November 2 - police convoy

It's been quite the day so far.  At 12:30 am our hotel room telephone rang, startling us out of our sleep.  Then at 1:30 am we hear the unbearable blasting of arabic tv from a neighbouring hotel room.  The sound kept getting louder, unbelievable.  We called the front desk to complain.  Eventually it got a bit quieter, but still much too loud.  So I went out into the hallway and find 3 arab men with the hotel room door open and their tv blaring.  I pointed at my ear and said "the noise".  then they turned it quieter.  Honestly I don't think it was their hotel room, there were no bags and it sounded like they left the room a few minutes later.
Our wake up call came at 2:40 am.  At 3 am we left to meet a convoy of tourist buses and vans at a check stop.  We all require a police escort to drive the 3 hours to Abu Simbel.  There is no danger.  Back in 1997, some jordanian tourists attacked the temple.  Then the convoy began.  It continues because it's a money grab, plain and simple.  Thousands of tourists go there each day and we each pay 16 US dollars to the police for the escort.
The Police determine our driving speed.  If they go 70 km per hour, so must we.  when they feel like going 120 km per hour, so must we.  right now I'm sitting in the van in the convoy.  sleep is not an option.  these are not north american roads.  it is bumpy and windy and hilly.  I imagine the police are having a good laugh at us right now being jostled around in our seats at 4am.  Welcome to Egypt.  From my observations, Egyptians do not work hard.  There are 5 people doing the job of 1 person.  And everyone requires a tip.  Every person that helps you or gives you information or holds open a door , etc.  they say tipping is necessary because their wages are so low.  i know this is true.  However, at 4am I am feeling hard-hearted and I'm tired of their sob story.  I'm tired of being manipulated.  When we go to a restaurant or store and pay, they don't give change.  It's hard to make sure you always have small bills to pay for small purchases.  but this is so that they can get more tips.  At a resturant we pay 10% tax, 10% tip, 15% service fee and then we are expected to tip on top of this.  And no change is given if you only have larger bills.
Our hotel in Aswan has a metal detector and guard sitting at the door.  we quickly determined this was not for the tourists, but for our protection from others who may try to enter the hotel with weapons.