Egyptian Traders aka Touts

In Egypt, touts are called "traders" even though the trade is your money for their product or "service." Normally, traders are the "in your face" obnoxious men who thrust postcards, scarves, hats, sunglasses, bookmarks (anything you really don't want) in your face as you attempt to walk briskly toward a temple or other attraction that you really intend to spend money for. It is hard to keep in mind that this selling is their only livelihood and there are far fewer tourists to go around since the revolution.
Since the revolution of 2011 the traders have become even bolder, crowding the entrances of historical sites and creating a gauntlet between the tourist busses and the entrances. They approach everyone and do not take "no" for an answer. "No" is yes and no reply at all is "maybe" and "maybe later" becomes "yes" on the return to the bus ("you promised ..."). They are excellent in singling out the weaker members of the tourist herd (small delicate-looking ladies are a favorite target) and attacking them, draping scarves over their target's shoulders with the apparent philosophy of "you touch it you buy it." Beebee refuses to be a delicate-looking lady and ignores their overtures of "oh you look like a doctor with your glasses" (a common ploy in Cairo).
The day after Pati and Beebee (and the group) visited Karnak temple in Luxor, the guide told them that the traders had gone on strike at Karnak and closed the temple. This seemed incredible. What did it mean to go on strike? To refuse to hastle tourists? That didn't make sense. The only understandable scenario was that the traders blocked the tourists from entering, but that seemed extreme and where were the police in that case? There was no good explanation.
After weeks of trying to ignore traders, Pati and Beebee experienced a new kind of tout on the Nile cruise. These traders were primarily fishermen but also sold merchandise (or more likely the other way around). Traders would bring their boats alongside the Domina Prestige Nile cruise ship and offer their wares to anyone that was visible on the top deck or in windows. These traders were selling shirts. Each shirt was inside a plastic bag that the trader would heave onto the top deck (about 40 feet above water level) toward any passenger that seemed interested. The potential customer was expected to try on the shirt. If the shirt didn't fit (or wasn't wanted in the first place), the passenger would toss the shirt back down to the boat. (Yes, some shirts fell in the water.) If the shirt was wanted, the customer tossed the payment back down in the original plastic bag. (Yes, some money fell into the water.) The traders that accompanied the ship through the locks on the Nile (standing on the locks) also offered table cloths and napkins. It was amusing to watch, because the traders were far below. Then Beebee noticed that, as the water level lowered, the traders were getting much closer to the passengers! But the gates opened, and the traders were quickly left behind.

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Should you visit Cairo?

Egypt's economy depends on tourists and very few are here. Pati and Beebee have seen very few Americans (mostly in the bathroom mirror). Major hotels like the Hilton seem to be closed or nearly closed. Tour boats are sitting idle. People are in financial trouble here.
Our tour guides want us to know that Americans are safe and welcome here. Pati and Beebee think that is true if one is concerned about being attacked or robbed. That seems unlikely. They even use the edge of Tahrir Square, which seems to be constantly blocked by protests, as a way to safely cross the street.
However, there are problems in Cairo. Pati decided to describe them -- not as a rant -- but as a way for readers of this blog to properly set their expectations too should they visit in the future. Pati and Beebee liked Cairo very much but had to overcome culture shock in the process.
The biggest problems in Cairo are the touts, traffic, litter, and unavailability of change and small bills.

• Touts

The touts come up with friendly greetings "Hello, America we are your friend. Mrs. America your glasses make you look like a doctor! Let me show you something in my shop." They use tourists natural desire to be polite against them. Pati and Beebee were warned by their hotel's staff to be aware of touts and they tried to be. However, yesterday, Pati wanted a SIM card for his international phone so he could make calls within Egypt at the local rate. He went into a shop that sold phones and asked if they sold SIM cards. They said no and then someone in the shop said he sold them next door. When Pati and Beebee went in the shop, they found it sold perfume. When Pati objected they said they had a SIM and asked to see Pati's phone. Pati asked how much the card would cost and a chorus answered "Don't worry! Very cheap!" Before he knew what was happening, one of the store workers was disassembling Pati's phone to "See if SIM card fits." Pati - starting to get a little agitated -- again asked how much. The store worker said 85 Egyptian pounds and then quickly revised it to 185 Egyptian pounds (more than $30 USD and at least three times the value of the card). Pati knew he was taken but was willing to pay to get out of the shop before things got worse. The shopkeeper nearly vacuumed every Egyptian pound out of Pati's shirt pocket (where he hid his walking around money) then found a US $20 and took it to "make change." Then a pitch started to sell perfume - "both for men and women" that Pati could take elsewhere in Egypt and "sell for double." Pati was beginning to believe the change was never coming (he had once given his keys to the Chevy dealer in Springfield and been offered test drives while they "try to find them") and was ready to run (the time for walking had long passed). At that instant the change did come (possibly fear of the tourist police) and Pati and Beebee left. The shop worker followed and said "Now that I have helped you, you help me" while making a sign for money. Before Pati could answer, Beebee had him across the street. Otherwise, Beebee feared the shop worker would tickle Pati until he had to pee and then charge him to use the bathroom.
What was the bottom line for the touts? First, Pati lost about $20 that he didn't want to lose but could afford. The touts got about $20 which was a lot to them but the way they got it made Pati avoid all other merchants. Pati and Beebee didn't even glance in the windows of shops they might have liked to have visited and made purchases in. Tourists spending money in Cairo could be good for the tourists and good for Cairo. The touts take a little money but prevent tourists from spending much more. Pati and Beebee became afraid to even speak to anyone on the street because of the touts. That was a shame because Pati and Beebee knew that most Egyptians are nice and helpful people - they just couldn't tell which were nice and which were touts.

• Traffic

There are few - if any - stoplights in Cairo. Drivers ignore lane markings and drive within inches of each other both front to back and side to side. There are no safe pedestrian crossings. The only way to cross the streets is to follow an Egyptian and weave between moving cars. Pati suspects that someday there will be one gigantic chain reaction crash that kills everyone in Cairo - except for the touts.

• Litter

Cairo is dusty and littered. It might be difficult to control the dust because of the sandstorms but the litter makes no sense. When people are done with something - say a food wrapper - they just drop it and move on. Cairo has 22 million people and a large number of them litter. The piles of litter are unsightly and smell. It would be so easy to have a government program to use some of the 4.4 million unemployed in Cairo to clean the litter off the streets. It would be even easier for the residents to become more aware of the effects of the litter and try to minimize their littering. (I don't think Pati's feeling about the litter are cultural bias. Litter breeds pests. Also, the litter hurts tourism which is a major element of Cairo's economy. Pati once heard a fellow tourist - whom Pati felt was a little grubby himself - describe Cairo as "very dirty.")

• Change

For some reason that Pati can not understand, small bills and coins are in very short supply. This is a problem because when one wants to buy something inexpensive, no one can make change. There are lots of inexpensive things in Cairo but they are impossible to buy. For example, Beebee wanted to buy two postcards in the Egyptian Museum but didn't have small enough change to get them. Another, more pressing, example is going to the restroom - every one of them has an attendant wanting a tip (it isn't clear what they do but Pati suspects they do the cleaning). Pati paid $1.50 for a quick pee at the Egyptian Museum because that was the smallest denomination he had.

• Should you visit Cairo?

Cairo has many more wonderful things than problems (e.g., you can look at the mummy of the Pharoh of the Bible). Most Egyptians also seem genuinely nice and visiting Cairo can be inexpensive. But, given Cairo's problems, Pati thinks you should visit but only with a professional guide. Pati and Beebee would not have survived without one. TripAdvisor is a good starting point for finding one. Pati also thinks that people who want to visit Egypt should do it soon. If its problems are addressed (especially the touts), Pati thinks Cairo will be packed with more tourists than Rome.

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