Goodbye Dahab, hello Luxor. I really will miss Dahab. I chose a 1 hour plane ride over a 20 hour bus ride from Dahab to Luxor. In the taxi from the airport to my hostel, I find that Luxor is full of green and much more relaxed than Cairo (but not Dahab.) Tourism accounts for 85 percent of the economy in this town, which is not surprising since at every step I take I am hounded by taxi and caliche drivers offering rides, shop owners harassing me to step into their shop, and hotel touts convincing me that their hotel is the best.. Notice a trend here?
But really it is not all that bad. It really depends on your level of tolerance and the way you dress. To ward off unwanted attention, especially for females, wearing long sleeves and pants/skirts that cover all skin including necklines really helps. You will still get attention and harassment, but it is a lot less. Wearing sunglasses and avoiding eye contact is another mechanism I use to be able to walk through the streets.
Not everyone is trying to get something from you though. And rudeness, as I’ve seen a lot of tourists show, never gets you anywhere. I find that I have learned to read people better here and that Egyptians are quite welcoming – sometimes you just need a sense of humor. If only I could show that humor in my limited Arabic…
I’ve included a few pictures of my time in Dahab. I haven’t left yet, but I have a feeling I will miss Egypt.
And I thought Ocean City was bad. It's sad because I feel like society has become pretty disconnected (which is the topic of my next social/design class project) but I avoid eye contact and a lot of interaction because I'm trying to avoid that unwanted attention.
ReplyDeleteSorry I'm never online when you IM me! It's usually like at weird times at 5AM or when i'm in class.
The type of harassment here is I think, no where comparable to Ocean City. And I hear India is worse. It's never physical though - just verbal...I get a lot of nee hows and ko nich chi wa's to which I respond, Hello, I'm American, and how are you today? :-) You just learn to take everything lightly. Miss you! xoxo
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