Personally I wanted to go because it was in a place called Giza, in much the same way as I want to visit Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park.
So I found myself up at 6am this morning, mini-Andy in hand with Ben and Luke and gettig in a fabulously named Gizataxi to the edge of Cairo. A real Geezermobile if I have ever seen one!
As you pull up to the pyramids, suddenly the hawkers and touts start trying to stop your taxi and sell you stuff and we got roped into hiring some pretty mangy horses at the first tout we saw.
For about the equivalent of £4 Sterling we couldn't really demand much, but Ben's horse was skin stretched over bone and as we set off, his horse pretty much made his own way to the knackers yard.
This, however was more than can be said for my horse, which decided to stop, as he realised he had a clueless twat on his back with no idea how to ride, and Luke's horse, which turned around and went back to the stables.
When they finally decided to send a guide out, the guide led us through what was essentially a rubbish tip, disguised as the main through road to the pyramids and, as we were there before the pyramids opened (they open at 8am and there's a huge fence to keep the touts away - it doesn't quite work) we decided to go for a ride in the Sahara desert.
Trotting past the numerous carcasses that littered the way, we made our way out to the hugely touristy part of the desert, just beyond the pyramids where loads of tourists go to see the whole of laid Cairo before them, blanketed in smog.
on the way back our guide, who spoke very little English, asked
"You want gallop?"
as it seems that most tourists take this as a place they can briefly get out of town and cane a horse for bit. As I had no idea how to control the thing I politely declined, to which he spanked the mare beneath me, who promptly broke into a gallop.
Needless to say I shit myself at that point and held onto my camera for dear life, banging on the shutter release in no particular direction as I felt these could have been the last pictures I ever took.
As I had no idea how to control the horse it was little wonder that my left foot slipped out of the stirrup and I ended up flying off the horse to land on my back in the sand 6 feet below.
It was pretty bloody scary, but after I checked nothing was broken, my SLR Camera, my Casio Compact camera, my neck that sort of thing I nervously laughed it off and climbed back on my cheeky steed, to ride on to the Sphinx.
The Sphinx was smaller than I thought it would be but the Pyramids are as amazing as you would expect.
Up close they are like mountains made by man, and a really astonishing sight.
mini-Andy had a right laugh, and actually I think he may have saved my life as I landed on him, which explains why he has no glasses in some of the pics.
My butt is black and blue. What an adventure. What a geezer/Giza...
