M-whY

I had doubts about the guy as soon as he spoke to us, but seeing as the previous five hotels we checked out were full, we allowed him to lead us to one that had vacancy. He was probably getting a commission for bringing us there, reflected in the initial price quoted to me. Aaron and Chanda waited in the lobby while I bargained it down to something more in line with what other places were charging. Their flight left later that night and only needed a place to store their luggage, and I suggested they could just leave it in my room.

"So this guy says he can take us to Dahshur and back for E£80," said Aaron when I rejoined them. It seemed reasonable, but when the three of us went to seal the deal, the price all of the sudden jumped E£20.

"You told just me E£80!"

"I thought it was only for two people. Three people, E£100."

"It shouldn't matter, we're paying for the car, it doesn't matter how many people are in it!" Yet the guy maintained that if I wanted to come along, it'd cost an extra E£20.

"Let's look someplace else," we said, and turned to leave. We had gone about ten feet when he called us back.

"Okay! Okay! E£80." Flagging a random taxi down, he chattered away with the driver in Arabic, presumably giving instructions. He wouldn't be coming with us, he was just acting as an intermediary. "Can you pay now?"

"No way, we'll pay after we get back, what if we get there and he just leaves?"

"The car needs gas, can you pay E£20 first?" Figuring we'd be safe - the driver wouldn't abandon us with three-quarters of the payment still to be collected - we forked over a twenty. Some more Arabic and money were exchanged, and we were on our way.

So we didn't stop at any of the gas stations we passed on the 55km drive south. The E£20 was just so the middleman could get paid. Our driver didn't speak a lick of english. Nor did he know where Dahshur was. More than once, he rolled down the window to ask directions from street vendors and truck drivers. Even then, he drove right by the street we were supposed to turn off of. If it hadn't been for a boy who saw three tourists in the back seat and came chasing after us, who knows where we might've ended up.

The Red Pyramid is the first true pyramid built by the ancient Egyptians. The name supposedly comes from the reddish tint of the inner limestone, though the original casing would've been white like all the others. We pulled into a gravel lot where only a handful of taxis and shuttles waited. I'm guessing most groups don't make it out this way, as camel drivers, guides, and other touts have deemed it not worth their time to set up shop here. As we got out, the cabbie began gesturing as if we should pay him.

"No, we'll pay you when we get back. You wait here." Also in a perfect world, everyone would speak the same language, and there'd never be problems communicating. Unable to understand each other, we found another idling driver who could speak a bit of both languages.

"Can you tell him he needs to wait here, and we'll pay him when we get back to Cairo?"

Some conversation in Arabic followed. "He says he's only supposed to take you one-way," said the translator.

"No, it's E£80, return. Why would we only want one-way?"

"He says he was told E£80 one-way, and he wants the rest of the money so he can return to Cairo now."

"No! The deal was including back to Cairo. If he leaves, how are we supposed to get back?!"

Some more unintelligible chatter. "Okay, he says if you pay an extra E£20, he will wait here and take you back." And so that had been the plan all along. Get us out here, to the middle of nowhere, then tack on a few more pounds, knowing we really had no choice but to agree.

Split three ways, it's only a dollar and change more. It's one of those things though, had they just told us E£100 from the start instead of doing the E£80 for two people, then E£100 for three, E£80 for one-way, E£100 for a return trip, I probably wouldn't have cared. Being baited like this is what struck a nerve.

We went over the agreement one last time. First, he'd wait while we climbed down the shaft to the antechambers of the Red Pyramid, then he'd drive us to the Bent Pyramid, a pyramid that (according to the most accepted theory) had its 54 degree angle reduced to 43 degrees when its architects began fearing instability, and finally, drop us off at the Mosque of Ibn Tulun to see the oldest functioning Islamic monument in Cairo.

"Is this Ibn Tulun?" Aaron asked the caretaker.

"Yes, yes, come in." We were asked - no, charged - E£20 in donations. Comparing our surroundings with pictures in the book though, we realized were in some other mosque. Ibn Tulun was on the other side of the wall.

"I asked you if this was Ibn Tulun, and you said yes," Aaron frowned at the caretaker. "What did we just pay E£20 for??"

"For Allah. You want to climb the minaret?" The look that Aaron had on his face... I thought someone was about to get strangled.

At least we all got half our money back. We turned the corner and found the real entrance. Sacks were wrapped around our shoes, and again, more 'donations' were asked for. E£10 to see the courtyard, another E£10 if we wanted to climb the minaret. "I won't climb the minaret then," I said. The large courtyard was empty save for us and another group of tourists... who weren't wearing sacks on their feet.

"Were you guys charged at the entrance too?" I asked them.

"No, mosques are free to visit," they replied. "We've been working in Cairo for about a year now, that's how we know." Any place that can't produce a ticket stub shouldn't be charging admission fees. Learning that we had been had once again made it all the more difficult to smile in the photos.

If that was the case, then I knew no one would say anything if I climbed the minaret anyways. Not a whole lot to see, other than satellite dishes, as Chanda pointed out.

After doing the math (US$1 = E£5.7), it turned out that the day was actually quite cheap. Including accomodation, I got by on about US$30, and that included a splurging on a real burger and fries at Hardees, the American fast food joint being one of the few places in Cairo where prices are clearly posted and you can know for sure exactly what you're getting!

Thanks to everyone for their support and comments! Knowing people are reading keeps me motivated to continue the updates!