PIQUANT PYRAMIDS AND A ROYAL RIDE

Finally to the Pyramids!
Need I explain my first thoughts? From a distance driving through Giza, they appeared like three mountain peaks in the smoggy panorama. Too steep to look like a real mountains but almost like a natural part of the landscape.
The one in the middle, the Pyramid of Khufu, the tallest one, looks snow capped with the little bit of casing material that is still left on its pinnacle.



It is impossible to describe the wonder and amazement as one approached these marvelous creations of a civilization as old as the mountains. This place, Giza, was a desert at one time. That too vast stretches of desert! Today it is a hotchpotch, clumsily expanded district with a swarming population. With the city creeping in and inching towards these magnificent relics, the place where the old meets the new is an amazing vantage point – A crossroad between memories and dreams. Here against huge billboards, snarling traffic, jostling crowd, unplastered houses, and modern flyovers, these majestic ruins reminded me of everything that has gone into bringing me this moment of truth.


The approach, the little stretch through the sand that is still there for tourists, I couldn’t help thinking, has been trod upon by so many, over so many centuries. The artisans and laborers who created the tombs had walked all the way, lugging those enormous stones on their back. Much later when Napoleon came to desecrate the Sphinx he must have come on a horseback now all one can see are four wheelers.

I wanted my own classic shot of the intriguing Pyramids, which are more than just tombs to me. Its symbolism will outlive it while some of its mysteries will remain buried in its sand forever.

“Ticket please”. A tall Egyptian in traditional Kandura (they call if Galabiya here), headgear ( Ogal) and a smart pair of glares stopped my reverie. I promptly took it out. He looked concerned.
“Where are you from?”
“India”
“With this ticket you can only see these three Pyramids”. He pointed out to them in a distance.
How many were there anyway? I thought there were only three that of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure who ruled through 2589-2504 BCE.


“Come with me. I will show you something more.”
Was I to follow him? He wasn’t wearing a police uniform but looked terribly respectable.
“ Why? Where?” I responded curiously. He seemed to be taken aback
“Trust me. Come with me. I will show you something nice. Stand here. Put your hands up and I will take a picture of yours that make it seem like you are touching the top of the Pyramid.”
Hmmm! I thought.
“You don’t have to pay me. I work here”


And there hangs the tale. Another naive tourist was gradually ensnared into the web of the infamous touts of Giza. Very soon I was on a camel back “looking like an Egyptian queen,” all thanks to my very generous Egyptian friend in glares. He was paid to see all tourists who came to see the Pyramid went back happy. Now isn’t that a huge promotional package from the Egyptian Tourism Dept! I was beginning to understand the game but wasn’t sure how to end it.

“Ok thanks, that’s enough. I am very happy now. Must get going!”
“I can see you were meant to be a queen. Generous when happy.” He gave the clinching line.
Playing with my vanity. That was taking it too far. I had forgotten about the Pyramids all of a sudden. There were more serious things to deal with.
“Okay. How much do you want?”
“ What a hundred dollar? Did I hear you right? I can give you a hundred rupee. Is that okay? I am not feeling too happy or generous anymore.”

The haggle continued for a while. In the background the Sphinx sat laughing. It has seen so much over so many thousand years.This little interlude was just another anecdote that would remain buried with it, in time.