Egypt
If it is of any interest, I was going to a conference at the Mena House (hotel just outside the entrance to the pyramids) a couple of years ago, by taxi, and a tout climbed into the front seat along the road leading up to the pyramids. The driver explained that I was actually off to the Mena House, and my would-be guide lost interest and got out at the next halt. A good tactic if you want to see the pyramids without the spiel. It's only a couple of minutes to walk from the Mena House to the official entrance.
- Site Management: Giza
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- Travel: Observing The Pilgrims
Living in Egypt blog (Maryanne Stroud Gabbani) I look at Maryanne Stroud Gabbani's blogs most days because they offer a great insight into her life in the rural outskirts of Cairo and Giza. Today she describes taking some visitors to the Giza plateau...
- Travel: The Nile In Even More Style
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- Travel: A Visit To Giza And Abu Simbel
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21549925-17102,00.htmlStandard description of a visit to the Giza plateau and Abu Simbel: "It's a 10-minute walk from the Le Meridien Pyramids hotel to their base. I soon discover I am not the only...
- Update On The Grand Egyptian Museum
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2426221.eceA comprehensive overview of the Grand Egyptian Museum, currently under construction near the pyramids of Giza: "The modern world has not been kind to the pyramids of Giza. Just a generation...
Egypt
Skirting the legal limits at Giza
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=103&article=39228
Article about how touts encourage tourists to break the rules at the pyrmaids. In this piece, a would-be guide entered the author's taxi en route to Giza, a common pracise, and the writer goes onto to describe the experience of taking one of these rule-breaking options:
"If there is one key to a successful illegal ride around the pyramids, it is having a guide who knows how to deal with the tourist police, whose role it is to prevent you from doing exactly what you are doing. For Sam, the tactic is to simply walk around them, yelling at them in Arabic and whipping Moses 2000 onward.
Whatever he tells them, it works. In challenge after challenge, he simply presses forward with impunity, uttering some sort of password or claim of legitimacy. Somehow, it gains him immunity in the park. He encourages his guests to climb on the monuments, do anything they want, right under the eye of the tourist police. Along with urging you to break the cardinal rule of the pyramids — don’t climb on the monuments — Sam invites you to dismount and scramble among some lower tombs of workers who built the pyramids, making various claims about who is buried where."
See the above for the full story.
Whatever he tells them, it works. In challenge after challenge, he simply presses forward with impunity, uttering some sort of password or claim of legitimacy. Somehow, it gains him immunity in the park. He encourages his guests to climb on the monuments, do anything they want, right under the eye of the tourist police. Along with urging you to break the cardinal rule of the pyramids — don’t climb on the monuments — Sam invites you to dismount and scramble among some lower tombs of workers who built the pyramids, making various claims about who is buried where."
See the above for the full story.
If it is of any interest, I was going to a conference at the Mena House (hotel just outside the entrance to the pyramids) a couple of years ago, by taxi, and a tout climbed into the front seat along the road leading up to the pyramids. The driver explained that I was actually off to the Mena House, and my would-be guide lost interest and got out at the next halt. A good tactic if you want to see the pyramids without the spiel. It's only a couple of minutes to walk from the Mena House to the official entrance.
- Site Management: Giza
drhawass.com (Zahi Hawass) The site of Giza is one of the most visited sites in Egypt. Everyone who comes to Egypt visits the great pyramids that dominate the landscape here. In the past, the site was crowded, cars were everywhere and also people selling...
- Travel: Observing The Pilgrims
Living in Egypt blog (Maryanne Stroud Gabbani) I look at Maryanne Stroud Gabbani's blogs most days because they offer a great insight into her life in the rural outskirts of Cairo and Giza. Today she describes taking some visitors to the Giza plateau...
- Travel: The Nile In Even More Style
Times Online (Bettany Hughes) Sunbathing with two sub-machineguns near by is a curious experience. There I was, lazing along the Nile, when our luxurious liner was boarded by armed tourist police. Docked, things got even more exciting. Special operations...
- Travel: A Visit To Giza And Abu Simbel
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21549925-17102,00.htmlStandard description of a visit to the Giza plateau and Abu Simbel: "It's a 10-minute walk from the Le Meridien Pyramids hotel to their base. I soon discover I am not the only...
- Update On The Grand Egyptian Museum
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2426221.eceA comprehensive overview of the Grand Egyptian Museum, currently under construction near the pyramids of Giza: "The modern world has not been kind to the pyramids of Giza. Just a generation...