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Travel Travelling to Egypt, The city: Cairo

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Putraskyline
post Mar 22 2013, 10:54 AM

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QUOTE(TAGreptiles @ Mar 22 2013, 10:52 AM)
Red Sea diving.  brows.gif  brows.gif

Anyways, i got family rate for MAS. So I have to book through my sister. i only pay 20% of the fares. Thats why i insist on flying mas.
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My trip commenced on 15th May tongue.gif Including Blue Hole in Dahab.
qebalt
post May 2 2014, 04:07 AM

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Wow, since the Egyptian Revolution, this thread died almost a year ago.

Just wanna share my experience here (I'm now writing from Cairo for God sake tongue.gif )

Currently I'm working in Cairo for a while. I've been here for more than a month. When my company asked me to come here, I'm like, what da hell? I was thinking that they're still some sort of 'BERSIH 2.0 or what ever' in the most part of Cairo.

Then came the scary part once I arrived here from Doha, the weather is cool! People still living as normal as they could. I was like, my mind has been poisoned by the ABC (Al-Jazeera, BBC and CNN).

We're staying in 5th Settlement, New Cairo, Morsi's neighbourhood. Yeah, they're still have a roadblock to get here, but not most of the time the roadblock is functional.

Our office is in Maadi, about 20km++ from our apartment. For the last 40 days, we've been pick up by our company's 'daredevil' driver almost everyday. My advice, don't ever try to drive by yourself. It's like rempits are everywhere, but these rempits are not only riding bikes, they drive cars, vans, buses and even the lorries like rempits. It is some sort of a must to have 'dented' vehicles here. There're no fast or slow lanes here. Every lanes are fast lanes and slow lanes.

You'll have a slight difficulties to communicate with the people here. Basic Arabic is preferable such as:

1. Numbers: wahid, isnin, salasa, arba 'a, khamsa, seth 'a, sam 'a, samaniah, teht 'a, ash shrot

2. Direction: yamin, syimal, amman

3. Greetings: assalamualaikum, sabahakir

4. Complement: sukran, afuan

About the protest or etc. , no worries, just ignore what the ABC have told you. Do your own research about the safety here. So far, as long Morsi is behind the bars, no need to worry. It is a compulsory for the citizen to serve in the army, therefore then I presumed what the military is doing=what the citizen is doing...

You must have a good tour guide. I've been recommended by my company to hire this guy, Mr. Mostafa, Whatsapp at +201003578717. He can do tours to the museum, pyramids, gift shops, Sinai tour, Suez tour, Valley of the Kings tour, Alexandria tour, hotels, restaurants and many more. His English is really superb, I even thought he's an American tongue.gif > Just mentioned my name, 'Iqbal MCS Oil' to get better offer. Please do get better offer from him.

Visa is free for 15 days. Mine even already overstay almost a month and I don't have any worries about it. Just pay the penalty for overstay about EGP150, they cop your passport and you're free to go home. But, the best is, just stick to the rules, renew your visa if you wanna stay longer.

Malaysian Embassy is useless (currently). I've called them several times and nobody answer, even my email. Since if you read this article in Malaysia, please complain to Zahid Hamidi (jokingly) or what so ever to wake his staffs up in Cairo smile.gif

The groceries are really cheap. The food is a bit like in KLCC.

If you've any plans to go here, please do so ASAP because you might have the chances to take pictures with the military armoured personnel in front of the museum. Oh, by the way, the museum is just next to Tahrir Square, hehehe biggrin.gif .

By the way, dried rubbish is almost everywhere since the population in Cairo is almost the total amount of Malaysians tongue.gif

This post has been edited by qebalt: May 2 2014, 04:40 AM
audy
post May 5 2014, 03:15 PM

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Can you provide the itinerary of the tours that you have taken with Mr. Mostafa and price? What is the best time to go Egypt -- lesser crowd, cooler weather?
mr.aran
post Jul 13 2014, 09:45 PM

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Im staying in egypt. Anything just pm me.
adele123
post Jul 12 2016, 07:28 PM

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Bring up an old post...

Anybody has been to egypt recently? In the last 12 months?
m4xspeed
post Aug 1 2017, 05:59 PM

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Any lowyat member going to Egypt ? I can help in answering questions... Egypt land of wonders. Please come and visit
kla2552
post Aug 6 2017, 11:16 PM

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Will be staying at Giza 3 nights from 9 Oct, Cairo 3 nights, fly to Luxor from 15-20 Oct. Solo F&E.
Still doing some reading from TripAdvisor about hiring driver from Westbank of Luxor to do F&E for VoK.
Any tips are welcome.
m4xspeed
post Aug 16 2017, 05:30 PM

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QUOTE(kla2552 @ Aug 6 2017, 11:16 PM)
Will be staying at Giza 3 nights from 9 Oct, Cairo 3 nights, fly to Luxor from 15-20 Oct. Solo F&E.
Still doing some reading from TripAdvisor about hiring driver from Westbank of Luxor to do F&E for VoK.
Any tips are welcome.
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cairo to luxor a bit far to land commuting advisable to take flight if budget is not a problem. travelling distance is around 315 miles from cairo which can take around 10 hour by bus.

Oct is the right time as Egypt just set in winter seasons. Luxor a bit warmer than cairo.
adele123
post Nov 4 2017, 12:08 AM

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QUOTE(kla2552 @ Aug 6 2017, 11:16 PM)
Will be staying at Giza 3 nights from 9 Oct, Cairo 3 nights, fly to Luxor from 15-20 Oct. Solo F&E.
Still doing some reading from TripAdvisor about hiring driver from Westbank of Luxor to do F&E for VoK.
Any tips are welcome.
*
QUOTE(m4xspeed @ Aug 16 2017, 05:30 PM)
cairo to luxor a bit far to land commuting advisable to take flight if budget is not a problem. travelling distance is around 315 miles from cairo which can take  around 10 hour by bus.

Oct is the right time as Egypt just set in winter seasons. Luxor a bit warmer than cairo.
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Wanna confirm. No visa needed if below 15 days right? I search googled, most reliable source came from egypt consulate uk website. Going soon...
kla2552
post Nov 4 2017, 04:00 AM

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No visa. But i think is 14 days. I never ask since my trip is total 13 days. Just fill up arrival card. Proceed to passport counter. I just come back from Egypt.

adele123
post Nov 4 2017, 09:55 AM

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QUOTE(kla2552 @ Nov 4 2017, 04:00 AM)
No visa. But i think is 14 days. I never ask since my trip is total 13 days.  Just fill up arrival card. Proceed to passport counter.  I just come back from Egypt.
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Thanks. Wow, 13 days is quite long. Hope you had a good trip. Cause the orang putih still need to pay $25 for visa on arrival.
audy
post Nov 14 2017, 03:47 PM

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QUOTE(kla2552 @ Nov 4 2017, 04:00 AM)
No visa. But i think is 14 days. I never ask since my trip is total 13 days.  Just fill up arrival card. Proceed to passport counter.  I just come back from Egypt.
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Hi can you share your itinerary to Egypt? I am keen to go but have not started doing any homework yet as very hard to find kaki to go such places. People always scared it is dangerous there. Would appreciate any tips, must do, etc. biggrin.gif

kla2552
post Nov 16 2017, 06:28 PM

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QUOTE(audy @ Nov 14 2017, 03:47 PM)
Hi can you share your itinerary to Egypt? I am keen to go but have not started doing any homework yet as very hard to find kaki to go such places.  People always scared it is dangerous there.  Would appreciate any tips, must do, etc. biggrin.gif
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I do my homework from TripAdvisor for latest update. And because since I 'm going along, the hustling and harassing especially at pyramids Giza plateau can be overwhelming if you not use to travel alone. But i can get over it. And i don't find Cairo a dangerous place. All are just verbal hustling. I saw solo female Caucasian and Chinese look walking around.

Maybe you post any questions here then i can try answer it back.

And i'm interested in ancient egyptian antiquity and loss ancient civilization. Definitely my trip of life time

I stayed at Pyramid View Inn. Just opposite Giza plateau. Spent 2 whole day visiting pyramids then spent one whole day at Cairo Museum.

This post has been edited by kla2552: Nov 16 2017, 06:36 PM
noslek
post Nov 17 2017, 10:05 AM

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QUOTE(audy @ Nov 14 2017, 03:47 PM)
Hi can you share your itinerary to Egypt? I am keen to go but have not started doing any homework yet as very hard to find kaki to go such places.  People always scared it is dangerous there.  Would appreciate any tips, must do, etc. biggrin.gif
*
QUOTE(kla2552 @ Nov 16 2017, 06:28 PM)
I do my homework from TripAdvisor for latest update. And because since I 'm going along, the hustling and harassing especially at pyramids Giza plateau can be overwhelming if you not use to travel alone. But i can get over it. And i don't find Cairo a dangerous place. All are just verbal hustling. I saw solo female Caucasian and Chinese look walking around.

Maybe you post any questions here then i can try answer it back.

And i'm interested in ancient egyptian antiquity and loss ancient civilization. Definitely my trip of life time

I stayed at Pyramid View Inn. Just opposite Giza plateau. Spent 2 whole day visiting pyramids then spent one whole day at Cairo Museum.
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I did a solo trip to Cairo too, and I must say it’s one of the more special trip for me cause of all the interactions I encountered. It was a free and easy for most part, other than one day guided tour to the pyramids. My view on travelling solo in Egypt is that Egypt should not be your first solo trip destination, as there are just too many ‘harrassment’ which will require you to trust your instinct and be on your toes a lot.

The general public is definitely warm and friendly, especially many of the younger ones who will say hello to me on the street biggrin.gif The pyramids is a just magnificent, and I really enjoyed the slow camel ride overlookinging the few Giza pyramids (touristy it is indeed). I was at the Coptic region too and it’s my first time hearing hymns in Arabic which I find it most facinating!

Of course, being a country with poorer economic status, people there will find all means to earn money. Other than being approached by lying strangers on the street trying to poach me to their recommended places, there’s also a few occasion where I wasn’t given the correct change and I have to go back to ask for it (I can elaborate if anyone is keen to know).

I do have physical encounters too! Both in the same evening in Khan el-Khalili market:
(1) First was a pair of father and son pair at one of the back alley of the market - the father just grabbed my hand and said why am I wearing his son’s watch. I’m just wearing a normal g-shock, nothing fanciful. The son on the other hand was pulling and lifting my shirt which I had no idea what’s he’s trying to do (I’m a guy so I’ve got nothing interesting under the shirt). This encounter lasted for a few minutes before they said they are joking but for a few moments I must admit I was a bit worried cause of the physical contact.
(2) The second one was at the very very crowded area - I was walking past this stretch of really crowded part on my way back, and suddenly someone came and hugged me from the front, and immediately another one from the back, and they hugged but never let go! They don’t look that dangerous cause they’re still smiley, and obviously I don’t understand what they are saying, so all I can do is stand there, sandwiched between two men, with my hands in my pocket all the time to protect my valuables and hoping they’ll let go soon. This lasted for about 10seconds before they let me go and I heard a lady’s voice saying ‘Go! Go!’. I turned around and saw a lady asking me to go and I left before I can even say thank you to her (bless you!). That was perhaps one of the longest 10seconds in my life!

Despite all these, if you ask me if I will go back to Egypt alone/ encourage people to travel in Egypt solo, I will say yes, go ahead, cause Egypt is too pretty to miss! When I’m ready I’ll pay Luxor a visit! As long as you know what you’re in for, trust your instinct, and know how to protect yourself (and your valuables), you’re good to go!

Ultimately, everyone will have their own unique travel experience, even if we are visiting the same place. All these experiences, both the good and the bad, are part of my journey exploring the world, and I’m thankful for each and everyone of them. Hopefully it’ll build me to be a more well-equipped traveller to conquer South America on my own one day!

PS: Sorry for the rather long post

This post has been edited by noslek: Nov 17 2017, 10:08 AM
kla2552
post Nov 17 2017, 12:09 PM

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At Luxor, i hired driver to visit Dendara & Abydos. On route and back from Abydos need armed police car convoy escort. What an experience.
Dendara Hathor temple definitely i will go back again.

This post has been edited by kla2552: Nov 17 2017, 12:10 PM
adele123
post Dec 5 2017, 09:13 PM

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Sharing my trip report that i posted in tripadvisor here.

Travel Period: 24/11/2017 to 2/12/2017

Hotel chosen:
Luxor – Nefertiti Hotel
Aswan – Philae Hotel
Cairo (Giza) – Great Pyramid Inn

Not going to comment much on the hotels as I will be giving the reviews on the hotel individually.

A) The cruise: Blue Shadow

i) Cabin size: Good, spacious.

Good selection of TV channels. While we are obviously not there for watching TV, those free time at night (when it was too cold to spend time on the deck), is a bonus, and allowing us to follow up with north Sinai attack and Prince Harry’s engagement with CNN.

Cabin’s bathroom: Spacious, clean. There’s the normal hand-held shower and rain shower available, in the bathtub area. Good, hot shower. Basic toiletries were provided.

ii) Other facilities on board:
Sundeck: Small pool, lounge chair for sunbathing or stargazing whichever floats your boat, additional tables and chairs for under the shade.

Restaurant - Food: Average or above average. I would rate it 6.5 to 7 out of 10. My in-laws might rate it 5 or 6 out of 10. Certain days, you would enjoy the food more than other days. On the off days, the grilled meat would be a bit off, too dry, etc. On a good day, the grill is absolutely delicious. I enjoyed the night when they served local Egyptian food. Out of the many hot food, probably only one I did not enjoy much. The rest are okay and some very delicious.

Lounge Bar – big, spacious, can have everybody on board in there, which I assume is the same for every other cruise boat.

Souvenir Shop – many other tourists do shop there. Not sure of the quality of products sold.

iii) Overall

I booked this cruise as I was informed that it was new by some here. Overall, can’t complaint much as the facilities were great, the cabin feels like a 4* or 5* hotel (I haven’t stayed in much high-end hotels but my future-in-laws have more experience and they were satisfied).

Service is decent overall. It feels clean everywhere and everything feels new, the hall, lounge bar, restaurant, sun deck. It’s great.

The cruise was on full capacity when we were on there.

B) The tour company and tour guides

I booked it with Emo Tours as it was one of the most reviewed on TA and they do deserve those good ratings as they have been reliable in arranging all the transports and we are very happy with the tour guides in both Luxor-Aswan and Cairo. I booked the hotels and domestic flight on my ownand other things are handles by them.I paid the deposit amount about 25% and the rest was paid when we arrived in Luxor. They cover all entrance fees except the optional ones, but good enough. I find their price relatively reasonable for the day tours (given how expensive those entrance fees are right now).

As for our tour guides, we were extremely happy to have Victor with us for 5 days. He is very experienced and gave us the details we need to appreciate what we are looking at. He helped us exchange money and also got us a sim card during our short stay. Also in comparison to other tour guides we see on our tour, he speaks English very well.

C) Itinerary

We did the ‘standard’ cruise itinerary and 2 days in Cairo (one day for pyramid, one day for citadel, museum and bazaar).

A few improvements I should have made but didn’t, which was mostly an oversight of mine, for not doing additional research.
1) Luxor Museum – could have done it during the morning when I did Luxor Temple and Karnak Temple.
2) Dahshur – not adding it to my Cairo Pyramids tour. Drop Memphis and add Dahshur, or just add it in.
3) Book Egypt Air domestic flights earlier. I wanted to book a 2.30pm flight out of Aswan on the day I checked out from the cruise, but guess what, it was booked out. Given the tight schedule of only 9 days, I had to book a 5am flight from Aswan to Cairo the next day and did the pyramid tour on the same day. Most domestic flights are on the Embraer which is a small.
4) Paying E£200 for King Tutankhamun’s tomb, KV 62. To me, $11 for a real tiny tomb ain’t worth the price. It was good, but $11 is a lot of money (again, to me, I don’t earn USD and I had to pay for 3 other people who didn’t quite appreciate others).

D) The safety
I was in Egypt when the attack in North Sinai happened. Saw it on CNN. Friends were concerned and did check on me. Did I feel unsafe? No. I believe the same can be said for the thousands of other tourist that I saw at each temple, tourist attraction I was at.

Airport security is slight pain in the arse in a way, but you can tell they take security seriously. We have to go through airport security twice, once before the check-in counters and once the usual security check like anywhere else in the world now. The 1st layer even make us take off our shoes, show our passport and flight itinerary. it does feel they take security seriously.

Touts and hassle? Yes, and very annoying for that matter. It was the worse in the pyramids area, near the Khofu (Great Pyramid) as there were more people. Taxi driver at Luxor Airport agreed on $10 to fetch us from the airport to the hotel. When we arrived, he asked for $15. And he wasn’t very polite about asking more, although he wasn’t being aggressive either. We end up giving $12. Just so we can enter peacefully.

E) Tipping

The Luxor Airport taxi driver asked the tips for the other guys who helped to move the luggage to the car boot. We really gave too much ($3), but we were tired and it was our first day.

Yes, the tipping is annoying, but you will get used to it after a few days, you will have a feel of what feels enough or don’t tip at all. Our tour guide (like many other tour guides) will also provide recommendation on the tipping. I don’t always follow exactly the benchmark from him or the benchmark of the outdated post from tripadvisor (I did benchmark 2 times that amount due to devaluation).

F) Conclusion

Should you go? Yes, especially if you are a big fan of history. One of the 3 early cradles of civilisaion and the only seven ancient wonders of the world that still exist. The Pyramids are as good as it can be, even though the facades are destroyed, you will still marvel at the structure. And then Luxor, good place for history geeks.

It’s a pity that the tourist numbers were not what it used to be. Egypt is a country with so much potential, that I feel it is quite sad the people in the country are not having the glory of the country, like their ancestors did. Whether it is cruising down the nile, pyramid hopping, temple hopping and tomb hopping, it is really enjoyable. Dont forget the red sea diving as well (which i didn’t have time for).

I felt sad that Cairo is in quite a bad shape, plenty of random debris and rubbish along the main highways or roads that I have been on and buildings in bad shape (ruined buildings, debris not properly cleared) and also many illegal housing, as I was told. Do visit Egypt, because you won’t regret it. And at the time I visited, I believe tourist numbers are back and because it is november, it is rather peak aswell. I can’t help but wonder how would the temples be like if it was like the days before the arab spring. But you still can avoid the crowd by carefully planning the time of the day you visit those main attractions.

I have not done a cruise before so I cannot compare but doing the cruise down the nile, where it can be desert-like or desert one side of the river and lushingly green on the other side is a wow to me.

I do have a tour guide to recommend and happy to share his contact with you and cheers everyone.

touristking
post Sep 30 2018, 05:59 PM

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Hi
Thinking of going to Egypt, the usual tourist places, and appreciate some pointers. Thanks in advance.

1. Cash money. I usually bring the bare minimum going to a foreign country and withdraw cash from the foreign bank's ATM. How about Egypt?

2. For a 1 week+ trip, how much cash would you recommend? Joining a tour so hotel etc already taken care off. Extras like hot air balloon etc, do they accept card?

3. Generally are card widely usable in Egypt?



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