The third one to become a reality was to Climb to the top of an ancient Egyptian pyramid and stand on the top with my arms in the air and fly the Colombian flag!
The Pyramid of Senusret II
Click for larger version.
The Pyramid of Senusret II is from the 12th Dyansty and was finished around some time between 1897 BC and 1878 BC, which makes it just shy of 4000 years old! What you see in the picture is the inner pyramid which is made of millions of mud and hay composite bricks that literally look like they are made of cow dung including the strands of grass/straw. The bricks are about the size of two large show boxes placed end to end. The unusual thing about this pyramid is that it has at the corners and at the center of the face some large stones. From some research it turns out that it has an internal stone structure and originally had a smooth limestone outer covering like the pyramids of Giza. Whats unusual is that the pyramids of Giza are around 4600 years old. So this one is new but in much worse condition.... Just goes to show how things were built better back in the old days!
Egypt has over 100 pyramids but the vast majority have basically turned to rubble! Obviously I would have loved to climb to the top of one of the 3 main Pyramids of Giza but that would have landed me in jail.... So the trick was to find one that was still in somewhat good condition but did not have military patrol or a care taker... Although a few hundred pounds could have got me access to just about anywhere....
Here is a the pyramid as we approached it in the Jeep.
So what I did was find a list of pyramids and then go one by one using their GPS coordinates to identify one that was still in good condition but remote enough that it did not have tourist or was guarded! I basically identified 3 pyramids that I could go to on a day trip in the Jeep. The first two I went to on two separate trips were basically rubble, in much worse condition then what they looked like from the satellite pictures.... But the 3rd one as you can see still has a pretty decent shape and structure.
Detail of the bricks and the corner stones
View from the top down and Agnes.
Back side.
So there you have it! I still have a few other pyramids on my list.... We will see if I find another in better condition to climb!
Special thanks to Agnes for the company and helping me take the pictures!
