Pyramids Tell a Glittering Tale...

Continues from Egypt-The First Glimpse of the Magical Land

Our short nap in the hotel room didn’t for extend more than an hour. We were so excited to watch the Pyramids, the world famous monuments. We waited for little Shreya to wake up from her sleep to go out.

Shreya must have shared our excitement and she woke up soon in enthusiasm to go out.

As we got into the car, I was expecting to reach some deserted desert area that houses the Pyramids. Our car stopped in front of a gate in the middle of the city. All of a sudden, we realized that we are at the gates of the Pyramids grounds.

The Great Pyramids of Giza/Pyramid of Khufu/Pyramid of Cheops stand in the middle of the desert surrounded but the bustling city of Cairo. We took tickets for the light and sound show at 6.30 pm. There were two other shows at 7.30pm and 8.30pm in Spanish and Arabic language.

We were soon ushered to the ground with theater style seats. We took seats in the third row from the front for a better view. The dusk was dark adorned by the starry sky. Except Shreya, both of us were not prepared for the chilly wind in total contrast to the Egyptian hotness in the day. However, all through these, we were very excited to see world’s one of the eminent wonders.

The First Glimpse of Pyramids

As the initiation for the show, the outlines of the three Pyramids appeared in green floodlight. The crowd was uttering the ‘Wow’ in whispers. Our first view of the giants! There they stood as the grand royals over the centuries. We were truly humbled by that unique view.

 The impressive voice of the commentator lead the audience through the short history of Egypt, its culture, dynasty and unique stories. The commentary was made more interesting with the still images projected on the wall of the temple.  The Pyramids started to get flooded with colored lights and the image of the people on a Felucca over the Nile hooked into my mind.

We had earlier guessed that the three Pyramids are those of the King, the Queen and their Son. But it turned out that they are the Pyramids of King Khufu (tallest one), his son King Khafre (who was humble to build his pyramid smaller than his father) and King Menkaure (King Khafre’s son who was also humble to build his pyramid smaller than his ancestors). Though the smallest, King Menkaure’s Pyramid, seemed to have possessed more riches than his ancestors. Also, Egyptians still respect King Menkaure more than his forefathers.

 After some time, the show started to get drag. It was made more tedious for us with little Shreya’s cranky cries.  Sreejith took her our when all our pacification failed. The narrative started to go through the legends and secrets of ancient Egyptian history. Finally, the Sphinx came to live in the colorful light and the powerful voice. 

Sphinx

“For 5,000 years I’ve seen all the Suns that man can remember, come up in the sky. I’ve seen the history of Egypt in its best glow. As of tomorrow, I’ll see the east dawning with a new flame. Through the ages, I received many names through the people who came to me in adoration. Generations bowed before me and I’ll be here watching over you!”

I was captured by this poised dialogue and the majestic view. In my mind, I uttered “I too bow before thee.” I don’t know how the last word came to my mind in Shakespearean language. But, I believe that when we see great things in life our mind can get minimally influenced by them.

We couldn’t get any good images of the show due to darkness. But, still we were happy. We soon headed to a duty free shop to buy something that we had missed in Riyadh.

Continues in A Night at Cairo!