Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Egypt: A feverish tour (literally)

I went to Egypt when I was sick.  I had a fever and was so ill most of my tour.  I managed to have some moments of clarity to snap photos and let my jaw drop in awe at the sights.  But first, I made a restaurant person's jaw drop.

I've had food allergies (or sensitivities) for a bit.  When I travel places where I don't speak the language, I take my self-created allergy chart.  It's a table with two columns.  On the left is the English word.  On the right is the word translated into my destination's language.  I usually can find  translation online for free. (When I went to Laos, I had to buy a Laos-English dictionary).

A waiter/owner/shyster at a restaurant in Cairo was thoroughly amused that I had such a list.  He laughed posed for photos in his hysterics and showed it to his staff.  People on my tour video taped the whole thing.  At the end of the meal, this gentleman tried to stick us with a bill that was more than $30USD beyond what we ordered!  As the only attorney present among my companions, I had the task of reviewing the bill and getting the restaurant to charge us honestly.  Done!

I don't want to go traditional just yet and share photos of the actual pyramids and sphinx, but how about a teaser?  These gentlemen are standing on top of a loch on The Nile.  I was on our boat cruising through.  They were selling us beach towels.  And, there is your Sphinx and pyramids.  Bonus of camel too!  I had no idea how they would get the towels up, or more importantly for them, us get the money down.  I zoomed in to take this photo.



I'll leave you with one more view of the pyramids and Great Sphinx and The Nile.  Yes, McDonald's in Egypt had some very Egyptian decor.  Our guide told us they had a McCamel burger, but I didn't see one.  And, very pleased at that.

By the way, the tour company I used is called Contiki.  (http://www.contiki.com/) They do tours for 18-35 years old all over the world.   I did about ten of these (I love this company!) This Egypt tour with Contiki was my last.  They had been forgiving of my age until this tour, during which I entered a decade beyond 30 something.


 




No comments:

Post a Comment