Visitors to receive protection at pyramids

ITN

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The ancient monuments are known by tourists as a place where camel riders and trinket vendors hustle visitors relentlessly at every turn.

"For the first time the magic and the mystery of the pyramid will be seen by everyone who will come to Egypt" - Egypt's chief archaeologist Zahi Hawass

But now the hustlers are gone as Egypt unveils new security measures including a high wire fence and a ticket entry system.

The Egyptian minister of culture Farouk Hosny said: "No one will go into the area unless he has a magnetic ticket, otherwise no one will enter.

"This will make a control and will prevent any thefts like before."

Egypt's chief archaeologist Zahi Hawass said: "For the first time the magic and the mystery of the pyramid will be seen by everyone who will come to Egypt."

Mr Hawass said the second stage of the security upgrade is about "changing the roads and changing electricity and also working on the development of sphinx square".

The Telegraph, UK

Hawkers from neighbouring slums have grown notorious for their unscrupulous, and occasionally aggressive methods of pushing cheap trinkets or a horse ride on foreign visitors.

Some tourists have also broken the rules - climbing the uneven sides of the great pyramid of Khufu, the largest of the three, and occasionally suffering a fatal fall.

But with many tombs and other archaeological sites only partially excavated and still open to tourists, the authorities are determined to start protecting the ruins.

The new entrance to the site is a large brick building equipped with metal detectors and X-ray machines.

"We are making it much nicer for the tourists," said Shaban Abdel-Gawad, head of the Egyptology department at Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, with even the toilets of "much better standard."

The changes are part of a £13 million project that began seven years ago to improve the site. A new lighting system, a cafeteria, and a visitors centre and bookshop will also be installed.

Once the project is complete, golf cars will drive tourists around the site, similar to those in use in the Valley of the Kings at Luxor and other ancient sites in Egypt.

International Herald Tribune

The long metal fence encircling the site is peppered with infrared and motion detectors. Tourists enter through a new brick entrance building, with half a dozen gates equipped with metal detectors and X-ray machines. Once inside, their every step is closely watched by 199 closed-circuit cameras covering every corner of the sprawling plateau.

"It looks clean and beautiful," said Michael Schmidt, 43, a real estate agent from New York City, as he visited the site Monday. "They did a good job."

Shaban Abdel-Gawad, head of the Egyptology department at Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the plateau now only has one entrance point, the front gates. "We are making it much nicer for the tourists," he said and pointed to the new bathrooms at the entrance, which he said were of "much better standard."

As Hawass and antiquity authorities showed off the changes Monday, trinket sellers were nowhere to be seen, apparently ordered off the plateau. Three lone camel riders in male Arab headscarf and the traditional galabeyah robes were standing at the edge of the plateau. Instead of chasing customers, they waited for the tourists to come to them for a photo opportunity.

As a reporter walked up, one of them said: "Go away, the police told us not to talk to you."

"I've been working here for 25 years," said a second one, but would not give his name for fear he could lose his permit. "Now I don't know if I will be here tomorrow. I have five children, a wife. What will happen to us?"

It was not clear whether the trinket dealers were pushed out just for the day or whether they would return in a more controlled fashion. Kamal Wahid, the site's general director, said phasing out the hawkers will not be sudden or "unkind."

"Two years from now, you won't see them inside the site," he said. He added that a special area nearby will be designated for horse and camel riding for tourists — with the pyramids serving as a dramatic backdrop for photos.

The changes also increase security.