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WorldTravel > 1000places  > Travel > International Destinations > 2007 - Egypt & the Nile
Our travel to the Land of the Pharaohs
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1000places > SAQQARA - We also encountered a local entrepreneur who offered us a ride on his "Egyptian Cadillac." We declined.
1000places > GIZA PLATEAU - In the afternoon of our first full day in Egypt, we made our way to the country's s signature attraction: the Pyramids of Giza &#8211; perfect in form, massive in size, the ultimate expressions of the pharaohs&#8217; quest for eternity.
1000places > THE PINNACLE OF PYRAMIDS &#8211; The Great Pyramid of Khufu - this is where pyramid building truly reached its pinnacle. It may be the most photographed structure in the world, yet nothing quite prepares you for the shear size of the last surviving wonder of the ancient world, two and a half million stones stacked skyward in nearly flawless symmetry.
1000places > GIZA PLATEAU - Khufu (or Cheops, as the Greeks called him) enlisted 30 to 50,000 of his closest friends to build his pyramid over 20 years beginning around 2540 BC. For the next 4,000 years it was the tallest structure in the world, rising 481 feet (now only 455 feet with erosion and the removal of its topmost layer). The Pyramid covers over 13 acres and contains nearly 90,000,000 cubic feet of masonry, enough to build 30 Empire State Buildings.
1000places > TWO ICONS OF EGYPT - With the Great Pyramid as the backdrop, Jeanne couldn't resist the whole "Egyptian Experience" - climbing onto her first camel for a brief jaunt (actually, very brief) over the desert sands of the Giza Plateau.
1000places > GIZA PLATEAU - Prior to our visit, we had expected to see nothing but the Pyramids atop the Giza Plateau, but in walking around the massive structures we were surprised to discover that Pyramids did not stand alone. They are part of a complex of buildings which included temples, chapels, massive walls, and other tombs.
1000places > QUEENS' PYRAMIDS - These smaller pyramids were built for members of the pharaoh's familty, although the actual identify of the occupants is unknown. An ancient tale told by the Greek historian Herodotus claims that to raise funds for building the Great Pyramid, Khufu forced his daughter to work as a prostitute. She could, however, collect a single stone from each &#8220;client&#8221; to build her own pyramid. Perhaps Herodotus exaggerated &#8211; if one of these is indeed the pyramid of Khufu's daughter, it contains more than 100,000 stones.
1000places > A RIVER CRUISE TO THE AFTERLIFE? - Southeast of Khufu&#8217;s Pyramid, the site resembles an ancient dried-up river port. Five boat pits have been discovered. Two were covered by slabs of limestone, and beneath them were two large, disassembled wooden boats.
1000places > THE PHARAOH'S SOLAR BARQUE - In the 1960s, the 1,224 pieces discovered in one of the boat pits were removed and carefully reassembled. The result was a fully functional boat, now displayed in a specially constructed &#8211; and totally out-of-place &#8211; enclosure beside the Great Pyramid. Made from Lebanese cedarwood, Khufu&#8217;s boat is 142 feet long and 20 feet wide. The boat was rowed by 10 pairs of oars, and two large steering oars are in the back. Why bury boats in the dessert? They were possibly &#8220;solar barques,&#8221; meant to convey the dead pharaoh&#8217;s &#8220;sun spirit&#8221; across the sky each day. Or perhaps to transport him to the afterworld. The one in the museum shows some signs of having once been in the water, leading some to conclude that it was used to transport the dead pharaoh&#8217;s body down the Nile from Memphis to Giza for burial.
SAQQARA - We also encountered a local entrepreneur who offered us a ride on his "Egyptian Cadillac." We declined.

> SAQQARA - We also encountered a local entrepreneur who offered us a ride on his "Egyptian Cadillac." We declined.
SAQQARA - We also encountered a local entrepreneur who offered us a ride on his "Egyptian Cadillac." We declined.

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Keywords: pyramids egypt saqqara
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