Loved it! Egypt was a bucket list trip, and I suggest, going with a tour, as the street merchants are very aggressive! Beware of pick pockets, vendors grabbing money right out of your bag or hand, be very aggressive back! Haggle with them for a good price, because they start very high, look at Google to see what your money is worth compared to the Egyptian pound, theirs is not much, even 1 euro is 53.37 E. Pounds, that's alot! Keep saying no, to see how low they will actually go.

Another thing to be aware of; do not let the merchants lead you away from the crowds, and most importantly, the police, who are situated around the pyramids. There have been cases of single female travelers going on a camel ride, and being led behind the pyramids, away from the crowds, and then extorted for more money than was agreed upon, before they will let you off the camel. If you have never seen a camel close up, they are much taller than a horse, and you cannot get on or off without assistance. If you tried to jump, you would most certainly be injured. This happened to a lady on our tour; our tour guide told us all not to pay more than 3 American or Euro dollars for a ride, this lady had agreed to 5 Euros, and was then extorted for 50 Euros! This equates to; $3 Euros is equal to $159 Egyptian pounds, she was forced to pay $50 Euros, which was $2,652.00 Egyptian pounds! If you want that in more context, the average wage an Egyptian earns in one month, is $81 Euros! That equals $4,721.00 Egyptian pounds!

These people are not poor merchants, they are trying to steal your money at every turn! They surround you and cause a distraction, to confuse you, and you need to be vigilant. Do not use large bills, have lots of small bills for these transactions. Most of the vendors will not accept change either, but if that's all you have, they won't have a choice. Have the money ready to pay, so you don't have to dig for it, that's another distraction that they can use to their advantage. And above all, don't accept the first price they give you, they will usually go down to half of what they first quote. Just remember the worth of their dollar to ours, 1 Euros or US Dollar is 53 Egyptian pounds. 1 Canadian dollar is lower, it's 35 Egyptian pounds. Make yourself a chart, if you don't have an internet connection on your phone. Make a chart, then take a picture of it, then you can access that in your travels. Also be aware of "kind strangers," you don't get anything in this country for free, they will all be offering to take you and your travel partners pictures in front of the pyramids, then they will ask for money for the service, if you don't want to pay for these offerings of "kindness" from strangers, don't talk to these people at all, just ignore them, don't engage them, and stay close to each other, and the police. In our case, we were on a bus tour from our cruise ship, we had an armed guard with us, he had to come and rescue us from these people, as they were starting to surround us on the hill in front of the great pyramid. We had a disadvantage of not being on stable ground, it was a slippery, sandy, rocky slope, away from the crowds, and we were digging for our money, with these guys closing in on us, our guard saw us, stepped in, and got between us and those vultures, and told us to zip up our bags, please relax, go slowly, don't panic, (as we were) are you OK with the price agreed upon, he asked, we said yes, paid them, and he escorted us from the slope, back on to stable ground, and back to the safety of the bus.

The Pyramids can be a great experience, just don't let the merchants milling about, ruin it for you. Just take a page from our book, and please go with a tour guide, they will warn you of these dangers. Make sure the tour company is also reputable as well. Do your Google reviews people!