The pyramids at Giza
are surrounded with dozens of opportunists who are
looking for unwary tourists to separate from their
(preferably) foreign currency. The usual approach is
to give you a small "gift" crudely carved scarab
beetles
are the favourite it seems, they are very good at
forcing such small "lucky" items on tourists, the
only alternative is to drop them on the ground which
just seems rude.
When this guy
approached us our guide and driver were in the car
keeping cool while we went and did some touristy
wanderings. The guide saw us and came over quickly
to save us from any excesses we might have been prey
to. As it was I was quite happy to give this guy $1
for this picture - though our guide mumbled grimly
about it being "very little work for 6 Egyptian
pounds". I can see both sides though and at the end
of the day I think the $20 tip in addition to his
fee was enough to make our guide see the difference
too!
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