Hi there, thanks for taking the time to read my reviews and profile, although I've been a member for...
Hi there, thanks for taking the time to read my reviews and profile, although I've been a member for a while im still rather new to this. Feel free to leave comments so as I may improve my reviews, thanks
Member since:11.05.2007
Reviews:10
I am an officer in the Merchant Navy and work for a large muilti national cruise company, I spend more than 6 months a year travelling with my job and have seen some fantasic sites and visited some brilliant countries. I have a wealth of experience when foreign holiday destinations are involved.
Recently the ship I was on docked in Port Said in Egypt. I was offered the day off to go sight seeing to Cairo and in particular visit the Pyramids at the Giza plateau.
Ever since I was young I had wanted to see these great sights. So I thought - brilliant and jumped at the chance. I had been advised by other crew members to avoid taking large amounts of money and jewerelly as I may have become an attractive target for certain types of individuals.
The bus ride from Port Said to Cairo was 3 and a half hours, if your doing something like this with a cruise company make sure you take a book or something to keep you entertained. The bus was modern and included a toilet and excellent air conditioning, which is a must as the temperature can raise very quickly.
We were warned on the bus by the local tour leader to avoid talking to any of the locals, the reason being the will try to sell you something and will sometimes not even take no for an answer. The tour group running this particular tour were good, as they also provided two guards per bus to assist passengers should they get into any difficulty when the bus stopped.
When the bus stops, you will be somewhat over whelmed by the locals, some will even try to get on the buses, so take note, never leave anything of value on the bus. Some will approach you and will pose for pictures with you, however they will then hassle and hassle you for money since they have appeared in your picture. Another example was charging a passenger in my party $5 to get her picture taken on a camel, then trying to charge her another $10 to get off the thing. You need to have your wits about you in this kind of environment as the locals are very good at what they do. Some passengers paid as much as $50 to one local, then finding out another local would be selling the same item for $5. This is quite common so my advice to you would be howvever tempting it may look, dont buy anything from these local people. They pray on "gullible tourists" and will try there hardest to get money off of you. If you manage to avoid all of the above keep a close eye on your wallets and camera, the Giza area is a perfect place for pick pockets and you must be vigilant, another passenger had his video camera stolen on that tour. So it does happen.
There arent just one or two of them either, there are loads of them all trying to make a quick buck off of unsuspecting tourists. There were also alot of children asking for money as well. Watch out for this as lots of people are quite unsuspecting of children but there hands will be all over you. I dont think there is such a thing as "personnal space" in this area.
Dont get me wrong the sights are beautiful and the culture is rich and steeped in history, however I set out thinking I would enjoy myself and stepped back on board the ship happy in the knowledge that we would soon be setting sail.
One of the other things I would say to you is make sure and take bottled water from the ship, as there were several passengers ill after drinking water shoreside.
Like I said, fantastic sights and a culture that is enriched in history, im very glad I had the opportunity to see the sights and take in the culture, but the hassle just ruinned the day. As a result I doubt I would ever go back on a tour like that.
My experience is limited due to the fact that i stayed onboard the ship and went ashore for a day tour. Howvwer the lecturer on the ship infomred us it was a constant problem which ruins a somewhat good tour.
Welcome to Ciao! Looks like you could add more information. If you edit, add more info, and tell me when you've edited, I will re-rate for you. Thanks, Dan ;)
Bollinger28 12.05.2007 10:17
I know exactly what you mean - they just don't know when to quit. It's really tiresome and oppressive, and it does tend to spoil the magnificent sight of the pyramids. Lexy
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May 11th, 2007
(May 12th, 2007)
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