Into the bowels...of death!

It's not every day that one can say, "Oh, I climbed down into a Pyramid today!" And it is pretty darn FANTASTIC to be able to say it! Again, no one around, desert as far as the eye could see, & the only excitement a pack of Egyption dogs, fussing around a pup! We were ascending the red pyramid, so called because it was made from red granite, which would have been a very expensive exercise, as it had to be transported to Dashur from Aswan! The steps were steep, the views were fantastic & although I was a puffing....we reached the entrance without drama! The drama came with descending INTO the pyramid, steep path DOWN in the dark. Mel, being less endowed with body length than either of us, had very thoughtfully recommended that WE would be better going down BACKWARDS! So we did! It was quite an effort, it was surreal & it was totally worth it! Inside of the pyramid is a fairly narrow, high ceilinged space. the walls revealed a closer look at the red granite & consequently, an idea of how magnificent it would have looked on the outside. It didn't occur to me to sing something & see what the acoustics were like. I was more mesmerised by the intense sense of depth I felt, & an eery quiet. We did a bit more climbing to find the place where the canonic jars were stored & there we encountered an overwhelming ammonia smell. Could it be from bats...yet there were no droppings to be seen, could it be from underground gas leaks????, could it be from millennia of desperate people who had nowhere else to pee????? We will never never know! Climbing back out was a tad more difficult, but we managed it & felt like shouting 'King of The World' when I came out! It was a mind boggling experience & we are both overwhelmed that we have done it!