There are a wide variety of restaurants and take a ways in Egypt, whether you like Chinese food, Mc Donald’s or other imitations of take away joints, you can find halal versions of these in Egypt.  If you like seafood, the best place to go is Port Said where you can find a variety of seafood restaurants and different types of fish and fish dishes.  On Fridays, Egyptians often cook some while fish that they sort of (I am not sure how to say this) but charcoal grill, they then peel off the black charcoal and eat it.  Some other very Egyptian food is fool, which is basically boiled faver beans, which is nice with some pita bread and olive oil.  Then there is the falafel; both of these and others are available in most places.  The only thing is to be careful about the water there because it can make you sick if you are not used to it.  I was told that I had an amoeba in my stomach when I went and could not eat for some time.  Fortunately, the Egyptian hospitals have doctors that can see you quickly – you do not have to wait as long as in the UK and the medication is easy to get (if you take medication – personally I choose not too, I preferred to take high doses of friendly bacteria, to get rid of the rather less friendly bacteria that had decided to highjack my immune system).

I could hardly write my review of Egypt without mentioning the pyramids could I?  They are a main attraction in Egypt, but unfortunately, I did not get to see inside.  The problem is that if you are a tourist, you have the potential to meet with con merchants trying to sell you bogus rides on camels or donkeys.  This was the trap that we fell into.  So I rode my little donkey – guided by a person who would at least show us the outside of the pyramids.  I only got as near as the Sphinx – we were able to take photos and ride around the pyramids on the outside.  After this little detour they wanted to sell us perfume and many other things, however, for tourists they put they price up a lot in the markets and in the tourist places, so it is better if you can go there with an Egyptian person who can haggle the price down for you.  Other places of interest concern the various beeches as well as the river Nile.  There are regular cruises on the Nile and some can offer dinner in restaurants in the evening, which all offer a good view of Egypt.

So I returned to the UK with the amoeba still in my stomach.  After about a week it was better.  I remember Egypt as a place of interest to visit temporarily for a short break.  The difference in lifestyle, diet and climate all take some getting used to.  My stomach and habits are not used to a heavy dinner at midnight, shopping at one in the morning and sleeping at 4am, neither was I used to the water.  In fact, the culture itself was entirely different.  Still, perhaps there are things that I prefer there and some that I do not like.  If I go back again, at least now I will know more about what to expect, and perhaps be able to see inside the pyramids.