Egypt

It was one of the most interesting visits on our trip. Chaotic, mostly dirty, but with hospitable people (the few I met, anyway). We decided not to go on the bus like everyone else, because we were travelling with three kids, and we thought we'd have more freedom if we hired a guide just for us (Ahmed). It was not that good, though. Ahmed had his schedule planned, and would give us little choices. And apparently, no matter how you travel to Egypt, you MUST end up in a papirus shop, a perfume store and a jewellery. Why?? Papirus, ok, but we didn't ask him to take us there. And perfume?? None of us wanted to go in there, so we didn't bother to step out of the bus, even though the driver stopped right in front of the shop. And, most annoying, when we went to Giza Ahmed instructed all of us, several times: "Do not buy anything from these people here, I'll take you someplace else if you want to buy souvenirs, a government-run store, with better prices". So in the end, it's like a pay-toll? If my mother wanted to take a look at what the kids were selling, Ahmed would just signal to her to get moving. The thing is, we were supposed to buy from the right people. He also lectured us about Islam. He seemed worried about the perception Westerners have about his religion, so he would talk about the good in Islam, and it was ok, until he told us he's getting married soon. My mother explained she sells bridal gowns, but Ahmed said: "oh, my girlfriend alredy bought her dress in Lebanon, but I'll keep it in mind for my next wedding". WHAT?? My mother and sister in law both looked horrified. I asked him, "so you're getting married and thinking about wife number two alredy, does she know?" And he just smiled. Nooo, he said, you can only have more than one wife if you're absolutely fair to them and treat them equally. And it's so hard to fulfill, most men just have one wife. Anyway, nobody in my family liked that part of Islam...
It was also interesting that Ahmed said according to the Koran, women must cover their head. I knew that part, but I remember two days before, our guide in Turkey (Salma) said “nothing in the Koran says women must cover their head”. And in fact, we didn’t see many women with headscarves in Izmir. Salma gave us pretty simple instructions:
1-Woman with black headscarf: fundamentalist
2-Woman with colorful headscarf: religious
3-Woman without headscarf: not religious or simply modern.

This man on the camel is a policeman. After I I took the picture, he chased me because he wanted money. I didn’t “pay”.