After our visit to the Giza Plateau, we travelled south in our mini van with our guide Tarek to Saqqara which was the necropolis of the ancient capital city of Memphis. The main site is the Step Pyramid of Djoser, which is an early example of pyramid building . It was constructed around 2660BC and predates the pyramids of Giza by several centuries.

My favourite part about Saqqara was the Mortuary Temple that we first entered through to get to the Step Pyramid. The monolithic looking stone facade almost seems out of place, its architectural design almost looks modern, or sci fi even, something you might see in the movie like Dune. Inside are rows of huge columns, lining the way through to the vast archeological complex beyond.

We took the opportunity to go inside the Step Pyramid of Djoser and Tarek led us down the surprisingly spacious corridor deep into the centre of the Pyramid where we came to a vertical shaft that extends deep down into the ground and also rise up towards to the peak. We could also see another passage that extends off into the other side of the pyramid about half way down the shaft and at the very bottom we could see the impressive granite burial vault.

Internal Shaft of The Step Pyramid of Djoser

Beyond the Step Pyramid there are many more temples, tombs, pyramids, albeit in more crumbled states, as well as mastabas, a flat style tomb that predates the Step Pyramid. Tarek took us into the Tomb of Idut, a princess who is believed to be the daughter of Pharaoh Umas. I was absolutely captivated by the false door that was still standing intact within the tomb. Ancient Egyptians believed that the soul of the deceased could freely enter and exit the tomb through a "false door," which are characterised by a recessed surface with a symbolic entrance in the centre. I find this whole concept so fascinating and not to mention how beautiful these carved stone ‘doors’ are. (We later saw more in the Egyptian Museum and the The Met in New York City.

I hadn’t been to Saqqara on my original trip to Egypt in 2007 and I was so happy we had the opportunity to to visit it on this trip. It was such an unexpected highlight, especially because our guide Tarek has so much knowledge from his recent archeological work at Saqqara.

Even though we managed to avoid the crowds at Giza with our early start, Saqqara felt a lot less touristy than the Giza Plateau. Wandering around Saqqara felt like we were visiting an active archeological dig rather than a tourist attraction. The Step Pyramid of Djoser itself is an early prototype of pyramid building, one that bridges the gap between the very early Mastaba Tombs and the phenomenal pyramids that famously sit on the Giza Plateau so it’s well worth the trip for anyone who is interested in ancient Egyptian history.

Afterwards we headed back to the Giza Plateau where we had a delicious lunch at a restaurant that overlook the Pyramids. Dining at places like this is one of the benefits of arranging a tour with company like Memphis Tours. The restaurant was geared towards tourists and was included in our overall tour prices. We would have never been able to find a place with a view like this by ourselves and it’s so incredible convient to outsoruse alot of the daily sightseeing logistic to someone who was way more knowledgable.

Everywhere else in the world we’ve been, we have done all the researching, planning and logistical details and it’s been such a rewarding experience. But I’m so gald we splurged a bit (ok maybe a lot, hahah!) and saw Egypt with a tour company.