Middle East - Anthony Ham [169]
Tipping, called baksheesh, is another fact of life in Egypt. Salaries are extremely low and are supplemented by tips. In hotels and restaurants the 12% service charge goes into the till; an additional tip of between 10% and 15% is expected for the waiter. A guard who shows you something off the track at an archaeological site should be given a pound or two.
Travellers Cheques
There is no problem cashing well-known brands of travellers cheques at major banks and at Amex and Thomas Cook offices, but most forex bureaus don’t take them. Most banks charge a small commission per cheque plus E£2 or E£3 for stamps. You must have your passport with you.
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POST
Postcards cost E£1.50 to post and will take four or five days to get to Europe and around a week to 10 days to the USA and Australia. Letters of 20g cost between E£1.60 and E£2.20 (depending on the destination) and 1kg parcels cost between E£150 to E£200 to send by air mail. If you use postboxes, blue is for international airmail, red is for internal mail and green is for internal express mail.
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SHOPPING
Even if you were not born to shop, you will be born again when you hit the souqs (markets) in Egypt. The country is awash with antediluvian bazaars selling all manner of pretty, shiny things for that perfect souvenir or memento. You can find nearly everything here including papyrus scrolls, fine metal work, antiques, sheeshas (a must-buy), and a whole slew of cheesy tourist tat. Often the quality on offer is pretty sub-par, but those with some patience and a keen eye are bound to find a deal.
The primo shopping spot in the country has to be Cairo’s Khan al-Khalili bazaar (Click here), where sleazy touts and rip-offs come part and parcel with awesome shopping opportunities. Hard bargaining here is nearly always required. Other towns with well-stocked souqs include Luxor and Aswan. Also look out for traditional Siwan, Bedouin and Nubian handcrafts in Siwa, Dahab and Aswan respectively.
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TELEPHONE & FAX
Fax
Fax services are available at the main Telephone centrales in the big cities. A one-page fax costs around E£8 to send.
Mobile Phones
Egypt’s mobile-phone network runs on the GSM system.
There are two main mobile-phone companies operating in Egypt: MobiNil (in Cairo 02-2760 9090; www.mobinil.com) and Vodafone (in Cairo 02-2529 2000; www.vodafone.com.eg). If your mobile phone from home is unlocked for use on other networks, local SIM cards for these companies can be bought for only E£10 to E£30, giving you a local number and access to cheap local calls. To top up your phone credit, both companies sell convenient prepaid cards from many retail outlets across the country in various denominations. The credit you purchase usually has a validity period of 30 days, though airtime credit is carried over if you recharge the card before the end of the validity period. Vodafone sells a Mobile Connect card that enables connection to the internet through your laptop.
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ESSENTIAL EGYPTIAN VOCAB Elbee
Insha’Allah Literally: God willing, but takes on the meaning ‘hopefully’ or is just thrown into a sentence to spice things up.
Mafeesh Mushkila No problem, dude!
Malish Whatever, don’t worry about it, okay. The official catch-all word in Egypt that goes along with the Egyptian lifestyle.
Khalas It’s over, finished, okay, understand?
Alhamdulillah Literally ‘Praise be to God’, but also used to mean ‘I’m fine’. Ie ‘How are you?’, ‘Alhamdulillah.’
Mumkin Possibly or please or maybe.
What’s your recommendation?
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Phone Codes
The country code for Egypt is 20, followed by the local area code (minus the zero), then the subscriber number. Local area codes are given at the start of each city or town section. The international access code (to call abroad from Egypt) is 00. For directory assistance call 140 or 141.
Phonecards