Jason and I have been in India for a couple of days, so here's the wrap-up on Egypt.

Good: Lots of really great sights. Friendly, funny Egyptians. Trains and buses leave exactly on time and seem to arrive nearly exactly on time. Contrast this with buses in India, Kenya and Tanzania; buses will drive around and around and around until there are enough passengers on the bus. Cairo -- a facinating city. If only the air was better!

Bad: Lots hassle for the poor ol' independent traveler. We ended up having to haggle over really everything we bought: food (even at restaurants!), street food, and even water. I'm perfectly willing to bargain over t-shirts and the such, but I don't like to bargain for a banana or a carton of milk.

Once, this guy tried to cheat me even with the price clearly marked underneath a box of milk. The price was in Arabic numerals, which are slightly different then whatever number system we use in the US. (A '0' looking character is a five, a character that looks like 7 is actually a 2, stuff like that) When I pointed out that I could read the price, he seemed a bit embarrassed, then annoyed. The folks we had to buy stuff from were constantly harping on the "Egyptian" price of things and the tourist price: (pleading) "ah, I give you Egyptian price" or (menacing) "You want Egyptian price??!!". The more tourists in the area, the worse the prices.

Also, another annoying thing was how over-sensitive some people seemed. Small-time merchant men would become incensed (I am not kidding), if we didn't reply to their hello or "good morning". Jason and I talked with a couple of felucca guys and they seemed genuinely hurt that tourists didn't want to even say hello to them. If Jason and I showed the least bit of reluctance to look at some crappy cat statue, some merchants would say "Are you afraid of Egyptians? I think you must be afraid". I'd just reply something like - "Hey, if you want to talk, I'm ready to talk. If you want to sell me perfume I don't have the time." Not one person took me up on my offer to just talk. heh, heh.

As another example, Jason and I met a young guy on the train. After talking with us for just 5 minutes, he offered to give us a cell phone to use while we were in Egypt. Of course, we refused. After we also refused to take a small snack he offered us, he snapped back with "Why does the tourist think he is so much better than the Egyptian? Why does the tourist not want to take gifts?" He was a moody sort, because after we explained that we really had no need for a cell phone he was back to his old friendly self. Some things I remember from our conversation with him: "What kind of job do you think I could get in the United States? My parents are very rich?" "In America, do people kiss [openly]? I do not like that idea." "I like green eyes" (He thought my eyes were green. they are more brown than hazel) "When I am in Hurghada, many times Western women will approach me and want to do anything with me." (I find this hard to believe.)

Hassle creates stress. I like Egypt, but I'm able to relax a bit more in India. I wonder how Egypt will ultimately rank in stress level. I think China will be the worst. Again, another country with great sights but lots of hassle.