Back Our 8-days trip in Egypt 2007-04-21 Our 8-days tour in Egypt by Debby and Terry S/Y Wings 21 t/m 28-04 2007 We ended up using a local travel agent, who planned everything from taxis to guides, for an 8 day trip for four of us to Luxor, up the Nile on a cruise ship to Aswan, airplane tickets to see Abu Symbol, then, back to Aswan for an overnight train ride to Cairo to see the pyramids and the Cairo museum. In Luxor, we visited the Valley of the Kings, (fascinating) and more temples and statues then I have the patience to list. I really enjoyed the cruise ship. Cruises have come a long way since Moses took the first recorded trip down the Nile! Having someone else in charge while I ordered a beer while sitting in the pool and watching the Nile go by was a real treat! The consummate scam artists are the Egyptians, they are really the masters! They give you a little “gift” of some sort, then, having created an obligation, ask you into their store for some tea, and to look around, no obligation, of course. If you find something you want, you make them an offer, at which point niceties vanish. The amount of the offer seems to be irrelevant. They will loudly accuse you of trying to cut their throat, all this after they have given you “gifts” and tea. You know your offer is good if they follow you out the door, all the while loudly complaining. Deb and friend offered to buy some small jars, which the salesman said were genuine hammer-stone. Our guide told her to make her first offer at 10% of the asking price. Thinking that too much of an insult, she offered 1/3 of the price. She got the above treatment, and the bowls, which turned out to be plastic. We discovered it when our guide put his teeth into it…..just a scar! Put a little shoe-polish on top of it, nobody will see it!