Egypt – December 2010

I have wanted to visit Egypt since elementary school, when my fifth-grade class made a school presentation, and I was in charge of narrating the section on ancient Egypt. I quickly became enamored with pyramids and hieroglyphics. It was also around this time that the King Tut exhibit came to Los Angeles, and there we were, my mom and I, standing in a long line, eager to witness history.

It is also a country visited by the father of history, Herodotus. He writes in Chapter 2 of The Histories, “Concerning Egypt itself I shall extend my remarks to a great length, because there is no country that possesses so many wonders, nor any that has such several works which defy description” (Tom Holland translation).


We arrive in Cairo an hour late, but we’re staying in Giza, not Cairo, so it’s another hour to our hotel. The following day is a full one, beginning with the pyramids at Giza. The Great Pyramid is the Pyramid of Khufu (or Cheops in Greek). While this is the largest of the pyramids here, I spend most of my time exploring the Pyramid of Khafre. This pyramid is distinct for its top, which still retains some of the limestone casing that once covered the entire pyramid.


While on my way to explore the Great Pyramid, a camel handler pulls me aside, a cloth is tied around my head, and I’m placed in front of his camel. “Good photo,” he tells me. Next thing I know, I’m atop the camel and am being paraded around for more “good photos.” When I think I’m finally being let down, the handler jumps in front of my camel and leads us to a secluded spot to ask for money. I tell him that I have no money, my wife has our money. As we continue this back-and-forth, my wife catches up with me, and I ask her to pay for my rescue.


Surprisingly, this is not the only time I’m unintentionally on a camel this trip. About a week later, we’re on a boat taking us to a Nubian village for the night. When we come ashore, I’m the first off, only to discover that this stop is solely for those who wanted to ride a camel into the village—nearly everyone else is still on the boat, including my confused wife.

I’m already off the ship, so I might as well go by camel the rest of the way. All goes smoothly until I notice that the rest of my group is going up a hill, whereas I’m going down a different path. Turns out it’s a shortcut to the finish point, and my camel handler wants to ask for more money than he’s already been paid before the others arrive.


When we return to Luxor, tensions are high as a Coptic Christian church was attacked only a few days before in Alexandria. A few weeks later, the January 25 Revolution begins, and we witness sites we’d just been to being vandalized or destroyed. Unfortunately, this will not be the first or last time such an occurrence has happened after our travels.

This travel tale is included in my collection, Can’t Get Here from There: Fifty Tales of Travel. Buy it on Amazon.

Back to Travel Tales | Africa