I got up this morning and decided to spend my last day here at the pyramids of Giza. I had been there several times, but they keep drawing me back. There is so much to see all around them and I wanted to make sure that I saw it all. But before I did all that, I fought with the hotel again over my single room that I didn't get on the first night. I was getting the runaround yet again from them, so I gave up for now. I wasn't going to let it ruin my final day in Egypt. I took a short cab ride to Giza and decided to walk around and see the many mastabas that are beside the pyramid of Khufu. Some are rebuilt, others are completely ruined, and some seem to be yet untouched.
(To see more, click on the photo below)
The view of the pyramids from a small village nearby.
The next thing I did was go into the pyramid of the pharoah Menkaure, which is the smallest of the three.
(to see more, click on the photo below)
The entrance of the pyramid of Menkaure.
After I walked around the area, I decided to walk out into the desert. I went about a kilometer or two out when I met a very poor old man on a donkey. He asked if I wanted to buy some pop, so I bought 2 from him as a couple of guards with machine guns came over on camels. A guy I know here at home works as a bartender at a bar I usually go to, so I had an idea for a funny picture for him. I had the old man pose wearing a shirt with the logo of the bar on it with the pyramids in the background. He was really nice and funny, so I let him keep the shirt and gave him 20 pounds for being a good sport. After I did that, the trouble started. The guards wanted a shirt too, but I told them I only had one. They then wanted cigarettes, but I told them I didn't smoke. I said goodbye and walked away. I got about 50 meters away when one of the guards and the old man started yelling at each other (in arabic of course). I'm sure that the guards wanted the money and shirt that I gave the man. While this was going on, the other guard got off his camel and shouted for me to stop, so I did and he walked over. He stood in front of me with his face close to mine and said that I shouldn't have taken pictures of the man. He asked for money from me and I said no. This went on for about five minutes. I was starting to get angry and worried at the same time, but I kept refusing him and turned and walked away. He started shouting things to me in arabic, but I didn't turn around. I knew I was safe, because I was a tourist, but it was a little frightning because he was heavily armed and very angry with me. I kept walking and never turned to look at him, all the while the shouting between the old man and the other guard kept on. I never saw them again, but I'm sure they stole the money and shirt from him. I'm still very angry about that, and wish I did something to help him. Because I'm a tourist, I imagine I could have helped him get away from them. They wouldn't dare stop me again or harrass me too much. All I would have to do is mention the Canadian embassy and I'm sure they would have went away.
I went back to the hotel to have dinner and pack, as I had to get up at 2:30 in the morning to catch my flight. I also fought with the hotel a bit more, but I didn't get anywhere with them. I just made sure I had names and phone numbers of everyone involved so I could continue the fight when I got back to Canada. I complained to Contiki about my problem and they resolved it very quickly. I appreciated that very much.
The older Egyptian guy that the military harrassed. He was pretty happy that I gave him the shirt, and he had a great sense of humor like most Egyptians (unlike the two guards!).
