My husband and I never had to deal with avoiding scams before we had kids. Vagabond travelers don't have enough money to be targeted. When our first two kids were 4 years old and 4 months old respectively (back in 2005), we went on our first international trip to Europe and Egypt. Going to Egypt with a little money (as opposed to a hobo budget) meant we could now try hotel and travel agency sponsored "tours" for the first time in our lives. We had always seen tourists take "tours," and now we were in the position to try one to see the Great Pyramids. Woohoo!
Our airport taxi driver took us to a modest hotel near a train station. We didn't want anything too fancy, and this fit the bill. The rooms had peeling paint, but good hot water, which fell smack dab in the range of "not awful, but not expensive either." We should have known better than to let a taxi pick our hotel for us. They all get kickbacks from hotels.
The next morning, the hotel owner tried his best to sell us tours to Giza. None of them appealed to us, so we decided to go DIY after all. Not to be dissuaded, the owner insisted, "Well, at least let me call you a taxi. I know a driver who speaks English and can talk about some sights along the way." We needed a cab ride anyway, so why not throw this guy some business?
Once you're inside someone else's car, you're pretty much at their mercy. Usually, cab drivers are decent businessmen, and take you where you asked them to go. But in Cairo, sometimes they take detours.
So our cab driver makes small talk and points out various landmarks in Cairo as we mosey along. Then he casually says, "I know this great Papyrus Museum" on our way to Giza. How about we stop there and let you take a look around. They do a demonstration that the kids would enjoy, and the best part is, it's all free!"
We start to mumble no, but he pretended not to hear us. Before we knew it, the cab had stopped, and we were shuffled into the "Papyrus Museum." It was a store selling paintings on papyrus paper. The store gave out free tea, which we drank. They gave a quite entertaining demonstration on how papyrus paper is made, which the kids loved. So now we feel we should buy something from the store in return for their great service. I bought something cheap for US$10; this was the bottom of the barrel. Later that afternoon, I saw the same "painting" sold by a street vendor for around US$ 50 cents.
Back in the cab, he asked if we had any particular interests on what we wanted at the Pyramids. We said we wanted to see the Sphinx and our daughter had always dreamed of riding a camel at the Pyramids. He exclaimed, "What luck! I have friends who run a camel tour at the Pyramids. I will take you to them!"
So off we went, on another detour. He took us to a travel agency who gave us a great deal on touring the Pyramids and Giza by horse carriage, including a five minute camel ride. We won't have to walk the huge park in the hot sun with the small children. They will take us to the Pyramids and back, the same cab driver will return us to our hotel, and all expenses are included in the cheap package they were offering. The package included entrance fees to the Pyramids, entrance fees to the Sphinx, and a video camera fee which the park charges. We couldn't get a better deal doing it by ourselves. They can, because it's their business.
So we made the deal, and paid the money. Then they took us out back where they had a camel. They put our 4 year old on the camel, and the camel began walking around in a small circle. We protested, saying, "Oh no. We want the camel ride to be at the Pyramids!"
"Oh, sorry. We misunderstood. Our camel is here. But, don't worry, we have camels at the Pyramids too."
After five minutes of mind-numbing camel circles, we hopped into the horse carriage and were on our way to the Pyramids. The carriage made its way around the park, where we could see other tourists in similar carriages as well as on foot. The carriage had an overhead awning to protect from the sun, so the view was a bit restricted. We could only see what was ahead, but couldn't see out the sides very well.
We asked when we could get out to wander the park. The driver replied, "When we get closer to the pyramids, you can have 15 minutes to take pictures." Right about now, we started to envy the tourists on foot, who are free to look at whatever they wanted as long as they wanted. Yes, the park was big. And the sun was hot. But freedom is worth walking for.
When we did get our 15 minutes at the Pyramids, we had a great time exploring a bit. We see a bunch of camel-ride vendors and paid for our girl to ride around the Pyramids on a camel. (By now, we realized they didn't have camels at the Pyramids.) She was ecstatic. But as she was riding, our carriage driver started yelling furiously at the camel-ride vendor in Arabic. The camel-ride vendor retreated, hanging his head. When we asked what that was about, he said, "Oh, you are my customers. He knows he is not supposed to take business from my customers." In other words, the camel-ride vendor was accused of poaching, even though he made my little girl's dream come true. And the scumbags who gave her a camel ride in a dusty dirt parking lot resented it.
After the camel ride, we hopped back in the carriage to head towards the Sphinx. We had traveled across an ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, only to get 15 minutes at the Great Pyramids of Giza. What a colossal mistake that was. But it wasn't as colossal as the next one.
For some reason, our 4 year old daughter was more fascinated by the Sphinx than by the Pyramids. So we consoled ourselves that we would insist on spending more time at the Sphinx. When we got there, the carriage parked outside the ticketing area. The driver said, "There is the Sphinx. You go in and take pictures. Come back in five minutes."
"But we want more time."
"No, no. Impossible. Too many tourists. You can't have more time. Take picture. Come back in five minutes."
Whatever. We were going to take our time here.
So we take some pictures, and before we knew it, the driver was next to us. "We go now."
"We want to stay longer. Take pictures from the other side. Look around. Give us 10 more minutes at least."
"No, impossible. The guards there will come and kick us out. If you don't come, I will leave without you." Sure, enough, the guards were giving us menacing looks.
Now at that point, we should have said, "Fine. Leave."
But we didn't. We left with him. Those guards looked angry.
As the carriage turned around and we looked back at the Sphinx one last time, it dawned on me. The driver did not pay for the entrance fees to see the Sphinx; he had only paid a small bribe. That is why they were able to seemingly charge less than what we would pay for ourselves. Now the bribe only allowed us to slip in to take a few quick pictures. But it did not allow us to stay longer than five minutes and actually enjoy the Sphinx. We had outstayed our non-fee-paying welcome.
We were very upset by the time we returned to the travel agency, but unfortunately, did not know enough Arabic to tell them off properly. We said, to the best of our ability, that we were angry with their lies, and that they were awful people. I don't think they much cared. If they had cared about the feelings of their marks, they wouldn't be in the scam business.
The cab driver was silent on the way back.
The next morning, we checked out after we told the hotel owner we were very angry at the cab driver and the scam artists he took us to. And that we would never come back to his hotel again. Again, I don't think he much cared.
Oh, by the way, the parks do not charge any video camera fee. That is a common scam that all the "travel agencies" repeat often so that tourists come to think it is true. Another common scam is the many "Papyrus Museums" selling overpriced paintings near tourist destinations in Cairo. We quickly learned that everyone near tourist traps in Cairo who spoke English was a scam artist of one kind or another. One friendly English-speaking stranger told us the museum we were about to visit was closed for the afternoon, but could re-open in an hour. Then, another friendly English-speaking stranger told us if we wanted, we could kill some time in this gemstone store he knew. It was a very nice store featuring jewelry, and then we got offered tea. We realized this was the "Papyrus Museum" scam, thanked them profusely, and left. The museum was never closed.
So we learned our lesson. Speak Arabic in Cairo. Avoid English-speaking locals. This rule alone made the rest of our stay in Egypt absolutely wonderful and scam-free. We ended up spending another 2 weeks in Egypt, including going to Abu Simbel in Aswan, doing everything ourselves and exactly the way we like it.
Excellent article on how to enjoy the Pyramids for free
here.
