What illegal thing should everyone try at least once in their life?

Climb the pyramids at Giza in the middle of the night!

In May 2008, I was in Cairo, Egypt and we heard about a guy that could get us onto the pyramids.

Now, during the day, you can visit the pyramids, but for something like 30+ years it's been illegal to climb them, and you can't really just 'mill about' around them, it's an industry that pumps tourists through the pyramid experience then sends them on their way.

So we call this guy and make arrangements, and on the last night before leaving the country we meet him. He picks us up and takes us to a place where we (no kidding) rent a couple camels and a horse. It's right alongside the Giza plateau, and around midnight-1PM we set out into the Sahara. We go out into the desert a mile or two then double back to a guard gate on the south side (the entire Giza plateau is fenced off and patrolled) where we bribe a guard. We head further in then basically ditch the animals behind some sand dunes with a handler and go the rest of the way on feet.

We sneak in through an open temple (the one at the base of thethe second pyramid if you're following along in Google Maps) where we see headlights coming over the hill (down the maintenance road that goes north/south) and dive to the ground. We lay flat behind the outskirts of this temple and sit there for like 5 minutes while the car idles at the top of the hill, and we don't know if he saw us or is just getting a cigarette or what. Finally, he drives on and turns left onto the next access road (the one that goes to the Sphinx) and we sprint across the open area behind him and into the structures at the south base of the Great Pyramid. We sneak through here to the base of the pyramid and start climbing. It's pitch black and we're not using flashlights obviously, but there's enough light from Cairo to see. There was like no moonlight, which was probably good. Climbing it is a real chore, there's no stairs and the blocks are like a meter cubed, so it takes a while (maybe 30 minutes? I don't know, couldn't see my watch) to get to the top. A couple times we have to drop down onto our backs and think small thoughts as guards stroll around the base, smoking cigarettes while their AKs are slung over their back. The two girls and I stay up there for a little while on the top (which is actually sort of flat, not pointed) and it's really freaking cool. Around us, we know that the rocks have initials from various historical figures who have made this hike, and the sense of history is amazing knowing that this structure has been here for thousands of years and that PEOPLE freakin built these. There's a wooden structure at the top that 'completes' the point, I guess it was put up in the 70s or something, and I have a wicked long-exposure picture I took (again, no flash photography) of it, set a 5 second timer and had it do a 30 second exposure I think that's looking up at the wood structure from the bottom.

We climbed back down, doing a shuffle where you sit on your butt, put your feet out, hop down, then repeat. BTW, the pyramid FEELS super steep. It looks squashed in pictures, but when you're on the side, it feels like you're on a tower and that any misstep will send you to your death. We duck guards a few times on the way down, then beat feet back across the sand to our Rental Camels and head 'back to the barn'.

It was a freaking awesome experience, one I'll treasure. It's so cool to know that I've climbed the goddamn great pyramid.

Climbed a pyramid! I want to start a 'bucket list' think just so I can put that at the top and check it off, then when showing the list to people, I can feign surprise: "Oh, you haven't? You really should some day."

/r/AskReddit Thread