Passport pirouette: Almost not leaving Egypt

Just after starting work in Germany, I had the chance to escape to Egypt for a week. It was my one and only "resort holiday", borne out of the necessity of a last-minute booking summer peak and the simple desire to go somewhere warmer than what the Germans were calling summer.

As far as resort holidays go, it seemed quite OK (not that I have anything to compare it to), and I did get the chance to visit Luxor and some of those amazing Egyptian sights that we'd studied back in ancient history classes.

The interesting part about these passport stamps is that I nearly didn't get the "leaving Hurghada" one. After a mix-up at the resort over the promised airport transfer, I ended up being apprehended in the departures lounge by my irate (unpaid) taxi driver and his friend, a police officer, who maintained that he had the power to stop me from leaving Egypt if I didn't pay the taxi fare the driver thought I owed (I thought the resort owed it to him, not me). I cried poor and emptied my pockets to reveal about 9 Euros in coins, and said that was all I had left after my holiday, and eventually they accepted this and let me depart. Not a very cool way to leave a country, but I blame myself for ever signing up to a resort-style vacation.