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To ensure that tourists contemplate the grandeur of the Giza Pyramids without having to dodge hawkers and trinket peddlers, Egypt is spending $14 million to revamp the World Heritage site.

As part of the project, the Cultural Ministry has built a fence of barbed-wire and concrete around the more than 4,000-year-old wonders. Security also includes infrared sensors and nearly 200 cameras.

"It was a zoo," Zahi Hawass, Egypt's chief archaeologist, said recently in describing swarms of peddlers who pursued tourists through dust and heat, according to the Associated Press. "Now we are protecting both the tourists and the ancient monuments."

The government is also adding more entrances to spare visitors long waits in line, said Rehab Nahhas, an inspector at the site. Each entrance will be equipped with surveillance technology. Chariots and camel riders have been relegated to a separate gate.

Nevertheless, some peddlers slip through security. On one recent visit, they followed visitors almost everywhere around the pyramids, offering camel rides.

For some tourists, the onslaught of clanging baubles, Nefertiti busts and papyrus scrolls, along with chants of "mister, mister," only adds to the ambience.

"It is the normal by North African standards," said James Hall, a British tourist taking pictures from a nearby hill. "One or two people asking you to buy something or sit on their camels. . . . It is part of the experience. It gives some character, but you don't want too many [hawkers]."

According to local media, the renovation project is expected to be completed in two years. Roads leading to the site are expected to be paved, and shanty neighborhoods surrounding the area will be razed.

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