Hail to the Hive!

On the day we visited the Giza Plateau , which just so happened to be my birthday, we were the first people to enter the area. As we slowly made our way towards the pyramids we encountered camels being taken towards where we guessed they had customers waiting to ride.

Some were headed downhill towards the entrance and others uphill so we were a little confused as to what was going on and even if we should be on that particular path at all.

But with the early morning sun and scattered clouds they made for quite the striking image.

One of the camel riders stopped and tried to persuade us to take a camel ride around the pyramids, which I politely declined at first as we just wanted to wander around aimlessly at our own pace.

However his Jedi powers were strong and he managed to convince @millycf1976 to at least sit on the camel to see how it felt.

After seeing her huge smile and listening to her giggle the decision to just do the camel ride was instantly made and off we went!

As the camel stands up you lurch strongly forward and then back which had my eyes open so wide but once up and off a big smile also crossed my face at the fact that I was not only riding a camel, but riding a camel towards the Pyramids.

And as we gently rocked side to side, channeling my inner Clint Eastwood/Lawrence of Arabia, plodding upwards towards an area from which to view these amazing structures, I marvelled at the amazing views and all the thousands of years of history that they represented.

There were still hardly any tourists about as we had timed our entrance to perfection.

For the first few hours we almost felt like we had the place to ourselves. Amazing views. Solitude, peace, with only the occasional other camel rider crossing our paths.

So comfortable was @millycf1976 that she could even surf the camel, standing on the saddle beaming her famous smile across the desert sands.

So as much as I was reluctant to take a touristy camel ride around the pyramids I have to say it was a great way to spend my birthday morning. And if I can pass on one piece of sound advice if you are ever to visit this amazing olace…..GO EARlY! Get to the office for 07:30am and don’t visit on Friday, Saturday or Sunday as it will be crazy busy. Oh and don’t be afraid to do a camel ride, it’s awesome. We had the driver drop us off at the last and smallest pyramid and we then casually wandered back walking around them all, one by one all the way back to the entrance. As we were staying less than 100m from the ticket office getting there first was easy and I would recommend doing the same.

Do these things and you’ll have the ancient place to yourself for at least a short while. It is truly amazing ….