Culture Shock! Egypt - A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette

Enjoying Egypt 235

but definitely should not be happening today. HOWEVER,
it does still happen, especially when there are no tourist
police in sight!
In fact, it happened to me before I got through customs.
A man (who must be licensed because he was in a restricted
area) approached me. I heard from a friend that some of their
foreign friends fell for this and the person doubled the rate on
everything (including the hotels). You should never go with
people nor hire them until and unless you can confirm that
they are legitimate! Repeat: do not go with anyone nor hire
them until and unless you can confirm, independently, that
they are legitimate! In fact, if people will not stop harassing
you at a site or store after you have politely told them to
leave you alone, don’t hesitate to call a Tourist Policeman
over. Pushy hecklers know they are not supposed to be
harassing you!

Good Tour Guides

Need a good tour guide? Want to ride donkeys or horses? Here

are my recommendations:

„ Medhat A’Monem

Tel: 012-367-6574

„ Ayman Mohamed

Tel: 012-354-6491; fax: (02) 525-0886

„ Mohamed Arabi

Tel: 012-324-0132

„ Ibrahim Amin

Tel: 012-347-6343

„ Maryanne Stroud

Tel: 012-211-8386

If you live in Egypt or are there for an extended time,
there are many tourist sites that are good for day or weekend
trips. Just hop on a train or hire a driver and head out.
Others require a long weekend or more to enjoy fully. And,
of course, some are so far away that a weekend get-away
requires you to fly.