[outi]

Nepenthine,

Just like Shira said, a one-piece swimsuit is better. To be on the safe side you could take a t-shirt to wear over it. When you know the place where you will be swimming, you can see which way you are more comfortable.

I just went to swimming in Siwa. The place is very rural and the local married women are allowed to show only one eye when outside of their homes. There was two warm springs where tourists and local males can swim. The young boys are having the time of their lives jumping and playing around. I only had bikini and t-shirt. I ended up not wearing the t-shirt at all, because there was very few local men around. I just covered my body with my towel, when outside of the water. At the same time I kept my distance with all the men, both Egyptian and Western tourists, and talked Arabic to the staff to get them understand that I live here. If I were a tourists I would be more careful.

Sunbathing is not a very good idea. Where ever you are the staff will be local men even if the customers were foreigners.

Outi