Monthly Archives: January 2019

Tipping Egyptian Style

 in Egypt / Snowbirding  tagged Egypt / tipping hints / tour guide / travel by

The tour company promised to take care of tips for every service they arranged other than the main tour guide.  That sounded wonderful.  No stress over who to tip how much.  …If only. Almost every restroom we used featured someone handing out toilet paper at the door.  The five pounds they expected in return was next-to-nothing, but a pain to keep handy.  Qualms crept in as well.  Shouldn’t the attendant who put herself out to be pleasant and keep the room nice, get more?   (Note:  Even when the five pounds was considered a charge rather than a tip, these generous souls allowed relief to folks lacking fives.) “It’s a tipping culture,” […]

Venturing the Souq

 in Egypt / Snowbirding  tagged bargaining / bazarr / Cairo / Egypt / Luxor / market / souq / stuffed camels / travel by

  I was amazed to find that the in-your-face vendors of the Egyptian souq calmed down and become hospitable when I stopped and told them what I wanted.  “Sit down.  Would you like something to drink?  Coke, tea, anything you like.” The first shop tender didn’t have a necklace Mom wanted, so he took us across the street to his brother.  The brother sat us down and brought choice after choice, much  appreciated since our tour’s pace was taking it’s toll.  Mom finally settled on two pendants and chains.  I bargained as best I could, and Mom helped by saying, “maybe we should go” a couple times […]

Psyching Up with Songs

 in Our Quest  tagged dream chasing / inspiration / music / songs by

How to keep enthusiasm up for a long-term dream chase? Here are ten songs to rekindle your fire: Uptown Funk–Bruno Mars Can’t Stop Me Now–Rod Stewart This is My Fight Song–Rachel Platten The River–Garth Brooks I Believe I Can Fly–R. Kelly Say Geronimo–Sheppard Firework–Katy Perry Gonna Fly Now–Bill Conti I, Don Quixote–Irving Jacobson and Richard Kiley Good Riddance–Green Day Enjoy, and then go get ’em!

Egyptian Market Mania

 in Egypt / Snowbirding  tagged bargains / Egypt / Egyptian pounds / haggling / Luxor / market / Nubian / Shopping / souq / travel by

Prices are enticing in Egypt, especially since their pound devalued, doubling the power of the U.S. dollar to nearly 18 pounds per dollar.  I looked forward to scoring bunches of bargain Christmas gifts when we visited the souq.  My chance came at last in Luxor, and I ventured out from under our guide’s protective wing for an hour. It was seriously intimidating.  Vendors swarm the path and shout “shirts, scarves, camels, no hassle, just browsing, have a look, everything free, where you from?”  I can not shop with all that going on.  I walked several blocks to the end of the street without daring to stop to look at anything.  On the way back I saw a dress that […]