Cairo Curtain Call

November 29, 2010

Overweight Tourist Pyramids Camel Ride Funny - Cairo, Egypt - Daily Travel Photos
(Cairo, Egypt)
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An overworked camel goes on strike.

We're near the end of our marathon Giza Pyramids tour. Just one more tomorrow then, we move on to Thailand, where I've been situated for a few weeks already. My real times photos did not update to reflect my move to Thailand because I had so many pyramids photos to publish. No number of weekends would've allowed me to publish all the prime pyramid photos I wanted to publish so I thank you for bearing with me. I've made a note to myself that in the future, I should not delay such a major iconic landmark until one day before my departure from that country. It really distorts the real-time publishing situation.

tourist riding camel egypt pyramids
Egyptian Camel Guide Annoyance Giza Pyramids - Cairo, Egypt - Daily Travel Photos
(Cairo, Egypt)
f/7.1 ▪ 1/500s ▪ @103mm ▪ ISO100 ▪ Canon 5D ▪ Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8
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A tourist family is hounded by one of many camel guides at the pyramids in Giza.

It's rather unfortunate that many visitors leave Egypt remembering only their negative interaction with tout Egyptians rather than the friendly and genuine locals outside the tourism industry. I remember all the scams my first time around to the pyramids. For example, a camel driver will say, "Take a picture... free!" However, when you snap the picture, he - and it's always a 'he' - demands 5 Egyptian pounds (about US$1) claiming "the picture of the camel costs money... the picture of me was free." In order to avoid a confrontation, most tourists just cough up the buck and carry on, but the bad taste in their mouth lingers far after they've left Egypt.

A word of advice, in many developing countries, you must initially negotiate a final price before doing anything. Or in situations like the example above, simply walk away or summon the police. There's nothing the scammer can do to you in response.

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Tourist Kitsch Souvenirs Pyramid Viewpoint - Cairo, Egypt - Daily Travel Photos
(Cairo, Egypt)
f/8 ▪ 1/500s ▪ @200mm ▪ ISO100 ▪ Canon 5D ▪ Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8
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Busts of Pharaohs as far as the eye can see wait at the officially sanctioned pyramid viewpoint in Giza.

These were the odds and ends photos I wanted to post that didn't quite fit into any of the past days' themes. Stay tuned for the final Giza pyramid "image" tomorrow!

tourist souvenirs giza

2 Comments - Cairo Curtain Call

1) holgs -

I think the little kid in your first pic will have to pull a little bit harder - that camel doesn't look like it wants to move! Great shot!

December 9, 2010
2) TravelGuy -

and it didn't... for 10 full minutes it protested the "overweight baggage"... hehe

December 10, 2010