Trip to the Pyramids
We got a day's leave to Cairo. We went in trucks. It was about an hour's journey along the Sweetwater canal, through several Arab villages, then Abassia and a tram to Cairo. Five of us kept in a small group. We were required to keep to the European part of town, so we 'did' the shops. I particularly recall the many perfume shops - perfumes made up to order. All the while we were pestered by Arab guides, and at last we took a tram to the pyramids.
We hired a guide who took us to the Sphinx and the temple of the Sun God. I had a camera and took a few snaps. When we came to the pyramid of Cheops, three of us decided to climb to the top. We had to hire a specialist guide for the climb. The pyramid was built of huge sandstone blocks which had been brought down the Nile on barges from the quarries inland. It had been covered with a smooth coat of alabaster and this had been stripped off by Saladin to build his mosque.
It was a hard climb up these big, rough, weathered blocks, zig-zagging along the ledges covered with scree and sand. A guide was a pure necessity. When we got to the top we took photos. Cairo was below us, slightly hazy - no heat shimmer - it was December! We looked down on all the small pyramids of the wives and daughters. We also saw the barges which had brought the stones - they were built in and covered when the work was done. It was time to go down. The guide demanded more money or he would be off and leave us. We grabbed him and threatened to chuck him off. Then we started down with him guiding under duress. I went first so he could not make off.He gave instructions to me, and the other two brought up the rear. The descent was worse than the climb, but at last we reached the bottom and our two pals.
We all decided that we would maybe never get such an opportunity again, so we hired another guide who specialised in the interior of the pyramid. We climbed, an easy climb, up to the opening. The guide lit a magnesium flare and in we went- level at first and then upward sloping. My recollection is of confusion - of meeting crowds, crawling through small rat holes, entering high chambers where the light was lost in the vastness, squeezing past people. At last we came to the inner chamber, and saw the sarcophagus - empty of course. We noted that electric cables were being put in but were unconnected to a supply. We made our way, with our guide, to the exit, walked to the tram terminus and began the journey back to Tel el Kebir. We had packed a lot into just one day!
