freezing. At ten o’clock, one of the drivers invite me to wait inside one of the buses and do not freeze. So kind. Another lady is invited to do the same. She is waiting for the same bus as me but she give me some bad news: apparently, the time table for our bus finished at 9p.m., so Google maps gave me and her the wrong information. Luckily, the wonderful driver decided to drive us home. For correct information check the time table on all the buses. I arrived at home almost 10.30p.m.
What started as a wonderful day, it finished as an exhausted one. Even with my migraine killing me, I felt great though for finally feeling independent again, doing something by my own and getting help from locals. Those people who have always everything put on their hands have no idea how good it feels to be free, to be capable of being on your own. It is priceless.
