Inside the Pyramid and on the Dark Streets of Cairo

On Saturday, I had what I thought was a clever idea: after buying the tickets, we would take a taxi directly into the pyramid complex. The plan turned out to be less brilliant than expected. Cars are not allowed through the pedestrian entrance, so the taxi had to make a long detour to the vehicle gate. There, we found a long queue. An additional fee had to be paid for vehicle entry, but it was not significant — especially considering that local tickets cost about ten times less than those for tourists. Eventually we made it inside, and I was able to take some photos of the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) from the opposite side, with the vast 22-million-strong Cairo–Giza metropolis stretching out in the background. Around 14 million people visit the Giza pyramids each year.

We then entered the Great Pyramid, the tomb of Pharaoh Khufu. For this, a separate ticket must be purchased at the entrance. At first, the passage leading inside is merely narrow and stuffy. Soon, however, it becomes so tight that you have to crouch or even crawl. By the time I finally reached the burial chamber, I was completely drenched in sweat. As if that were not enough, the chamber itself felt like a humid sauna. Every visitor who steps inside brings more heat and moisture with them. Some portable cooling units stood against the wall, but they were not operating.

The burial chamber is small and surprisingly unremarkable. Only about twenty people are allowed inside at a time. The sarcophagus is empty. It turned out that the fifteen other visitors present at that moment were all Estonians — and all of them women. We chatted for a while and took photos of one another. Then they formed a circle, held hands, and began meditating or praying. They only stopped when a guard asked them to leave so that the next group of tourists could enter. The pyramid’s interior did not leave a particularly strong impression — but that is hardly surprising. The pyramid was never meant to be visited from the inside, and originally even its entrance was carefully concealed.

Around the pyramids, there were also temples where offerings were once brought to the pharaohs. Khafre and Menkaure built their pyramids smaller than Khufu’s, reportedly out of respect for their father and grandfather. Nearby stands the Sphinx, whose beard fragments — added later and eventually broken off — can now be seen in the British Museum.

After the pyramids, we took an Uber to Old Cairo. There, we watched a traditional Tanoura dance performance in the courtyard of a local cultural center. The spinning dancers, dressed in colorful layered skirts, performed not only for tourists but also for local families enjoying their Saturday evening. We then explored the famous Khan Al-Khalili bazaar, which has operated for over 500 years. The market stands near the historic Bab al-Badistan gate, in the area where Cairo itself began about a thousand years ago.

For dinner, we enjoyed typical local food: ayesh baladi bread, falafel, tagine stew baked in a clay pot, and rice mixed with brown noodles. From one rooftop restaurant terrace, we had yet another view over the endlessly sprawling city — one can never have too many photos of the pyramids.

Later in the evening, I wanted to visit Bab Zuweila, a gate in the old city wall built some 800–900 years ago. Google Maps showed the shortest route through the narrow streets of the old town. This, however, is not the charming, orderly kind of old town one might compare to Tallinn. Instead, it is a chaotic labyrinth of dark, only-a-few-meters-wide alleys, with no cafés or restaurants — more a ghetto-like atmosphere where tourists rarely wander after dark. One building had even partially collapsed. At times, it was so dark that we had to use a flashlight. Groups of locals spending time in the narrow streets added a slight edge of tension to the walk.

In the end, we managed to find our way out of the maze and ordered a taxi back to the hotel — relieved, but with yet another unforgettable Cairo experience behind us.