A Lifelong Dream

We all have our bucket lists. Things we can show our kids when we’re older, prove that we weren’t always as lame as we are now. For me, going to the pyramids, as cliched as it sounds, was always somewhere near the top. You know the surreal feeling you get when something really insane is happening and you can’t really process it, and you just live for the moment? That’s exactly how I felt the entire day.

Dream or no Dream, you still gotta eat!

Waking up early at the Semiramis Intercontinental hotel was an amazing experience. The air was cool and the busy Cairo traffic hadn’t started bustling yet. And the view… you just can’t beat the view of the Nile in the morning!

Tripod Mounted, 1/200s @ 24mm, f/8 ISO100

Cairo at 7am in the morning. The air was cool and there was a slight breeze. It felt amazing!

Once me and Sherif were both ready, we headed downstairs to grab some breakfast (mmm.. bacon – still beef you fools!). After stuffing ourselves, Sherif had to leave to get some government paperwork completed. While I would head downstairs to have the concierge get me a taxi for the day.

The Pyramids

The rest of the day went in slow mo. As we drove from the crowded streets of Cairo, over the bridges that cross the Nile and over the the roads that led to Giza, it finally hit me! “I was about to see the Pyramids”. I turned excitedly to Adil, my taxi driver, who scowled at me “Itz only ze byramids” and changed the radio station to some ghetto Arabic song. “You like?” he asked, “You can make love ANY girl you like if you make her listen to zis music”. I wallowed in the sheer absurdity of the situation all the way to Giza.

Getting through the ticket booth, at the Sphinx-side entrance, I was presented with the most amazing view of the Pyramids.

Single RAW HDR, Tripod Mounted, 1/1600s @ 70mm (Canon 70-200mm), f/5.6 ISO100

The sphinx at Giza, with the Pyramid of Khafre in the background. A very humbling sight…

A New Low: Harassed by 15 year-old Girls

This is one of those retardedly crazy things to happen in my life. As I was setting up my tripod to take the picture above, a group of Egyptian schoolgirls came up and surrounded me. I looked around and smiled nervously. What the hell was going on?

“Are you a Photographer?”, one of them asks in Arabic.
Me: Aiwa (Yes I am).
Egyptian Girl: Enta btsewer 3ashan magala? (Are you shooting for a magazine?).
Me: La2, bas 3la alinternet (No, just for the internet)
Egyptian Girl: Enta min fain? (Where are you from?).
Me: Pakistan (Don’t tell people You’re from Saudi or the US, they tend to think you’re really rich).

This news causes the girl to look to her friends and they all erupt in excited chatter. I hear girls explaining to other girls who didn’t hear: “Min Bakistan!”. I return to my camera, to hide the obvious discomfort (and slight amusement) I was in. The girls appeared to have reached a consensus and the same girl turns back to me.

Egyptian Girl: Aish 3omrak? (How old are you?).
Uh-oh. This just got personal.
Me (Starting to pack up my gear): 23
Egyptian Girl (Gesturing with her ring finger): Enta Mtgawez? (Are you married?).
Me: *Laughs Nervously* Uhhhh.

At this point I decided to give up packing my camera and just grabbed the tripod and started walking away. The girls would have none of it though, and they started following me saying things like “You’re cute when you’re shy”. I was just lost for words… For the rest of the day, the girls would follow me around the pyramids. Every now and then they would make a sharp hissing sound, ‘Hsssssssst’, and giggle if I looked back.

Why does weird stuff always have to happen to me?!

The faces of evil… 3 of the girls messing with my head at Giza. The rest had dispersed somewhere…

Back to Shooting

I’d spend 3 or so hours at Giza. I ran into some interesting people (OTHER than the harassing schoolgirls, thank you) and took some amazing shots. I got lucky with the timing I guess, since I got there before the tour buses and throngs of tourists arrived.

Single Image HDR, Tripod Mounted 1/320s @ 13mm (Sigma 10-20mm), f/11 ISO100

I got there at a good time. At 8am, most tourists are still lounging in their hotel rooms. The view of the Sphinx in the early morning is quite something….

Tripod Mounted, 1/400s @ 14mm (Sigma 10-20mm), f/9 ISO100

The Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza. The first thing you realize when you get up close is how massive these things are. It becomes hard to believe that they were built thousands of years ago.

Tripod Mounted, 1/400s @ 30mm (Sigma 24-70mm), f/11 ISO100

The Pyramid of Khafre at Giza, with horses in the foreground. This is quite easily my favorite pyramid. Sexual connotations aside, it still has a nice smooth head ;P

1/500s @ 50mm (Canon 50mm f/1.8), f/9 ISO100

One of the local camel riders poses in front of the Great Pyramid. The locals at the pyramids appear very friendly and are always happy to offer any kind of help, but I would recommend tourists steer clear. They’re notorious for demanding money for even the smallest of gestures. This man asked me for 50 pounds for taking a picture of him. Absurd.

Tripod Mounted, 1/500s @ 20mm (Sigma 10-20mm), f/9 ISO100

The Pyramids of Giza, all in one frame! I had to walk a mile out in the desert to get this angle, but it was wayy worth it. At this point I felt pretty dehydrated… thankfully there were no vultures around ;P

1/4000s @ 48mm (Sigma 24-70mm), f/4 ISO100

Giza done, I traveled a few kilometers south to see the less known pyramids. This is the necropolis of Saqqara, being guarded by serpents… some good they did in fighting off millenia of ravages and decay.

1/4000s @ 70mm (Sigma 24-70mm), f/4 ISO100

The Pyramids of Giza as seen from Saqqara. Saqqara was the site of the first pyramids built. In ancient times, this would have been some very holy ground.

1/800s @ 24mm (Sigma 24-70mm), f/3.5 ISO100

Ancient hieroglyphics on the walls of the tombs in Saqqara. Saqqara’s necropolis houses the tombs of several pharaohs, their women, children and ministers.

Tripod Mounted/Remote Shutter, 1/500s @ 20mm (Sigma 10-20mm), f/8 ISO100

The Step Pyramid at Saqqara and one of the first ‘proper’ pyramids built. This one is even older than the Step Pyramid in Giza. Oh and that’s me in the foreground. Reminds me of Tintin… hmmm…

1/2500s @ 155mm (Canon 70-200mm), f/11 ISO400

The ‘Bent Pyramid’ and the ‘Red Pyramid’ at Dahshur (a few km south of Saqqara). These pyramids were built after Saqqara but before Giza. The ‘bent’ pyramid gets its shape because builders switched from the ‘step’ design to more conventional pyramids design halfway through construction!

By mid-afternoon, I got a call from Sherif saying that he’d met the comedy crew and would be heading to the Virgin store at City Stars (largest mall in Egypt) for a promotional session and I’d be welcome to join. I decided to cut my visit to Dahshur short and me and Adil zipped our way back to Cairo in his beat up 1970s Mercedes while listening to ghetto Arabic music…

Next Up: Promoting a Show at Virgin Megastores in Egypt!

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