DAY 39 Wed 21 July

Dragged myself out of bed early to make it to Morad's for 9am, which meant I had to quickly medicate the dogs before leaving. After saying by to Maryanne, I tried to ring Morad, but the phone didn't connect for some reason, so I walked around to Morad's and knocked on the door... no answer. I persisted, and we ended up heading out only a little later than originally planned. I'm still dying to ride out there on horseback, but I guess that will have to be next time. Once out at Dashur, Morad organised the tickets and a guide, and we drove first to the Red Pyramid, which you can go inside.
The entrance to the Red Pyramid is almost half way up the side of the Pyramid, and we were all a little breathless when we arrived at the top. There was a good view from this point out towards the Step Pyramid at Saqqara – the army base in between doesn't block the view, though I'm suprised there weren't signs up on the pyramids telling you not to take photos of the army base – lol.
Morad waited outside while the guide and I made our way into the pyramid. It was a steep descent down into the pyramid, and very awkward when you have to be bent in half to make your way down as well. I'm not the tallest of people, but it is uncomfortable enough for me – I'd hate to be taller and try to make my way into that Pyramid! The chambers inside the pyramid seemed to be in much better condition than the pyramid I went into at Giza 10 years ago and seemed cooler – though probably the ventilation systems have improved in the last 10 years. The actual burial chamber was unfinished, so they are not sure if the Pharaoh was ever buried in this pyramid. It is a shame that Pharaoh's didn't go to the effort to decorate their pyramids like the tombs of later Pharaoh's were decorated – but it could be that the effort to get the thing built in the first place left less time for any means of decoration.
I'm not sure what was worse – climbing in or climbing out – by the time I got out, it took a while for the legs to stop shaking (in fact it took days for the legs to stop complaining!). Once out I got Morad to take some photos of me at the pyramids – it is nice to have that photographic proof that yes I was actually there and I am not making all this up – lol.
We then drove to the Bent Pyramid, but what is kind of weird (but I guess is to be expected) is that when you get that close, the changes in angle on the pyramid are nowhere near as obvious as they appear from a distance. The facing stones of the Bent Pyramid appear to be in the best condition of any of the pyramids I have seen, though there is some evidence of erosion and damage at the ground level. There was even some scaffolding on one corner where they appear to be making repairs. The tourist police here looked rather bored, and seemed to spend most of their time relaxing under the overhang where the facing stones had been worn away, making the most of the shade there for themselves and their camels. Dashur is certainly much quieter than Giza and Saqqara (but no where near as quiet as Abu Sir!).
As we drove out from Dashur, we also got a good look at the Black Pyramid (or as I used to call it, the Melted Pyramid, because it looks like it has melted away, and effectively it has – it wasn't built of stone like most of the Pyramids, but was made of mud brick instead).
Back at Morad's place, I showed his friend some of the pictures for the last couple of days, and we watched another bad movie. After his friend headed off to work, Morad fell asleep, and as I had told him I'd stick round till he fell asleep (I had a feeling the early morning would have been too much for him), I thought that was time to head home and get some stuff done at the farm. Back at the farm I was also able to head out for another desert ride, as Maryanne had a client coming back again – Nicole who had come out on Sunday was back again. She was riding Gameela, and I was on Dooby, with Waleed on Wadi. It was a nice ride out past the pyramids at Abu Sir to the little hill that gives a great view out over the four sets of pyramids, stopping on the way back to take a photo of Nicole at Abu Sir. It wasn't a fast desert ride but it was still a good desert ride! I am glad I was riding Dooby however, as he is a gaited horse, and instead of doing too much trotting today, he paced instead - which was a blessing for my tired legs - climbing into that Pyramid was certainly hard work, and I couldn't have risen to the trot for very long.
As the sun started to set, Sabine came around and was treating Nayzak in front of the guest house, so I was talking to her, before Morad turned up. Served up beer and spent time talking to him, Laura and Mohanad. A good night!

Desert ride 11:
Distance - 6.08km
Time - 1:09:02
Average speed - 5.3kmph
Max speed - 20.1kmph