The Pyramids

I have been living in Cairo over 6 months now. And last Friday was the first time I visited THE tourist destination of Cairo – Pyramids. A culture shock indeed.

If you think you just need to pay for the ticket and then enjoy the old mysterious “exhibition” then you are as mistaken as a white chick with a tiny top on the streets of Cairo. You need to pay for every move and get harassed until you almost start to hate the place.

Here is a short survival guide if you plan to visit the Pyramids as “normal” (what is normal?) way as possible.

1. Go with an Egyptian. A bonus is if you are a female and going with an Egyptian guy you can easily pretend that you two are married. It’s worth it. The ticket for a stupid foreigner is 50 pounds and for a foreigner who is married to a local – 2 pounds. So what if they ask for some kind of proof or paper, just say you forgot it and they will forgive you.

2. Don’t trust anyone. Don’t give your ticket to anyone. Even if they say they work for the government and they just want to show you the shortest way. Its bulls..t.

3. Have some change in your pocket because the ticket on the entrance is not the only thing you have to pay for. You need money to get into the Pyramid, to leave your camera outside and I wouldn’t be surprised if you have to pay to get out of the Pyramid. Try to make difference between two different situations: when a person is trying to help you and get some money for return or only trying to get some money for something you can easily figure out yourself if you have brains. And sometimes 2 pounds can have miraculous consequences in Egypt.

4. Don’t buy anything. Unless you feel like you want to give them this satisfaction of cheating you.

Oh. Almost forgot. Try to feel the history and get a photo of yourself lying in the sarcophagus.