Sharm El Sheikh Tourist Trap Tips by mtcowgirl

Diluted Oil & Buying Oil Bottles

As with all touristic places, there are unscrupulous businesses that are willing to take advantage of people who do not possess a lot of knowledge of what they are purchasing.

There are a multitude of oil/perfume shops in Sharm el Sheikh. Of the ones I've been in, they did not try to pass off diluted oil. I have however paid way more than I should have for the little glass oil bottles at one seller who took advantage of my not knowing the real price!

Here are some tips to make sure that you are not ripped off!

Unique Suggestions: The trick is to add alcohol to the oil to stretch out the supply. When alcohol is added, the oil becomes oily and shiny. In addition to masking part of the oil scent, the diluted oil burns off its scent more quickly and does not have the same shelf life as pure oil.

The most common alcohol used to dilute is ethanol alcohol which is quite caustic and people with sensitive skin may have problems. Many of those with allergies to regular perfumes may actually just be allergic to the alcohol that is used and can use pure oil with no trouble. Just try on a small part of your skin before purchasing any large quantity.

For oil bottles, you should check the quality of the glass as well as the design. Check for broken pieces, especially the stopper. Also check the gold design, if any. Some sellers just have metallic paint rather than true gold and you can tell the difference when you inspect the bottle as the paint will lack the luster and brillance of true gold.

The price for the bottles varies on the design but according to a friend at one of the dive centers, you can pick up very good priced bottles in the Old Market near McDonalds for around 40-60LE. I paid more than triple that in one of the street vendors :( More complicated designs will cost you around US$20-30

Fun Alternatives: As mentioned, I have not had any sellers in Sharm try to pass off diluted oil to me but with so many sellers around, there may be a bad apple or two around...you never know! I just wanted to get the info out there so you know a bit more about what you are purchasing!

Make sure that the business carefully packages your oil with a tightly sealed stopper and wrapped in bubble wrap. Often they will put the wrapped bottles in a flimsy cardboard box, see if they have something more sturdy available. Also, just in case the oil does leak, try putting what you can in a sealed plastic bag so you don't end up coming home with oil-soaked and smelling clothing!

Have fun!

Fake Papyrus

As in all tourist destinations, there is always some unscrupulous businessman that is willing to take advantage of tourists who don't really know much about the item they are purchasing.

Papyrus is a great gift and abundantly available in Sharm el Sheikh in the Naama Shopping Center (the big center in the middle of town). It is easy to travel with as your purchase will be rolled and placed into a small cardboard roll that easily stows in your lugguage or travels individually as a carry-on.

Here are some simple tips to make sure that you are not ripped off!

Unique Suggestions: Real papyrus does not crumble/crack when rolled. Now, don't go around crumbling the papyrus into a ball or folding it in half as you are likely to ruin the design...but just gently roll the paper like you were going to put it into a tube.

Additionally, check the quality of the design. Some vendors will "cheat" and save time by printing on papyrus with an inkjet printer rather than painting. The printed designs will often have a "bleeding" problem where colors will bleed into the next. A true painted papyrus will not have overlapping colors and paint will stay within their lines. Also with painted papyrus, the artist will sign their name.

You should also check the design to make sure that the painting does not crack and flake off. You would be sore to go home and discover cracks in your papyrus and/or painting! Most reputable papyrus dealers stamp the papyrus to certify the authenticity.

Fun Alternatives: Papyrus will range in cost from a few dollars to several hundred depending on the artist, size, complexity of the design, and whether or not the item is framed. A quick guess on the prices after my purchases is that you can count on paying around US$5-25 for an 8 1/2 X 11 design and US$20-75 for a larger wall design.

Remember the price is always negotiable when shopping in Egypt but don't get too stingy and try buying good quality papyrus for ridiculously low prices. If you purchase more than one item, go for a quantity discount and wrangle an extra picture or a few personalized bookmarks for friends.

Tours - Watch Your Time!

Sometimes tour operators will tell you what you want to hear rather than what you need to know.

My friend and I discovered this after we signed up and went on the St. Catherine's/Dahab tour with one of the agencies. The tour agent, one of the many on the street, told us that the tour would be 7 hours long when we explained that we needed to be back in time to catch an evening flight. The trip ended up being 12 hours and we had to run for our flights...fortunately we had padded in enough time for showers and packing!

Unique Suggestions: I definitely am not advocating skipping out on the tours. What I do want to warn people on is that the time that you expect the tour to be finished may not actually be the time you are done! Make sure your tour will finish well before you need to leave for the airport!

Maybe going on a longer tour the day you are leaving is not such a good idea. Perhaps save the long trips for free days and the short tours like quad-running in the desert can be on the day of departure.

Fun Alternatives: Check with several different tour companies before you decide on which tour to take. You should be able to gauge the correct time for the tour during your research. You will also be able to find the best price by talking to a couple different people.

Come Sign My Guestbook!

Anyone who has been or looked into going to Sharm el Sheikh probably has heard about how the shopkeepers hassle people walking by on the street. The favorite line is something like this --> Hi, my family just opened a new exhibit. I'm not a businessman but we do exhibits all over Europe, US, and now here. Would you please come sign our guestbook?

Another way they get you to stop and engage is to say "Hi, where are you from?" or even less courteous is to shout out "Hey, Irish" or trying to guess your country by speaking other languages until they get it right. They are generally surprised to discover Americans because most visitors are European.

It's just business and this is the way that the Egyptians have figured out it works in Sharm el Sheikh. They will yell out to you as you walk by basically the entire time you are there. Sometimes they will insult you just to get you to stop and engage them.

I've found that after a couple of days of refusing to talk to the shopkeepers, they will generally recognize you and leave you alone. It's that first couple of days that are the most frustrating though because EVERYONE is trying to get you to come into their shop or restaurant!

Unique Suggestions: If you do stop and engage a shopkeeper who asks you to go into their shop, go to the shop and sign the guestbook. If you aren't interested in their wares, simply say "No thank you" and leave. You are under no obligation to sit and listen to them talk about the family business and you certainly don't need to buy anything if you don't want it! A simple excuse of "I need to go meet some friends and I'm late" will work well...although often they will ask you to come back with your friends later and give you a business card.

Honestly, if you are planning on doing some shopping, it's not a bad thing to get friendly with one of the shopkeepers. No matter what you want to buy, they probably have a shop or know a friend with a shop that sells what you are looking for. Tell them that you aren't interested in what they have to sell or that you'll think about it and then get them to work for you!

"You know I'm not sure about that glass palm tree. I do like it but let me think about it. In the meantime, I really wanted to buy my mother a pashima. Do you know where I can find one?" is a great way to get your shopping done :)

Plus the guys running the shops aren't bad people...their sales pitch is just a little annoying :)

Fun Alternatives: Or if you want to avoid the hassle of dealing with sometimes over-friendly and often-pushy shopkeepers, go to the big Sharm Shopping Center in the middle of town. The shopkeepers are usually busy enough with customers that walk in that they don't go outside to bring in customers...the customers come to them.

It's more relaxed shopping but you can miss out on a little of the excitement of bargaining in the markets by going this route. Bargained prices can be a little bit higher because of the overhead of running a regular shop.