Pyramid Perils

Khufu Pyramid

The pyramids are quite a site, but this was the most annoying part of my trip. The locals here were like flies to honey! We basically spent our time running around this pyramid and away from the peddlers, it was extremely annoying! I only wanted to take in the sheer magnitude and amazement of these wondrous structures. Again this tour was extremely rushed.

The first peddler that approached us piled on souvenirs and continued to state they were gifts only to then demand money and that we were happy. As we ran from other peddlers, now having all the cheap souvenirs we could possibly need, the next instances came from the Tourist Police themselves. These guys will offer to take your picture, with your camera, and then ask for payment and they are expecting 20-50 Egyptian pounds/4-10 USD just to click a button that they offered to do.

My last straw came when a young boy with a camel insisted that we take a picture with him and his camel. We only wanted to be left alone at this point, but it seemed the only way out was to appease the boy by taking a picture. Of course money was again expected and to top it off another guy walks up and states that it is his camel and we must pay him also. At this point I had enough, I threw some Egyptian pounds at them and took off. The young boy caught up to me on the camel and said, "Are you no happy sir? You must be happy or it is bad luck for us!" to this I stated, "I'll be happy when you go away!"

Don't take me wrong, I am not the type of person that gets upset easily at all, I actually tend to be very passive. This constant badgering on My Vacation from none other than Iraq tipped me over the edge on tolerance. I have my photos and my memories to reflect on, but it certainly had its unpleasant moments.