Egypt - Queen Hatshepsut’s Temple
For those interested, shortly before taking this picture the two men shown chased us, followed us, told us they had something to show us that “no one” gets to see and would not leave us alone until we looked (some sort of statue of Hatshepsut behind a bar), held out their hands for baksheesh (tips/alms), and got angry with us when we only gave them one E.P. each.
To be fair, baksheesh is sort of a way of life there, not just for tourists but for Egyptians as well - many people will wait outside of highly touristed areas to charge “entrance” fees, follow you and give you information you didn’t even want to hear, direct you into a parking space you were already parking in, show you something “special” no one gets to see, walk with you uninvited to some destination you’re looking for, and expect payment in return. And you’re in the wrong if you don’t give it to them. Even when you do, expect some indignation if it’s not *enough* in their eyes, especially from a white tourist like us.
It became almost funny in a way. I remember one time we were walking around Coptic Cairo and turned up an alleyway on accident. A woman was coming out of her house at just that moment, eyes lighting up as soon as she saw us, said in very broken English “this Coptic Cairo… Catholics” and then held out her hand for payment. We were obliged to comply.
Given the poor wages most Egyptians face, though, not to mention the fact that tourism is essentially the life blood of this country, this way of life makes sense. It got frustrating at times having someone walk up to you, tell you something unannounced, and force you to pay them for it. We were essentially obligated to walk around everyday with 1 pound pieces in our pocket just for baksheesh purposes, and freaked out if we ran low. But in the grand scheme of things being a tourist in most cases means you’re expected to over-pay to some degree (how much you over-pay depends on how good your bargaining skills are), but it’s just part of the process. And it was a facet of Egyptian life we simply couldn’t ignore.
