Salem maleikum

Did you know that Egypt was one of the most powerful nation thousands of years ago? And did you know that they
invented the beer? If you intend to visit Egypt you go through history that is more than 3000 years old. You
need to bring a lot of understanding along, but you will get the maximum of experiences. Egypt taught me some
good and some bad experiences and I would like to bring you something of what I have learned along.
The following five sections contain some serious stuff () and some funny stuff ().
Every section though, if serious or not, gives you some really good advise about the land of Pharaos.

Mystery (about the culture of Egypt)

The arabic country has lost a lot of its mystery, but there are still places that reminds
us to the time when pharaos ruled the country.
Egypts 17-million citizen capital Cairo offers a lot more than the famous pyramids of
Gizeh and the sphinx (it is a very crowed place but still worth a look). Those who are
interested in history do good in visiting the national museum. And for all those Indiana
Jones Fans I recommend a trip to Chan-el-Khalili, a typical oriental market with a
typical maze where typical tourists typically get lost!
A place of mystery is Luxor. The mystery of King Tut-ench-Amon's grave and the mysterious
curse that seemed to have killed its explorers. Or the mysterious temple of Queen
Hatschepsut, who toke her half-brother into custody in order to get the crown herselve.
And the mystery why tourists still fall for those not really mysterious souvenir dealers!

Dive (about beaches in Egypt)

A lot of people keep on asking me if I would prefer Hurghada oder Sharm-el-Sheik for
vacation. I return the question: Do you prefer East or West coast of Florida? I cannot
tell because both have their specialities. Both are a perfect place to make vacation
and the best dive location besides Great Barrier Reef in Australia (fantastic reef).
Hurghada has the advantage (or disadvantage) to be a real city with local people,
markets and sightseeings while Sharm-el-Sheik was build for Tourists. Sharm is closer
to Cairo and Israel and therefore very attractive for excursions. You can reach Luxor
very fast from Hurghada though. I think it depends what you are looking for. Basically
both are ideal beach and above all dive destinatins.

IBM (about character of Egyptians)

What the hell has an IT-company with charater of the Egyptians to do?? Well actually not much, because IMB stands
for something else than you expected. If you know, understand and use the IBM concept, you have learned the basic
rules in the daily life of the Egyptians:

I stands for "Inshallah" (if it's Allah's wish)
B stands for "Bukra" (tomorrow)
M stands for "Malesh" (whatever, shit happens, who cares, etc.)

If you ordered something and you would like to pick it up the next day, the sales agent would tell you, that you
can pick it up the next day, 'inshallah'!
If you check the next day, it is not there of course, but the sales agent would answer you very friendy, that it
will arrive for sure 'bukra'!
You can be certain that it is not there and even though you seem to be quite upset, he will answer you:'Malesh'!

Bugs (about food in Egypt)

No worries, they don't serve bugs in Egypt to tourists although some Egyptian, mostly living on the countryside, eat that
stuff. I use the expression "bug" here for something else: A lot of visitors report about a bug they got after having
visited a restaurant. Seriously, this is just a call to you not to detest the local food. It is known that indigestions
can be part of an Egypt vacation, but it does not have to be. Our western stomacs are not used the preparation, spices
and water they use. This can cause some indigestions, but that is not a reason to skip typical Egyptian food completely
and replace it by McDonalds and Pizza Hut. There are some very good restaurants who take care that all the meals are
prepared carefully and almost sterile. For sensitive stomacs there are a few basic rules to consider:

- Prefer hot or warm meals, since the risk of getting any bugs is lower than with cold meals like salads.
- Prefer local food since Egyptians are more experienced in preparing local than foreign food.
- Taking caution with sweet meals prepared with milk or eggs is a rule that counts here as well.
- Enjoy a glas of wine daily, it will not hurt you - and drinking at least one bottle of water a day either!

Terror (about safty in Egypt)

I did mention in the introduction that I made some bad experiences in Egypt as well. In November 1997 about 30 tourists
were killed by a shooting of five terrorists at Queen Hatschepsut's temple in Luxor. Nobody admitted the crime, the names
of the five terrorists killed at that shooting were never published; maybe because nobody ever found it out. I detest that
terror attack, but want to point out that I experienced the Egyptians to be very peaceful and nice. And as we can see in
the most recent example of September 11th in New York, it is not only egypt who was target of attacks like that; it can
happen everywhere!
And how about all the women who return back from an Egypt vacation saying that they hardly could move around alone in
public, without being molested? The lighter the color of their hair the worse. And the locals don't mean to be unfriendly.
We name it importunate and aggressiv, for an Egyptian does it mean to be a man of honor.
Therefore I would like to give some advise here as well:
1. Terrorism concerns us all and can happen everywhere. To keep away from a country with a recent terror attack will
harm the (peaceful) people of that country and not the terrorists.
2. Try to fit in and beat importunate sales agent with their own weapons. Be as persistant as him. If you don't like
to buy anything, you don't buy it; end of story. And if he is not giving up, just tell him you visit his store
again tomorrow. Always works!
3. Dear men: Walking through the streets without T-shirt means: I'm tourist, I got money, I buy everything!
Dear women: Walking through the market like a model means: I'm a nice tourist girl, show if you are a man!
Men: Ever tried a t-shirt and long pants? Great difference, you will be surprised.
Women: If you don't like scarfs try a baseball cap to hide your hair. Above all blondes!