Visiting Cairo's Pyramids

Last October I traveled to Egypt’s Red Sea city of Dahab, where I took back to back freediving courses. Egypt has long been high on my list of places I’ve wanted to go, especially to see the legendary pyramids, but on this trip I was solo, so the idea of navigating the bustling capital on my own felt intimidating. In the end, I realized I’d come much too far to go home without spending at least one day in Cairo. It worked out perfectly that I had made some wonderful friends in Dahab who were from Cairo and happened to be heading back at the same time, so they offered to take me around.

On the day I arrived, I went to The Egyptian Museum on my own. Egypt has so many archaeological relics housed across several museums in Cairo, and even just this one was overwhelming. The highlight was the small room that housed several of King Tut’s relics, including his famous solid gold death mask and two of his inner sarcophagi. It was surreal to see these ancient, historically significant treasures up close. They are pretty strict about not taking photos, probably to keep people moving, but I couldn’t help myself and snuck a quick iPhone shot. After the museum, I felt comfortable walking back to my hotel, taking in the street life, petting friendly stray cats, and enjoying the surprisingly pleasant breeze and tree cover in Zamalek.

The next morning, Omar and three of our freediving friends (Omar, Fatima, and her boyfriend) picked me up and drove us to the pyramids of Giza. I was surprised that Cairo locals were interested in going with me to such a tourist-heavy spot, but several of them hadn’t been in a really long time, some since childhood, and were excited to go back.

As we got closer and I started to see the tops of the pyramids in the distance, I felt a surge of anticipation. These are some of the most iconic landmarks in the world, a place that almost feels fictional, and not somewhere that my childhood self ever expected to see with my own eyes.

Me and my Egyptian friends inside the king’s tomb of Khufu

To my surprise, one of the Omars had already bought us tickets to go inside the Great Pyramid of Khufu. I didn’t even realize that was possible, so I definitely hadn’t mentally prepared myself for it. I’ve had mild claustrophobia for years, especially in cramped, narrow, underground spaces.

And getting into the pyramid was exactly that. My friend Fatima could tell I was anxious, so she led me by the arm and helped me carry my things so I could move more easily. Once inside, you climb up a series of steep steps through a narrow, low ceiling passage. The stop and go two way traffic, combined with the increasingly hot, stale, humid air, made it feel more intense.

Just as it started to feel overwhelming, the space opened up and I was able to stand, which helped a lot. There was one more short, bent over section before reaching the king’s chamber. By that point I realized it wasn’t as bad as I had built it up to be. All of the freediving training I had been doing in Dahab had actually helped me tolerate that exact type of discomfort. Being with friends helped too.

“Forever is Now”: Exhibition by Art D’Égypte

It ended up being a great time to visit the Giza pyramids, because the annual outdoor contemporary art exhibition “Forever Is Now” was happening, featuring artists from around the world.

Visiting the installations was so cool. I really enjoyed photographing and playing with framing the pyramids in the background with my Leica M10.