Travel: 12 days in Egypt

Sunday Tasmanian (Mike Bingham)

A NILE boatman able to recite slabs of Shakespeare in between mimicking tourists' accents was just one of the surprises which Egypt holds for visitors.

For another, add the attendant at the main mosque in old Cairo who put my shoes in a rack and slapped down a numbered disc in front of me. "Okay," he smiled, "now you're a member."

And how about the security man at my hotel late one night as I returned from dinner carrying a bag. I offered it to him for inspection, and he jokingly responded: "Have you got a bomb in there?"

Not tonight, I replied. He laughed and waved me through.

Then there was the small cafe beside a mosque near the pyramids in Cairo. The fact that tourists like me were sitting back under sun umbrellas enjoying a thirst-quenching beer as the call to Friday lunchtime prayers echoed around the area, caused no offence.

Egypt -- 94 per cent Muslim -- is like that. Enthusiastic about tourism, welcoming, and quite laid back. True, the souvenir sellers have to be survived, but most of them will accept a polite "no, thank you". However, touch the goods and you are set for a long haggle, mixed with mock protests and anguish.