This may sound silly, but what places are best for finding decently priced, fresh food? When I was abroad in Central America, I found that the "bodega" wasn't always the best place to go shopping; you could often get better deals elsewhere at other markets. Does this hold true in Egypt as well, or not so much?

Oh it definitely holds true. Here in Hurghada we have a covered fruit and vegetable market. The only place to beat it is the Abu Ashara supermarket but at a price. Inside the market is every type of fruit and vegetable available here in Egypt. The supermarkets also have imported fruits but again at a price. There are literally hundreds of fruit and vegetable stalls dotted all over the town but they are usually more expensive abd bit as fresg, Just outside the fruit and vegetable market are the small shops and butchers.
It was so funny when I first came here I paid what they asked, now I class myself as nos Masr and haggle with the best of them. It is great fun and certainly keeps the brain cells going. My usual man where I get my vegetables tried to charge me double last week for my carrots, simply by putting all the bags back and beginning to walk away did the trick.

I love the farmers markets. I love to go to them early in the morning. We I live you can haggle with them but alot of times they will just let you walk away. I love the whole atomosphere of them. Alot of hustle and bustle going on and the fruits and vegetables are really priced rather well where I live.

I read somewhere that Egypt has to import about 40% of the fresh fruits and vegetables needed to feed the country ...just curious about where the imports come from? Spain???

Wow, that seems like a lot of imported fruits and vegetables. I would have thought with the climate that fruits would grow good in Egypt. I had never heard this before.

I like going to them very much, too.... only problem is that I usually don't haggle at all and just pay the price they're asking. I know, I'm wimpy.

I would assume that reclaiming land from the desert for agricultural use is an expensive proposition, but I don't know. In driving from Cairo to Jerusalem, I did notice the irrigated fields and farms the minute you cross into Israel. Something I didn't see very much of in the areas I'd been in in Egypt.

I thought Egypt produced a lot of foodstuff for local consumption as well as export, didn't realise they imported so much.

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That would make sense, yes... they probably just can't grow *enough* there... wow, I never visualized being able to drive from Cairo to Jerusalem. It sounds fascinating! Do they give travelers much trouble at the border?

I've used that tactic before...it usually works very well. They will let you walk away only if they are taking a loss. I'm really glad to hear about all this; it seems like certain places have an abundance of stalls/markets to get fresh things from.

One question...is there any danger of contamination, or are you okay if you wash things?