Ancient sites and sand
Pyramid History While pyramids exist all over the world, the spectular monuments in Egypt capture the imagination and represent the whole of Egyptian history. Pyarmids evolved throughout the course of Egyptian history from small mound-like mastabas that morphs into the stepped pyramid in the third Dynasty adn then to various forms of the true pyarmid […]
Read MoreWhen I told a friend of mine that we were traveling to Egypt, one of the first things he said was , “You’d better get used to being ignored or treated like a second class citizen.” Much has been made of the differences in the way women are treated in Muslim countries
Read MoreBooks Books Books!! My favorite part of trip planning is the unrestrained book-buying! Oh, I’m sure that some people buy one or two guidebooks and think that is enough. This definitely does not describe me! Our trip to Scotland resulted in something like five feet of books — from the travel guides to the history […]
Read MoreSo, what does dressing conservatively mean? I’ve read tons of posts on travel newsgroups and travel sites that “I wear shorts everywhere, no one says anything”, or that bathing topless is fine in Hurghada or Sharm-el-Sheik. Tourists probably get a pass on some things, but why worry.
Read MoreOne of the things that we heard a lot about before leaving was “everyone asks for money!” Some people’s travelogues and forum postings seemed angry and frustrated at this custom, and many felt “screwed” by everyone that they met. A few even said it “ruined their trip”. Get a grip. Yes, baksheesh is expected — […]
Read MoreI don’t know if our travel agent appreciates it or not, but here’s the list that I sent her about what we were looking for, and to check against the tour operators plans. Yes, I’m a little over-wound.
Read MoreLIke I said,I’m thorough. These are the questions that I had for the tour operator (a very nice gentleman named Ashraf Michael from Ancient Adventures, who spent almost an hour answering them for me)
Read MoreThe currency in Egypt is the Egyptian Pound (worth about sixteen cents as of April 2004). 1:00 USD = 6.16 EGP 1.00 EGP = 0.162 USD However, most upscale hotels expect US Dollars or Euros, and price their hotel rooms in these currencies. Most hotel will take payment in Egyptian Pounds, but prefer Dollars or […]
Read MoreTime for a confession. I actually have color flowcharts of possible itineraries for this trip. Charts and graphs. Spreadsheets to compare “time at a site” with “travel time” weighed against number of things to see and distance. It’s embarrassing. I collected boatloads of information off the web and travel brochures and starting comparing individual itineraries […]
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