Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Trip Report Just returned from Egypt / trip report

Just returned from Egypt. I wanted to thank Fodorites for their guidance on this trip so I wanted to return the favor with our experiences. Some background on us – we tend to go the independent route but we bought tours for this trip. This is my first trip report so please be easy.

Our schedule was:
Cairo, 2 days
Luxor, 2 days,
return to Cairo for 1 night

I’m breaking this trip report into sections.

Cairo International Airport / Transfer

We got our visas at the Egyptian Consulate in Chicago. I know we could get them on arrival but since we have the consulate here, why not. It cost $15US to get one. It was a madhouse to get through customs as several other flights landed at the same time and there were people bringing back goods such as tvs, microwaves in addition to their luggage on their baggage carts. Despite this, passengers were congenial and being polite at 11.30pm. Did exchange some money at the exchange counter but forgot to request smaller bills.

We met the transfer driver and immediately, the traffic in Cairo reminded us of Bangkok. The heat, the 2 lanes of highway jammed with four rows of cars, buses and taxis, all honking and dodging each other to get that last inch of space ahead of everyone else. As we head closer to the city, traffic was compounded by all the people out and about (at this late hour?), crossing lanes, buses spitting out more people. This energy is contagious – we loved it! Our driver said Welcome to Cairo and started laughing. We talked the rest of the way until we got to the Hotel Longchamps in the Zamalek section.

Later on, we would learn of the Airport Shuttle van that can take you to any hotel. Cost was 66LE and we took that instead of a taxi to the Nile Hilton.

Hotels
We stayed at Hotel Longchamps for 3 nights and the Nile Hilton on the way back from Luxor. At Luxor, we stayed at the Sheraton. Each hotel was a positive experience for us. We stayed at the Nile Hilton because Longchamps was booked when we returned to Cairo.

The staff at Hotel Longchamps couldn’t be any more friendlier and hospitable. They answered every question we had, gave us good tips on taxi costs and where to get money exchanged. One morning, I saw the owner greeting each guest by name and letting them know that the time moved back an hour. Everyone was always smiling. The location is in a quiet street with the Alfa grocery store about a 15 minute walk. We used this to get some local snacks and water. There is also a Hardees fast food outlet right down the street in case you have that craving.

The Nile Hilton is in the downtown area overlooking the river. They have a rooftop bar which gave us great views of the city at night. The staff were also friendly and customer service oriented. The reception manager even stopped what she was doing to help me with some questions and we were not staying there yet. We liked the shops and the restaurants in the hotel and outside in the mall as well. There was a bank and several ATM machines adjacent to the lobby and I made sure that we got small bills for taxis and “tips.”

Sheraton Luxor was nice enough. We had a Nile view room on one of the top floors and was great to see the sunsets and also the Balloonists each morning from the balcony. It too had a mini-mall outside the hotel, two pools and some good restaurants.

Tours
We went on some tours arranged by the hotel. Our first day, we toured the open air museum at Memphis, Sakkara and Giza. It was a private tour with guide and driver and was relatively inexpensive. But it did not include entrance/parking fees to all three sites and did not include lunch. Even with tips to the driver and guide, cost was reasonable. Our guide was good. He warned us of the scams that visitors face while at the pyramids and gave us the freedom to explore as much as we wanted. We asked him a lot of questions not only of the sites but also of everyday life in Egypt. He was amused about our questions regarding popular culture. It was also nice to have an air-conditioned car waiting after every site visit.

For Luxor, a travel agency booked everything for us. They booked 2 tix CAI-LXR-CAI on EgyptAir, the Sheraton and 2 private half day tours to the Karnak/Luxor temples and the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut’s Temple and the Valley of the Queens the next day. Looking back, we could have done all this ourselves but it was still good to have the guide, driver and the air conditioned car. They wanted to take us to a papyrus factory tour but we said no and they were ok with that. We did go to an alabaster factory the next day and we ended up buying some nice souvenirs but we had to haggle hard.

Tips
We read a book entitled Culture Shock Egypt and read the forums regarding tips and it is quite the experience. Some in the tourist trade are not shy about asking for “tips.” From the airport guy who moved our luggage two feet to the scanner to the bathroom attendants to the people at the sites who wanted you to take their picture, it was certainly experiences to remember. That’s why I kept all my 1 LE notes and 50 and 25 piastre notes in one pocket. The other pocket had the 5/10/20 LE notes for taxis and my wallet was in another pocket (I wore bulky cargo pants).

In Luxor, we repeatedly had locals at the monuments asking us where we were from and then wanting us to either take their picture or go along with them to a secret photo spot and they are persistent. They will not take no for an answer. Our guide had warned us about this and said that if faced with the situation, to just walk away.

At the Luxor airport, once we got out of the car, a group of young men descended upon the car to assist with luggage but our transfer guide eased that as well.

Vendors/Shopping
The Luxor vendors outside the sites were some of the most aggressive I’ve ever seen, especially at the Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut’s temple. Don’t walk around Luxor, otherwise, you will be hassled constantly. We ended up taking taxi’s around even though I like to walk.

In Cairo, we visited the CityStars Mall in Nasr City and bought our souvenirs there instead. They have a more upscale Khan Al Khalili section and the items were high quality. Whenever we visit a new city, we like to visit their malls as my wife likes to shop and sometimes gets better deals on some items than in downtown Chicago. One of the food court was right out of a US mall – Burger King, Panda’s Chinese Restaurant – that’s all I can remember. My wife also was on a mission to get a cartouche and found a store at the Nile Hilton to make one for her.

Other
This was a sampler trip for us. We didn’t do much else in Cairo except to visit the Egyptian Museum and went on a dinner cruise on the Nile. Next time, we will visit more of the city like Islamic Cairo, the real Khan, the Citadel, etc. Luxor is a different story because of all the touts. We did go to the Luxor Museum, underrated and uncrowded. We did meet some great locals and had great conversations with other travelers.

Moments we’ll remember
Strolling the walkway by the Nile River and seeing the boats all lit up, all these young Cairenes hanging out at the bridges and Cairo at night is beautiful; all the tables around us at one restaurant smoking shisha; the contrast in dress at CityStars; people who were genuine and wanted to help us, not asking for tips; a Middle Eastern Tour Guide who we heard speaking in Chinese (Mandarin) to a group of Chinese headed for Aswan but most of all the awe and wonder of the pharaonic history and the monuments, temples and treasures that speak of this great ancient civilization.

One person told us that once you drink from the Nile River, it means, you will return to Cairo. Figuratively, we did drink in the Nile. Cairo is both magical and maddening all wrapped up in one. We will definitely return.

I have also just returned from a trip to Egypt and wanted to share some of my insights about the trip.

Egypt Air – We flew the Egypt Air flight that is nonstop from JFK to Cairo. It departs daily at around 6:30. It is at terminal 4 at JFK and they want you to arrive 3 hours early for some reason. They called me at home a couple of days before the flight to reconfirm. If you don’t hear from them, you better call them yourself. The plane was full and nice. They showed 3 movies on small ceiling mounted monitors. Food was as bad as any other airline. They gave you a little goodie bag with socks, headset, eye mask and mini toothbrush. They left on time and arrived on time. All in-country flights also on Egypt Air. They use nice modern planes on all of our flights, and serve some tasty guava or mango juice. You arrive Cairo around noon the next day after an 11 hour flight.

Arrival – When you first arrive off the plane, you will come to a large room without many helpful signs. Most people get in line to go through passport control – a mistake unless you are with a group and someone has already taken care of getting the visas. When you arrive, have one of your party get in line while someone else goes and gets your visas. Before you can go through the passport control gate you first need to get a visa and affix it to your passport, and you don’t want to have to wait in line twice. First, go to the Bank window at the far side of the room and pay them $15US per visa. They don’t check anything there, they just sell visas. Go back into line and attach visa to passport page sideways (the back peals off to affix).

Bathrooms – From the moment you enter Egypt, expect to pay someone to use the bathroom. Almost all of the bathrooms we saw in Egypt were regular western style bathrooms with toilet seats. There is NEVER any toilet paper in the stalls, and someone is usually at the door handing you some toilet paper for money. I usually gave them 1EP (Egyptian pound) – about 20 cents. The bathrooms are never very clean and I brought my own hand sanitizer.

Mummy Tummy – Sooner or later, no matter how careful you are, you are bound to get Mummy Tummy. What you should do when you arrive in Egypt is go to a local Pharmacy and buy a drug called Antinal (nifuroxazide) - in a yellow and blue box. You don’t need a prescription for anything in Egypt, and it is dirt cheap, around $2.50US for a box of 12 capsules. Everyone swears by this stuff, and it beats the local bug. Buy it before you need it, and it is handy to have around for other trips. Otherwise, drink only bottled water and wash your hands a lot.

Weather – I went in November, which had beautiful weather. It was about the same as Florida, without any rain or humidity – 70 to 85 degrees during the day and 55 to 70 degrees at night. It is MUCH hotter in the summer.

What to Bring (note – this is a very specific list & I have included product links)

Cloths - Here is a list of suggested things to wear and bring with you to Egypt. I am very fair skinned, and so my list is geared towards maximum sun protection. First, travel light and comfortable. You don’t need many fancy cloths because you will mostly be outside, climbing around in the sand and dust. For a 2 week trip, I brought along 4 pairs of cotton Capri pants and 4 silk/cotton tops I also brought a print skirt, a pair of black dress pants, a white mesh pullover sweater and light silk jacket. Along with sleepwear, underwear and socks, and a swimsuit, I had all I needed. My husband brought along similar things, 4 pair khaki pants (no one wears shorts in Egypt except tourists and Germans who wear them with black socks), a couple of polo’s and a couple of long sleeve safari type shirts. We did see some of the more experienced travelers wear a khaki colored vest that had lots of pockets everywhere – I want to get one of those for my husband for a future trip. He also brought a linen sport coat and a dress shirt, a cotton vest and the usual underwear, socks and swimsuit. We both purchased a t-shirt over there to wear as a swim suit cover-up. The only thing he wished he had was a pull over cotton sweater, because it got cold some nights and mornings.

Shoes – I brought a comfortable pair of black semi-dress sandals for the plane, a comfortable pair of Ecco sandal/shoes http://www.eccousa.com/shoes/perform...46/detail.aspx for climbing around the sites and a pair of flip flops for the pool. My husband brought 2 pair of walking shoes and wished he would have packed flip flops for the pool. One thing I would suggest is to bring socks to wear when seeing sites because everything is sandy/dusty/pebbly and without socks your feet would get filthy. Also, I saw people with just sandals on having to stop and dump out stuff. Also, wear something flat and with good straps, because terrain is uneven, rough and lots of stairs to climb. You don’t want to twist your ankle or fall because there are no elevators, escalators or handicap access to any sites.

Sun Gear – You do want to bring a hat! There are two kinds of hats you can bring, a straw hat or a cloth hat like http://www.e4hats.com/_e/gdept/41/sun_block_hat.htm (I brought a straw one with chin strap and it was cool and comfortable.) Do not bring a baseball hat that will not give you enough protection. Whatever hat you bring, it should have a string under your chin, so you can take it off when you are inside of tombs and you won’t have to carry it. The same for sunglasses have some kind of strap or ring you can hook them through so you can easily take them off. Remember, you will be going from the blazing bright sunlight into low, dark tombs. You will be climbing down dark, narrow, steep stairways and will need to watch your head. You don’t want to have to carry your hat or have your glasses fall off the top of your head. Also take along enough sunscreen (at least 45 SPF) and I also brought along a sun umbrella, which I used mostly in Luxor west bank areas. http://www.amazon.com/Sunblocking-15...088&sr=8-1 I didn’t use it a lot, but when I did it was very helpful. If you go in the summer, make sure you take one along.

Other Stuff – I brought a very small drawstring duffel backpack which was handy for water bottles, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, camera, tissue paper, etc. I also brought a small hand fan, to cool myself inside the tombs (which were hot and did not have good ventilation). http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/1669-AA.shtml the locals were selling dirty pieces of cardboard to tourists. Also make sure you bring enough camera memory (twice what you think you need because Egypt is an unbelievable place to take photos) and extra batteries if they are not the standard AA type. Also, bring anything else you may need, because none of the tourist areas sell anything useful. I wish I would have brought a small notebook to jot down notes and an extra collapsible suitcase to bring home souvenirs. I thought I could find these things over there, but the shopping is very spotty and mostly useless tourist stuff. Also bring enough books to read, as English books are expensive and rare over there.

Guidebooks – I had several which we took. Everyone seems to have Lonely Planet Guide which is good. I also liked The Traveler’s Key to Ancient Egypt by John West, which was a great way to read up on all of the ancient sites before or after we saw them. After reading them, I felt I knew as much as the guides. Travelers Egypt by Thomas Cook Publishing was also helpful in knowing what to see in every location. By far the best information was available from an on-line article from Conte Nast about traveling to Egypt without a tour group. I pretty much followed their suggestions and they were right about everything. http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/...rticleId=10765

Tour Groups – After reading the Conte Nast article, I decided to arrange my own trip without a tour group. My husband has an aversion to groups, where he feels the slowest person controls the trip for everyone else. We also like to travel first class on a budget, and he wanted to make sure we were in nice places and got good deals. I decided to make all of the travel plans and reservations myself. It was easy to do on the internet, as I knew when I wanted to go, where I wanted to stay, what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it. I figure I saved several thousand dollars by making the arrangements myself directly. I arranged airport pickup and private tours in advance, through recommendations I found on the internet. As for tour groups, most American travelers I saw were with a group. We talked with some of them when we had a chance, and they almost all enjoyed their group experience. They all said they met wonderful people in their groups. Some groups were very small and quite manageable. I think it is quite a bit cheaper to go with a group, and after my experience in Egypt, I am not so negative on groups anymore, especially if they are small.

Money – We had an unbelievably hard time getting cash out of the machines in Egypt, even though we informed our bank and credit card company about our travel plans prior to departure. It seems they only fill the cash machines once a day (at 6:00 am), and when the money is gone, it is gone for the day. At hotels and tourist locations, it runs out fast. Plus our card did not seem to work with their system over there. We often had to try 5 or 6 machines, and several cards, before we got any cash out. We felt like we were playing the slot machines rather than ATM’s. Bring a variety of cards, and know your PIN numbers. There is a large variation on bank charges for foreign transactions, so check out which of your cards have the best rate. Also, bring some American cash as a back up, or use it for everything. Everyone was happy to take US dollars instead of local currency. I would bring a stack of $1 bills to use for tips and $100 bills to pay guides. It is almost impossible to get change and small bills over there – nobody will give them out, and that includes hotels and shops (with the exception of the Four Seasons First Residence, which excelled in every service). Update: When I returned home, I found that our bank cards had redflagged our account for fraud alert. They apparently did not get the message when I called them about our trip abroad. Remember to call all of your credit card companies and bank cards and let them know you will be in Egypt.

Cairo Hotels – You will most certainly be staying in Cairo when you arrive, so I wanted to discuss the Cairo Hotels. As I have already mentioned, I made all of my own reservations on the internet. Being very careful, I double checked them all a week prior to departure. For my first couple of nights, I had a reservation at the Mena House, near the pyramids. When I emailed the hotel to confirm, I was surprised to get a response from the manager saying they had my reservation down for 2008, not 2007! He also said he had no rooms left for my dates. I had to scramble to get new reservations somewhere, and I made them at Grand Hyatt Cairo (for a high price because of the late date). It is interesting to note that while on my trip, I spoke with 2 other people who also had their reservation screwed up by Mena House. In fact, I met no one who actually stayed there. While out at the pyramids, I saw the place and was happy that I was at the Grand Hyatt instead. The Grand Hyatt was on a little island on the Nile, right across from the Four Seasons Nile Plaza. We were given a corner room and had a dramatic 2 way view of the Nile and a nice quiet room. My local tour guide recommended the Marriott as a great place to stay. On the second part of our trip, we stayed at the Four Seasons First Residence. I must say that the Four Seasons First Residence (on the Giza side of the Nile) was the nicest hotel we have ever stayed at. Everything was perfect, beautiful and efficient. I got a great B&B price on the internet that matched that of the Hyatt, and it was a much nicer place! I worried a lot about location of hotel, but found that it did not really matter. You have to drive everywhere anyways, and one place is the same as the next. All the major hotels are on a narrow strip on either side of the Nile, and it is not that big a deal. The Hilton, which is right by the Cairo museum, is really not any more convenient to the museum because of the bad traffic and difficulty in walking across a busy street. I spoke with someone who stayed there and they said it took them a half an hour to walk to the museum from the Hilton, which is the time it took us to drive. I recommend looking for the best deals and getting one that includes breakfast in the price. If you can afford it, stay at the Four Seasons First Residence (nicer than Four Seasons Nile Plaza in my opinion). Update: When I got home, I found a $300 charge made to my credit card by Mena House! They are totally screwed up with their reservation system and I would be very careful dealing with them.

Taxis – Under no circumstances take a taxi in Cairo. They are tiny black and white boxy cars that look like they are from Russia, with roof racks for luggage. They don’t use the meters and try to overcharge you if they can. My husband (at 6’3”) and I could barely fit sideways in the back seat. Most uncomfortable ride ever. We were sick after a short ride from carbon monoxide fumes in back seat, plus smoking driver. He drove like a maniac and I thought we were going to die. Hire your own driver, do not take a taxi.

Cairo Guide – I hired Debbie Senters, an American living in Cairo who runs a small guide agency called Casual Cairo Detours http://casualcairodetours.pyramids.net:80/ I found out about her on this internet forum. She has several sample itineraries set up on her site, which either she guides, her friend Collin guides or an Egyptologist (we had Mustafa who was wonderful). She has several good drivers also working with her. We went out 2 days with her and 2 days with Mustafa. She also helped me set up a guide in Luxor. She charges reasonable rates and is very knowledgeable and dependable. She arranged 4 airport transfers for me at half the price charged by the hotel. She was also fun to be with, as was Mustafa, and very flexible on what we could do. She was able to arrange everything from a felucca sail at sunset on our first day there to a visit to the City of the Dead. Her email is [email protected] and she made the trip run flawlessly on her end.

Abu Simbel - Everyone should try to get to Abu Simbel because it is spectacular. The best way to get there is to fly because it is literally in the middle of nowhere. From Cairo, you fly to Aswan and on to Abu Simbel. The flight is early morning and requires leaving hotel at 3:30am to make flight. Smart people have the hotel pack them a boxed breakfast, which we did not and regretted. You check your luggage in Cairo, and they keep it in Aswan for you until you get back from Abu Simbel, so take everything you need with you on the plane. Once you get to Abu Simbel airport, go out front door and walk a little to the right. There is a free bus that takes you to the site provided by Egypt Air. Taxi drivers will try to entice you to go with them, but why bother if the bus is free? They will tell you when you have to take the return bus. Everyone comes and goes at the same time, as there are few options and nothing else to do in Abu Simbel. You get into Abu Simbel at about 8:00 am and depart at around 10:30 am. Our trip went smoothly, but we spoke with several people who went the day after we did and had a disastrous time because of a broken plane that never came to pick them up. They were stranded there for hours and lost the whole day trying to get back to Aswan. Airport is small, with just Egypt Air and only other way out is by bus caravan that leaves at 8:00 pm. No one at the airport is helpful or knows anything, so just pray you are there on a good day.

Aswan – We stayed a couple of days in Aswan prior to our cruise, and it was some of the most enjoyable time on our trip. We stayed at the Old Cataract Hotel, which was a gem of a place – right out of an Agatha Christie novel (which in fact had her as a guest when she wrote Death on the Nile on the veranda). Rooms need to be updated, 1902 restaurant beautiful with awful food – but then you don’t go there for the food do you? We walked down the stairs to the Nile and hired a boat to take us to St. Simeon’s monastery (which is only reached by camel ride) and a felucca to sail around Elephantine Island. Most of the time we sat on the veranda and watched the boats on the river and the beautiful sunset. Hotel scheduled to be closed for 3 years starting in March for restoration. Nubian Museum is walking distance and a wonderful museum. We went to Philae island on our cruise, and that was wonderful. High Dam was boring to see and unfinished obelisk a complete waste of time.

Nile Cruise - We cruised from Aswan to Luxor (3 nights) – going other way is 4 nights and you see the same things exactly. We had expected to spend lots of time cruising on river, but actually only spent one day on river. First night docked in Aswan and sets sail around 5:00 next morning. Sail to Kom Ombo and then Edfu, both very interesting. Towards evening, arrive at lock and dam – which is a huge bottleneck as boats line up for it and it can take 6 – 14 hours to get your turn to go through. We arrived at Luxor for last 2 nights at dock. All of the cruise boats (and there are over 400 Nile cruise boats operating) do things about the same. Boats are classed by stars, with 5 star deluxe at the top. They all tie up to one another, and you walk through a number of boats to get to your own – a system that seems to work very well. The boat we selected was the Sonesta Star Goddess, a 5 star deluxe all-suite boat that is almost brand new and is the only one I saw that had individual balconies. The boat was very nice indeed; our cabin (a Beethoven Suite, like most of the boat) was large, modern, beautiful and comfortable. Getting a reservation was a bother, I had to call Sonesta to make my reservation, and then mail a check to them for the entire amount to guarantee the reservation. They would not take a credit card. I requested a upper deck forward cabin, and they said I would have to pay $40 per day extra to get this, which I did. Unfortunately, when I got to the boat, I found they gave me an upper deck rear cabin, and would not move me. When you make a reservation, request a forward cabin because of the engine fumes and rumble. I would also request a starboard cabin, because we were on the port side and always tied up to another boat and had no view. As for the food, the breakfast buffet was good, the lunch spectacular with a buffet of local food or on deck barbeque and the dinner was awful every night. They should stick to what they know instead of trying to cook bad Italian or French food. We went on the boat tours to the sites and found the guides very good and the other passengers delightful. They only made us go to one alabaster factory, and everyone on the bus groaned. Update: All of the alabaster I purchased at the factory broke on the way home. If you buy any over there, handle it with extreme care because it is more fragile than glass. All in all, we enjoyed our Nile cruise, liked the Star Goddess and would recommend it. On the negative side, the food in the evening was bad, the reservation system archaic and inefficient, the balconies pointless, as we were tied up to another boat 90% of the time, and finally the location of the Luxor docking was way, way out of town, away from everything, stuck in the middle of nowhere next to the west bank bridge. You were literally stuck on the boat because could not walk anywhere and no taxis out there. Many of the other boats had good docking locations right in town on the main drag. As this ship is so new, they probably have the worst location because all of the good ones are gone. It seems most of the top boats are similar, so I would look for a 5 star or 5 star deluxe boat and then try to get the best price. I paid top dollar for a balcony suite, and in the end it did not matter one way or the other.

Luxor – We had a day in Luxor with cruise tour, where we saw the major sites and then had our private guide pick us up at the boat the next morning. We stayed at the Al Moudira Hotel, which is on the west bank at the edge of the desert. It was a spectacular place, like a Moorish oasis away from the hustle and bustle of Luxor. Our room was out of Arabian Nights, with soaring ceilings, domes, painted arches and delightful glass inserts placed here and there. The pool was beautiful, with comfortable lounge chairs, fountains and a patio restaurant. On the negative side, there was not much to do there because you were literally a half an hour from town and the food was mediocre at the restaurant, but it was the only option unless you wanted a long drive. We decided to go to the temple of Dendera, which required us to take the convoy, which was one of the most interesting parts of our adventure. Luxor is an amazing place and it definitely deserves several days of your trip. While in Luxor, our hotel arranged a driver for us, and he was one of the best we had in Egypt. His name is Ramadan and his mobile number is 002/0105706842. He had a beautiful car and was one of the most pleasant drivers we had, plus he looked a bit like Denzel Washington. I wish we had hired him for our whole stay in Luxor.

Security - First I want to say that I always felt secure in Egypt. True, there are armed soldiers and guards everywhere, but they are there to keep the tourists safe. Tourism is the major source of income for Egypt, and they want to protect the industry. If you have to travel in any outlaying areas outside of major towns, you are required to go in the convoy. We traveled from Luxor to Qena (about 30 miles north of Luxor) in a convoy to see the beautiful temple of Dendera. We assembled with our driver and guide in Luxor at about 8:00am, and the undercarriage of our car was checked with mirrors. At about 8:30 the convoy rolled out, with armed army escort at the front and rear. The convoy drove fast, and every single road on our route was blocked off by an armed guard, with local traffic waiting for us to all pass. There were about 75 vehicles in our convoy – cars, vans and buses. We branched off at Qena, but the convoy went on to the Sinai and Abydos Temple. It was much like the VIP motorcade you see on TV, with everyone waiting while motorcade passes by. The thing was very well organized and took lots of precision because I am sure we passed over 50 roads on our way to Qena.

Tipping and Vendors - Everyone expects to be paid for anything they do, services that you take for granted at home. Have plenty of small bills on you to distribute. Vendors at the tourist sites are very aggressive and persistent. They do not seem to understand that you do not want that bobbing camel head at any price. If you do show an interest in something, they will state an outrageous price for it. Offer them a quarter of their price and bargain up to a third. I found that they will chaise you when you walk the obligatory gauntlet at the entrance of each tourist site. I found the best way to deal with them is to take my husbands arm, pull my hat down way over my eyes (so no one can make eye contact) and just keep walking. They will try to engage you in conversation, and NEVER tell them your name when they ask. If you do you will regret it, because you will hear it chanted all the way down the market by every merchant.

Food – We found the Egyptian food selection disappointing. They are known for something called fool which tasted and looked like a bland, dark, refried beans. A good bet is falafel which is a tasty dish of a deep fried patty of fava beans with a bright green color inside. They eat it in a pita with tahini (sesame paste). Also good is the humus (chick pea dip) and babaganouh (eggplant dip), also served with pita. Restaurants will often have something called mezze as an appetizer, which means they will give you several small dishes of the above mentioned food. Grilled meat is also good on kebabs. There seems to be an Egyptian wine industry, but please note: THERE ARE NOT GOOD EGYPTIAN WINES. Don’t even waste your time trying them…they are awful!!! Imported wines from anywhere else are outrageously expensive (like $20 US per glass!) because of duty and taxes. Stella beer seems to be available all over Egypt. Their mint tea is delicious and you need to tell them no sugar, or they will load it up. We mostly ate at our hotels or where our guides took us, but we did go out one night to Abou El Sid in Cairo, because it was highly recommended in all of our tour books. After the terrifying taxi ride I described in the beginning of this narrative, we were deposited in front of a large wooden door with a sign that reads “Charmerie”. Our concierge had called ahead for reservations, but they were confused and didn’t have them. We sat waiting a while in a place that looked like a small and seedy Rick’s Place (from Casablanca). Most of the patrons were young Europeans and Americans. There did not appear to be a comfortable table in the place, but rather low, haphazardly placed small coffee tables with tattered armchairs scattered about. The waiter was very fast and efficient, and our food and drinks materialized almost immediately, so someone knows what they are doing there. We ordered the recommended specialties of the house, which was a chicken with walnut sauce and stuffed pigeons. The chicken was an upside bowl of rice with paper thin strips of chicken covering the whole surface. All of this floated in a pool of brown gravy, which I guess is the walnut sauce. The pigeon was a very small carcass, the size of a soup can. My husband attempted to eat it to the amusement of all the tables around us. The meat came off in toothpick size pieces, and it was stuffed with about a tablespoon full of very good rice stuffing. I think he would have had to order 10 of them to make a meal of it. The next night we were happy to go back to the Seasons restaurant in the Four Seasons, where we had a wonderful Italian meal with impeccable service.

Petra – We did not go to either of these locations, but spoke with many people that did. Everyone seemed to love Petra, but said it was a difficult place to get to. You need an extra 4 or 5 days to do it right.

Departure - Our driver dropped us off at Terminal 1, after checking with the guard that we were in the right place. After a half hour of fighting the line to get through security, we found out that we were at the wrong terminal. Terminal 2 is a couple of miles away and we had to flag down a van to take us there and pay him 20EP. Make sure you get dropped off at the right place. Terminal 2 is nicer, not as big of security line. Once inside, food court and shopping minimal, except overpriced duty free places. One thing to be careful about is they would not let anyone take a car lock remote with them on plane, so if you have your car keys in your pocket or bag – you better check them. After you check your bags, you need to get your passport and visa stamped (I think it was at gate 36). Need to do this to leave country. Also, have concierge at hotel reconfirm return tickets prior to departure date.

Summary – We found Egypt to be one of the most interesting and fun places we have ever visited. The people were very friendly and seemed to like Americans. They all had the impression that they would not be welcome in America if they came to visit. This was a widely held belief and I find it sad. Most Egyptians went out of their way to explain their beliefs and tell us that Islam is a peaceful religion. Egypt is a dynamic country, with friendly people, exotic ambience and the best historic sightseeing in the world. With the dollar falling worldwide, Egypt is still one of the best bargains around. I always felt safe and the people seemed genuinely happy to have us there. Have a good trip….. Christine