Egypt is terrific value. It is possible to spend as little as US$10-15 a day if you're prepared to stay in the cheapest hotels and hostels, eat local vendors' food, limit yourself to one historic site a day and travel on packed third-class trains. The major expense for the travelers in Egypt is transport and site entry - the latter has taken some severe jumps in recent years. Entry to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo will cost you around US$7 and the recently opened Tomb of Nefertari near Luxor is a hefty US$60.

Be aware that pickpockets operate around tourist sites, so avoid carrying money in your back pocket. Well-known brands of travellers' cheques will be honored everywhere, although having travelers' cheques in US dollars, UK pounds or in Deutschmarks will prove the most hassle-free. American Express, Visa, MasterCard, JCB and Eurocards are accepted at various stores and hotels displaying the appropriate signage. Visa and MasterCard can be used to obtain cash advances at Banque Misr and Bank of Egypt branches.

A service charge of 12% applies in restaurants and hotels, and a sales tax of 5- 7% is also levied. Additionally, you might find yourself paying a further 1-4% tax on upper-end accommodation, so it is possible to find that a 23% tax has been added to the price you've been quoted for a mid-range or top-end hotel room.

Bargaining is a part of life in Egypt and virtually everything is open to negotiation. This includes your room for the night, your lunchtime roadside snack and the felucca you ride down the Nile in. The few rules to observe in the bazars are these: never offer a price that you're not prepared to pay, get a feel for the real price before you begin haggling, take your time and enjoy the friendly sport of it (which might include a cup of tea from the vendor), and remember that you're never obliged to buy anything - you won't offend anyone.

Egypt's climate is hot and dry most of the year. During the winter months - December, January and February - average daily temperatures stay up around 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) on the Mediterranean coast and a pleasant 26 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit) in Aswan. Maximum temperatures get to 31 degrees Celsius (88 degrees Fahrenheit) and 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) respectively. Winter nights only get down to 8 degrees Celsius, a very Egyptian version of chilly. Alexandria receives the most rain with 19 cm each year, while Aswan is almost bone-dry with just 2 mm annually. Between March and April the khamsin blows in from the Western Desert at up to 150 km per hour.