Group Risks Jail Time to Photograph the Great Pyramids from an Illegal Perspective

Recently, a group of Russian tourists risked a one to three year prison sentence to capture some photos — from the top of Egypt’s Great Pyramid, the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing. In a blog post by the group (which can be found here roughly translated into English), the group describes how they avoided security guards, waiting until nightfall to scale the nearly 140 meter (about 455 feet) pyramid under cover of darkness, making the dangerous ascent with ancient stones threatening to crumble beneath their feet. The resulting shots show the surrounding pyramids and monuments from a unique perspective that may never have been seen before, with the glowing lights of Cairo far below:

This group was far from the first to attempt scaling the Great Pyramid, as they reported finding many inscriptions and carvings at the top in many different languages. While we can appreciate the beauty of the photography (even though it was acquired illegally), if every tourist tried this, there might not be any pyramids left to admire.

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