Reflections on my Egyptian travels

They came at us like zombies

They came towards us like zombies drawn to fresh meat, attracted by the sound of our voices and the slamming of the car door. There must have been about 20 of them surrounding us, jostling us. “Take a camel ride”, “Horse drawn carriage, very fun!”, “Guided tour”, “Sphinx too far to walk”. Fighting our way through the melee of hustlers, we were finally able to gaze upon the magnificence of the Giza pyramids… until they were once again blocked by a grumpy looking camel and an animated driver, “Get on, get on! Cheap prices!”  Choosing to walk rather than succumb to the pressure of the camel drivers and horse drawn carriage owners, we set out, trying to make the best of the pyramids despite the constant onslaught of cat calls, invitations and warnings that it was impossible to walk to the Sphinx. Within 10 minutes we were in sight of the Sphinx and had escaped the hoards of salespeople.

Although Egypt offers fantastic attractions and a rich history, these attractions have been ruined by an overabundance of visitors and an overreliance on tourist dollars. In the week that I was there, my friend and I were approached constantly with demands for money, trinkets for sale and horse drawn carriages to ride. The persistence of these money makers and their constant haranguing made the Egyptian experience border line unpleasant. Offering to take our picture, the tourist police would then stick out his hand and demand a tip. Want a nice place to photograph the temple in Luxor? The security guard will point it out to you for a fee. Take a horse drawn carriage ride quoted at 8 pounds… only to find out that the driver expects 8 British pounds (which we did not pay, leaving him with a fistful of Egyptian pounds and his curses and threats to call the police ringing in our ears). The fear of being ripped off and our subsequent distrust of everyone around us cast a dark glow over our holiday. Greeted with a cheerful “Hello!” on the street, we would avert our eyes, lower our heads and walk quickly onwards.

While in Luxor we decided to go camel riding – an uncomfortable experience to say the least. After finally descending from the camel, we were urged to tip our guides. After being tipped individually, the guides then compared tips and came after us, complaining that one had received more than the other. A friend once told me that she paid to get up on the camel and was then forced to pay more to get down (camels are tall). Others have reported paying to get their cameras back from a man who offered to take their picture. Beware of the owner of the donkey “Ramses II” who will pick you up and force you on to Ramses’ back and then expect a large tip for his actions (although, the tale of our forced ride on Ramses II and the subsequent pictures make for a good laugh).

Atop Ramses II

All this being said, we did meet some wonderful and helpful people, yet my personal feeling in the tourist areas was that I couldn’t trust anyone. Everyone wanted something. I don’t think that I will go back to Egypt, nor will I recommend it to anyone. I loved the sights, the pyramids, the temples but I couldn’t handle the harassment.