Monday, October 18, 2010

I have seen the pyramids, and ...

Wow!

That's all I can really say about them. Simply, wow!  WOW!  You go through life with this mantra in your head about seeing the pyramids before you die.  I hope I don't die any time soon, but...

WOW!

I was actually sort of dreading this part of the trip because "everyone" seems to agree that the touts and little kids torturing you at the pyramids ruin the experience, that you will be ripped off left and right, and that the last thing you want to do is actually ride a camel there.

To which I say... "everyone" has obviously never been to Mexico or Romania, because the whole situation at the pyramids was nowhere near as bad as I was expecting.  There were touts and little kids, but most of them didn't even ask me to buy something once.  They just chilled out along the sidelines.  The few that did approach me took no for an answer, usually on the first try.  There was none of the swarming, grabbing at my clothes, intimidation factors and attempts at pickpocketing that I have experienced elsewhere (cue Mexico and Romania) so they certainly didn't ruin my good time (frankly, they never ruined my good time in Mexico or Romania either). 

And I did ride a camel.  The child said let there be a camel.  And there was.  And the camel was good.  And big.  And made a noise like a dinosaur.  It was awesome!!!!

I do have pictures, but I seem to be at an impasse with the Ramses Hilton on uploading them.


And I didn't get ripped off.  I paid the Egyptian equivalent of ten American bucks for a camel ride and tipped the kid the equivalent of about a dollar, and everyone walked away happy - even the camel, as I don't weigh much.

I have seen the Pantheon, the Parthenon and the pyramids.  I have ridden a zebra painted donkey (Jenn knows all about this one), a racehorse (ask Mom that story), a bull (Mom knows that one too) and recently added to the list a camel.

Maybe it's OK for me to die, after all.

1 comment:

  1. 'Tis a dark day for me when I hear that I've missed seeing on the back of a camel. When Egypt gets with the program and allows wanton, fun loving, American women to run around drunk, WE'RE GOING BACK WITH SPRAY PAINT!!!!!

    ReplyDelete