Pictures from the Pyramids of Giza

"Back in the day," the whole area surrounding the pyramids was not fenced off as it is today.  Energetic young men were available to help tourists make the climb to the top of them.  This situation persisted into the late 1980s when the area became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  With fencing in place, it will now cost you about $12 to gain admission - and there is no climbing allowed (legally, that is).

The boutique hotels (featured below) offer the tourist a way to enjoy the view and take pictures from a reasonable distance and angle without enduring the constant bombardment of souvenir hawkers and "expert guide" offers on the surrounding streets.  Breakfast or lunch at any of the hotel restaurants, usually found on the top floor, is rather calming after wading through the offers of street touts to get there.

This taxi driver was quite persistent at first but easily dismissed with the word, "after!"


We paused for a lemonade at the shiny new Pyramid Edge hotel where we took in the pyramids and surrounding area.


This was a cloudy morning.  Another advantage of these hotels is to allow the traveler a chance to photograph the pyramids during different lighting conditions.  Morning and evening lighting along with cloudy or sunny conditions cause interesting variations on the pyramids.

Our next stop offered the opportunity to ride an elevator to the top floor and breakfast area - the view when the elevator door is opened is quite spectacular.


Here the hotel manager, on the right, discusses the sphinx with Linda.



With only a modest zoom capability on the camera, a close-up of the sphinx is possible.



Another view displays the solar boat museum at the foot of the great pyramid.


Here two restaurant patrons are texting home their descriptions of the "selfies" they just took with the sphinx and pyramids.