Part of me is looking forward to leaving Egypt (in two days) - in many ways I have really enjoyed my time here. The country and history is unique in the places I have been, the cities and food has been memorable and so far I have really enjoyed the Intrepid tour group. However one thing is beginning to grate a little, and that is the people.

It is not that the people are horrible, or unwelcoming - far from it, most of them are lovely people and I have very much enjoyed chatting with people in the shops, and on the streets, even the occasional tourist police. However in Egypt everything comes at a price, and there have been too many times when a seemingly innocent conversation has ended either in a request for a tip or in an attempt to usher me into a tourist store. Once the conversation heads down this route it can be very difficult to extract one self, with some locals being quite aggressive in pursuit of a sale (two members of the tour literally had to run away from store owners).

The sad part is that you cannot tell the genuinely innocent and helpful local Egyptian from the opportunist until they walk away.