After a satisfying lunch at Alezba, we made our way back to Cairo, to visit the Great Pyramids of Giza. Since it is a popular tourist destination, security was tight and the police had us take all of our stuff off the bus to be screened, and our bus was also screened.
From the distance, the pyramids don’t seem that large. As we walked closer, the stones got larger. Considered as one of the 7 wonders of the world, these pyramids date roughly 2500 B.C. People are still baffled how they were built. Even by today’s standards, they are complicated to build, especially without the use of any modern instruments.
After being up close to the pyramid, we drove to a lookout site, so we can see the Great Pyramids in a row. From there, we went to the Cheops Boat Museum, which houses the 2nd oldest boat in the world. This was not part of the tour, and the admission was extra, and if you wanted to take photos, that cost extra as well.
Our Great Pyramid tour continued to the Valley Temple, which led to the Sphinx. While walking back to the bus, we had the opportunity to ride a camel. Only 3 of us from the group chose to ride the camels: Marilyn, my dad and me. The rest of the group went back to the air conditioned bus. The camel operators tried to strong arm us into giving them $15 for tip, but I only gave them $5 each. Marilyn left her purse in the bus, and they followed her there to get their money.
Tipping in Egypt is common, and the people tend to get greedy. You have to stay firm and give them only a few dollars for their service, even if they don’t provide a service worth tipping.
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