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Travel and Leisure > The Smarter Way to Experience the Great Pyramids
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Article rating : 1.00, 4 votes. Author : Jacob Fiennes
From their construction throughout the centuries the Pyramids of Giza have
represented mystery, wonder and awe to all. They are perhaps the only great
architecture of the ancients to have survived more or less completely intact.
The oldest pyramid at Giza is the Great Pyramid of Cheops, also known as Khufu,
and is the largest known pyramid in existence. It was built around 2500 BC of over
two million limestone blocks, each almost three tons in weight. An astonishing
achievement and is believed to be the work of around twenty thousand slave
workers.
Nearby are the smaller pyramids belonging to Cheops’s son and grandson as well as
the Great Sphinx, known as Abu ‘l-Hol, a half-lion, half-man figure of majestic
proportions.
Each evening at dusk an enormous sound and light show is played out and, despite
its rather tacky touristy nature, is a real fast-track introduction to Egyptian history.
Scout through the many persistent camel drivers around the site for a decent tour of
the pyramids on humpback, with the best time of day being at daybreak or sundown
as these times are quieter and offer the most breathtaking atmosphere to view the
pyramids in.
As perhaps the best possible example of real estate location the forty acre Mena
House offers rolling views of lush parkland and beautiful gardens right on the
Saharan doorstep with the pyramids as a backdrop. Before 1870 the Mena House
was King Khedive Ismail’s official hunting lodge, yet today it offers serene escape
from the heady tourist areas that surround the Pyramids. Featuring an eighteen hole
golf course, a gorgeous swimming pool set right in the lush gardens, and a certain
aire of colonial grandeur felt perhaps most on the breakfast terrace, which Evelyn
Waugh described best as being “like having the Prince of Wales at the next table”. To
enjoy the Mena best choose a room in the old yet beautifully restored suites for a
grand view of the Pyramids.
Jacob Fiennes is an enthusiastic traveller and photographer with a passion for
discovery. He is a founder and regular contributor to the hugely popular worldwide
hotel reservations site
http://www.travelbx.com/. Visit the site for your next hotel
room reservation, flight ticket, tailored holiday package and much more.
http://www.travelbx.com
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this suked
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