My Egyptian Odyssey Part 5: The Scam
Cairo, Egypt. 16:30 8 Nov 2004
Chris has already seen Islamic Cairo, and did not care to
see it again, so Chris’s roommate Clark and I went out. We visited the Citadel,
which is a fortress sitting atop a hill overlooking all of Cairo.
The views from the top were stunning, as were the Mosque of Mohammed Ali and
the other mosque (insert name here). There was also a fascinating museum for
the Egyptian armed forces from ancient times until the present. It was
interesting that the conflict of 1967, where Israel
defeated Egypt,
was not mentioned, while there was a whole room devoted to the War of 1973 in
which Egypt regained Sinai, only part of their land lost, from The Enemy. Note also, that
they did not mention the name Israel,
as at the time it wasn’t even officially recognized as a state.
After the Citadel, Clark got into a
cab and I was going to walk to the Blue Mosque. This is where our separate
experiences began. Clark’s cab driver stopped about one
block away from the Citadel, where I was walking on the sidewalk, and got into
a physical fight with three other men. Bewildered, Clark jumped out of the cab and quickly hailed a new one, as I walked swiftly past
the incident. About a few blocks further, with Clark safely on his way, I sat down to look in my Lonely Planet guide, to find out
how to get to the Blue Mosque. An Egyptian man approached me and said he wants
to practice his English and he would walk with me to the Blue Mosque if I
critiqued his English. This should have been a giant red flag for me, but it
appeared he was taking me in the right direction so I figured I would trust
“Egyptian hospitality” for the time being. He quickly led me down a series of
windy, narrow streets, out of which I could not navigate on my own, to an old,
dirty, run down mosque. He tried to convince me that this was the Blue Mosque,
because there were four blue tiles on one wall, and that I should pay 40 pounds
to see the mosque and climb up the minaret. Knowing I could not get out on my
own, I begrudgingly paid the 40 pounds, knowing that I had been had. After
paying, the man collecting money at the mosque informed me that I must respect
Egyptian hospitality, and that I should join him in a small room for some tea.
I began to enter the room, but noticed there were no escape routes, and quickly
retreated and said I did not have time for tea, but would like my tour. I
climbed the stairs of the minaret, where I saw three European tourists who
appeared equally displeased at being had. Upon exiting the mosque, I informed my
“friend” that I needed to get back to Zamaleck. He hailed me a cab, requested
some money for his guidance services, and went on his way. I was so frustrated
I just headed back to Chris’s apartment to relax for a bit before going to the
gym. I now believe that Egyptian hospitality is present when they are trying to
sell you something or swindle you in some way. While this is a very safe city,
and I never once through my “hassle” felt that my safety was in danger, there
is something to be said about the annoyances of swindling. (http://hipaeronerd.blogs.friendster.com/photos/cairo_odyssey/pb080069.html)
