A Labor of Love

By Jimmy Dun

Egypt Month Publisher and Webmaster, Jimmy Dunn

Well, another month and late again on the magazine. I love writing this section, because it has no actual topic and I can write about anything I wish. So this month, I will explain why the magazine is late, while also letting our readers know a little more about Tour Egypt, or what we are often calling these days the Tour Egypt Network.

People often ask us why there is more than one government tourism web site for Egypt. Actually, Tour Egypt is the only one that is directly connected to the Ministry and ETA for general distribution to the world. There is also a Tourism Net, but that is more run by the Egyptian government's technical computer people and really less connected to the tourism authorities on a day to day basis than Tour Egypt.

Yet Tour Egypt is a private company, under direct agreement to the Ministry of Tourism and the Egyptian Tourist Authority to operate as their official web site. We maintain an organization within Egypt, while the actual web operation is performed in the US, and actually, elsewhere. In fact, the people who write the magazine are from Europe, North American and Egypt.

And in fact, while I work for the company on a full time basis, and others contribute considerable time to the effort, none of us are paid, with the exception of our Egypt Manager, "Hoose" Stryjak, and some token fees we pay occasionally for feature articles, and to our Senior Editor, Mary Kay Radnich. In other words, Tour Egypt is an enthusiast run publication. Most of us do what we do because we have fallen in love with Egypt. In fact, a number of our writers and editors are members of a small club called the Egyptomaniacs, and also frequent the Tour Egypt's BBS where they help out answering questions, or sometimes just chitchat.

And so, while we can yell and scream as much as we wish, the magazine often operates on Egyptian time. Well, and also that said, we have been doing a lot of other improvements to Tour Egypt all year long, including the addition of the web search engine, EgyptBot, expanding the Color Me Egypt section, expanding information on cities throughout Egypt and updating hotel and other databases. We also answer as much email as we can on questions about Egypt, which come in all day every day.

So there you have it. To a real degree, Tour Egypt is a community of people, most of whom I have never actually met in person, who contribute to our Egyptian experiences. Perhaps most of all, nearly all of our writers have visited Egypt, and enjoyed it so much that they feel compelled to share the experiences with others.

Welcome to the Ancient Egyptian Home By Ilene Springer

Historical Hotels in Egypt - Part IV By Jimmy Dunn

Editor's Commentary By Jimmy Dunn

Ancient Beauty Secrets By Judith Illes

Book Reviews Various Editors

Kid's Corner By Margo Wayman

Cooking with Tour Egypt By Mary K Radnich

Hotel Reviews By Juergen Stryjak

Egyptian Exhibitions By deTraci Regula

Nightlife Various Editors

Restaurant Reviews Various Editors

Shopping Around By Juergen Stryjak