This morning was the time I had been waiting for all week. The late nights, early mornings and weekend travel were made worthwhile by the chance to have Friday for myself. Friday was the day I could finally get to see Cairo and Giza for myself.

The taxi arrived and he was mine for 195 £EG for the whole morning. We set off, and stopped off to see how papyrus is made - I saw the process of how the papyrus should be made from the papyrus sedge. It was revered because the flower looks like sun rays, and the stem was the same shape as the pyramids. The outer sheath was stripped off, the inner was then sectioned, rolled to press out the water, and then bizarrely soaked for a week or so. This last process made sure nothing in the produced papyrus would cause it to deteriorate - apparently that is a problem with some papyrus made today, it's made from sugar cane, and the sugar lets fungi grow. The soaked pieces are then laid out and pressed under heavy weights to make the papyrus.

That was a detour, we arrived in Giza (some Americans at the hotel wouldn't go there, they would only go to the ones in Cairo because apparently the Israelis have been fighting the Palestinians there. I am sure that will be surprising news to the Egyptians...) and parked up. The guide for the pyramids gave me a choice; I could have a horse or a camel. Now I have had past (not so good) experience of riding a horse. A camel I had no experience of, but had been warned off. I was in Egypt, the pyramids were there in the distance, how could I say no?

The price you pay depends on lots of things - which currency are you offering, and are you Arab, European or American. Thankfully as a non-American I saved myself from a major fleecing. The pricing in Egyptian pounds was actually more expensive than in Euro. I had some Euro left over from a previous trip, so I decided to pay in that. One word of warning, and something I found out much much later, when you rent a camel you "rent a camel". The boy who leads it and the man who is your guide are not included - this you are not told about when you set off. If I had to have one beef about Egypt it would be the total lack of transparency when you ask the price for anything. Everything costs more than it is when you ask. My camel, "Mickey Mouse", was ready, I mounted, and the camel set off, initially across the tarmac. This part of the journey wasn't exactly comfortable, but the only saving grace was it was short, and it was more comfortable than the bits later on.

Now being a world authority of riding camels, here are my tips for anyone who ever considers riding a camel to the pyramids:

• Make sure you wear clothing that is comfortable and allows you to easily mount the camel
  
• The guide will tell you to lean back when it gets up and when it goes down. Do it, or read below
  
• The camel is a lot higher in the air than you think - it's a long way down.
  
• Getting down involves either leaning back while the animal does its thing, or the quick way is to fall off.
  
• Only do the above when you are in the sand.
  
• Make sure the sand doesn't have rocks in it.
  
• At slow speeds a camel is incredibly uncomfortable.
  
• At high speeds it is even more uncomfortable.
  
• At medium speeds it's just uncomfortable.
  
• There is nowhere for your feet to go and no advice - make it up.
  
• There is a sweet spot on the sadle where it is more comfortable, I found it once for 20 seconds.
  
• Going up hill in a camel is very awkwards, hold both the front and back handles.
  
• Going down a hill in a camel is very awkwards, lean back and hold both handles.
  
• Keep away from the front and the rear of a camel - they have rocket launchers

 Having said all that, there is no way I wouldn't have done the trip on the camel, it's worth the discomfort for the experience.

The camel finally pulled up outside the second of the Giza pyramids - The Pyramid of Khafre. To it's right is the much larger Cheops or The Great Pyramid, and to it's left the much smaller Pyramid of Menkaure. There are also 6 smaller pyramids around the site. Around the pyramids you can see some of the stone that originally clad them, the pyramids originally were clad in alabaster, limestone and granite. For 25 EG£ you can go into the second pyramid. The sheer size of the pyramids is mind blowing, the sheer tininess of the passage into the pyramids is equally mind blowing. You go down a long way and up into the queen's chamber. The other amazing thing is just how warm it is in there - I expected it to be cool, but the reality was quite amazing. Inside the queens chamber is a stone sarcophagus in a room about the size of a semi detached house.

I left the chamber and made my way back to the camel, avoiding all the sellers of bottles of water, and trinkets. We moved on to the third pyramid, and to the smaller pyramids next to it. Another guide showed me around the small pyramids and the tombs.

I am not proud of the matter, and with the benefit of hindsight it was an incredibly stupid thing to do, but I was there and for a little extra you could climb one of the pyramids. How can anyone travel thousands of miles and resist the temptation to climb to the top of a pyramid? As I climbed with my guide you became more and more aware of just how fragile the pyramids are, and how the chances of them surviving for another few thousand years is very small indeed.

I then had the excitement of the tombs, and finally getting to see real hieroglyphs for the first time in situe. The stone carvings were amazing, the pyramids impressed me, and for some reason I don't fully understand the second one much more than the others, but the hieroglyphs were the thing that did it for me.

And then onto The Great Pyramid complete with the sphinx. How can one resist the sphinx and how can one not be upset to see how badly it is now eroded.

More images here