Day 13: Cairo, Egypt

Sheraton Cairo Hotel & Casino

4 January 2026

We had a wonderful day today - we actually saw the pyramids! And they were just as impressive as we could have hoped.

We originally were going to be picked up at 10am for our tour, but our guide yesterday said the absolute best time to go to the pyramids is as soon as they open, at 8am. Otherwise the place becomes ridiculously crowded and the queue to get inside the pyramid is ridiculous. So we changed our tour to start at 7am. The sun was only just coming up as we were collected from the hotel.

Our guide was named Eino, and was very nice - but he had a strong Egyptian accent and was tricky to understand at times. He was very knowledgeable though and gave us just the right amount of information to keep us interested, but not too much to overwhelm us.

Once you reach the pyramid parking lot, you have to catch electric shuttle buses that actually take you to the pyramids. Previously, cars could drive right up, but the pollution and traffic chaos was terrible.

By contrast, everything today was very well organised and we decided to go straight to the Great Pyramid and go inside, before it got too busy.

The Great Pyramid is even bigger than you can imagine. (There are actually three pyramids - built by father, son and grandson. The father, Khufu, has the largest one - which is the only one where the burial chamber has actually been found. (It was totally empty when discovered - nothing in it, no carvings or hieroglyphs - nothing. It had either been completely robbed or was possibly just a fake burial chamber to fool thieves.)

We walked around the pyramid and then climbed up to burial chamber entrance. It should have come with a warning that it was not for anyone with any medical issues, mobility issues, any hint of claustrophobia or panic attacks or anyone with breathing difficulties. It was quite cold outside but, as soon as we got inside, the temperature started to rise. I can't imagine working in there trying to build anything!

The corridor started out quite wide and easy to navigate and on a downhill slant. It suddenly turned abruptly upwards and we had to go up some steps and into a sharply sloping tunnel where you had to bend practically double, while climbing upwards. Luckily there were rails either side to haul yourself up on. There were also people coming the other way and, at first, I thought they were people who had given up and turned around but I gradually realised that the only way out was the same way we were going in!

We kept going up and up and, just when we felt we couldn't stay bent over any longer, the roof lifted and we were still walking upwards, but at least we were upright. Someone came towards us with a child strapped to his chest and I was staggered that he had managed the bent over part on the way up and was now planning to repeat the process leaning forward!

The temperature had risen significantly by this stage and so Jim and I stripped off our jackets but, to our amazement, there were still people staggering about in puffer jackets! 

We kept going up and up, bending over for short intervals, until we finally emerged into a narrow totally empty room - the burial chamber. It had an amazingly high ceiling made of enormous blocks but it was empty, except for other tourists and lots of electric fans. There were no guides or staff members or anything. We were all on our own if anyone got faint or panicked and blocked the passageway. (Edit: there was actually a large empty stone sarcophagus in this chamber, which I'd forgotten all about.)

After a few minutes of soaking in the atmosphere, we turned around and made our painful way back. At least, there were times when no one was coming the other way and you could walk straight ahead. I can't imagine what it is like later in the day when the stream of visitors is constant. We eventually emerged into the sunshine, pleased we had been inside a pyramid - but glad to be out! 

After this, we hopped back on the bus and went to see the Sphinx - which is also amazingly monumental. They certainly knew how to build things big in Ancient Egypt. You aren't allowed too close to the Sphinx, but it was still close enough to get some great photos.

We finished off this part of the tour with a ride on a camel. It was also amazing! You head out on to the sand where there seem to be a hundred camels, horses with carts (for those too timid to try the camels), lots of dogs, lots of tourists and lots of cameleers all shouting at each other, chain smoking and calling to tourists. We had to wait a while for our turn as there were already a lot of people there, but I was confident it would be a great experience.

It started out badly as my camel had no stirrup and I had to be shoved onto the camel's back by Jim in a very undignified fashion. Then I almost fell off when the camel stood up. (Apparently I was leaning forward when I should have been leaning back.) They give you a ridiculously small post to hang on to and the camel walks with a very jerky and rolling gait. (I mentally apologised to those people I had laughed at who looked like they were clinging on for dear life. I understood their fear!)

We were in a line of 6 camels, with Jim and the cameleer in front. Jim's camel was Ali Bob Marley and mine was Moses (a very appropriate name). Moses kept wanting to walk up front with Ali, which was rather exciting. We walked for five minutes up to a spot with a good view of the pyramids so we could take some photos and have photos taken of us. We then walked back to where we started. I began to feel on the way back that I was getting the hang of things and wasn't going to fall off, so I could relax a little. And then it was over! It was probably about 15 minutes from start to finish - which was probably just the right amount of time. (Getting off is much easier than getting on, I discovered.)

After this, we caught the shuttle bus back to the entrance where we were met by our driver and taken to lunch. (I think in future, we will avoid lunches on tour. They are always rather odd.) We were taken to a small cafe in a nearby suburb (probably owned by a cousin - because there was no other reason to eat there.) We had what is apparently a typical Egyptian dish called Koshary. It consists of lentils, chickpeas, pasta, rice and crispy fried onions, topped with a spicy tomato sauce. It wasn't bad, but we had a plastic bowl, a plastic spoon and tissues for napkins. We were given deep fried pita bread to eat with it. Not unpleasant, but not exactly a culinary experience.

We parted from our tour guide at the cafe and the driver brought us home. It's lucky that Jim got quite a bit of small Egyptian currency from the bank before we came because you really need to tip everyone - drivers, tour guides, cameleers, hotel workers etc. Wages are probably very low and they rely on tips.

We are now back in our hotel room and I think I will need to do some washing. There is a suspicious smell of camel in the air - probably from our clothes.

Our official Viking tour starts tomorrow and we are supposed to be moving to a different room, but we have negotiated to pay a little extra and stay where we are. I'm sure it is a much nicer space than Viking is paying for, and packing up to move is annoying. I'm the kind of person who spreads out and unpacks as soon as they arrive.

We are going out to an Italian restaurant in the hotel for dinner tonight. We are a little sick of the buffet on the 26th floor. I hope it's good!