Originally Posted by
mzoheir
Dear Sir,
I must say that I am very offended by the post above, being an Egyptian or let me say "from that part of the world" I ask you.... what do you know about Egypt ? and I mean on a professional level such as aviation, have u ever been there ? where u "ripped off" at an airport before? and please spare me those stories about a friend who had an eperience at a bazzar when trying to buy souvenirs etc.. etc.. cause that's the way it it in "your part of the world as well" if you had an experience with a similar case to that of the original poster, then share it and let him know what to avoid, if you have never been there, then I seriously doubt that your opinion should be of any weight!!
I visited HELX in '04. They would not guarantee fuel 2 days prior, other than to say it was available at the present time. I had a handler that met me on arrival, one of the fuel fellows asked quietly if I would like to help make sure everything came out well, hand out, another $20 away, despite $500 to the handler and a promise that there would be no other fees or bribes required.
At customs, I was sold a visa. I showed them the visa I had obtained pre-arrival, but they said I needed the second one for some obscure reason, no refund.
At the Winter Palace, I was offered a better room, but the cost was very difficult to discover (don't worry....). When pressed, it was going to be about 3X my initial room.
I found Luxor to be pretty decent over all but I felt constantly wary of offerings and prices. My weather briefing was given in the ATC lounge, the controller intermittently talking to aircraft and discussing religion with me.
Perhaps I should have known- as I flew over the N Africa coast, my cell phone got a text message- Welcome to Egypt, would you care for a guide?