Egypt - Advice

Mont

Im thinking of going to Egypt next year for roughly a week as i was always fascinated by it, problem is looks like i will be going hans solo as none of my friends are interested.

Obviously i want to see the pyramids, and a few cool tombs and stuff and also hitting the town in the night (well thats the plan). Anyone got accomodations - is it better to book a package deal or arrange everything separately?
Where to go and stay?
When to go and should i learn a bit of the language?
What to watch out for?

Help appreciated
I'm a bloke by the way

bleary

its really easy to get around yourself
The cheapest way to do this when I went was to book a flight with a package flight only and then travel around yourself after that . I booked accommodation through hostelworld and then as I went along -Its all mostly hotels with your own rooms anyway If you only have a week though you probably only would have time for Cairo

pandamoanium

I'm thinking of going to Egypt too for a week next year, I've always wanted to there and see the sights, unfortunately all of my mates are either broke/don't want to go, so I'm in the same boat as yourself!

There are some fantastic package deals on Budget Travel atm, unfortunately they're only based on 2 sharing though

Four of a kind

I went to Sharm el sheilkh 2 years ago for a 2 week holiday. We did trips to the pyramids, mount sinai, and other desert adventures and had a ball of a time. its such a wonderful country. BUT.....we did'nt get to see all that we wanted to. Luxor for example, we did'nt get near it. You'd need a good three weeks there to see most of the ancient stuff imo.

Regarding what to look out for. The obvious one is don't pay any attention to the local husslers. All they want you to do is buy something from there. While there is no danger associated with this....it can be very intimidating at first. But after a day or two of strangers trying to sell you stuff you'll soon get the hang of it.

All in all, Egypt was a beautiful holiday. It was the second hottest place I'd been to.....after death valley(which can't be beaten in terms of temperatures).

its very cheap, food is good and you'll enjoy it. Go for it.

Regards,
Carlo

jamesd

I went last year for 2 weeks.
Based ourselves in Luxor , Saw all kings/queens... around luxor, took an internal day flight to cario and saw the pyramids there and the sprinx
Went for 3 days on a nile cruise down to aswan.
I think 2 weeks and base yourself in Luxor and you would see loads.

Mr Maroon

My honest advice would be don't go to Egypt

slayerking

jamesd wrote: »

I went last year for 2 weeks.
Based ourselves in Luxor , Saw all kings/queens... around luxor, took an internal day flight to cario and saw the pyramids there and the sprinx
Went for 3 days on a nile cruise down to aswan.
I think 2 weeks and base yourself in Luxor and you would see loads.

+1 for this.

Went to Egypt there last summer for 2 weeks and based ourselves out of Luxor aswell. Had an amazing time. Saw all the sights around Luxor (Theres soo much to see around Luxor alone!!) and also booked an Internal flight to Cairo to see the pyramids, sphinx, Museum etc.
Also booked a day trip to Safaga to go snorkeling in the Red sea (Amazing, a definite must do if you go).
I'd agree with jamesd in basing yourself out of Luxor.

theCzar

I was in Cairo and Luxor for 9 days in Sept '07 (on my own too), did it all as I went along, no organised tours. This made a few things harder to be honest, like seeing the tombs in Valley of the Kings, but there are tour agencies in Luxor if you want to book when you get there. (In this case, as a solo traveller, see if you can find some people in the same boat as youself to avail of group rates)

For seeing the ancient egypt side of things (which is all I did, I didn't go to Aswan or Oasises or Red Sea). You're principally talking Luxor and Cairo. There's daily trains running the distance, I was there at the end of Ramadan and they were booked solid a week or more in advance. The train station in Luxor had a very helpful tourist desk but no tourist only ticket window so you had to fight and elbow your way through fifty screaming locals to shout at a teller who didn't speak English.

Flights are very cheap and there's several every day so I would recommend flying between Luxor and Cairo. Check out http://www.egyptair.com/English/Pages/splashpage.aspx, you can book online and check the schedule.

I preferred Cairo, the antiquities museum was great, the pyramids rising from amidst the crumbling concrete tower blocks of Giza were great, the Citadel of Saladin was pretty cool, but closed when I got there. The Temples of Luxor and Karnak (just outside Luxor) were very impressive, I'm a sucker of Hieroglyphics. The Valley of the Queens with the temple of Hatsheput (I think it was hers...) was good but Valley of the Kings was a bit of a let down, they're just holes in the ground compared with the temples IMO.

I had three problems with Egypt.

Firstly, the weather was very hot, but like the Ramadan issues, entirely my fault, I went in September. Avoid summer, as the valley of queens/kings/nobles etc can be closed due to insane temperatures during peak summer months. It can be as hot as death valley, with temps approaching 50 celcius.

Secondly, the tourists. Yes, I know I'm one too, but the greater part of the tourists in Eygpt are middle aged package tourists and their large herds can make it hard to get enough room to breathe in the popular temples. Tip: loiter at the back and listen to their guide, learning for free! Hurray!

Thirdly, the biggest problem, the touts. I've been all over the world but I have never seen the density and persistence of these touts. Every monument and hotel is surrounded by them, thick as black flies. Even inside the museum of antiquities you can't move for the "guides" insisting that you need them. Extrememly frustrating and annoying. On the streets you will be constantly pestered with "hello friend, welcome to eypgt", "where are you going? let me show you the way" Its all bollox.

Which leads me to the most vital phrase I've ever learnt. Repeat after me.
"La Sho-kran!"

=No Thank you. I don't even know the word for yes. Keep walking, say it once, stony faced. Don't smile, don't shrug apologetically, your "No thank you" should be the living embodiment of "feck off" Anything else and its like blood in a sharkpool and you'll be molested down the street and beyond.

Some of them will tell you, when you rebuff their polite welcome to their country or offer of travel advice or directions, that not all Egpytians are trying to sell you something. This is also a lie touts tell to make you feel bad so don't. Anybody who approaches you is looking for money or to guide you to their shop.

As it was the end of Ramadan, I didn't even try and find a night spot. Restaurants with English menus seemed to often think that speaking English meant all you wanted was burger and chips. I had to go to an expensive place to get proper middle eastern fare and an English menu.

Oh taxis. Taxis will try and overcharge you to kingdom come and haggling before hand is hard because they will play dumb and pretend not to understand. best bet: Find out the fare (I think 20 egyptian pounds is enough to take you almost anywhere in Cairo, and is probably overly generous). Don't even ask a price when you get into the cab, and when you get to your destination, get out with your bags, then give the driver what you think is right. He'll start shouting and screaming so walk away, unless he actually starts to follow you, consider it that you have probably given merely double what a local would pay. Avoid the cabs outside the hotels as these are specialist tourist money suckers.

I hope this helps, and doesn't sound overly negative. The sights are great, just don't let the hassle get in the way of your enjoyment.

Pythia

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