How does one get from Cairo to 6th of October City? What's the
meaning of Yalla? Which monuments are open and which are
closed? What is Hawass, the chairman of the Egyptian Supreme
Council of Antiquities (SCA) up to? How about a reasonable
hotel for divers on the  Red Sea
coast? Just how hot is it in
Egypt? What's happening in Egyptian soccer? These and a thousand other questions have been answered
on the Tour Egypt Conference, otherwise known as the BBS.The
Tour Egypt BBS is a real time messaging and chat
system, and has been online for a number of years. It is
consistently frequented by a number of people who like Egypt,
travel there often, have a varied interest and expertise on
Egyptian antiquities as well as travel. In addition, we also
have our Egyptian nationals who visit the BBS, as well as a
number of ex-pats currently living there. Here, one will find
many of the people who write for Tour Egypt.
For years now, I have claimed that the Conference
system,
the Tour Egypt message board, is one of the internet's best
resources on Egypt. I didn't always think that. When we first
started Tour Egypt many years ago and set up the message
board, for many months there was no activity at all, as one
might expect on a new board. I lost interest and stopped
checking the system after awhile. I simply put the system out
of my thoughts.
Then one day, perhaps several years later, I must have
gotten a message from Mary Kay  Radnich which advised me to
take a look at the system. What I found was something like,
"you have 4,512 new messages". While I was ignoring
the message system, a community had formed. In fact, a group
from the BBS had actually formed a club, called the
Egyptomaniacs, and had visited Egypt together. That group
formed strong bonds with Egypt, and several of the members
even moved to Cairo, while others were in fact, Egyptians.
For most, the BBS ends up being a place where they can meet
up with people who have a similar interest in Egypt. It has
certainly become a virtual community, and many have become
lifelong friends with people who, often as not, they have met
in person.
Today, the message board seems to consist of a core group
of people who have been using the system for many years, with
the addition of some newer regulars. This core group consists
of a number of Egyptians, several ex-pats living in Egypt, as
well as a number of people who travel relatively frequently to
Egypt, and have an intense interest in the country. They make
up a wonderful Tour Egypt resource. They provide answers to
questions that Tour Egypt's small staff could never approach
because as a body, their expertise spans a large knowledge
base of information.
 Hence, I would like to tell everyone a little about these
people.
Mary Kay has always been somewhat of a driving force on the
BBS, even though she is probably one of the least experienced
in Egyptian travel. She is the informal president of the
Egyptomaniacs, and you might recognize her name from our
Recipe section, where she provides most of our recipes. She
keeps everything going on the BBS and is a moderator of the
system, also keeping things clean. Mary Kay has been a
regular there since 1997.
Nancy, otherwise known as Goldie, or Shar Dahab, is living
her dream in Egypt. Also a regular since 1997, and a
California girl, she has now made Cairo her home for some
time. She's apparently having a grand time in Cairo, and as an
ex-pat living in Egypt, brings some real prospective to the
Egyptian travelers who frequent the board with questions.
 Adel Murad is also a long term member of the BBS. As an
Egyptian journalist who actually lives in London, Adel
makes many contributions to the board, and is the author of
many Tour Egypt articles. However, perhaps his most
interesting contribution to the message system, at least for
me, is his information on the Arabic language (specific to
Egypt). Beginning with a thread called EAR, standing for
Egyptomaniac Arabic Resource, it became so popular that we
gave him his own conference.
Then there is Sonny Stengle, a German producer who has
provided Tour Egypt with some great stories and many wonderful
perspectives on Egypt. Sonny frequently provides information, about
the Luxor area. He inspires our imagination with balloon
flights, rare interviews and many photographs.
 One of my favorite Egyptians is Diaa
Khalil, for any number
of reasons. It is not uncommon for various Egyptians to attach
themselves to tourists in order to profit from such an
association. Taxi drivers are probably the best example, and
though they provide considerable assistance, their motive is
usually money. Diaa, on the other hand, is probably one of the
best-natured Egyptians I have ever met, and has helped
hundreds of tourists, I believe, because he genuinely likes
people. Profit never seems to have entered that equation. On
the message board, he provides information that only a life
long resident of Cairo could know, but has also met many of
the people he helped on the board once they arrived in Cairo.
He's also a go-to-man for Tour Egypt, currently writing a
number of specific articles for us on shopping in Egypt.
 I've never met Muhammad
Hegab, otherwise known as Gogo.
Like Diaa, he is an Egyptian living in Cairo, and also like
Diaa, is a walking encyclopedia on the country and who is very
willing to help people.
Joerg Heinz is another German who's main claim to fame on
the board is that he is a frequent visitor to Egypt. Along
with providing a number of pictures to the board, he also
provides visitors with a view of by an interested and
knowledgeable traveler.
Likewise, Karen Phillips is another US expatriate
living in Cairo, the Giza area, who is very knowledgeable
about details of living in the city.
 Nermin is a young Egyptian woman from Alexandria, who
studies Graeco-Roman archaeology, but is best known as the banner creator
for some of the regulars.
Wilde Bloemen is really Ann, a woman from Belgium who travels to
Egypt regularly with her family.
Dora Barendrecht, who is Dutch, is a newbie to the BBS ( by comparison)
and her love for the country is contagious! Dora's comments
and questions are full of energy and enthusiasm for Egypt.
Simone Letailleur, who has been traveling to Egypt for many
years, is another long time contributor to the BBS, who is
full of energy and enthusiasm for the country.
And there are so many others - Donna, Michelle, Mintaka,
Mohammed Osama, Lin, Linda, to name a few more - who bring
energy, enthusiasm, and a positive spirit to the BBS.
Operating the Message System
 Operationally, the BBS does take some getting use to,
though it is not unlike many similar programs. One must log in
and establish a user name and password to post, but this is a
minimal task. There is very little information required, and
we do not use the information for mass mailings, nor do we
allow anyone else to. Alternatively, you can log in as a
guest, but you will not be able to post questions or
information.
Once you have logged in, if you allow the use of frames as
most do, there are two important control areas, consisting of
the black menu bar at the top of the screen, and the
conference list on the left.
You may open up any conference by clicking on its name. A
number of "Theads" will appear under the conference
name after you click it. Most of these are not single
messages, but threads of messages on a specific topic. They
will have a + to the left. Clicking on the plus sign will open
up the thread of messages. You can read the individual
messages by clicking on them.
Once a message is opened, it appears on the right side of the
screen. At the top of the message are various options.
Clicking "post" will post a new message to the
conference. Clicking reply will post a reply to the specific
message. You may also post a new message to a conference by
clicking on the conference, and then the "post" on
the black menu bar at the top of the screen.
Another very useful tool is the search button. This allows you
to search for specific topics that might have been discussed.
Anytime that you enter the BBS, you will see any new messages
that have been posted since you last marked the message as
read. To mark all messages read, click on the "Mark
Read" button on the top black menu bar.
There are many more options and commands, including chatting,
paging and others, but these basic steps will get you going.
Enjoy the BBS, and the friendly people who inhabit Tour
Egypt's Virtual Community.
Click here to
visit the Tour Egypt Message Board
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