Quote Originally Posted by az city View Post
Anyone been? Anyone got advice?

I've looked at organized tours from the US and they look very pricey - Viking River Cruises is $6-10k per person for 12 nights (including a Nile cruise). Anyone ever been on a Viking cruise?

I want to go (Alitalia has very cheap fares to Cairo at the moment for some reason) but don't know where to start. And nobody here has ever been.
I went there three years ago but I backpack and don't join any tourist trips, groups or organisations. I also get a perverse pleasure in not staying in plush hotels and not using taxis.
(I met a Basque language teacher on a local bus and met up with him in Bilbao this year, which was very rewarding).
I went to the pyramids near to Cairo but via the entrance reserved for the locals. Had to see them on horse to really appreciate them (although I am not the equestrian type). Seeing Tutankhamen's death mask in the national museum was unbelievably stunning.
I entered Gambia this morning after a few days in Dakar, Senegal. I didn't see a single tourist, tourist bus or white face in the city in the two days I schlepped around the place, weaving in and out of backstreets as well as in the centre.
Gambia has tourism in parts but I'm avoiding those areas although people pestered me on leaving the airport in a way that just doesn't seem.to happen in Senegal. I'll be returning to Dakar on Saturday (by overland bus) and flying home on Monday in time to see the Wales game.