You’d have to be living under a rock to not know that the Giza Pyramids are in Egypt.
What I found most striking about Giza wasn’t the pyramids themselves, but just how much Cairo suburbia encroached onto the pharaoh’s place of permanent rest.
Judging by the numerous clichéd photos of Giza showing three pointy edifices surrounded by endless sand, I’d always assumed the Pyramids were located in an isolated section of the Sahara, not as an almost token mausoleum part of Cairo’s outskirts.
Here’s the proof: This is the view looking out from the Giza Pyramids.
The travel brochure photographers obviously used the correct angles ensuring grimy slums don’t spoil the ridiculous tributes to the pharaohs.
Or the photos were 20 years old.
Or both.
But as a final photograph of proof, here is a painfully obvious photo of how much the Giza Pyramids have turned into a Tourist Trap:
There you go!
If you haven’t yet visited the Egyptian Pyramids at Giza, sorry for spoiling your image of them!
I guess you could still marvel at Lost Technologies of Ancient Egypt: Advanced Engineering in the Temples of the Pharaohs.
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December 18th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Would be a nice excercise to check that for all the great brochure photo’s of monuments, beaches, etc. I think you’ll see many such surprises.
I does spoil the experience though – hope the pizza hut doesn’t serve bacon in Egypt.
Luc J´s last blog ..Nikon COOLPIX S1000pj – First camera with built-in projector
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December 24th, 2009 at 8:48 am
The key word here is that you “assumed” the pyramids were in the middle of the desert. Who on earth would look no further than a travel brochure before going to Egypt?
It’s no mystery.
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anthony Reply:
December 24th, 2009 at 9:06 am
Of course it’s not a mystery! Just an insight into how tourist cliches are projected out into the world!
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Thomas Reply:
March 12th, 2010 at 8:11 pm
I had no idea that they weren’t in the middle of the desert until I first saw the above photo through the Pizza Hut window.
If I was actually going to Egypt I would have done my research but in the meantime all I really know about is what we learned at school!
It would be interesting to find lots of brochure images and take photos facing the other direction, wouldn’t do much for sales though!
Thomas´s last blog ..Boost Your Running Performance With Music
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January 5th, 2010 at 6:30 pm
Well, thank you. I really can’t believe how someone would think that Cairo is just Pyramids and Sphinx. I actually got a question from an American once asking if we (still) live in cages, and she was very surprised to find out we have internet connections :O
Thanks for this post, I enjoyed it
If you ever have free time, please visit my blog about Cairo from an Egyptian point of view:
http://thecapitalc.wordpress.com/
Have a good day
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February 17th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
The pyramids are still beautiful and amazing, the city hardly spoils it’s ancient sense.
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Twitter: harveyflea
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March 12th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
It’s the same the world over, unfortunately. *Sigh* Here where I live in Puerto Rico, most of the natural beauty has been paved over and covered with houses. You see photos of pristine beaches in all the travel brochures, but what you don’t see is the pollution floating in the water, the bums everywhere begging for a dime to get drugs, and all the rest of the mess that Puerto Rico has become.
PuertoRicoGuy´s last blog ..The Grouchy Travel Writer Lady Talks about Health Care Reform
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Johnc52 Reply:
March 31st, 2010 at 9:45 pm
I always had a sneaking suspicion that the pyramids and surrounding area would’nt be as nice as i imagined. shame
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May 15th, 2010 at 3:42 am
seeing the pyramids in person must have been soooo amazing, too bad, of all places, a pizza hut was right next door … what a funny site to see.
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May 31st, 2010 at 4:01 pm
Wow this reminds me of last year when they took the Starbucks out of the forbidden city in china. Modern day encroachment of cities on historical treasures is a worldwide issue. Either way it looks like you had a great time. Cant wait to get to go too.
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August 13th, 2010 at 12:06 am
You have created a very nice article. This article would like to thank you for sharing with us.
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August 19th, 2010 at 10:42 pm
Oh. Well yeah that kind of ruins it a bit doesn’t it? Whenever I see pictures of pyramids they always look very mysterious and stand alone, like in a Disney movie. It’s a bit weird now to know they’re not in the middle of nowhere and you can even head out for a pizza after visiting them. Ruins the effect of it.
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