Baksheesh

Baksheesh literally means, "share the wealth". In practical terms it means giving, in most circumstances, a tip! In order to give tips you need cash & in particular...small cash denominations. Realising that it was our last afternoon in Luxor (ie; big city) before heading into the western desert for 5 days (ie; small oasis towns), and knowing that we wouldn't have access to an ATM for that period of time, we needed to stock up on CASH! This has been a very foreign experience for us. Living in an almost cashless society, we have both become accustomed to having little cash in our wallets & use our cards for most purchases. The only time we have been able to use our credit card to pay for anything here has been in the two big Hotels, all the others, as well as restaurants...all want cash. However, not even that is straight forward! There is apparently a rule here, that Hotels can only be paid in, what they see as, strong currencies..namely US $ or Euros. This has been exasperating to have to walk around with a few different currencies...in cash...as well as a wad of Egyptian pounds, which may not add up to much when converted to Aus$, but still take up a lot of space in my handbag!!!!!Anyway....New Years Eve & we need more cash, we ask our Hotel where the nearest cashpoint is, and wouldn't you know it...it's on the EAST bank! This means that at 4pm, we find ourselves heading to the jetty & hopping onboard the quaint local ferry boat to cross the Nile! There was only one other 'foreigner' amidst a sea of veils, long galabiahs & turbans, so we were certainly stared at! At first it looked like men were on the top deck & women on the bottom, so we sat on the bottom deck at the back, as inconspicuously as possible! It was a remarkably quick journey & rather exciting to be in amidst the locals....all part of the adventure! A smart stroll to the ATM we have used before & back for the return trip. Mission accomplished! PHEW!