June 24, 2009 – 5:16pm (Egyptian Time)

I just got back to my room from seeing the great Pyramids. How should I describe this place? First and foremost I think that before you die it is definitely a sight to behold. The sheer magnificence of them and the fact that it took thousands of men countless hours to build should hold you in awe. There is the great Pyramid of Giza and the other one beside it (sorry, I forgot the name of it) as well as smaller pyramids behind it and burial grounds. I say again, you MUST see them, touch them, and experience one of the great wonders of the world!

Now for the bad part… Walking up to the pyramids is an exercise in vigilance. There are people all along the way that call out to you as if you are carrion and they are hungry vultures. They are offering camel rides, horse rides, souvenirs, etc. And trust me, they can be very aggressive. The price to get in is 60 Egyptian Pounds for adults ($10.71 USD) and 30 Egyptian Pounds for students ($5.36 USD). After paying for my ticket I went inside and there was a guy that asked me for my ticket and said that he worked for the Egyptian Government. He said that it was his job to show me around. Of course, I didn’t believe him but he showed me some kind of document that looked legit so I went around with him as he was telling me the story of ancient Egypt. I still didn’t trust the guy though. We walked around to the different sites. He tried to get me onto the camels, horses, into the tombs, etc… but I refused to go anywhere with this guy but outside on the perimeter. After many attempts (he even offered me to his house to smoke hash and drink with him) he gave up. He asked me for a tip and I gave him about 20 Egyptian Pounds ($3.57 USD) for trying and I was on my way checking things out alone. There are Egyptian Tourist Police everywhere so I decided to get a picture with them. They even had me climb up on the stones which are not allowed so they could take pictures of me. After the pictures even they asked for tips. LOL. After walking off I was approached by a young boy on a camel who asked me to take his picture. I took his picture and he asked if he could see it. I showed it to him and then he offered to take mine. Now, normally I wouldn’t have given him my camera but since we were out in the open and there were lots of people there I figured what the hell. He lowers the camel and says he is going to take a picture of me while it is sitting down. For the record, I am an advocate of animal rights so I was not going to ride this camel. I think it’s terrible the way they treat these animals and force them to carry around people in the hot desert sun. You can tell just from looking at them that they are abused daily. But I figured what was the harm in just sitting on the camel while it was sitting down. In the back of my mind I’m thinking if this guy gestures for this camel to stand up while I’m sitting on it I’m going to jump right off. So I get on the camel and sure enough he says “UP” and the camel starts to rise. I jump off just in the knick of time, run up to the guy and snatch my camera from him. I walked off pissed as hell with a sore arm and a bruised groin. After shaking it off I walk around taking more pictures and a guy comes up to me and gives me something. He says that it’s free of charge. I say okay and take it and walk away. He then starts offering more stuff and asks for money. I throw him a 20 Egyptian Pound just so he can leave me alone and he tries to take 30. By then I’m PISSED. I look the guy straight in the eye and say NO almost at the top of my lungs. He then leaves me alone…

I think that it’s absolutely pitiful that one of the greatest wonders of the world has been reduced to a real life spam box. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, imagine the internet was real life and everywhere you went you were confronted by people making you offers right in front of your face. Selling you things and offering you things free with a catch. Get the picture? I think if the great pharaohs were alive today this would not be happening. The tourist police are just as crooked. I’m sure they won’t let you get hurt physically but when it comes to people aggressively hassling you for their merchandise or services, they pretty much turn a blind eye. The Egyptian government should do something about this. Better yet, people should complain to the government that this be stopped. I’m actually thinking about writing a letter to them. But until then, if you go there learn from my mistakes. If they are going to be aggressive with you, be aggressive right back. It doesn’t pay to be nice at the pyramids!

It’s funny but everywhere I go people are thinking that I’m Egyptian.  From my understanding there are 2 different kinds of Egyptians…ones with lighter skin and ones with darker skin.  I went into a local souvenir shop and the shopkeeper said when he first looked at me he thought I was Egyptian.  Apparantly there is a great brotherhood between the lighter and darker skinned ones here.  Another shopkeeper at the Papyrus Museum told me that he considers people with dark skin as good luck.  I dunno if that was just his way to sell me stuff or not, LOL.  Also, they all love Obama here and claim to have a great admiration for America.  I’m quite enjoying my time here and the people are nice and helpful once you seperate the ones that are just trying to sell you whatever they can and the ones that truly mean it.  I was told that it’s not good to get a tour guide for the pyramids, but to just walk up to the government offices by the pyramid and you can book a horse or camel ride to the pyramids from there.  I will go and do that later as my hotel is only a 5 minute walk from the pyramids.

June 24, 2009 – 10:11am (Cairo, Egypt Time)

I arrived in Cairo last night after a 3 hour flight from Rome. There was a guy from the Hotel that I’m staying at standing there to meet me and he helped me with my bags as well as arranged for a Mercedes Benz to take me from the airport to the hotel. The airport was very well air conditioned and there were lots of people, some with those surgical masks on. I guess they are paranoid about the swine flu. The security at the airport is very tight. I had to show my passport to 4 different people just to get out of the airport. The drive from the airport was CRAZY. It was one of the craziest car trips I’ve ever been on in my life. The cars are scattered across the road like ants, just avoiding each other. Traffic lights are non-existent and people cross the road when and wherever they can. It’s like a real life version of the game Frogger. Seriously. But the city of Cairo is beautiful. A lot of people think that it’s a dump but to me there is a kind of beauty in a city that is raw and gritty. You have slums intermingled with beautiful mosques in the backdrop. I also so KFC’s, McDonalds, and other various American influences. After arriving at my hotel I checked into my room, had a shower, a drink at the bar and went to bed. This morning I awoke to a majestic view of the great pyramid of Giza towering over my balcony. I have posted pics of the hotel above. Today I will finally get to go to the pyramids, one of my life long dreams.