A few tips from one was there before and during 9/11, and I hope some things have changed.

1. Be prepared to tip people in museums and the like, even with a tour. We traveled there and had the locals volunteer to be in the pictures, only to want to have a tip immediately thereafter. Failure to tip was met with anger, and when we attempted (nicely) to shoo others out of frame *before* we took pictures, we had 3 different situations where the security and/or police would then prevent us from taking pictures altogether or outright taking the cameras/film until we agreed to having the locals 'pose'. Sometimes the security and/or police also wanted tips, too, for their trouble.

2. Take plenty of water and toilet paper with you on your visits. I am not kidding and cannot stress this enough. Otherwise, expect to have to pay additional tips for these necessities. As bad as this sounds, we supported the local children somehow by this...we never had the TP and they would charge us like 10 cents Egyptian for each sheet, which they would hand under the door. It was a bit tolerable at the beginning, but at the end it just got a bit much and good tippers just would cause a small group to form, wanting even more.

3. Learn and apply local customs. This means women do *not* go unaccompanied without men. This means wear proper attire, especially when visiting holy sites and/or historic ones. This means covering all applicable exposed skin areas, plus a few inches more. This means listening to your guide and asking questions *before* you leave the bus or the hotel. And not touching the numerous artifacts, columns, or architecture, even if you see others doing it.

4. Visit your local travel clinic before leaving, get all shots updated as needed and make sure you have backup meds just in case, esp for stomach ailments. Many things there, even in prosperous areas such as Cairo's Nazr City area, are highly unhygienic compared to US/Western European standards.

5. Know where and how your souvenirs are being made. We had 2 people order hand made rugs, only to find later the rugs were made by child labour for 2 meals/day and maybe $14.00 USD total per child. If that's a problem for you, ask questions first, *with* the help of your tour guide.

Trust me, I speak from experience on these: my group of 10 women did not for the first few days and learned the hard way. Took some getting used to being accompanied by guards with guns to protect us, but we were not given a choice. However, had we not learned quickly from these mistakes when 9/11 came around, Lord only knows what trouble we would have gotten ourselves into. Egypt was both enlightening and fascinating, but also highly combustible under inhospitable conditions for Americans.