Big Red

So this is us, heading to the Red pyramid. Yes, Josh sounds a little crabby. You would be too if you had to hear constant questions and/or tattling about someone squishing, poking, looking the wrong way, etc. This was our last stop on our day of pyramiding. Yes, I made that word up.

Most people just visit Giza — the site of the famous pyramids, but there are several other pyramids in Egypt. This one is called the Red pyramid because it’s made out of this reddish looking rock. I’m sure a real guidebook could tell you exactly what it’s made out of and why it’s red, but all I can tell you is it’s the second biggest pyramid in Egypt and it’s pretty cool looking.

Calvin read a book titled The Red Pyramid this past year, so he was especially excited to see it in person.

Something that made this site so much nicer than Giza is that there were very few tourists. No tourists = no locals peddling trinkets or following you around hassling you to ride their camels. It was really peaceful out there. If you want to explore at your own pace, this is the place to go.

In order to explore inside, you first you have to hike way, way up . . . I kept thinking as we were scrambling up (and then down) the stone steps that if this were in America it would be a lawsuit waiting to happen. Minimal guard rails, uneven stones for steps, a really steep incline . . . Caleb and Carter are almost to the entrance which is basically a hole in the side of the pyramid about halfway up. I was really glad I was used to climbing stairs at home (broken elevator reference) because there were a lot of them.

 
And then, once you do all that climbing up, you have to climb down — way down. Now, I have the potential to become a teeny tiny claustrophobic, but I was planning on going down in the pyramid because my therapist told me to. Just kidding, sort of. My goal for this year is to try and do all sorts of things that I might otherwise avoid. I’m trying to remember to just say “yes.”
However, when we were about to descend into the hole, the lovely man (pictured above) pointed at Camille and said, “No babies. Bad air.” So I made the huge sacrifice of staying behind so the baby didn’t have to breathe in bad air.

At first, Calvin didn’t want to go either and I didn’t really blame him. (poor kid, he’s so much like me.) Aside from the fact that there were a million stairs leading down to who knows where, the smell coming from the inside of the pyramid was awful. It smelled like a Berkeley parking garage — like really strong ammonia that burned the inside of my nose. I have no idea if it’s from generations of homeless Egyptians peeing in there, or if there’s some natural gas leak that comes from underground, but if we go again I’m bringing something to cover my nose and mouth.

 After a few minutes, Calvin calmed his nerves, took a deep breath, and joined the others inside. This is after returning to the top. How do you spell “relieved?”

Josh’s pictures from inside. Tons and tons of stairs. This pyramid is much less claustrophobia inducing than the Great Pyramid at Giza because you can actually stand upright as you descend and when you’re walking around inside. I guess at Giza you have to hunch over to make your way through the tunnel to the main chamber. I think I might try saying “yes” to this pyramid, and if I don’t freak out, maybe I’ll try the other one.

On second thought, maybe I’ll just use the “bad air” excuse.