Page 14 - Off the Tourist Trail - 1000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives (Part 1 of 2)

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ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL SIGHTS

ABOVE Tour buses lined up beside the Great Pyramid of Giza
FORGET THE
PYRAMIDS OF GIZA?
Pyramids of THE BUILD-UP The Pyramids of Giza have a

good claim to be the world’s oldest tourist sight,
having had a constant stream of visitors ever since
Meroe the Greek historian Herodotus wrote about
them in the 5th century BC. The awe-inspiring
pyramids remain among the largest man-made
structures in existence: the Great Pyramid of
Giza stands at 476 ft (145 m) high and has a
vs Pyramids of Giza THE LETDOWN Cairo’s urban sprawl has seen
base area of 63,270 sq yards (52,900 sq m).

houses and fast-food chains expand to the very
edge of the ancient site, where an unbroken
So often overlooked in favor of Giza’s better-known monuments,
procession of tour buses spill out their charges.
the pyramids of Meroe are among Africa’s forgotten treasures The Egyptians have had thousands of years to
perfect the tourist hard sell, and relentlessly
offer camel and donkey rides to visitors.
Roman control, it continued to influence the
NEED TO KNOW GOING ANYWAY? The Egyptian authorities
cultural life of the Kushite Kingdom. The pyramids plan improved fencing around the pyramids
LOCATION Meroe is 143 miles
&(:15 of Meroe are all that remain of a once-magnificent to reduce the hassle from hawkers. In the
(230 km) north of Khartoum
DATE OF 1PSU 4VEBO Kushite city, and bear witness to an empire once meantime, visiting early in the morning gets
CONSTRUCTION 1:3".*%4 3FE powerful enough to hold its own against Rome. you away from the big groups, as will riding
$)"%
260 BC to AD 350 0' .&30& 4FB in by horse from the desert side of the site.
&3*53&" Not all of the pyramids at Meroe are intact. In
,IBSUPVN
PYRAMID HEIGHT fact, many look as if they have been bitten off at
Up to 98 ft (30 km)
46%"/ the top, one after the other, like a row of quickly
DAYTIME
TEMPERATURES Jan: &5)*01*" sampled Easter eggs. This vandalism was the work
$&/53"-
90°F (32°C); Apr: 106°F (41°C); "'3*$"/ of a 19th-century Italian treasure-hunter who
Jul: 100°F (38°C) ; Oct: 104°F (40°C) 3&16#-*$ +VCB
dismantled the monuments as part of his largely PRACTICAL INFORMATION
unsuccessful search for gold. The decapitated
Some ideas are too good to be forgotten. When pyramids reveal rubble cores covered in brick – an Getting There and Around type eateries on every street. It
Khartoum International Airport, consists of ful (mashed beans),
Egypt’s pyramid boom burned out in 2500 BC, the ancient, quick-fix building technique that allowed
on the outskirts of the capital, is salad, cheese, and bread.
country’s signature tomb design found its way up Sudanese rulers to erect huge numbers of the the main point of entry into Sudan. Where to Stay
the Nile to northern Sudan, where it was embraced structures with ease. Each pyramid sits above a Tourist visas are readily available, Most visitors choose to visit from
more than 2,000 years later by the Kushite Kingdom. simple tomb chamber, which is dug into the rock and the peaceful north is a long Khartoum, but if you want the site
Evidence of this architectural revival can be found below. The porch-like structures on the eastern way from the troubled Darfur to yourself, the Meroe Tented Camp
region. From Khartoum, the
at the great royal cemeteries of Bagrawiya, better sides of the pyramids house funeral chapels (www.italtoursudan.com), 1
pyramids are easily accessible for mile (2 km) north, has plush
known as the pyramids of Meroe, where dozens of decorated with carvings and hieroglyphs, designed day trips on public transportation. tents overlooking the pyramids.
steep-sided, chocolate-colored pyramids litter the to ease the dead into the next world. Naqa and Musawwarat lie off
When to Go
desert. This may be Sudan’s most iconic sight, but A small town now stands slightly away from road, halfway between Meroe The coolest time to visit is from
visitors are likely to have the tombs all to themselves, the pyramids on the banks of the Nile. Excavation and Khartoum, and a trip to October to March; summer is
either town will require 4WD car
with little more accompaniment than the sound of here is ongoing, in the hope that more clues to the ferociously hot and best avoided.
and driver.
the desert wind in their ears. mysterious Kushite Kingdom will be unearthed. Budget per Day for Two
Where to Eat
The Kushite rulers had seen themselves as the Any visitors to Meroe who want to know more Khartoum has a virtually non- US$300 if you stay at the Meroe
true inheritors of Egyptian religion and culture long about the ancient Kushite people will relish a trip existent restaurant scene, and Tented Camp and hire a 4WD.
before they built the pyramids at Meroe, and even to the excellently preserved temples of Naqa and alcohol is banned. Breakfast, Entry to the pyramids is US$9.
invaded their northern neighbor in the 8th century Musawwarat to the south, where beautiful which is the most important meal Website
of the day, is served in the late www.sudan-tourism.gov.sd/
BC to establish an empire stretching as far as Libya carvings show the mix of Egyptian, African and
morning in nameless canteen- english
and Palestine. Although Egypt later came under Roman influences that fed into Kushite art.

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