Egypt and Libya, March 19 - April 2, 2006 / 20060321o_BentPyramidDistance
Ruth Milner, rmilner plus web at bookofmarvels dot net
We could see these
other nearby pyramids from Zoser's. The "Bent Pyramid" started
off at 54° and was changed to 43.5° partway through, probably to
reduce weight because of foundation problems. The other big one is the
Red Pyramid. Both were built by the pharaoh Snefru around 2650BC for himself.
There were quite a few men with horses and
camels wandering around offering rides, especially at the back of the step
pyramid.
From here we went to a nearby carpet factory.
Heidi told us that these are run to help kids earn a little money and make
their parents more comfortable about them spending time in school (which
is legally required through grade 9 but sometimes ignored to make ends
meet). They demonstrated some interesting techniques, and the carpets were
very beautiful, though not cheap. After that, she took us
for lunch at local restaurant. It consisted of hummus and fabulous baba
ganouzh, roasted chicken, stewed chickpeas etc. - delicious! The kids ate some
of the chicken and hummus, and stuffed themselves with the wonderful bread.
Heidi arranged for us to take some in case we needed a snack on the train
that night (we had brought peanut butter). It was great, but went
stale very quickly.
