Departure and More Observations

---

Today was the day of my departure. I was sad, but broke and knew it was time to go home. I jotted down some observations. As far as clothing goes, some of the guidebooks and travel blogs advise you to wear long billowing skirts or dresses, big blouses and have a veil. As far, as I’m concerned, the jury is still out on this question, but I agree with bringing a veil as the wearing of it is obligatory in mosques, and makes a good prop for those Lawrence of Arabia type pictures that you will most likely have taken of you as you’re aloft on a camel. However, most of the busloads of foreign tourists who are driven from tourist spot to tourist spot were dressed as they always are dressed - for good or for bad to include a predominance of tourists wearing jeans and even one woman in see-through pants that all the men at the museum seemed to take a liking to. Unfortunately, I listened to the guide books and brought several pairs of huge, pajama pants and long Indian shirts that went down to my knees. Upon arrival, after looking around, I had the great sense "not" to wear these out, although I did think that they made a very comfortable pair of pajamas for evening wear. Also, always have a sweater or a light jacket for evening as it always cools down. In mosques, you should be prepared to ensure your shoulders and upper parts of your legs are covered and to take your shoes off.

On the downside on my trip was the fact that being a blond, western woman (or any kind of western woman for that matter) attracted some unwanted attention. Even the fake marriage ring that I wore and the not very convincing explanations in response to lecherous queries that my husband was working in another country at the moment did not deter a couple of men that I met here. Don’t get me wrong, most Egyptians are extraordinarily hospitable people, but as I'm sure that most of you know, American women and western women in general get a pretty bad rep here due to media exposure of bad girl pop icons and the like. It's most unfortunate, but it's the reality, so plan accordingly. This means unless you want to get harassed to death (and for those of you who haven’t had a date in a long time, you may find this rather appealing), try to find a companion(s) (you'll still get harassed, but not as much). As previously stated, I had struck up an acquaintance with a nice European gentleman and was most grateful for his presence, particularly in the Khan. I've traveled in quite a few places by myself, but really did not feel comfortable walking around Cairo city by myself. This really put a damper on things as I really love to walk around cities and find local restaurants.

One thing to watch out for is the various scams that operate at all tourist destinations. At the various touristy sites (particularly at the pyramids), there are many Bedouin-robed Egyptians who you may ask to have your picture taken with (they may also ask you). However, you will also be obliged to pay them after taking the picture. After taking a picture of a police officer who was guarding the pyramids while sitting on a camel I was taken completely by surprise when he too extended his hand to me for payment.

There are also mobs of vendors who are very aggressive. I found myself fending off one handsome ten year old boy named Mohammed, who pursued me for quite a while and knew every scam in the book. One scam is that they will insist that you accept a gift from them such as symbolic stones, or an Egyptian headdress. After you find yourself being touched by such unsolicited kindness, they will be most insistent for payment for those “gifts”. Refusal to pay would inevitably wind up in a loud conflict, which could conceivably wind up with you spending the evening in jail or worse. Most tourists know this and though they will voice indignation and a lot of stuff under their breaths, they usually pay up. I did end up dropping a lot of cash on Mohammed, had a picture taken with him but ran away with him running after me while I was still ahead of the game and still had a few extra stones. Later on, everyone on my tour later wanted to know if I had wanted to adopt Mohammed and you know something, maybe I did.

I was also the victim of other scams that occurred at the airport upon my departure. As I stepped out of my taxi, the uniformed porter ran over and grabbed my bag in a twinkling of an eye. I was directed to pay another employee for this service, and then after the porter brought my bag inside, he demanded that I pay him more money. I hemmed and hawed, and put on a show of displeasure, but since I was the only western woman in the airport at 1:30 a.m., I relented and gave him a few Egyptian dollars. So, rule of thumb is, take your own bags in. Another scam that I was subjected to involved, surprise of all surprises, a purchase at an airline shop. I looked at a number of nice looking key chains in a case that were marked $4.00. I asked the proprietor, whether this was Egyptian or U.S. dollars and he answered Egyptian. Thinking I’d made a great deal I agreed to purchase four of them and after he rang up the sale up in dollars, which equated to approximately 5.5 times then it would have been for Egyptian dollars and refused to back down from his current price.

If I had to do it all over again, I would have taken a couple of extra days and taken a trip down the Nile to Luxor, where the Valley of the Kings is located. From what everyone says, this is the real Egypt and where most of the world’s greatest Egyptian archeological finds came from. They even say that there are still many, many tombs that they haven’t discovered and probably never will. You can also fly to Luxor and make a day trip of it. But, try to hook up with others for a group tour, because if you don't, as a single traveler, they will charge you a lot of $$$$$ (in my case, the quoted price was $500.00 for one day trip, sans hotel). Another way to get there is by train, which one fellow traveler told me was cheap and a good way to go, but again, my advice is to go with someone.

I’ve read that people either love or hate Cairo. In my case, after I came back home and the misery of my flight and jet lag was over and forgotten, I reminisce about much I loved Cairo and look forward to the day that I may return and hear the calls to prayer from the minurets floating through the streets in the early morning hours. Salam.

---