Touts, guides, opportunities, you new best friend, what ever you want to call them, they work on the ' keep asking and you will get what you want sooner or later'. Walk down the nile in Aswan and you will be asked every 20 meters "you want felucca?" as you tell the fourth person in under a minute, no thanks you look up at the man standing 100 meters further down, watching you politely say no to the same advances. When you get to him, you assume he will leave you alone, as he can see you are not exactly in purchase mode.

"Mister, welcome aswan, you want felucca?"says the young man with a twinkle in his eye.
"Can't you see I have turned down very other guy back there, why would my answer be any different to you?" I say.
"Very sheep price my friend, you wan go Kitchna island?"

If you go on a sight seeing tour, the chances are you will not experience or see the wonderful hospitality and unique culture of the true Egyptian. If you are like the Japanese tourist of the late 80's who jumped around the world filling their new Nikon with a portfolio of sites and that is all that matters, you in good hands, there are many tour companies that will whisk you around Egypt in ten days and get you in front of the top ten ' must see sights.

Personally, and I can only speak for myself, this is exhausting, hard work and stressful. Penny and myself did this in Egypt in the early nineties when I was still a professional photographer and we had to go to every major sight in Egypt in 14 days. We did it and over the years the stock photography sold well. But the bit we remembered, the bit we loved and enjoyed the most, was driving through the western desert, not a tout in sight;)