clean up

In the interest of keeping everyone well-informed about Egypt (and not just my personal experiences in the haven that is Zamalek), I figured I would post an occasional news story. Enjoy!

It's a well-known fact to ex-pats here that Egyptians can be a bit...aggressive when it comes to tourism. In my last post I wrote about a commercial for Egyptians to see how not to treat tourists; all of those scenarios are perfectly plausible. It's particularly bad at the pyramids, where the city of Giza goes almost right up to the pyramid plateau and hustlers follow tourists around trying to sell souvenir postcards and camel rides. They are remarkably persistent, and it can become kind of frustrating trying to fend them off.

So I was really pleased to find this article in the New York Times about Egypt's efforts to clean up the area by clearing out the peddlers -- I hope it works. I am sure I will be back to the pyramids, so I will let you know.