Nighttime at the Great Pyramids

Normally, I would have considered the night show at the Great Pyramids of Giza not worthy of much time or consideration, however, since one of my friends was coming in from out of town for just two days, I wanted to cram his time full, counting the night of his arrival.  My biggest obstacle was that the flight arrived at 6ish and the English show began that night at 7:30.

I had heard it was an extravaganza of actors and lights and music, but was a bit overdone.  In addition, it could get crowded at times.  So with some doubt, I decided we would go for it, especially after asking my cab driver on the way to the airport if the trip was possible and receiving his assurances.

So we negotiated passage from the airport to the light show and then back to the hotel we were staying at, which was in Garden city and which I will describe at another time.  This was the day of Coptic Christmas as well, which was why the driver said traffic wouldn’t be that bad.

After we all got in the minivan, the driver asked why we were going to Giza at night, assuring us there was no show.  I assured him there was a show, since I had checked the sound and light show website the night before and asked him to drive on.  He seemed unsure of his driving and we were delayed, as an understatement.  It seemed as if he were trying to delay us for a purpose, at least that was where my mind was going.  Then all of a sudden he blurts out, “my friend has a roof, near the pyramids, I can take you there.”

Now, I am sometimes interested in playing along with such schemes and wily trickery, because I am a pretty mellow guy and sometimes, you could come out ahead, at the very least you will have a story to tell.  However, this time, I decided against it, since I was hosting my friend, and this guy was just a pain.  So I told him no, and told him to take me to Giza.  GIZA GIZA GIZA.  I think my friend thought I had changed, but sometimes you have to be firm, like when dealing with shade tree cab drivers.

So we get to the show late, and he is happy.  He drives about a block away, where he has a homey and tells us that he can’t pull in parking at the pyramids.  No big deal, I tell my friend to grab his cash and any valuables from his bags and to come on.  Of course we missed the English show, but I knew the French show followed, and figured it might be interested en Francais, no?

We arrived just before the French show started.  I paid, there are no discounts, but they do accept credit cards.  I would still recommend cash though.  The admission is 60 LE or 10.50ish, which was $68.79 US for my gang of seven, six of whom had to pay.  Of course that probably counted a little foreign currency conversion fee or two and a horrible exchange rate.  But I was in a hurry.

http://www.soundandlight.com.eg

So when we entered the actual site, the first thing we noticed was the little bar area, which sits on a balcony.  I would recommend you sit there, especially if it is empty.  However, you will have to order coffee or tea.  That said, a single order will probably do, because the waiters have to travel to reach you.  I ordered a cappuccino which was done remarkably well.  My friend went to work right away taking photos.  We joked about him being an Asian tourist, he didn’t see our humor.  I still think he looked funny, with his huge Canon S10, but he shared some of his pictures so I guess I shouldn’t complain.

The ticket agent informed me that they do sell English headsets for those in our predicament, I think they are 10 or 20 LE, I forgot how much though, and we didn’t want them.  We watched as we sat alone in the balcony area, the lights and the pyramid, and the sphinx, they came to life.  The show, in my opinion, despite being called dated, is well done, and allows for more introspection than a daytime visit, full of hustle, bustle and camel right taunts.

We watched while the commentator explained a bit of the history of the pyramids and Egypt in the distance while each area was lit and illuminated in color.  My favorite was when they let up, Red, Gold and Green.  I took pictures with Corey’s camera, my old trusty Canon.  Everyone of my group was impressed with the show, the colors reflecting off the pyramids and their majesty, I am not sure how my friend felt after the show, but he took a gang of photos, of which I managed to get one, pictured above.  I later found out, only minutes ago, Corey magically misplaced both the pictures I took and those she took  (I have to pick up a new camera soon).  When we got back to the car, I had to begin negotiations for our trip the following day to head to all the sites.  I concluded them rather abruptly when the driver wanted 2-3 times more than what that trip should cost.  More to come.