We woke up early to get a head start on the crowds. Though the tour provided tickets to the grounds of the Giza pyramids and the Sphinx, we had to purchase an additional ticket if we wanted to go inside of one of the pyramids. On one level it is a crock, but I didn't spend thousands of dollars and fly thousands of miles to get indignant at another $20. David and I bought the additional ticket. We entered the park.
There were still many people there early in the morning, but we had enough space that we didn't feel boxed in. Magdolin took us off to a side of the Great Pyramid where we could get photos without the hordes gunking it up. Two armed tourist police sat on their camels just across the path from a corner of the pyramid and did their best not to acknowledge either the tourists or the pyramids themselves. "Yeah, yeah. Look at all the @#$!ing majestic splendor. Whatever. Yawn."
Though not everyone bought the ticket to go into the pyramid, all of us wanted to do the camel ride. Magdolin prepped us. If a small number of us want to go, they will charge us 250LE apiece. If all of us went, we could haggle down to 150LE for the "forty minute ride." Either way, $30-50 for letting the camel do the work. Not a bad gig for the camel owner.
Except it is. I hate haggling. HATE it. Greg, a Canadian ice cream shoppe owner, took control of the negotiation.
"250!" the head man declared.
"150!" Greg said resolutely, for all of us.
As impressed as I was by his taking charge (seriously; someone had to do it), I was equally impressed that we all stuck to Greg.
"No! No! 200! Good price! 40 minutes!"
"150!" Greg barked. We nodded vigorously.
"180! 40 minute ride! Best I do!"
"We were told you'll do it for 150," Greg said. Then with perfectly intoned disgust, he added, "Forget it."
He turned around to walk away.
The moment of truth.
The bossman looked to the rest of us. Amazingly, we all, to a person, shrugged and went to follow Greg.
"Okay! Okay! 150! Good price!"
(Next chapter: extortion and threatening violence on a small, malnourished teenager)
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