| well, i wouldnt call egypt the middle east so much... semantics, but africa would be more correct in my mind.
okay, to your question... i went when i was pretty young as well (2nd or 3rd grade when i lived in nigeria [im 27 now for reference... so my memory isnt 100%]).
the folks wont be nearly as friendly as the aussies nor thais (which i found to be just the nicest people as a whole [spent literally months there over the years]). unless you speak the language, youre definitely going to stick out as a tourist. i dont think you will get scammed, or hassled by locals nor police. its fairly safe (though considerably less so when i was there roughly 15 years ago).
if you have tattoos, ive heard that they arent seen as a thing of beauty (thai folks always asked about mind and liked them... but thats one cultural difference). its not as hardcore as iran (ie- any women with you wont have to retake a passport photo with a burka to get in (you seriously have to do that in iran, and probably some other countries there). i would dress more conservative, but dont be paranoid about it.
one thing i did do was a nile cruise. it was such a great way to see tons of ancient temples and the like. it was an early wake up, on account of it being hot as **** pretty much every time but the morning. if you have the time, and the cash, look into a nile boat/cruise ship trip during your two weeks.
of course you have to hit up gaza, and the pyramids. also, i think the queen was hatshetsup (totally spelled wrong, but it sounds like that), and her temple was huge, impressive, and in great shape for its age.
other than that, i just remember every single pool at every single hotel (and on the cruise ship) being just friggin cold as ****. i mean, like, its blazing hot outside, and the pool has no one in it, because its seriously borderline hypothermia cold.
thats all i can think of... maybe some good info in there, but take my childhood memories with a grain of salt. im sure i forgot, or was shielded from, anything negative on the trip.
EDIT: oh, and we took an overnight train ride there (maybe from the end of the cruise back to cairo [forget, but that sounds likely]). it was comfortable and i had no complaints. granted they werent overnight, but ive been on long train rides in eastern europe as well as thailand (and of course french/brittish/nyc subways, but those are totally different), and i recall the egyptian train to be more private and comfortable with good enough food for a train, you know? dont fear their trains. if a family of four with two young kids can do egypt, you definitely can. (again, i cant recommend the nile cruise enough, as everythings just close to it, and you head south to see otherwise obscure, out of the way temples.)
Last edited by TOOL460002 : 11-28-2010 at 04:34 PM.
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