Egypt and the Indie Historian

Hello! In the absense of my favorite website, InsaneBunkers.com, I had to start my own blog on urban exploration because I'm itching to get back to posting stories about my wild goose chases and favorite abandoned houses. If you were a regular on IB, I'm Megster (big surprise there, right? haha)

Ok...maybe visiting the Pyramids isn't considered urban exploration unless you pay a bunch of guards 500LE to climb the Great Pyramid, but you gotta admit, this is a fantastic photo. This is my fiance and I (not the camel) on the day he proposed, March 27, 2007.

IB went down less than a month before my fantastic trip to Egypt and admittedly, due to the scrutiny my fiance and I have been under for the immigration process, I haven't actually been exploring this year except Fort Wetherill with Zack in January and Fort Mansfield with my mom in July. I'm lucky I haven't been arrested yet and it's not a chance I'm willing to take until this process is done.

In the meantime, I have more than enough topics to write about from old adventures, new abandoned house updates, and even some new photos.

So why did I call myself the Indie Historian? Let's face it, UE is about more than trespassing and photography. Some of these places have been abandoned for decades and all of them have stories or urban legends associated with them, so I'd like to shed light on the history, if I can. You could say I'm a local historian that does a lot of field research.

Some of the best opportunities I had to do this research was when I worked as a journalist for The Resident newspaper in Stonington, CT. Some of my old articles will reappear here, such as articles I wrote about the Masonic Temple demolition in Norwich, CT, as well as the restoration of the Wauregan Hotel (also in Norwich). (They were simultaneously published on IB so some of you might remember them.)

It is still a dream of mine to become an archaeologist and a novelist, and I would like to finish my college studies at the American University in Cairo. (I was originally an English major but would like to switch to history when I return to school.)

Speaking of Cairo, One of the IB members recommended the book Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock to me, and I read it in its entirety before leaving for my trip, which was from March 22-April 1. It's a very interesting read, as it suggests that they Pyramids and the Sphinx are about 8000 years older than Egyptologists believe. If you want to know more, go read the book. Whether it's 12,000 years old or 4000, nothing can describe standing at the base of the Pyramid of Khufu (better known as the Great Pyramid).

I did not venture inside. It would have cost us about 100LE each (about $17USD, not a lot I know) but if you have asthma, it's just a bad idea. The air quality is poor as there isn't much oxygen and there isn't anything inside except Roman and French graffiti, so we stayed outside.


Yes, there is parking at the base of the Pyramid of Khafre. (Pyramid of Menkaure is to the left.)

Field trip past the Great Sphinx (I took this as we drove by...I don't know why I would risk a drive-by shot on the Sphinx & the Pyramid of Menkaure but I'm very pleased with it. I just submitted the photo to JPGmag for their Passport theme, we'll see how it goes.)