Picking up from last time –
First, I went to Saqqara, which has a pyramid older than “the pyramids” we usually know.
There’s also a tomb you can go in, and it’s wild because, as you can see below, the wall looks unassuming, but if you hold your flashlight on it the right way (as the guide did for me), it makes a special picture!
(I do not understand how that works.)
I was warned at this place that people would be trying to take pictures with you. Don’t do it, because they want money.
Now, I was prepared to go in and just say “no.” That didn’t seem too hard, but when they say people are going to try to get you to take pictures with them, what they mean is not that people will call you over… They mean that if you are standing for your own picture, all of a sudden, you will feel the hand of a man on your shoulder, and they will be taking a picture with you.
And I tried to basically politely be like “oh no, thanks,” but they wouldn’t really take no for an answer. And then they act sweet like “no, no, don’t worry about it. I just want to share Egypt with you. This is just for fun,” as they literally start to like put a scarf on your head and hand you cane.
And if you let your guard down a little and allow them to put something on your head, boom. That’s it. They’re expecting money.
Like, you have to be on GUARD in Egypt.
Like, for REAL. All the time, if you try to say no to something, they’ll try to convince you that you’re not really agreeing. You’re ‘just seeing’ or someone’s ‘just being nice’ or whatever. But NO. If you give people a millimeter, they will take a foot.
So, when people say don’t take pictures with people here, they don’t mean just say no. They mean like *immediately* physically move far away when someone touches your shoulder – unless you want to be paying to take pictures with strangers.
(And if you do, you are gonna have a field day here!) But if you don’t, it’s less of a “say no if someone asks,” and it’s more of an “actively avoid, because they won’t ask [and will just start].”