M-whY

I placed the envelope on the nightstand and joined Aaron and Chanda in the lobby. Someone came up to me not five minutes later. "Excuse me, sir, this is not enough. The tip is ten pounds per person, per night." That really ticked me off. First of all, they had begun opening envelopes before guests left the boat, and then then had the audacity to tell me I hadn't left enough? Controlling myself, I replied.

"I thought tips are optional. I decide how much I want to tip."

"But the tip is ten pounds per person, per night. There is only ten pounds in the envelope."

"No, I decide how much I want to tip."

Putting things in perspective, this was less than US$2 we were arguing over. Just on principle though, I held my position. Aaron and Chanda, who had been looking on in disbelief, chimed in on my behalf and helped me get rid of the guy. I probably should've done what they did, and not handed over the envelope until the representative from Amigo Tours showed up. When he did, several porters appeared out of nowhere and snatched our bags (which had been lying on the floor), and carried them 25 yards to the taxi.

"Excuse me, you have to tip them," we were told as we climbed in the cab. Shaking my head, I handed over a pound and a half, which may sound meager, but that's what the guidebooks suggest. In just about every other case, the folded notes are pocketed without being counted. Seeing how we had just gotten off a Nile cruise though, we were seen as tourists to be milked.

Three pounds per person, they insisted. I showed them my wallet. "Unless you can break a E£100..." Like myself, Aaron and Chanda didn't have any small bills neither. The two Aussies sharing our ride might've, but weren't in the mood. "Just tell them that you're Australian and you don't tip," they said. "Then close the door."

Peter and his wife Rebecca (I think that was her name) had been on the same ship as us. They too had disregarded the 'guidelines' set by the cruise and tipped at their own discretion.

"Everywhere you go, all you hear is baksheesh, baksheesh, baksheesh," I said. "It's beginning to get annoying."

"Yep, it's been the same for us. It begins to wear on you after a while," confirmed Peter. "I'm kind of glad to hear we're not the only ones who feel this way." I'll wager it's a popular sentiment for many visitors here; No day is complete without getting hassled at least once. In the words of Mark Twain, tourists here 'suffer torture that no pen can describe from the hungry appeals for baksheesh that gleamed from Arab eyes.'

"You can't let things like that ruin your vacation though," Peter pointed out, and seeing as my stomach ailments were no more, I was ready to approach the day with as much optimism as I could summon. Just enough time had been alloted for us to check in and to secure my belongings until everyone met in the lobby for our morning activities.

Visiting Kitchener's Island is on most Aswan tour itineraries. The place feels like a leafy sanctuary in the middle of the Nile. Back in the 1890s, Lord Horatio Kitchener was presented the property for his accomplishments as commander of the Egyptian army, and he subsequently turned it into a botanical garden, importing plants from all over. The island's southern tip was a nice place to sit and watch feluccas quietly glide by. Well worth the price of admission.

Too bad the same couldn't be said for Elephantine Island. It took all of five minutes to see the pathetic Aswan museum, and for that privilege, we paid E£10. Back on the boat, a Puerto Rican woman was whining about all the separate admission fees, which are never included.

"Where is my money going?" she asked. "Who is getting my US$360?"

Comparing prices, it looked like she and her daughter got a really raw deal. Peter and Rebecca paid US$245 per person for their 6-day, 7-night package; Aaron, Chanda, and I, US$260 each. And ours took us out to Abu Simbel, a highlight conspicuously missing from the Puerto Ricans' schedule.

That wouldn't happen until tomorrow though. The afternoon was set aside for visiting the Aswan Dam, and its successor in both attraction and functionality, the High Dam. The former was the world's largest when first completed in 1902, and the latter currently ranks as the number three in the world. Behind them sits Lake Nasser, the world's largest artificial lake.

Our guide was one of the better ones I've had in Egypt. Osama was his name. "Just like Osama bin Laden," he himself added. He briefly pointed out the controversy regarding the High Dam's construction, noting that the US had denied Egypt's request for financial backing, and that it was the Soviet Union that eventually supported the project. The benefits of hydroelectric power didn't come cheap though. Several cultural relics were submerged when water began backing up. Fortunately, UNESCO came to the rescue, disassembling the temples and reconstructing them on higher land. And since no day in Egypt is complete without visiting at least one ruin, we were brought to see the temples on Philae.

The approach was made on boat. Not only did UNESCO manage to it, they even placed it on an island landscaped to look like the original isle. Some of Osama's commentary I had heard before, like reason for the defacement of reliefs, but other bits of trivia, like how the Coptic Christians converted these sanctuaries for their own use, were new. Osama's english was fluent enough that understanding him didn't require effort, and so I didn't mind when the legend of Osiris, Isis, Horus, and Seth was told for the umpteenth time.

On the way back to Aswan, Osama mentioned offhandedly that it's Egyptian tradition to tip the driver, but left the decision up to us.

"So how much are we supposed to leave," asked Chanda.

"100 euros," joked the driver. "No, just kidding. It is up to you."

Unlike the morning, I was glad to pay a tip. I don't recall how much baksheesh I left when we were dropped off at the hotel, but I can assure you, it makes a huge difference when the service merits one, and not greedily sought after with those gleaming eyes that Mark Twain described.

Thanks to everyone for their support and comments! Knowing people are reading keeps me motivated to continue the updates!