\We ended up chatting with a young guy who suggested we might find it cheaper to take buses as he lived within a view of the monuments. He did try to convince us through lots of ways that there was an alternate way into the land where we could avoid paying the standard tourist fees. That wasn't the reason we went with him, but we continued. We discovered that he really wanted us to ride on a camel, horse, or chariot instead. Of course he would have received a little kickback should we have gone. That really isn't our idea of an experience. So, we ended up walking back out and taking a small taxi ride to the real gate. The Sphnix had only one face but people can have several.
Tourism is really down. I feel sorry for the people who are trying to make their money off from tourists. Honestly though, it will do nothing but scare them away. Already lots of tricksters have little scams to separate tourists from a few dollars. Some do so in order to feed their kids but I believe these people will ruin any remaining hope of a revival in tourism and are making things worse.
Yet on to the reason for being there. There are some world sites which people should witness in person and the Pyramids are one of them. I can see how Egyptology could become an obsession. It was a delightful morning actually as we walked around all of the big three monuments and many of the small ones and surrounding structures.
We were so tired after getting back to the hotel, we had a shower and a two-hour nap!