the steps were so narrow and so steep it was like climbing a vertical stone wall, with no railing to hold on to & the steps falling apart in places. once you started climbing, changing your mind was out of the question, & the only way to go was up

i could only imagine falling and cracking my skull on the stone courtyard below. my fingers were all slippery with sweat in fear, which made it even harder to grasp the crevices in the narrow smooth stone steps. apparently, they designed the towers with such steep & narrow steps like this to create an impression of reaching to the heavens, and also to make it difficult for mere mortals to reach the gods (gods are not supposed to be easily accessible).