EGYPT JOURNAL ENTRY
September
9, 2001
ALEXANDRA AND CAIRO EGYPT (Continued)
Unfortunately, it was time to get back into the van and make the journey back to the ship. I was hoping Sam would not scare me again. As we drove along, many Egyptian people walked along the highway and we were able to see how the people lived. The poverty level outside the cities seemed high to me and Mona told me Egypt depends on tourism. I'm not sure I would go back especially with the police presence that is in force to protect tourists. While we were at the Cairo Museum, Mike saw many plain clothed guards with machine guns under their blazers. When we got on the ship, I was talking with some of the crew that we had become friendly with. They said that the Millennium was NOT going back to Egypt and many other cruise lines had canceled Egypt as well. (Please note the date is September 9, 2001). There is so much to see in Egypt and the history is so rich. However, there is an undercurrent of hostility toward Westerners by some of the people (not all) which you can feel and has played out in past as evidenced by what happened in 1997. I left Egypt wondering what would become of the already poor people when the tourists stopped coming.
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