Hurghada Airport

[mushtaq]

First time I used the airport and it's not bad, it looks as if a new section has been added which is lot more modern and couple of large duty free shops too.

As you pass the passport control there is what can only be describes as a bazaar, loads of small shops selling the same sort of tourist stuff, so if you missed the T-shirts or other souvenirs, you can buy them here.

[madmoggie]

watch out when checking in though as when we flew out from there in may I caught them trying to make the bags heavy. One of ours apparently weighed over 25kg yet it was lighter than when we came out and then it only weighed 20kg. I told the guy off well and truly as he put his foot on the scales to make the bags heavier. I checked the weight when we got back to Gatwick and it was 17kg, big difference!

[mushtaq]

Wow that is sneaky, they are an inventive bunch when it comes to scams

[cynic]

Another good one is that when you are going through and empty your pockets of the loose change, they give you a little container to put it all in. Once you are through the detector they pick up the cup and empty your change into your hand. Most people just put it in their pockets.
Perhaps I was living up to my name but I was watching the guy very closely, he had managed to get two £1 coins in his hand and slightly bent his fingers to hide them. I turned his hand over, opened his fingers and retrieved the money.

It isn't the point that it is only £2 but the fact that even at the airport the tourists were being ripped off. Having lived here for 5 years I don't consider myself a tourist any more and was really angry. The guy just shrugged his shoulders, smiled and said sorry.

[mushtaq]

Wow, that's a good one and never thought about that, have to watch out for that one.

[Ronin]

thats nothing on the way coming back one of the guys checkin my passport (he was just sitting on a stool in non-uniform and the passengers already had their passports checked moments ago, seemed pretty pointless) casually said 'ibn sharmoota' to me ...

i was thinking to myself he didnt just say that to me!, i just said eh? in a typical masri way and he had the nerve to say it again.. I couldn't believe it, it must be something he gets kicks out of to say it to tourists who dont understand. But unfortunatley for him I did and replied in arabic to him 'do u think I'm a foreigner and that I don't understand what you are saying' and he didn't expect that of course and started panicking sayin he was referring to somebody else.

I later complained to one of the luggage security guards and he then came back with what looked like 2 secret police - well one was in uniform but had distinctive bagdes so must of been high ranking and the other was non-uniform, i realised at once how serious it is to call somebody that insult. I explained again what he said and that he assumed I didnt understand etc. And all 4 of us approached that same guy again...

He was dealing with another queue of passengers but then the 2 police dispersed the crowd and told them to queue elsewhere and you should have seen the look on that guys face, it was priceless, he then got a good telling off and apologised to me.

It was a very stupid thing to say anyway, not because I studied arabic but its such a common insult that many foreigners may have come across it anyway.

quite sad

[madmoggie]

A policeman did something very similar to me but I just ignored him as I was taken aback by his remark. My hubby asked me what was wrong after it had happened as I was so mad. When I told him, his brother who had come to see us off went looking for his friend who is a manager there. The policeman when confronted denied it but my hubby told them that I wouldn't make it up, so the guy was severely reprimanded and appologised profusely to my hubby, all I got was a quick sorry. Some obviously think this is accepable behaviour.