tour guide or imposter?
 

We were approached by two men today in front of the Giza pyramids. One of them claimed to be a tourist guide and he'd take us to see the pyramids in a horse carriage. He never produced any tourist guide identification. Do all official tourist guides require such identification? Anyway, after a long (15 minutes?) very bumpy ride to the pyramids, he took us straight to a guy with a camel. He said 5 sentences about the pyramids and then had us pose while he took pictures. Suddenly, the guy with the camel had my son taking pictures on his camel and then each one of us. Of course, he requested a fee for his time and camel at the end.
Long story--- I feel that he was not a tourist guide but a tout/imposter who sold us his horse carriage ride and then (probably already connected with others) had the guy with the camel sucker us and then he took us inside a smaller pyramid. I know it costs money to go inside the pyramid but hmmmm, this was one of the smaller ones. Anyway, the last thing he tried to do was take us to a "papyrus museum". We said no to that (several times but stood firm with that.)

I'd like to ask:

1. Was this a tourist guide?
2. Do all tourist guides in Egypt have to have identification?
3. What are some other scams we should be on the look out for?

By the way, after we purchased our tickets and entered, someone approached us to "take a look at our tickets". How bogus and I took my husband away from that person.

When we were in Egypt we noticed that all "authorized" guides had a laminated ID that they wore. Casual Cairo on this board would probably be best to answer this though.

I was also approached at Giza by a guy flashing some type of badge saying, "Security, where is your ticket?" I laughed out loud and told him to get lost. He did. I was approached by several other people touting services, photo ops or camel rides and I said no to all of the above. I think you were taken for a ride (both literally and figuratively) but please don't let this color your memories of your trip. Just think of it as a good travel story to share.

I am anxious to hear Casual Cairo's response to your question.

I'd agree... tout trying to get business. Good on him I suppose. At least he's out there trying and he didn't completely rip you off from what you say. It's a fun story to tell.

I had an Egyptian in plain clothes approach us in Abu Simple to make sure we were not taking photos of the inside. My husband has a fancy camera which was on and a light shows when it is on and the guy wanted him to show him some of his last frames to make sure. My camera wasnt even on and he wanted me to turn it on and show him which I was happy to do as I had not done anything wrong. I thought this is good that they are trying to protect the inside of the tombs from rogue photographers. However, I later wonder if this was just a money making exercise by this guy alone or he may of been in cahoots with guards to demand a lot of money "to make the issue go away" instead of calling the authorities to deal with it. After he looked at our cams he trotted behind us and said numerous times... I am very sorry to have troubled you.

Their everywhere in all different guises, my DH was called over by a tourist policeman at Edfu Temple and told it was a good place to photograph then wanted money..... My DH paid up he wasn't going to argue he had a gun !!!
Best to stick with your guide or a firm but polite "La Shukren"(no thank you)and keep walking often worked. Enjoy your trip but be aware.

Keah, your guide cannot go everywhere with you. There are some places where they have to wait outside. In the Valley of the Queens our guide left us at the entrance of a tomb and we went in without him. Behind us we could see 2 Asian women about to enter. Before going in to the tomb our guide had asked us not to give the tomb attendants any extra money as there had been some issues with them pressuring tourists for money. He said not as many tourists come to the Valley of the Queens so they were getting very heavy handed in the pressure as they had a limited audience. We got inside and yes we were asked for extra money but it was easy to so no as I actually didn't have my purse with me. They asked 3 or 4 times then went away. After a minute there was a little bit of a ruckus and then 5 mins later there was a huge ruckus caused by a female who wasn't wearing any headcoverng. Our male guide was most interested in finding out what happened and went to investigate! He found out that the tomb caretaker or whatever you call him, asked the 2 Asian women for money and pressured them. He said as the female guide did not really walk close to them the tomb attendants had not realised she was with them so figured they'd put a lot of pressure on the lone 2 females. The female guide said she was going to get the person in charge and a group of them walked back to the entrance exchanging very heated words.

1. Was this a tourist guide?

Not legally, no, but yes, sure, he will guide you where HE wants you to go and intimidate you into giving him money for it, sure.

2. Do all tourist guides in Egypt have to have identification?

Egyptologists -yes.
Tour leaders - not exactly.


3. What are some other scams we should be on the look out for?

Too many to explain right here, but that is why you should hire a trusted guide to be with you, or you do have to be on your guard. Some people prefer to do it on their own, but what you experienced is exactly what can happen to you when you do that.
I guess those weighing the costs of the guide vs being taken advantage of need to figure what peace of mind, and the stress factor are worth in costs to you. Some prefer to do it on their own and in the end give their money to the touts. Others prefer to have a stress free experience and allow a trusted guide to protect them from that, and thereby give their money to the guide.
Some tourists feel they have enough stress in their every day life that they don't want it when they are on vacation and are willing to pay to be relaxed and enjoy their time. Others feel they would rather give their money to the touts and have the story to tell.
Neither way of doing it is wrong - you just have to decide what is most important to you.

But the short answer to your question is YES, these were touts and they did, no doubt take advantage of you. They are not guides. I hope you look back and feel the story was worth the fee you paid.

And, yes, what PM says about those with some sort of security badge asking for your ticket does happen too, but he is NOT needing to see your ticket. If all he wanted to do was check your ticket, it would be OK, but that is NEVER where it stops. He ALWAYS wants to take you somewhere "special" to show you something not everyone gets to see and then he'll ask to be paid for that. It usually (99% of the time) is not too special, but hey, it's up to you to decide. Maybe it is. I NEVER go with them, and I ALWAYS tell them to go away when they ask to see my ticket.

Miss Green - in your story, you mention a woman "who wasn't wearing any headcovering". I don't understand how that was important to the story. Can you explain? I ask as when I read it, I worry that people that have not been here may take it as important to the story and think they need to cover their heads when they are in the Valley of the Queens, which is not true. Was it just that she did not appear to be a guide because she wasn't veiled? Thanks for explaining.

Scams theft particualarly now abound if you are a solo newbie it is best to stick with a licensed guide of repute on a tour
of private guide through your hotel.Absence of head covering
marks you as a tourist always best for me to blend in.Even
the groups have their scams like taking you to gidt shops that cahrge massive pricesone I got stung on decades ago
was the "kartouch" scam got a "gold" artifact that turned
out to be a worthless trinket.There is a system of "baksheesh"
that is a system of corruption bribes that make it ok to
extort/scam infidels so best to maintain a high index of
suspicion ans "caveat emptor" at all times for me.

travel.state.gov Egypt has good info on all this.

Happy Travels!

"headcovering" in tomb at VofQ (or K, or most others than a mosque).

They're not required.

Tout, tout and more touts. But given them credit someways for trying to earn a living, especially during this period.

Oh well... good story and not the first time I've read similar.

"Some prefer to do it on their own and in the end give their money to the touts."

There's no reason to assume that someone without a guide is unable to say "no" to the touts.

Thanks everyone. We did hire a guide but, unfortunately, he called us when we were at the Pyramids to tell us he would be 1 1/2 hours late. Since we wanted to go see Saqqara too, we decided to just go by ourselves. I do agree that when you are on your own, you are prey in Egypt (we've traveled to numerous countries including Jordan/Palestine, Israel/Turkey and haven't had this kind of treatment). Anyway, what doesn't kill you, just makes you a much wiser traveler :-) You better believe we'll be wiser next time (and since we're headed to Luxor, I'm sure there will be lots of "next times"). Thank God we'll be with a group.

Just a note about the head scarf thing--- we are originally half Arab and Muslims. I wear the head scarf so that pretty much debunks that theory :-) Even if you're Muslim, speak Arabic (allbeit a different dialect) and wear the headscarf, you're still prey at the Giza pyramids.

Oh and we enjoy Saqqara way more than Giza. It was deserted and you could wander everywhere without those touts chasing you.

I do not mean any disrepect about the headcarf. I am saying our guide said that the lady guide was assumed to be a tourist as she did not have a head covering. He said that is why they continued to pester the 2 Asian women even after the guide meet them at the tomb entrance as they were leaving.


Layan - I am not sure what theory is debunked? I didn't say folks ONLY approach people who are dressed in a certain way.

thursdaysd on Jul 10, 11 at 7:01pm "Some prefer to do it on their own and in the end give their money to the touts."

There's no reason to assume that someone without a guide is unable to say "no" to the touts.

I did not mean it is impossible to get away without paying someone - but given the tone of this thread - it is less likely for a newbie to manage that. Of course if you can say NO to a tout, good on you. Not every tout is bad though, and if you aren't saavy to what is what, you might miss something wonderful, or on the other hand experience something not so wonderul. It's a coin toss and some people prefer not to go that route. Meashy?