My Virtual Walk Through the Egyptian Pyramids
Are you longing to visit Egypt’s ancient pyramids of Giza? Unfortunately, a mid-week round-trip flight from Boston to Cairo this month can set you back nearly $1,000, according to a search on cheaptickets.com. Why do our bank accounts have to be so uncooperative?
Thankfully, Google can transport you there for free.
Google announced this week it has added the ancient Egyptian pyramids to its Street View locations, offering 360-degree views of the Great Pyramids of Giza and other ancient relics. Google’s Street View team, which began in 2007, has gathered tens of millions of images that span 7.2 million miles over more than 59 countries for our viewing pleasure, according to Time.com.
“You can take a virtual walk among the stunning monuments and rich history of this ancient civilization,’’ writes Google, about the new installment, on its blog.
I decided to take a tour one morning at my desk.
I clicked in and was instantly transported to the Pyramids of Giza (Khufu, Menkaure, and Khafre) and other surviving relics.
I began at the massive Great Sphinx of Giza, commonly referred to as the Great Sphinx. It has the body of a lion and the head of a human. I was met with a panoramic view, the tourists providing a colorful contrast against the muted tones of the monument and land. I glanced around and saw the city of Cairo in the distance on one side and the three pyramids on the other. Many tourists were gathered behind a rope, staring up at the Great Sphinx. I stopped to stare too.
Then, eager to see more, I walked past a guy peering into his wallet (probably unhappy about the plane fare he just spent), and a woman posing for a photo, arms stretched in a ta-da! manner. The Street View team spent 10 days there, carrying heavy rigs, and capturing these photos that would take a month or more to piece together into seamless panoramas for our enjoyment (complete with blurred faces and license plates to protect the innocent), reports Time.com.
The Great Sphinx was amazing and all, but then I saw shopping opportunities and couldn’t resist turning toward the tables set up near the base. Aww, look at those adorable stuffed camels! My kids would love one of those.
The pyramids in the distance beckoned, so I headed up the long, cracked road, passing by a resting camel, folks riding horse-drawn buggies, and a twosome on a moped. Once I got close, I stopped near a tour bus and zoomed in on the Pyramid of Khafre. I paused, trying to wrap my brain around the fact that this structure has stood for nearly 5,000 years.
I turned back toward Cairo, toward the Great Sphinx, past a sign I couldn’t read, and headed into the stone structures at its base. After a few clicks, I was inside. A man in a purple striped shirt was sitting on a stone, his back against the wall, looking down in a reflective manner. Feeling I was intruding on a private moment, I turned away and kept going.
I walked down a stone corridor behind a little girl in a yellow dress, her ponytail full of pretty bows. I took in the tall stones dividing up the space all around me. Wow. But what was that creepy-looking tiny door built into the side of the structure? This is when a tour guide would have been helpful. I kept moving and found myself in a narrow stone corridor. Feeling claustrophobic, I speed-clicked out through the other side.
And then I was deposited among tables full of more goods for sale. I blinked and looked closer at the items and discovered the man was selling tiny little…coffins. Um, no thanks.
I wanted to keep exploring, but began to feel the tug of responsibility. And this is the burden of virtual tours — instead of wandering guilt-free for hours on end, daily life beckons.
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