Desiree wasn’t about to be rushed. They were going to be taking pictures in front of the pyramids of Giza. They’d be knocking out selfies in front of the last remaining wonder of the ancient world. They’d most likely never be back here again. John had emphasized they basically had one shot at getting inside the pyramids according to the tour company. All of that added up to her needing to look good in the pictures they took today. They’d be popping up on social media for who knew how long. John would inevitably order one of the pictures as a canvas print to put in the house they’d eventually get.
John may not care if he looked like a hobo in the pictures, but she did. She’d put at least as much thought and planning into the outfits she’d brought with her as he had into their itinerary. Looking in the mirror she saw a need for some serious work on her face. She looked as jet lagged and tired as she felt. Once she got through the makeup and hair portion of getting ready everything else went fast. A mere fifty minutes after emerging from the bathroom they were walking through the ritzy hotel lobby on the way to meet their ride.
Originally built as a palace for royal guests the hotel was a place worth exploring all on its own. The history of the ancient city they were in was something that was hard to grasp for most Americans. To most of them the American Civil War was history and Columbus discovering North America was ancient history. The city they were staying in was founded 3,500 years before Columbus was able to talk the queen of Spain into lending him some money to go off exploring.
The bellman met them in the lobby to let them know their driver was waiting for them. John handed the bellman a couple of dollars in the funny looking currency they’d gotten from the currency exchange at the airport. Desiree had already slid some into the back of her wallet as a souvenir. She’d tried to do it sneakily knowing that otherwise John was bound to run out and need to borrow some from her for tipping people.
Driving through the tiny streets of Cairo reminded them both of other wild car rides they’d taken outside the states. The horn was used just as frequently as the turn signals. There was a lot of yelling in a language that neither Desiree nor John had the slightest ability to understand. John had tried learning to speak some of the common phrases but given up on that part of his trip preparation when Desiree had shown zero enthusiasm for it. Plus, the guidebooks all said English was commonly spoken in the tourist sections of Egypt.
The thirty-minute drive from the hotel took about an hour. The finale being a yelling match between their driver and the ticket agent at the parking lot outside of the pyramids. In broken English an apologetic driver had told them that because they’d arrived late their tickets had been sold to another couple. The guard happened to have another set he could sell them though. Their driver let them know that they were being screwed but there was nothing he could do about it. John pulled out the wad of funny money and watched as the guard and driver made most of it disappear.
Twenty minutes later him and Desiree were standing in line on the side of the pyramid waiting to go inside. It was hot and miserable. They were both sucking down overpriced bottles of water and had swallowed fistfuls of Tylenol. The jet lag catching up to them right as they were reaching the exact spot that they’d been talking about for the last four months.
“What’s that over there?” Desiree asked looking out across the rocky desert towards a huge tarp that’d been setup to cover an excavation site. The tarp was surrounded by a broadcast crew with professional looking cameras. Several large vehicles were parked around the site. One of them was sporting a large satellite dish on top of it.
“Beats me. Probably something for the Discovery channel or something. Hurry up. It’s almost our turn and I want to get out of this sun.” John said after a quick glance across the lot towards the film crew in question.
After all the money and time spent getting there, they were slightly underwhelmed by the actual experience. The main pyramid needed an escalator. You had to climb along this board with ridges in it for what felt like forever. It was hell on your calves. Once you made it to the top you were rewarded with the view of a much larger opening in the middle of the pyramid. They did their time walking and climbing around sneaking the occasional obligatory selfie in defiance of the no photography signs.
The exercise helped with the jet lag and headaches. Walking out the entrance to the pyramids once they were done Desiree pointed out the camera crew were still doing their thing. Deciding it may be more interesting to check that out than to walk around inside the other pyramid they headed in the general direction of the tarps. The tarps looked a lot closer than they really were. They gave up when they saw they’d have to exit the area they’d
