Yup, that's right, that's me on a camel. Not my idea, I can tell you. Seems that Thanksgiving week I was in Cairo at the Giza Plateau. All I wanted was to have my picture taken NEXT to a camel.  I figured the vendors, who are incredibly aggressive, would take my European cents even though their ubiquitous cries of "One dolla, one dolla" couldn't be met. All I had in my pocket was 80 cents Euro. So I handed over my camera to a cooperative fellow tour participant who had agreed to take my picture if I took hers.

 And the next thing I knew, three of the most obnoxious obtrusive presumptuous vendors at the Great Pyramids had converged on me and lifted me into the saddle and the damned camel started to arise. Startled? I was shocked and scared to death and screaming. Our guide, who had warned us NOT to get on a camel at this stop ( I suppose he had friends at the next pyramid stop he would rather have given our business to) was panicked as I - yelling, "Lean forward, lean forward, grab the post." He'd surely have lost his tour guide status if I'd fallen off the camel, much less been maimed or killed, which I fully expected any moment.

My blood pressure rose as the camel rose - but I finally had enough presence of mind to do what he said. What you see above is the second 30 seconds of the unwelcome camel ride (really more of a camel stand) when I was able to produce a tremulous smile for the camera.

When I wobbled off the camel a minute later, I got a rousing round of applause from my tour mates and a disgusted mumble "They never listen to what I say" from Mohamed, the tour guide.  And an even more digusted, "Peh, only 80 cents" from the camel driver.