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Egypt revamps Giza Pyramids plateau

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December 26, 2000 

CAIRO--(UNB/AP) - Egyptian antiquities authorities are updating services at the nation's most famous tourist site, the Giza Pyramids, and expect by late 2001 to have a picnic area, visitor's center and electric cars to take those wary of the camels on a guided tour of the grounds.

However, visitors no longer can pose for a picture atop the giant stone blocks at the base of the pyramids. The 4,500-year-old royal tombs have been cordoned off to keep visitors from touching or damaging the "invaluable" stones, Zahi Hawass, chief archaeologist of the plateau said Monday.

A new entrance to the Giza plateau will open to Egyptians starting Wednesday, Hawass said. "It's paved from the desert for one kilometer and will be connected to a picnic area in the shadow of the pyramids," he told The Associated Press.

The entrance will not be open to foreign tourists until the end of 2001, when other new facilities are completed. A car park, a visitor's center, and a horse stable are under construction.

By the end of next year, tourists will be able to take guided tours in electric cars from the plateau entrance to the visitor's center and around the pyramids, Hawass said.

"We want to separate between leisure visits and cultural visits," he said. "Those looking for the leisure visits will be accommodated by the new picnic area while others wanting a more informative and cultural tour will find the necessary adjustments."

The largest of the three pyramids, the 138-meter-high (452-foot-high) Great Pyramid, was built as a tomb for King Cheops. Limited numbers of tourists have been allowed inside of it since 1999, when cracks caused by built-up humidity from visitors' breath were mended.