Revolution Anniversary

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I was woken up fairly early to the sound of loudspeakers coming from Tahrir Square. Today was the one year Anniversary of when the Revolution began in Egypt, which ended Mubarak's rule. Nobody was sure what would happen today as the military have remained in power despite elections being held and promises that power would be handed over.

I left the hostel and walked around the streets around Tahrir Square. There was more of a festive atmosphere than anything else, although I did come across one or two marches with people holding pictures of people who had died. Amidst the celebratory atmosphere, it was easy to forget that today was also the anniversary of the deaths of many people's loved ones.

Having spent some time seeing what was going on, I decided to head out to the Giza Pyramids. Unfortunately, I came close but not close enough, as I was victim to my first scam. I got the metro out to Giza where I heard you could take a minibus to the Pyramids. At the metro station this "helpful" individual said he would show me to the correct minibus. I knew straight away that there was going to be some scam involved, even though he insisted he was helping me to please Allah and not for baksheesh. I didn't believe him and thought he was probably going to try and force a camel ride on me or something like that, but I figured he would at least bring me to the actual Pyramids, as I wasn't sure where the entrance was.

It turned out that he did bring me to the Pyramids, but the opposite side of the normal entrance and the only way to get in was to pay one of his mates extortionate prices to go in by camel or horse. I was pretty p***ed off at my "friend", not for trying to sell me a camel ride, but for bringing me to the opposite side of the entrance. In hindsight, it was too late to be getting into the Pyramids even if it was the right entrance. Definitely too late to walk around to the entrance, so I told them both where to go and went back to Tahrir, deciding that I would come back earlier tomorrow.

Back in Tahrir Square, the atmosphere seemed the same and later I went out for dinner and drinks, where everyone was saying that the day had passed without any real incidents of violence or trouble.

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