Dolce Egypt

We quickly threw on clothes and gathered water and cameras and were about to walk out the door when Amber woke up. We told her what was going on in what must have been a huge run on sentence. She responded with, “can you give me two minutes”. So within 20 minutes I had gone from napping and catching up on things this afternoon to going to see the pyramids and Transformers 2. We got down to Giza around 2:30 pm and headed into the main gate. We had actually arrived before Theresa because she had taken the metro. We walked around and took the real touristy photos, but I was just in shock and awe that I was looking at the Spnix and the pyramids.

So we finally met up with Theresa who then led us in the direction of the set. We wanted to get there quickly and it was on the other side of where we were, so we ended up getting on a rickshaw. The sad part was that the man kept whipping the horse. We had five people on the cart and we were going uphill so the horse was actually slipping on the road. We shuddered with every crack of the whip, but finally we went downhill a bit and the horse seemed to do better. We were dropped off close to one of the smaller pyramids and began trying to look nonchalant. Theresa left us at the rickshaw and walked up to meet her friend on the set. Jessy, Amber and I tried to appear like tourists who just happened to stumble across the set of Transformers 2. We weren’t the only ones. There weren’t a lot of other spectators but there were quite a few Egyptians standing around.

We noticed a lot of people had badges…which we did not. So we just tried to play it cool and we took a seat on some of the nearby rocks. We were able to sit and watch as they set up the shot. Then all the sudden the set was a flurry of excitement as the director, Michael Bay, walked up. They were getting everything ready for a scene with actor John Turturro (Agent Simmons). We actually got to see them film a scene with John climbing up the side of the pyramid! It was amazing. I can’t imagine how tired he must have been by the third take. Those “steps” or blocks is more like it are huge. We kept holding out that we would see Shia, but as the scene was wrapping up we heard them talking about moving locations.

We decided to go ahead and start walking back. The girls had to be back in Heliopolis for youth group by 6:15 pm. (Giza is clear across town, further than Mohandeseen is). As we were walking a van drove by and offered us a ride. They said they had to clear the road because they were filming a scene there. So we hopped in and then got out a few minutes later. They already had the camera set up and were adjusting the shot. We decided to wait and see what this next scene was. Everyone seemed really tense because they had to deal with stopping traffic and the sun setting. We stood behind the camera area and prepared to be kicked out at any moment. At this point we really were the only ones watching. Michael Bay came over and immediately took charge. They had a Bedouin guy on a camel in the foreground with the pyramids in the background. Then the cars were cued. Yep, the cars. We got to see three of the suped up cars zoom by us…three times! It was amazing! We actually tried to leave after the first shot but then realized we were trapped because we couldn’t walk down the road due to the filming. So we stayed to watch the full scene.

Then the girls really had to head out, but I decided to stick around and move with them (more like follow them) to the next location. I tried to act as lost or oblivious as possible to the fact that I was literally walking onto the Transformers 2 set without a badge. I was shocked to find that no one stopped me and I proceeded to walk literally up to all the huge trailers with equipment. I saw that they were preparing to do a scene on the roof of a building adjacent to the Great Pyramid. I also looked over and saw Theresa. I tried not to make eye contact, I didn’t want her to get in trouble for telling me about the shoot. I was just so excited to watch everything! I got to see Shia, Megan Fox, and John from far away up on the roof, but I can’t wait to watch the movie and see those three scenes!

Theresa eventually came over and told me how her day had been. She introduced me to her friend, Robert, who was the still photographer on the movie. He thought it was interesting that we were friends and I just so happened to be at the pyramids that day…but he said he was completely fine with me being there. Then she introduced me to a couple other people working on the set. One guy recognized me from watching the other scenes. I was a bit embarrassed, but no one told me to leave and everyone was really nice. I even got to go with Theresa to one of the drink cars and get an Orangina. It was amazing to be there and watch the sunset over the pyramids and then have it slowly fade into night time.

I was surprised they kept filming without the light, but they rigged up powerful lights to solve the problem. At about 6:15 pm I decided to go ahead and head out. I didn’t want to impose on Theresa and her friends, so I sad good bye and headed towards the gate. As I walked out the guards asked if I was with the movie, to which I told them no. Then they asked if I was a tourist, and I said yes, which shocked them. They told me that the pyramids closed at 4 pm. I apologized profusely and explained that I didn’t know and I kept seeing people there. Hahaha…so I guess most tourists don’t get to see the sunset near the pyramids!

Shot of John Turturro climbing the pyramid

I found the main road and had to haggle with three taxis before I got one that would give me a decent price to the metro. I still can’t believe that I saw the pyramids today and Transformers 2! Anytime I see that movie and I see the scenes from the pyramids, I’ll remember that that was my first time seeing them! And I was just off screen!

This piece was taken word for word from a blog

Link: http://arhoderick.wordpress.com/2008/10/17/pyramids-and-transformers/#comment-129