This Could Go Very Bad

What a day!  We started off with the pyramids and ended with the Egypt Museum where the mummified remains of Tutankhamun and all the contents from his tomb are kept.

My last post was called "Never a Dull Moment".  This day beat the last for sure.  Our first stop was at the Pyramids of Giza.  Last night Rania, our guide warned us to be careful about the very aggressive vendors selling their souvenirs.  She said, "Sometimes they will put things in your hand and tell you that it's free, and then once it's in your hand they have their hook set and it will be hard to get free."  She reiterated that same caution this morning.  "Just say, 'No thank you!' and walk away", she cautioned.  She also said that they would tell you to get on their camels and tell you that the ride is free and then not let you off until you pay them what they ask.

Well, I got off the bus and a couple of the ladies in the group said that they were afraid to walk around by themselves, so I said that I would be glad to let let them tag around with me.  I would be their knight in shining armour.

No sooner did I get off the bus than one of those aggressive vendors.  "No thanks" I said, with a voice of authority.  "Where are from?" one of them queried.  "Canada", I said politely.  "Canada Dry, never die!" came the reply back.  "Um, yah", said I.  One of them offered me an Arab head dress "for free. No pay."  I rejected him firmly.  "No, I don't want it.  Thank you."  "Look", he said, "I'm not bad guy.  I give you.  Welcome to Egypt!"  He put it in my hand.  I tried to give it back, but they refused to take it.  "Present!  You keep, free from Egypt."  I tried to walk away.  I stopped to take a photo of the pyramid and two of them moved into the frame of the photo.  I snapped the shot against my better judgement.  Then two of them came over to me and took my hat off and put the headdress on me.  "I don't want it," I pleaded firmly.  "Why? It's free.  Take it."  Then, they forcefully pulled me over to their camel, they physically lifted me up while I was try to plead with them to stop.  At that point, their was a lot going through my mind.  First of all, I was trying not to laugh because it was kind of funny.  I could imagine what it must have looked like to an onlooker.  And speaking of onlookers, what happened to those women who said that they were going to tag along with me.  They fled the scene as soon as they saw what was happening.

But, at the same time, I was thinking this could go very wrong.  And it did go from bad to worse.  They took my camera from me and said that they would take my photo on the camel.  "Don't worry.  We aren't bad people.  Welcome to Egypt!"  I actually didn't feel very welcome at that point.  Then they led me away from the group whilst I was begging them to let me down.  "I don't want this", I said.  "I want to go to the pyramid."  There were five of them by now.  I was starting to get angry.  "Let me off," I yelled, while they continued to lead me away.  "Look, I've had enough.  I'm done.  Let me down."  "You pay me 400 pounds."  "What?  Why should I pay you 400 hundred pounds? You forced me up on your camel?"  "We are poor.  You take advantage of us.  We have family."

The banter went on like this for quite some time with me sitting on top of the camel.  In my younger days I would have just jumped off, but with my bad back and knees I didn't want to chance it.  So, there I was helpless and pleading.  Finally, they let me down.  I asked for my camera.  "$50", the aggressive one said.  "No, I'm not giving you $50.  Give me my camera."  Then they surrounded me and started pushing, and they wouldn't stop.  I walked with purpose towards the guy with the camera and said with my most authoritative voice, "Give me my camera back."  He handed it to me, and then the aggressive one started pushing me again.  Just then, one of the tour bus drivers, who was talking with Simon, our bus driver tapped on Simon on the shoulder and pointed over at me.  Simon walked briskly over and stared the guy down.  They argued back and forth in Arabic and we walked back to the bus.  I was a bit shaken up, but I wanted to get some more photos so I walked over to the pyramid and snapped a few.
Once back on the bus, I excitedly told everyone that I got some good material for my blog.  All in a day's work.

After that we went to the Great Sphinx.  We took a few shots there.  We got some teaching from Rania.    She said that the materials used for the pyramids are singly hewn stones, some of them weighing 15 tons.  And there are thousands of them.  We still don't know what kind of technology they could have used to construct these amazing structures.  I can't even imagine how we would do it today with our modern machinery let alone how they could do it in the ancient world without the convenience of the big machinery we have at our disposal.

After that we went to the Egypt Museum.  We weren't allowed to take cameras in, so I have no photos. I don't like museums at the best of times, but this was fascinating.  We saw the mummified remains of Tutankhamun, Ramses III, and many others good looking Egyptians.

I am dead tired now.  I've been falling asleep while typing for the last hour.  I'd wake up and forget what I was doing until I gained my composure.  I don't have the energy to write anymore.  Our wake up call is at 6:00am and breakfast at 6:30.  We are off to Mt. Sinai, to the Red Sea, and then our midnight camel ride up the Mountain to view the sunrise at 5:00am.

It was a great day!  The adventure with the vendors made it more interesting than I had anticipated.  God is good!  We are enjoying our time with him and with each other.

I'm not sure if I will have internet tomorrow, so I may or may not be able to do post a blog until a day or two later.

Blessings, and keep growing in Christ,

PJ