The Pyramids

Assalam u alaikum,

The Pyramids. The word never meant much to me before, but now I know why it's ranked among the seven wonders of the world. It truly is a wonder. What I don't understand (and everyone who see them wonders the same thing) is how they built such collosal building with no bulldozers, no huge machines, nothing?! Just pure man-power. But I start from the wrong end.

Yesterday was Mustafa's day-off, so we decided that we would make use of the opportunity and at least visit the pyramids once. We knew we wouldn't have that much time, but we were kind of ashamed of the fact that we've been in Egypt almost two months and we haven't even been near the pyramids. So after I whizzed through my homework, we got a backpack, filled it with water-bottles and set out on our quest. It was a really neat feeling, like we were actually inside The Alchemist.

The weather was great, and we managed to get a taxi for only 25 guineas, which is pretty good considering that the pyramids are about one hour away from Nasr City. You don't realize it in Nasr City, but Cairo is built in a desert. The transition was really abrupt, we were in the city adn suddenly we were in the middle of a colossal desert. The highway then ran over the Nile River, and again there was an abrupt transition to the lushest kind of vegetation you can imagine, and then desert again. Egypt is full of contradictions, not least because the greatest river in the world runs through a desert.

The first glimpse of the pyramid was un-replicable. Mustafa saw them first and kept tapping me on the shoulder until finally I saw them. The sun above the pyramids made them shine brightly as if made of pure gold. You don't really understand how big they are until you see them. They tower above you, as if they are monoliths erected by aliens who left without explaining their purpose or meaning. Mustafa and I gaped at them with our mouths open. What kind of people were they? How arrogant they must have been, to make something like that.

The adventure truly began when we reached the pyramid. O Fellow Travellers, develop minds of steel! We were taken in by the Egyptian "guides" like Green Foreigners. It was horrific. The man accosted us as soon as we left our taxi.

"Do you speak English or Arabic?"
I was tempted to say Arabic, but thought English would be safer. I was wrong.
"Lookthepyramidstheygonnacloseatfouro'clockyoupayfiftyguineastogetinyounoseeanything. Come with us. We'll take you on a tour for only 40 guineas."
"Shukran Ammo, we're just going to check it out ourselves..."
"Are you calling me a liar?" Then his friend pipes in,
"He's a Muslim just like you!"

Things were getting serious. Worst of all, we had stopped to talk to them. When we tried to walk away, the friend started following us, reiterating all his various arguments about the pyramids would close and what's your name and who knows what else. See the problem is, as Canadians, we always are naive and eventually believe whatever we are told. "Farewell, my childhood, I know better now."

We capitulated and went with the man to ride the horses. To cut a long story short, I continued arguing with the "guide" the entire time while we are on the trip, making it impossible to really enjoy it. But even though we spent too much money and constantly argued with them, it was totally worth it. Riding galloping horses in the desert in front of the pyramids...picture it. It was nothing short of brilliant.

We returned home tired but satisfied. Finally we had been to a place that had lived up to our grand expectations. The one thing I've realized is that no one is more powerful than Allah. That civilization was the most powerful in the world, yet all that is left of them is a pile of stones. A grand pile of stones, no doubt, but just an eroding structure of sand. No power is too great to fall.

Ozymandius by: Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveler from an antique land Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert... Near them, on the sand, Half-sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed; And on the pedestal these words appear: My name is Ozymandius, King of Kings, Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Ma'asalam,

~Ameer