Ego vs. Egypt by Chris Hearn
Ego vs. Egypt
By Chris Hearn
I tend to resist the idea of a guide. I want to feel as if I have discovered a place by myself. My ego needs to feel as though I accomplished it, that I am a worldly gent who can make my way without help. Unfortunately, this view tends to be to my detriment. Let’s take, for example, my travels in Egypt. My wife and I bought an excellent tour package that came complete with our own personal guide. And, of course, I was resistant. I wanted to see things on our own, and we would ask the guide to give us some “wandering around alone time”. But, at the end of the trip, I look back and wish I had hung on to the guy for dear life!
It seems odd to me that given the millions of dollars that must pour in from tourism, Egypt should be so poor, but it is. A few spare dollars can really help a person, and I do want to help if I can. But, there are some absolutely ruthless, aggressive and greedy people aiming to get money out of travelers in dishonest ways and it drives me nuts. Too often, I didn’t feel like a human. I felt like I was seen as a walking bank machine. This, of course, is where the “protection” of a guide who can act as a buffer, knows the language, knows the schemes and tricks and can steer you clear from scammers really helps.
Leaving our hotel was asking to be bombarded. People would be waiting, trying to get me into a taxi, a perfume shop, a papyrus “museum”, their buddy’s restaurant, or some store. And, it didn’t matter what tourist site we went to, there were people trying to get our cash. Someone would try and grab our attention, and do something “nice” like show us a great photo opportunity. Of course, we were expected to pay. There were a few times when I was physically grabbed and put in a spot to take a shot. At one stop these guys wanted me to take their picture. They pushed their way in front of the camera then grabbed my wife to get her in the picture with them. And of course, at the end, they wanted money. And, I felt bad for my wife. Though the men weren’t groping her, we knew that in the culture, the level of touching that went on would be unacceptable between a man and a woman in public. We felt rather violated. If at that time the guide had been with us the whole thing could have been avoided. Lesson learned. Oh, if we had only just stuck with our guide.
Now this may come across as demonizing Egypt and Egyptians. This is not the intent. Egypt is an incredible
place and we did meet great people. The sites are amazing; there is no doubt about that. I mean, we saw the freakin’ PYRAMIDS, the same ones we’ve seen all our lives in pictures, on TV, in movies and National Geographic. We were in front of the Sphinx for crying out loud. We went to the Valley of the Kings. We saw ruins and riches and amazing wonders from one end of the Nile to the other. It is a place that I am glad to have seen. But, it’s best not to shake off your guide to help salvage your ego. Face it, dropping into a country for a week with no previous experience there can be a bit daunting. Doing it yourself is great, and can be rewarding of course, but sometimes it is awfully nice to have someone give a hand.
Chris Hearn: Mild adventurer, casual writer and seemingly perpetual ex-pat from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.
Chris lives in Doha, Qatar. http://blogoftheunknownwriter.blogspot.com/