Egypt - an education !
I'm just getting back to my routine after a much needed rest from my trip and am now ready to let you know all about it.
The flight was on Turkish Air and we stopped in Istanbul - and wasted a few hours at the airport before the connection to Cairo where we arrived in the afternoon and were driven to a fancy 5* hotel in Giza (I never had such luxury), buffet dinner and then American movies on TV (other channels were in Arabic and/or French) - too bad that I had such a big room and none to share it with.
In the morning, breakfast and a bus ride to the most famous triple pyramids and the Sphinx (no more than 15 minutes away). The first impression was awesome! Most of us bought a ticket to go inside the great pyramid - but I don't recommend it to anyone with claustrophobia. The long ascending passage was crowded and tight (almost impossible to pass people descending), steep, and stuffy beyond belief- If you are there with only a handful of people it would be OK, but the air starts to give out when you have a crowd like in the NY subway during rush hours. When I finally emerged into the sunshine again I was exhausted and my legs were cramping - the climb was much steeper and longer than I imagined.
Outside of course we were set upon right from the start with peddlers wanting to sell you souvenirs. And believe me, the natives are aggressive and will not take a NO for an answer. I finally relented an agreed to get on a camel to have the guy take my photo (with my camera) for an agreed price - "No problem, ANY price is OK, it is my gift!" was their regular sales pitch. I just wanted a fast picture taken (I think it was for 5 Egyptian pounds), but far from that agreement, the picture taker then wanted 50 pounds, the tender of the camel wanted pounds too, as did the owner of the camel. When I held out my 5 pound they refused to take it and wanted more and were brazen enough to wanting to physically go through my wad of Egyptian pounds themselves. I walked away but they followed and insisted on more money but finally disgustingly took the 5 pounds. I'm sure that I left the place with some Pharaoh's curses following me. I learned that the others had similar experiences, and this was just the beginning of the gauntlet you have to run through the persistent, lying, cheating, robbing and obnoxious natives attacking you everywhere with their questionable wares. For the tourists, the authorities actually design each and EVERY place so that the the exits from any temple, or tomb complex is to have the tourists no other way to return to their buses than through ALL of the souvenir shops (sometimes there are a few dozen in a row), and ALL their hawkers are insistent that you buy something from them. Replies like: "No", "No thank you", "I don't want it", "I don't need it", "I already have it", go right over their heads. They will force something into your hand or pocket and insist that it is a "gift", but woe to you if you believe them and then don't give them something and even more so if it is not as much as they want. I told one guy that I was not interested and he asked me what I wanted, I said "nothing" - his reply was, as he was dragging me into his shop, "I got nothing, let me show you!"
To be continued - if you want more.
Ata
The flight was on Turkish Air and we stopped in Istanbul - and wasted a few hours at the airport before the connection to Cairo where we arrived in the afternoon and were driven to a fancy 5* hotel in Giza (I never had such luxury), buffet dinner and then American movies on TV (other channels were in Arabic and/or French) - too bad that I had such a big room and none to share it with.
In the morning, breakfast and a bus ride to the most famous triple pyramids and the Sphinx (no more than 15 minutes away). The first impression was awesome! Most of us bought a ticket to go inside the great pyramid - but I don't recommend it to anyone with claustrophobia. The long ascending passage was crowded and tight (almost impossible to pass people descending), steep, and stuffy beyond belief- If you are there with only a handful of people it would be OK, but the air starts to give out when you have a crowd like in the NY subway during rush hours. When I finally emerged into the sunshine again I was exhausted and my legs were cramping - the climb was much steeper and longer than I imagined.
Outside of course we were set upon right from the start with peddlers wanting to sell you souvenirs. And believe me, the natives are aggressive and will not take a NO for an answer. I finally relented an agreed to get on a camel to have the guy take my photo (with my camera) for an agreed price - "No problem, ANY price is OK, it is my gift!" was their regular sales pitch. I just wanted a fast picture taken (I think it was for 5 Egyptian pounds), but far from that agreement, the picture taker then wanted 50 pounds, the tender of the camel wanted pounds too, as did the owner of the camel. When I held out my 5 pound they refused to take it and wanted more and were brazen enough to wanting to physically go through my wad of Egyptian pounds themselves. I walked away but they followed and insisted on more money but finally disgustingly took the 5 pounds. I'm sure that I left the place with some Pharaoh's curses following me. I learned that the others had similar experiences, and this was just the beginning of the gauntlet you have to run through the persistent, lying, cheating, robbing and obnoxious natives attacking you everywhere with their questionable wares. For the tourists, the authorities actually design each and EVERY place so that the the exits from any temple, or tomb complex is to have the tourists no other way to return to their buses than through ALL of the souvenir shops (sometimes there are a few dozen in a row), and ALL their hawkers are insistent that you buy something from them. Replies like: "No", "No thank you", "I don't want it", "I don't need it", "I already have it", go right over their heads. They will force something into your hand or pocket and insist that it is a "gift", but woe to you if you believe them and then don't give them something and even more so if it is not as much as they want. I told one guy that I was not interested and he asked me what I wanted, I said "nothing" - his reply was, as he was dragging me into his shop, "I got nothing, let me show you!"
To be continued - if you want more.
Ata
posted by Okorn Family at 8:14 AM
1 Comments:
"I got nothing, let me show you." love it Ata,
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