Oh boy, here we go again.
I feel like I have so much to say about Egypt, I never even know where to start. I was gonna do the pyramids next, but let you give you some ol’ context.
So, I had complained on WhatApp to the guy I booked the original driver with – the drive who ultimately didn’t speak English.
And at first the guy was kind of defensive like ‘you can’t expect drivers to speak English or whatever’. And I sent him screenshots from when I’d very specifically verified that the price included a driver who spoke English. And then he was all, “well, at the last minute, the driver I was supposed to have cancelled and I didn’t want to leave you high and dry, so I sent someone.”
And I was like, “uh, well, did you think to TELL me that [if it’s even true]? Because if you TELL me, I might have other options. The guy at the hotel was trying to sell me a guide service, etc. If you don’t tell me someone doesn’t speak English, and I don’t realize it until I’m an hour into a car ride with them when I wake up from my nap, like that’s an unfair situation to put me in!”
And finally he was like “I’ll tell you what. I’ll take you around myself tomorrow for free.”
And I was annoyed and on principle didn’t really want to let him, but I also liked the idea of a free day. So, I took him up on it.
So, he’s the one who took me around on the day of the pyramids, etc.
And like… I was a mark YET AGAIN.
Why am I stupid, you ask? Good question. I’m not sure.
Could be I’m too trusting. Could be lack of enough international experiences. Could be lots of things. But I can’t think of toooo many times I have felt as stupid as I have on my trip to Egypt.
So, he says he’ll take me around, and I’m like okay. But then he’s very weirdly like ‘in charge’ the whole day. And I guess what I mean by that is that he’s doing all the exchanges with people for me.
Like, on the first day in Alexandria, the driver would just park the car and point to where I’d go. And then I’d go up to the counter and see the sign of entrance fees and pay myself.
But here, this guide was like “the Saqqara costs this much. Hand it to me. And I’ll give it to them.”
And so I would just do that. And I don’t remember exactly how much the Saqqara cost. I know it wasn’t a lot. But “not a lot” in American dollars and “not a lot” in the Egyptian equivalent can be two different things. I think each of the things I went to on the first day cost like under $5 [US], some even just a couple of dollars.
And so, say this guy tells me something costs the equivalent of $15 [US], that’s not a crazy amount of money, but it’s like 3x what you’d normally pay.
So, I have no idea if the prices he was asking me for were even correct. And one of the main reasons I’m guessing they weren’t (other than all the other millions of context clues) is that like at Saqqara he said some dollar amount and then proudly gave me back like 50 Egyptian pounds or so (so like $2.50 US), like “look what I was able to save you!”
So, I think really what happened is he probably took over the normal rate and then gave me a little back to ‘convince’ me I was getting a deal.
And the most egregious thing was the pyramids.
Because he told me it cost a little over $100[US!]. And I knew that seemed steep, but riding the camels in Cabo was in that price range. And you only live once. And how often are you in Egypt.
So, it was presented to me as though it was just the price – like it would be in the same vein an entry price to a museum or something, not something you were supposed to barter [but spoiler alert: you were like definitely absolutely supposed to barter it]. And he’s saying it’s a 90-minute privately-guided camel ride.
And so in my head that kinda tracks, that for that it could be that much.
So, I pay it. Like a doofus!
Anyway, we’ll get back into more issues of me being the perfect mark, or whatever you want to call me for my guide later! And let’s get into the pyramids tomorrow!