Egypt1

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Burt goes to EGYPT November 2006

If you like vendors and to be mobbed by them this is your spot. If the thought possess you to touch something you will have a friend for life. One rule is if you are paying 10 pounds for a 5 pound item, get your change before handing him the 10 pounds. I violated that rule here and amazingly the guy left and actually came back 2 minutes later with my change.

This is THE major museum in Cairo. It was a 5 minute walk from our hotel and a 30 minute drive. Absolutely no pictures allowed inside. There are items as small as a toaster that are worth millions with no guards. One person did try to steal something by hiding out in the museum overnight and walking out 30 minutes after opening. He was caught because no one could possibly see much of the museum in 30 minutes, so they wondered why he was leaving.

This person bought 20 liters of gas for 26 pounds. About 91 cents a gallon.

Considered to be one of the best belly dancers in Egypt.

I crossed this street and lived. Cars do not use headlights at night, they use parking lights, not a bad idea in a well lit city. Picture by Nicole A Rost

This was our tour group, notice all the water bottles. Remember if local water touches it, you don't such as lettuce, tooth brush, and juice.

This guy was a whirling dervish, he spun so many times I would have long ago gotten sick. The man was amazing and almost as pretty as the belly dancer. Picture by Nicole A Rost

One of the highlights of the tour at a mosque where kids swamped us and were joyous at the prospect of getting their pictures taken with us. I took many pictures of them, they gleefully shook hands and introduced themselves.

As I was going into a metro station an Arab girl came up to me and introduced her self. She was very pretty and her English was broken , we talked a bit and she invited me to join her at her favorite coffee shop, we took the subway and I was fearful I was being setup but what the hell I took the chance. After being crushed at the subway where she pushed me to get me on the subway (she was yelled at by a veiled woman for touching me) we walked through a poor area and entered her coffee shop. I was waiting to be robbed but all we did was talk for an hour and a half. She smoked some weird pipe and said I looked like Tom Cruise ( I do not know what was in the pipe), she took out her Koran, prayed a little talked some more. She is 18, hates Egypt and wants to go to England. She was in traditional Arab clothes. I was told NEVER to touch the woman but she touched frequently. She said Egyptian men like non Egyptian woman because they can touch them. ). She paid for my metro ticket and cocoa. As we parted she asked if I wanted to kiss her, I did, on the cheek. The whole trip was so tourist orientated I finally had a chance to meet a real Arab. She gave me her email

My daughter, Samantha, said to me, " Well, I am proud of you for knowing in the first place that it might be a big trap to get robbed or pay $100 for a cup of coffee or something", but I took a chance and survived. I later told the story to our tour guide and he thought this woman was a "loose woman" and should never talk to a foreigner as she did. However our tour director is conservative and his wife would wear a veal plus he did not talk to the girl. There is something to be said for being there as opposed to relating what was said. There is more to this story that I will not share online.

Click to see Burt's other travels:

My RV trip across the USA

https://k1oik.angelfire.com/rvusa

My trip to Egypt

https://k1oik.angelfire.com/egypt

My trip to Switzerland

http://k1oik.freehostia.com/ch/

My hiking trip to New Hampshire

https://k1oik.angelfire.com/nh

My hiking trip to Vermont

http://k1oik.freehostia.com/vt/

My hiking trip in Arizona