EGYPT NO MORE PEDDLERS AT THE PYRAMIDS?

Tourists have long been awed by Egypt's famed Giza Pyramids and irritated by having to fend off peddlers relentlessly offering camel rides and trinkets.

But the hustlers were gone last week, as Egypt started an elaborate project to modernize the area and make it friendlier to tourists. Security is also improving, with a 12-mile chain-link fence featuring cameras, alarms and motion detectors.

"It was a zoo," said Zahi Hawass, Egypt's chief archaeologist, recalling the past free-for-all. "Now, we are protecting both the tourists and the ancient monuments."

Tourists undergo a constant barrage from peddlers selling souvenir statues, T-shirts and other trinkets. Visitors are sometimes followed by men on camels selling rides or photos -- and rarely taking no for an answer.

Young men even try to force their way into taxi cabs carrying foreigners toward the pyramids, looking to steer them to nearby horse stables.

The new technology aims to curb shenanigans by both tourists and peddlers.

The long chain-link fence around the Giza plateau reaches a height of 13 feet at some points, and it is dotted with infrared sensors 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. The footage goes back to the control room, where guards monitor a bank of 24 screens around the clock.