Taking local currancy with you.

After talking with a couple of people that have been to Egypt recently it seems that it may be worth your while to get quite a few Egyptian 5 pound notes to take with you if you are staying in a hotel or similar facility.

Everything seems to cost a dollar. Most small items can be bartered down to a dollar in the markets and gratuities are most often a dollar. That translates into 5 Egyptian pounds though a dollar right now is worth about 5.5 pounds in Egypt. (http://www.xe.com/ucc/) So you may be able to save some money by getting five pound notes before you go. I was also told that generally when the banks exchange you money in Egypt very few five pound notes are given out even if you ask for them.

Will find out the places in Anchorage to exchange for Egyptian pounds and find out the cost in the next few days. I will write more about this when I can confirm or deny the truth of the matter. But that won't be until at least the middle of March 2009.

Seems the GBP is up to $1.36 today.