Hey, how are you?  I'm tired, sore, and worn out, so much so that I'm thinking
about taking a break and returning to the States for a brief respite.   A
recent bout with dysentary and the ordeal of dealing with Egyptians for the
past three weeks hasn't helped.

Speaking of Egypt....scratch it from your travel itinerary.  If you haven't
traveled to a muslim country before you'll want to make it to one at some
point.  It's novel to see men wearing long nightgown-like shirts in public,
neat to smoke chi cha pipes late into the evening in a crowded bazaar, and it's
odd to note the almost entire absense of women in public, but it's not enough
to overcome the constant hassling, haggling, and disingenous hospitality of the
populous.

The most important words you'll ever need in Egypt are:  "Imshi!" (which means
go away) and "Leh Baksheesh." (which means no tip)

I flew to Cairo from Nairobi on a very pleasant Egypt Air flight (supposedly
one of the worst national airlines, but not too bad in my estimation) after
climbing mount Kilimanjaro.  I sat next to an American fiscal manager who
worked for the United States Embassy in Egypt and was responsible for
overseeing about $400 million in aid grants from the US to Egypt per year.  He
was fat, he'd never bothered to see the sites in Cairo, couldn't give me any
recommendations, and made it very clear that he led a comfortable cloistered
existence within the ex-pat community in a suburb outside Cairo.  He was a
stereotypical American suburban male plopped smack into the middle of hellish
Cairo -- scared, well-fed, and concentrated on abstract things that distract
him from his own life.

Gladly leaving the airport and his company I embarked for the hotel at which I
had a reservation.  I took a cab for 40lbs ($10) only to learn that that was my
rude introduction to Egyptian honesty and hospitality right there.  The cab
driver, driving a car that couldn't actually push its highest gear, drove a
circuitous route (again, discovered later) through town pointing out hotels
that he was sure were better deals than the one I requested.  After about 4-5
offers I'd had enough and clearly indicated that I didn't want anymore options.
The concept of "clearly" is different in Egypt.  No, no thank you, NO, no no no
no (all in arabic), no, NO, and no no no ( in english ) are all completely
useless.  Getting mad, red and the face, and yelling seem to work fairly
effectively.

I arrived and waited for Karen.  She flew in a couple days later after I'd
spent some time learning my way around Cairo and laying the groundwork for our
tour of Egypt.  My ride to the airport to meet her cost 2lbs (50c).

Together we did pretty much all of Egypt.  We stayed in Cairo a few days,
toured the markets of Khan al Khalili, went to see King Tut in the Egypt
Museum, and had a  memorably bad experience with a camel driver in Giza while
pondering the pyramids and sphinx.  We took a hellish bus ride to Farafra, an
oasis 7-11 hours west of Cairo, went on safari in the white desert, and bathed
under the stars in a steaming hot spring outside of town.  We went to
Alexandria (the only nice part of Egypt in both our opinions) and purchased a
very large painting, only to be subjected to a hellish 4 hour ride back to
Cairo in a pickup truck.  She changed her ticket and we went to Sharm el Shek
on the Sinai peninsula where we had the worst 4 star hotel experience one could
ever imagine, got sick, and went on a snorkelling cruise that required an hour
of vein popping screaming to get it to go where we were told it would go.

More details later.  I'd love to hear from you.