The Egypt Factoids Page
LE=Egyptian Pound - Exchange rate was LE5 to 1 English Pound at the time of our trip
Baksheesh
Baksheesh - or Tips on Tips
Everyone expects tips. Egypt is a 3rd world country and the Tourist Industry is a means of supplementing income. A rough guide, based upon our experiences, and talking to our guides is thus:
- Waiters and Taxi Drivers - 10% of the Bill
- Guides - LE10 per person per day
- Drivers on trips - LE1 per person per day
- Porters/Luggage Carriers - LE1 or LE2
- Toilet Attendants 500 piastres or LE1
Remember - on our trips we had paid LE10 per person up front for the full week's Baksheesh into a kitty.
- So our drivers got between LE35 and LE41 at the end of the day - depending on how many people were on the coach that day.
- We gave our guide roughly LE40 per person for the 4 days he was our guide.
Prices
Again based on what our guide told us
- Scarves in Egyptian Cotton LE5 to LE10 depending how brave you are
- Galabayas LE20 to LE30 for the plain ones, LE30 to LE50 for the better quality or 2-part ones
- Table Clothes LE10 to LE15 per square metre
- Jewellery and Gold - sold by gram weight - ask the price per gram - LE40 is about right. They rarely haggle in jewellers!
- Water LE2 or LE3 per large bottle. Never buy in the street. Always ensure that the seal is intact.
Flight Factoids
| 1.Manchester to Heathrow | 262KM | |
| 2.Heathrow to Cairo | 3520KM | |
| 3.Cairo to Aswan | 940KM | |
| 4.Aswan to Abu Simbel | 289KM | |
| 5.Abu Simbel to Aswan | 289KM | |
| 6.Luxor to Cairo | 720KM | |
| 7.Cairo to Heathrow | 3520KM | |
| 8.Heathrow to Manchester | 262KM | |
| TOTAL | 9802KM |
Wake-Up Times
| 1.Sunday | 07:30 |
| 2.Monday | 07:00 for 08:00 Tour Start |
| 3.Tuesday | 03:30 for 04:30 to Airport |
| 4.Wednesday | 07:00 for 08:00 Tour Start |
| 5.Thursday | 07:00 for 08:00 Tour Start |
| 6.Friday | 05:00 for 06:00 Tour Start |
| 7.Saturday | 07:00 for 08:00 Tour Start |
| 8.Sunday | 04:30 for 05:00 to Airport |
Travel Arrangements
Travel Consultants - Delmar World, Gresford, Wrexham
Cairo Tours, Accomodation and all Transfers - Arranged by Peltours
(Their local reps in Egypt were Travel Plus)
Nile Cruises and Tours - Mövenpick Nile Cruises
International and UK Internal Flights - British Airways
Egypt Internal Flights - Egypt Air