Egypt: Up and Down the Nile

Giza Pyramids—An obvious choice, but the sheer number of tourists and commercialism does not detract from the sight and experience of the Pyramids as much as you’d think. I was completely in awe in their presence, feeling the weight of thousands of years of history.

Feluccas on the Nile—These small, graceful sailboats provide a great way to while away a few hours, or if you so choose, to travel slowly from Aswan to Luxor. The scenery is loveliest at Aswan. The sunset ride is common in Cairo, but it’s not quite as interesting, as the banks are covered in large Western hotels. From Aswan you drift by ancient tombs and desert mountain scenery, on a much cleaner section of the Nile.

The Nubian Museum—Unfortunately, I had only an hour to speed through the museum, as the doors close from 1pm – 5pm, and I had a train to catch at 4:30. But what I saw was fascinating—models that showed the original locations of the moved temples of Ramses and Isis, photographs and descriptions of the UNESCO rescue effort, Nubian pottery, weaponry and jewelry housed in a lovely museum based on Nubian architecture. It’s a fairly extensive museum and definitely worth 2 or 3 hours.

Dahab—This was easily my favorite part of Egypt. The most amazing snorkeling (and I’ve heard, diving) I’ve experienced in my life, the best food in Egypt, and such an utterly relaxed atmosphere. Stay a couple days or a couple weeks. Covered in a separate journal.

Quick Tips:

I cannot recommend an International Student ID Card (ISIC) enough! If you qualify, GET ONE. You will get hefty discounts on trains, archaeological sites, and museums.

Don’t spend too much money on food outside of Dahab. The Middle Eastern staples of falafel and shwarma reach a real low in Egypt. Eat enough to get by, save your money, and don’t get your hopes up.

Women should try to avoid eye contact with men when possible and dress modestly. If you are wearing light cotton, the heat won’t really be so much worse in a long-sleeve shirt than a tank top. Headscarves are not necessary.

Be open-minded. The hassle from touts can really bring you down, but don’t let it ruin your opinion of the Egyptian people as a whole, and stay alert for invitations. I had a couple wonderful experiences visiting local village homes because I trusted my instincts.

Summer is stifling in Egypt, but it’s also the low season. If you can take the heat, you'll share the pyramids with fewer people and meet more friendly locals.

Bring a hat and plenty of sunscreen—it’s hot as hell.

Best Way To Get Around:

I’m going to save most details for a separate entry. In Cairo, there are a few different options, taxis, buses and the metro. Buses are for the adventurous only. Taxis run on a somewhat complicated system, which will be explained in the dedicated entry.

Aswan is small and easy to walk. Luxor is the same, but the Karnak temple is a pretty long walk from most hotels. If you take a taxi here, bargain before you get in.

The train system is very good and the scenery fantastic. Trains mainly traverse the Nile valley and Alexandria. With a student ID, the price drops below long-distance bus prices (buses do not offer discounts), so take the train when you can.

The Dahab Hotel is so cheap some locals refuse to believe it's possible. Granted, I was staying in a dorm room with 4 beds, the mattresses were saggy foam, there were nasty toilet-showers, and it was on the 7th floor of a building whose lift occasionally broke down. But for less than $2, who’s complaining?

The hotel was recommended by a local, but was also featured on "Globe Trekker" (the PBS travel program) and written up in Lonely Planet. There are other room options, like private rooms and rooms with baths. After I actually visited Dahab, I could understand the relaxed, flop-down-on-cushions-and-chat kind of atmosphere the Dahab Hotel in Cairo was trying to recreate. It was a great place for meeting other travelers, as well as locals—the staff there was fantastic, young and clearly all friends. They were fun to hang out with and gave great advice. This is the place where I discovered that hotels can be a safe, non-sleazy way to meet some nice locals.

I was arriving in Cairo at 1:30am, so I booked online ahead of time, and requested a pick-up from the airport for $8. Later I found out this is the actual rate most taxis will charge, so the hotel is not trying to cheat. The first day, the tour manager Mohnassin tried to sell me some of their tours in and around Cairo, which seem reasonably priced but I wasn’t interested.

The staff will buy bus and train tickets for you with a 15EP fee. Since it would take either 5EP each way in a taxi to the train/bus stations or a really long time to walk or take the bus, it was perfectly reasonable. When I bought my train ticket for Aswan (55EP), they gave me a deal on a hotel for 95EP total, meaning I was essentially paying 25EP for an Aswan hotel that turned out to very nice and worth twice as much.

The Dahab Hotel is within easy walking distance of the Egyptian museum, the metro stop and bus stop for the Giza Pyramids, several very cheap takeaway stands, and several cheap internet cafes. The only flaw is the 7th floor location and the lift--it’s quite unstable. I got stuck in between floors and had to climb out, covered in floor dirt and sweat, I still had to walk three more floors to the top. It was finally fixed late afternoon the next day, but later broke again! But don’t rule it out—the breezes are refreshing and the vibe fantastic.

Oh, and about those toilet-showers—the ones right next to the dorm rooms are the tightest I saw throughout the Middle East, with showerheads literally above the gaping toilet bowl. For some reason, everyone complained about these without discovering, as I had my first day, that there are showers down the hall (left after you leave the reception area) in totally normal stalls without toilets, plenty of space.

Dahab Hotel website

Happi Hotel is a little out of the budget category. The regular rate is 60EP for a double, which is just over $10 and three times as much as a budget Egyptian hotel. A few travelers I met enjoyed Nubian Oasis for 20EP each. It seemed like it was one of those Lonely Planet places that becomes overrun with backpackers, while the Happi Hotel, despite being listed, was almost empty because it’s not as low-budget.

I got the hotel as a deal through my hotel in Cairo. Essentially I paid 25EP the first night, and bargained them down to 40EP for the second night. Still out of my budget but considering how nice it was, I let it go.

The room had two double beds, very cold A/C (the knob was broken off, so I couldn’t control it), big sunny window, and a clean bathroom with good shower. The staff were not particularly friendly but very nice, the lounge area was spacious and clean, and the location is convenient for the various souk areas and a few internet cafes. It’s a little further from the train station than Nubian Oasis, but not bad by any means. There is a large mosque very nearby but I didn’t go in to check it out. Most hotels in town are supposed to include breakfast, which in Egypt is traditionally bread, cheese, and jam. If you are taking the early-morning tour to Abu Simbel, they will pack you a box.

Happi Hotel is a nice place if you’re more flexible with your budget, but there are many cheaper places in town if you are willing to search more.

Well, you’ve gotta eat. But where? Egypt is not a culinary destination, although you certainly won’t starve. The food is so cheap here that after a while, you forget about the quality and taste--if you’re spending 40 cents on a full meal, it’s hard to care anymore.

In Cairo, the popular eat-in/takeaway Felfela is pretty good for the standards of falafel (usually called ta’amiyya in Egypt) and shwarma. Chicken shwarma should be about 3EP. There is another nice eat-in/takeaway that looks like part of a chain on the same street as Dahab Hotel, a couple blocks closer to the Egyptian museum. It’s called Mogu and offers a decent kofta sandwich for 4.5EP. There is a popular takeaway on Qasr El-Nil near Midan Talaat Harb with good falafels for 60 piastres and shwarmas for 3EP.

In Aswan, the Lonely Planet-recommended fiteer (Egyptian pizza) restaurant Biti Pizza near the train station actually only serves fiteer after 5pm. So at lunchtime, we tried their regular pizza. I’m a picky pizza lover and didn’t find it to be particularly good, but my dining companions enjoyed it. Aswan Moon restaurant is a barge on the Nile, so the setting is lovely, but it’s on the pricey side. I paid 14EP for kofta, which was good but about three times the usual price. In general, I found it difficult to even locate food in Aswan, with the staring men making me too uncomfortable to inquire at restaurants and the prevalence of coffeehouses for smoking shisha only. The heat reduced my hunger anyway.

Shwarmas in Egypt are different than what you might expect—a small will be stuffed in a tasteless hamburger bun, a large in a hot dog bun. If they run out of buns and give you pita, that actually means you’ll get less meat for the same price. Shwarma meat in Egypt tends to be dry. Ta’amiyya is made of fava beans rather than chickpeas, and generally good. Fuul, an Egyptian-style refried beans dish served with pita is also made with fava beans, and pretty tasty. Fresh bread can be good here. Fresh fruits are plentiful, and juice shops are cheap and widespread. You can eat well in Dahab, so if you’re going there, save your dining budget! Fresh fish is easily available in Dahab, and there's plenty of seaside restaurants with decent Western food. The pastries in Egypt are not great, but worth trying if you won’t be going to any other Middle Eastern country. Try kunafe for a sugary explosion.

Stay open to Egyptian hospitality; if you are invited to a local home, you might be treated to a great homecooked meal. It isn’t that Egyptians have no taste for good food; I think the problem is that most people still eat at home, so Egyptian restaurants have not fully developed. Western restaurants are more popular. If you get a chance to eat at an Egyptian home, you won’t regret it.

"Hello? I can help! I know what you are looking for!"

I wasn’t looking for anything as I strolled down the Corniche, but the man offered tours to Abu Simbel, my main purpose for coming to Aswan. He gave me a good price at 35EP—I think 45EP is standard, but some people get scammed into 85EP. The unguided tour included going by air-conditioned minibus to Abu Simbel, Philae Temple, the High Dam, and Unfinished Obelisk.

Tours to Abu Simbel, a temple complex sweltering away near Sudan, leave in the wee hours of the morning to beat the heat. At 4AM we were lined up with other buses for a police convoy. Not sure why because a) if anyone was looking to target tourists,10-11 tour buses traveling together would be pretty obvious and b) the police didn’t try to keep us together.

At 8am, it’s already pretty hot. You must walk through touts to reach the ticket office—brilliant set-up. Entrance to the temples is 34.5EP with a student ID—it’s a popular tour so the line to buy tickets is very long.

I gasped when I rounded the mountain and got my first glimpse of the Ramses Temple. The statues guarding the door are gigantic and intimidating, with a corridor of eight more giant statues inside. The walls are covered with hieroglyphics and paintings depicting Ramses’ mighty feats, with additional chambers of paintings depicting various offerings. Next to the Ramses Temple is the Temple of Hathor, an ode to Ramses’ favorite wife, Nefertari. It is built in a similar style and equally impressive.

After another long minibus ride, we arrived at Philae Island. You have to take a ferry to the actual temple, which again I thought was pretty genius. Our group of 7 paid 4EP each for the roundtrip ride.

The Temple of Isis—one of the greatest Egyptian gods—is beautiful, lovely setting and well-preserved. Entry was 20EP. The wall carvings were so impressive, deep and clear; so hard to believe the temple was built around 250 BC.

After a long day in the cramped van with dubious air-conditioning, we decided we did not care to see the dam or obelisk. The driver was flexible and returned us to Aswan. For only $6, I didn’t mind leaving out part of the tour.

The main interest I found in these temples—beyond their physical beauty—is the UNESCO effort involved in saving them from Lake Nassar. Piece by piece each temple was painstakingly moved, with the landscape even modified to resemble the original locations. The Isis complex was reconstructed 20m higher on Agilka Island between 1972 – 1980. The temples at Abu Simbel were reconstructed 60m up the cliff from 1964 – 1968. The temples’ relationship to each other and to the sun remain the same, covered by an artificial mountain to recreate the original appearance. A model of the original locations, photos and information about the restoration effort are in the Nubian Museum in Aswan.

As much as I try to better myself, the truth is I am just not a museum person. I was terrified when my friend told me he visited the Egyptian museum 3 times. My guidebook recommended setting aside 4 hours for the complete experience. I couldn’t leave Cairo without going to the Museum of course, but I was getting depressed thinking about it.

Luckily, I met another traveler with the same view of museums as me. My museum buddy and I barely lasted an hour and a half before the massive storeroom of antiquity was too much to bear.

Right before I left home, I explored the Egyptian exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For anyone who has been there... well, the Egyptian Museum isn’t it. It isn’t beautifully designed. Objects seem almost randomly placed. Only about 2/3 of the exhibits are labeled. Getting around is confusing, as different rooms (eras) look similar. The lighting is not very good.

But the actual exhibits themselves are amazing! The King Tut room is an absolute stunner, more gold than I could imagine in one place. The jewelry was by far my favorite of all exhibits, both in King Tut’s room and elsewhere. The sheer number of items and the variety in the collection was overwhelming, but in a good way. Apart from the jewelry, I liked the models best, especially wondering if the modelmakers really believed that the model people would come to life or if model boats would grow to full size on the other side.

The Royal Mummy room costs an extra fee to enter, but it seems impossible NOT to enter. You’re in Egypt, when will you ever see mummies of this age again? Some are still wrapped, some show their blackened skin, some still have hair and nails, and all of them are pretty fascinating. It’s a quiet and peaceful place, but very small and you may have to shuffle in a line to see the different cases.

The Museum is open from 9am-6:45pm. You are not supposed to take photos but of course everyone does and the guards are not strict. We tried to arrive early before the doors opened to beat the tourbus crowds, but they are just unstoppable. We were still technically the first ones in but the groups were immediately behind. Although it seemed like a sea of tourists outside, once inside it was easy to find ourselves in rooms alone. Very different from the descriptions I heard from people who went later in the day—everyone’s trying to get out of the afternoon heat, but then it's hot inside and very crowded. Admission is 20EP with a student ID, 35EP for the Royal Mummy room.

If you want to see beautiful belly-dancing, don’t come to Palmyra.

If you want to see uncomfortable dancers with sour faces, if you want to see men hoot and holler like they’re at a strip club, if you want to see men literally throw money on the floor leaving an assistant to come pick it up, if you want to see men who seem genuinely baffled by the sight of a woman… Palmyra may be the place for you.

Located in a narrow alleyway, frowned upon by the staff at my hotel, costing a fraction of what quality belly-dancing clubs do, Palmyra is a somewhat seamy, clearly locals-only establishment. Supposedly it doesn’t pick up until midnight. When I went on a Wednesday night around 10:30pm, there were only a few other people in the joint. A traveler told us he had visited Monday around midnight, when it was packed with locals drunkenly throwing money. It was a compelling idea.

Our visit was, sadly, more sedate. The men did get drunk, but they also spent most of their time talking to each other. They stared vacantly at the lousy dancers with shisha pipes dangling nonchalantly from their mouths. They looked mildly appalled when the first dancer invited them to stuff money in her cleavage.

The dancers were hilarious. One wore an ankle-length blue-striped shirtdress, which resembled a form-fitting pajama shirt. Shimmying vaguely around the stage, she self-consciously pulled the dress down every time it rode up. Her hair was pulled back so tightly she looked like a facelift victim, and she seemed annoyed. The only person she succeeded in coercing to the stage was one of the girls in our group—she tried me, but I refused. I’m not sure why she bothered. The next dancer wore a midriff-baring outfit as sexy as a child’s bikini. A far cry from the sparkly traditional costumes, it was bright and FLORAL, a sleeveless top with matching A-line mid-thigh skirt. She was a bit more relaxed, but still didn’t have much rhythm. She was successful in pulling some very hefty men onstage, but after they gave her money, they danced happily with each other while she looked on.

In between dancers, a rotund, good-natured man sang. The men in the audience didn’t seem to change their reactions. They were not nearly as turned on by the dancers as our friend had claimed, but maybe it was an off night.

The cost was 25EP, including a drink, compared to nice clubs, which cost almost 200EP. But for the quality of the dancing, and the fact that we didn’t see the crazed men we hoped for, it was a bit much. I saw good belly-dancing later in Jordan, at hotels and restaurants that didn’t charge patrons and paid the dancer a salary so she didn’t rely on tips from men. It was a significant improvement. But Palmyra is just weird enough to recommend.

Stay in a centrally located hotel in Cairo to explore as much as you can on foot. One of the reasons I recommend Dahab Hotel is that the Egyptian Museum is in walking distance, and it’s generally pretty convenient.

Local buses are an interesting experience. Very cheap at 25 piastres-50 piastres (4-8 cents), with the actual fare depending on whether or not you have exact change. However, it’s hard to know where to get off, buses are crowded and hot, and they do not stop to let you off. I don’t mean they come to a rolling stop, I mean grab your stuff, jump off and hit the ground running. There didn’t appear to be marked bus stops anyway, so either ask someone for help or just run off when you see a recognizable landmark.

The metro (75 piastres) is clean and efficient—the first and sometimes second cars are women-only. I didn’t find any problems in the regular cars though, and plenty of women rode the other cars. The metro is a good way for getting to Coptic Cairo, and also goes to Giza. Once in Giza you are actually in the town, so if you are going to the pyramids you need to take a taxi.

Taxis are weird. It’s best to already know the approximate fare (ask locals), have it in hand, and give it to the driver after you get out at your destination. Don’t bargain when you get in, don’t let the driver guilt you into paying more. I paid 5EP for both the train station (Ramses) and bus station from Dahab Hotel, which is pretty generous...if you have exact change you should be able to get away with 4EP, maybe even 3EP. From the parks at Gezira, our group of 3 paid 5EP to go to Islamic Cairo. I paid 5EP from Giza to the Pyramids because that was the approximate fare listed in Lonely Planet, but the driver complained a great deal which made me wonder if I should have bumped it up a couple pounds—he was asking for 10, however, which was ridiculous, and as I’d already left the car and he wasn’t going to follow me, we left it at 5.

Trains are good and relatively cheap. The best way to get to Aswan and Luxor also goes to Alexandria. Foreigners ride in first or second class, which should be pretty similar—I think the seats in second class are marginally smaller and don’t recline as far. I wish I knew that before I chose first class for all my rides--I could have saved some money. A/C is very cold on these trains, but they’re otherwise quite comfortable, considering the ride from Cairo to Aswan is more than 12 hours (less than $10). There is also Nefertiti class, which gives you a private cabin of six seats. These seats don’t recline, but if you are alone, you can stretch out and sleep.

Ramses station can be a little confusing if you’re headed to Aswan, and like me, you’re running really late and panicked about finding the platform. I knew the platform number for Aswan but that didn’t help, because for some reason all the signs were skipping over my number. I got on the train barely before departure thanks to kind, helpful locals.

I think the men in Egypt may very well be the creepiest on Earth. It’s not from pure sleaziness (although that’s there); it’s more that they seem to have a complete and utter lack of self-awareness. They never seemed to realize how they came off and would continue to say strange, cheesy lines and follow me for several blocks after I’d refuse their advances without any sense of how frightening that could seem.

The men never miss an opportunity. The touts do their thing, hassling you to buy an alabaster pyramid or perfume for special gifts or to ride a "FELUCCA FELUCCA FELUCCA, LADY!" I’d politely refuse (la, shukran) and think the matter settled. Instead, a moony look would enter the tout’s eyes while he droned, "You are so beautiful. So beautiful. Will you have tea with me? Enjoy some hospitality. Please, you are beautiful like the moon over the Nile." As bizarrely flattering as that would seem the first time—but not the 37th time—I’d try to laugh it off politely and say I’d rather go back to my hotel and rest. Then the stalking would start: "Are you sure? Are you sure? What about after? I am nice man, Egyptian man. I will not hurt you." Generally, just wondering what they had in mind was enough to freak me out.

One felucca tout stalked me for a couple days in Aswan. He’d say "You said no yesterday, so today, today you promised to take a ride with me. We can go to quiet place, we smoke together, I bring tea on felucca, we enjoy." I can’t imagine ever saying anything that indicated a promise to ride his felucca, but he was very hard to get away from.

In a way, the advances are amusing because they are just so amateurish. The problem is the unstoppable onslaught of come-ons--it’s less amusing when every man on the street, young and old, begs you to talk or asks if you need a second husband, or in one extreme case, asked me to do him "a favor" because he was so lonely with his wife living in a different city. The falafel man will hit on you. Your taxi driver will hit on you. And unfortunately, you are not safe from hopeful advances from your hotel staff, either. When I really wanted to meet and talk to the people, it sometimes became disheartening to think that everyone I met just wanted to have sex with me. Or as one man said to me, "making sexy!"

Watch out for men who touch you inappropriately. I don’t mean the kind of overly sleazy touching that we would consider inappropriate in the West. A Muslim man shouldn’t even touch your hair or stroke your back or pat your knee if you have just met, or even after a long acquaintance if you make clear that you are not interested. Men count on your ignorance, knowing that the touches will seem innocent to you. I would always call them out on it, and sometimes, the more ridiculous men would try to get angry back, saying, "We are friends now, it’s OK!" It’s NEVER OK.

Staring is a popular sport throughout the Middle East. But dressing modestly and avoiding eye contact with men on the street will go a long way to ease the pressure from men. I also had the unique experience of being an Asian-American woman traveling alone, which brought me more attention than other travelers might receive. Everyone was at least curious, and sometimes an encounter that started as curiosity led to the lame attempts at flirting.

In Egypt’s culture of tourism, the men who hit on Western women are just as persistent and cunning as the men who are only trying to sell something. The stereotype of Western women as loose is created by Hollywood, then reinforced by tourists who really are out to have a sex holiday--it's hard to blame the local men for hoping the rumors are true. These men deal with tourists on a daily basis, so there's always a new target. It’s simply a part of traveling in Egypt that women cannot avoid. I would never say that women should feel uncomfortable traveling alone in Egypt, however. I never felt like I was in danger, just occasionally uncomfortable around so many staring men. Keep a sense of humor, and don’t let the hassle get to you. There are many positive aspects to Egypt that make it all worthwhile.

"Do you want to buy some perfume? Arabian Nights, best quality! Do you know what price? Excuse me! Where you going? Come back! Look for free! Are you sure? Are you sure?"

Touts in Egypt are a slick bunch. Egypt is one of the oldest tourist destinations on the planet, and sometimes it seems like everything is set up to take tourist money. Takeaway stands rely on tourists not reading Arabic numbers and charge foreign prices. Scams abound from unreliable tour guides. Taxi drivers may surround you and confuse you while constantly yelling—whether or not you end up taking a taxi, it can be an awful experience.

The cost of living in Egypt is incredibly low--the lowest I experienced in the region. The huge disparity in comparing the cost of my hotel room to the cost of visiting a site relates to the industry’s attempt to squeeze every last dollar out of visiting tourists. It’s frustrating,,, but it’s necessary for the economy, and when I’d imagine what drivers and salesmen went through during the low seasons, and how long the money made in high season had to sustain them, I’d try to be a little more understanding.

The pressure can be hard sometimes—I’d feel like I was a walking ATM to the locals, who were constantly pressing me for baksheesh. Baksheesh is a tip for someone who did essentially nothing, like a guard who points out an obvious hieroglyphic and tells you the name of the depicted pharaoh, or a shwarma meat slicer who will give you a better cut (of what? It’s shwarma!) for an extra pound. I’d hand out a little bit here and little bit there, and it all adds up. Baksheesh can be seen throughout the Middle East to some degree, except Lebanon apparently, but I was able to avoid it for the most part outside of Egypt. It is impossible to escape in Egypt—almost everyone who does the most minor helpful thing expects payment.

The hassle from touts is intense, especially in towns with high tour-bus potential like Aswan and Luxor. Here I would experience the most outrageous pricing (although I could bargain down), and the most unrelenting touts who would follow me for blocks, assuring me I could "look for free!" Cairo was more relaxed because it’s a city where people actually hold jobs unrelated to tourism. Dahab was the most relaxed, because it’s just a chill place. People would attempt to sell me something, I’d say no, and they’d say "Eh. Okay." Shrug. Return to loafing.

I have never been to another country where tourism is as important as it is in Egypt. Tourism is one of the most profitable industries in this impoverished country, with almost 50% of the Egyptian labor force dealing with tourists on a daily basis and relying on them to survive. With terrorist attacks throughout this year on heavily-touristed sites, the tourism industry has taken a big hit, leaving salesmen and camel drivers to hang around tourists with an air of desperation.

After one guard at Luxor Temple had started "guiding" me before I realized it, I knew I would be stuck paying him. So I figured I might as well get a photo out of it. But after I raised my camera, he said "Wait! My friend in photo too!" Thus, I was stuck paying extra baksheesh to someone I hadn't even seen until that moment. One guard in Karnak who took me on an unsolicited tour of the Mut temple tried to get additional baksheesh from me by telling me he had two wives and five children. While I never let myself be guilted into more than 1 or 2 pounds for baksheesh(less if I was irritable), I did think it was possible that he was telling the truth. Egyptian families are big--not many women outside Cairo work, so they rely on a single income, and the salaries are very low. While it does get frustrating after a while, a little baksheesh here and there won’t really hurt most tourists at the end of the day.

My experience with the Pyramids of Giza is somewhat different than most first-time travelers to Cairo. I never even entered the Pyramids, and I also got scammed, badly. I visited both at sunset and during the day, and loved it both times. I realize it’s hardly off the beaten track, but it’s popular for good reason. I was lucky enough to be almost alone for both visits, as the summer is low season for Egypt.

I arrived in Cairo at 1:30am and only had a few hours of sleep before I set off on my day. My first day would be a short one, as I had a train to catch for Aswan at 10pm. I intended to go to the bank, walk around for a while, then hit the Egyptian Museum when it got too hot.

While I was waiting to cross the street, a man my age started talking to me. First he told me (unsolicited) how to find the Egyptian Museum. Thinking to get him off my tail, I said, "No thanks, I’m going to the bank." First mistake. He offered to lead me to an ATM, since he had to get money too. After he saw me getting out a large amount of Egyptian pounds (and no matter how close I stood to the machine, he would have known), he offered to take me out for a drink. Okay, so it was my first day, and I’d read so much about Middle Eastern hospitality, so I agreed.

At the coffeeshop, Amir asked me if I wanted juice, tea, or a beer. I figured, what the hell... "A beer." He looked shocked but recovered quickly and said they did not serve beer at this establishment, so he would buy my juice and then I could buy him a beer. Second mistake.

We spent all day at a rooftop bar, during which he continued ordering more and more beers I didn’t want, and I was stuck with half a bill I didn’t agree to paying. I wasted my day essentially, missed the museum, so when he suggested we go to the Pyramids for a sunset horseride, I agreed. Obviously, third mistake.

Next, we stopped at his "cousin’s" perfume shop. It’s possible they really were related, but it’s hard to believe EVERYONE in Egypt could be cousins. My fourth mistake was not jumping ship here, despite my misgivings—I would have been lost earlier trying to escape from the bar, but the perfume shop was on the same block as my hotel.

He paid for the taxi to his "favorite" stable in Giza. The owner told me it cost 240EP for a 3-hour ride. I exploded. I was so angry at Amir for the ridiculous day I’d had with him, wasting my time at the perfume shop, trying to scam me. Even though it was technically the owner trying to overcharge me, I knew it was somehow Amir’s fault. Both of them tried to guilt me by telling me that I came all this way to see the Pyramids and if tourists are stingy they can’t help it. The lowest the owner would go was 180EP. I KNEW that was bullshit, but since it was my first day, I hadn’t planned on going to the Pyramids yet and hadn’t read my guidebook, so I didn’t know how off it was. Amir, seeing my obvious anger, offered to pay for it. My fifth mistake was not trying to force him to pay—why not? Feminism be damned, he was trying to scam me!

In the end, I agreed to the 180EP because it was getting late, I did want to take the ride, and I could either return to Cairo to wait for my train and realize I’d wasted my day or just suck it up and take the ride. In case you’re wondering, they were essentially charging me $30 for something that should have cost 30EP. Quite a mark-up, no?.

It was absolutely stunning, although I can’t say it was "worth every penny," of course. But my anger melted away when I met my sweet horse guide, Aladdin. He was totally accommodating to my fear of riding (yes, horses freak me out, but I still occasionally get on them) and was a knowledgeable guide. We viewed the Pyramids from many different angles, occasionally bumped into other riders (no tourists), and watched the sun go down. It was a beautiful night.

For my 180EP, I was also supposed to ride the horse to a good vantage point to see the Sound and Light show for free—a nightly event so delightfully cheesy that I was dying to see it but certainly not to shell out 45EP. Unfortunately, I was running late for my train, so I had to head back. Once back in the stables, I ran out on Amir, my anger returning, and took a cab into the seething traffic of Cairo. I barely took my seat on the train before it left the station.

When I came back to Cairo after my trip up the Nile, I was ready to visit the pyramids again. There is supposed to be a direct, air-conditioned bus (not one of the regular local buses) departing near the Egyptian Museum for 2EP. I wandered for a good 20 minutes unable to find the bus stop. Sorry if that’s stupid, as I know other people who found it, but I really did make a good effort to look and even asked people for it, but all the locals directed me to the local bus station, which seemed too hectic for me.

I gave up on the bus and took the metro to Giza for 75 piastres. Once in Giza, I got a taxi by butchering "Haram" and making a pyramid shape with my hands. The taxi driver was so nice that I felt sort of bad when he indicated that the 5EP I gave him was too low. That was the price suggested in the most recent edition of Lonely Planet, but it was a very long ride from the town, so I second-guessed myself. Every driver will act like it’s not enough, but he seemed serious. Not serious enough to follow me, though, so I moved on.

The pyramid site cost 20EP with a student ID, but you need another ticket to actually enter the pyramids themselves. I spent some time gazing in awe, mouth gaping and stroking the blocks in reverence. My thoughts centered on, "I can’t believe I made it." It was like a middle-school fantasy come true. After climbing up to the entrance of the Pyramid of Khufu, just to get a feel for it before deciding whether I’d go in or not, I decided to walk around the Pyramid first.

On the far side of the Great Pyramid, I encountered the camel touts. Supposedly, the site has improved significantly in the last few years, as tourist police are trying to reduce the hassle, but this side is hidden from the side with the ticket office.

One in particular was persistent. Emet convinced me to take a ride with him by first taking me to the workers’ "cafeteria" hidden between the pyramids. Here I got fresh bread, cheese, and jam—the traditional Egyptian breakfast— and tea and soda, all for free. It was a fun experience watching the other camel touts, now no longer trying to sell to me, riding up to the small building and requesting takeaway sandwiches from the sweet lady inside. After breakfast, Emet offered me the ride for free. I was happy to accept.

Although it’s not recommended, I was too scared to ride the camel alone, so I climbed on behind Emet. I kept my distance and held onto the saddle. Occasionally I felt safe enough to not hold on at all. A couple times, I was forced to hold onto Emet, but he didn’t take advantage of the situation. Riding a camel is bumpy and weird, but it was funny watching the other groups of tourists riding together and seeing Emet chase off the drink sellers who simply camp out in a seemingly random patch of desert waiting for the line of camel-riding tourists to appear.

Although I was enjoying myself, I had no reason to fully trust Emet. He suggested we ride in the desert for a few hours, but as beautiful and intriguing as the idea was, I knew it wouldn’t be a safe idea. The other option was going to meet his family in the village near Giza. I was more than happy to visit a local home.

We rode the camel through the streets, which was hilarious. I mean, it’s not like there’s a camel lane or any other animals in the street. It was just me, the obvious tourist, and a guy who wanted to hook up with me, weaving in and out of cars around Giza.

We ended up at the home of his friend, another camel tout. Here, of course, he was relaxed, simply saying, "Remember me?" but he was at home and not trying to sell a thing. His friend was married, but still lived with his parents. We had a meal of fresh, very sweet watermelon; a pungent buffalo cheese; and lots of fresh bread. Later, we moved upstairs to smoke a little post-lunch Moroccan hash. I took my cue to leave when I realized Emet was trying to get his friends to leave us alone.

So I never even made it inside the pyramids. But I’ll be back, and I think the weird day I had was worthwhile—after all, most tourists in Egypt walk into the pyramids, but how many have ridden a camel through the streets of Giza?