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Laugavegur Luggage Transport
Luggage Transport is now available on The Laugavegur Trail. See www.laugavegur.is

GO TO EGYPT, NOW!!!
We just got back from our second trip to Egypt, the first being in 2008, before the 2011 revolution. This most recent tour was with Viking. To us, the security situation seems similar to 2008. Since a 1997 European tourist bus attack in Luxor, the Egyptian government has taken tourist security very seriously, as tourism is 15% of their economy. As in 2008, tour buses have an armed guard riding within the bus, and each bus is followed by a tourist police car containing 4 armed officers. There are numerous armed police check points on all roads, more frequent near and around tourist areas. Tourist sites, such as the Egypt Museum in Cairo, have concrete barriers surrounding building entrances and several layers of scanners, with a large police presence. Larger hotels have this level of security with explosive sniffing dogs and vehicle trunk and undercarriage inspections and limited ability of vehicles to approach the building. The security rivals US embassies. These measures were in place in 2008 and are not new since the revolution. There was essentially a military dictatorship in 2008, as there is today. We felt very secure during our entire trip. I walked for an hour through Aswan and felt very comfortable. I would not recommend independently traveling through Egypt today or in 2008, as only rare signs are written in Latin script and few Egyptian speak any English unless they are involved in the tourist industry. I would advise using a tour group, and our experience with Viking was excellent. Any visitor to Cairo, Paris, New York, or Copenhagen needs to have “situational awareness”. One needs to be aware of their surroundings and who is approaching them. Eyes open and brain turned on. Don't wait, go to Egypt. See the most ancient of civilizations. Be overwhelmed by the age, size, and grandeur of the temples, tombs, and pyramids. We have been to many interesting places all over the world. Egypt is number one on our list. GO TO EGYPT, NOW!!

Great tour in Cairo
First of all nice photos:) and thanks for showing the people that there are no security threats in Egypt nowadays. I'm looking forward to your next article about your stay at Egypt.

Cienfuegos
The city of my birth, remember La Iglesia de los Leones where my brother and I we baptasized. Ciego Monteros hot baths, El Castillo de Jagua, la playa de Rancho Luna, La escuela Eliza Bowman which I attended. Walking down the Paseo del Prado to enjoy the beach. Ohh Memories

Good read
It\'s really interesting to hear you ended up having a lot of the same observations as we did, despite your much faster speed. I'm glad your guide to Chame worked out, but I\'d just add a note of caution that guides hired en route have been known to desert trekkers. It was indeed eerie how quiet the trail was. The guest houses too - a lot were being run by the younger generation while the proprietors vacationed in Kathmandu during the off season. Also, sorry to hear about the bed bugs you got on either Yak Kharka/Thorung Phedi. Hope all is well South of the border!

lovely pics! thanks!

WOW!
Mike, As I read about your adventures, I keep hearing myself saying "wow!" Your photos and descriptions are great. You are making the trip most people just dream about taking. Stay safe. Aunt Jan

I just read your other review, I'm glad you enjoyed it despite the weather! When I was guiding I was lucky and almost never got rained on... I miss it now... On an other note, if you still want to get the link, it would have to be in the review (not in my comment), and as a clickable link, because google doesn't index the comments. I was originally asking because the beach hostel website is all new, and it is not ranking high in google for now; links between websites will help to built its "google credibility".

More great stuff Mike!

WOW!
Hi Mike What a trip. Enjoyed reading your blog! Would love to get together and tell stories. Maybe after we get back to school