Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi there,
There is an issue with role permissions that is being worked on at the moment.
If you are having trouble with access or permissions on regional forums please post here to get access: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365403/you-do-not-have-permission-for-that#latest

Have you ever been to Egypt?

  • 19-01-2002 12:09am
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,322 ✭✭✭


    A couple of friends of mine are off to Egypt for the last week in February. I have been asked to join them, and are wondering if I should or not?. I would love a holiday, and am sick and tired of the Sun Resort (Ibiza) style stuff. This time I want to see some sites, rather than chix/drinking/clubbing, and from what I can see, it looks like what I'm looking for.

    But before I make up my mind, and hand over cash, I would like to talk to someone who has already been. There are plently of web sites out there, that will answer simple questions for me, but I would love to hear of your experiences. Is Egypt a decent change from the norm or should I avoid it at all costs?

    cheers ;)

    ;-phobos-)


Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,524 ✭✭✭✭Gordon


    My parents lived there for a few years but I only managed to go once. They lived in Cairo which is an amazing mass of teeming life and if you go to a high building you can just see the pyramids in the desert in the distance. The strength of the place is immense and the difference in life is so great. People are employed to sweep the streets clean of sand with a back breaking dustpan and brush only to have to clean the same section an hour later.

    You have to be fairly head strong to do it on your own as tourists are considered walking wallets in much of the city.

    However, Luxor is meant to be the most beautiful of the areas. A friend of mine travelled there with his girlfriend and had a beautiful time. He saw the great valleys of the kings and queens and saw towns with houses and flats made of mud. It was an experience.

    It is definately a decent change from the norm but where exactly are you maybe going? You can actually get similar resort type places there if you want.

    Massalama


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,322 ✭✭✭phobos


    Well actually the plan is that I will be flying in to Cairo (It's a bloody 8hr flight from London WTF :(). I will be staying there for 3 days, and then going on a Nile cruise for another 2 days. After that I am staying somewhere near the airport back in Cairo (I think).

    It's working out at a fairly expensive trip, but I'm getting more excited at the fact that it's going to be different (that's exactly what I'm looking for). I have always wanted to just sit and watch the sun set over the pyramids (That is something I would pay quite a lot to see). But by expensive I mean, I went to my GP to get vaccinations and had to fork out €100 :(

    Actually my GP told me to check out www.cdc.gov , it will give you everything you need to know about travelling and if you need vaccinations etc (all essential medical info). If anyone is doing the same check it out. Also I have been looking at www.touregypt.net for my travel and tourist info. Both sites are very good, and have more or less been able to answer all my questions.

    But one question I do have...
    I have a valid passport, do I need to apply for a visa. I heard that I do need a visa (and possibly mulitple ones for the Nile cruise), but it says something like I will be given a form on the flight to fill out, and all I have to do is complete it and present it with my passport at Cairo airport on arrival. Can someone shine some light on that one?

    Cheers ;)

    ;-phobos-)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,237 ✭✭✭Coyote


    I would think that beening from the EU would be the same as from Britan.
    looks like you just pick one up when you land.
    Thailand and other places are like this to get people to go.

    ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

    British visitors need a visa, obtainable in sterling or US$ on arrival for stays up to a month. For visas and further information on entry requirements, check with the Egyptian Consulate-General, 2 Lowndes Street, London, SW1X 9ET; (tel: 020 7235 9719). HEALTH

    Medical treatment can be expensive and standards vary. Contact your GP about current inoculation requirements and other medical advice. Contact your insurer if you have had a previous health condition, including mental illness, which may not be covered if it recurs.



    The FCO's country-specific Travel Advice

    Egypt Travel Advice


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,099 ✭✭✭✭WhiteWashMan


    no


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,322 ✭✭✭phobos


    Originally posted by WhiteWashMan
    no

    Cheers for that abundance of information ;)

    That's what I thought.

    ;-phobos-)


  • Advertisement
  • Moderators, Music Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 9,389 Mod ✭✭✭✭Lenny


    That's WWM for yea,
    he is always repling with answer saying "yes" or "no"

    hehe


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,099 ✭✭✭✭WhiteWashMan


    well, you did ask :)

    just trying to get a bit of traiffic on some of the 'less trod' paths :)
    here oj, i expect a few 'yes' and 'nos' on my boards as well ;)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,524 ✭✭✭✭Gordon


    You don't need to arrange a visa before you go but yes, you do buy a $5 stamp before you go through passport control. It is fairly simple to do, you get herded through the place like sheep and they know what you need basically.

    It'll be absolutely beautiful mate, I recommend trying to get a horse trip round the pyramids, great fun but the horses are treated pretty dismal. The 8 hour trip is great fun, if you go n BA you get a wee screen that shows you where you are on the map of the world and you get a movie or two and some programs on the telly.

    (just be careful of your money as everyone wants "bakshish" which is a backhander. If you arrange a price for a service - after this service is fulfilled you may be harassed for bakshish even after you have paid the dues)

    Good luck


  • Moderators, Music Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 9,389 Mod ✭✭✭✭Lenny


    Originally posted by WhiteWashMan
    well, you did ask :)

    just trying to get a bit of traiffic on some of the 'less trod' paths :)
    here oj, i expect a few 'yes' and 'nos' on my boards as well ;)
    I had a fair idea what you were up too doing it around here,
    btw nice idea on that toic you created on your board, I do read it, but I never really hhave anything on topic to say, and posting irrevelant shít I'd just hvae people saying "ohh spammer"
    but since its ok with you :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,154 ✭✭✭✭Neil3030


    I have heard stories about tourists beeing targets for shootings and crime etc but afaik it is as safe as any other African country. Just dont eat chicken, drink tap water or run around cairo naked and u'll be fine (sorry to dissapoint you on that 3rd instruction)


  • Advertisement
  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,322 ✭✭✭phobos


    Few good points made there guys, thanx :)

    I have heard that you need to be vigilant around Cairo alright, and keep an eye out for trouble. But not to the extent that you end up putting on a drug fukked stare @ passers-by. Keep it kewl, play it safe, and be ready to smak some Egyptian headz. ;)

    Also someone mentioned Luxor, and the fact that it is very nice. I will be visiting there towards the end of the holiday, so I'm looking forward to that. You wouldn't be the first person to recommend that place in recent times.

    The visa thing was explained very well on www.touregypt.net but I just needed to ask anyway, to make sure the info was correct, cheers Gordon.

    Neil what is the story with Chicken?, as in undercooked?. Actually chicken is pretty much the only type of meat I eat. So it looks like I am going Vegetarian over there. Actually on the subject of food. I am a big fan of hot and spicy, what is the local cuisine like for that kind of thing?. I also hear that they have McDonalds and stuff like that. I wonder is the Beef imported from safer countries? (christ I sound like such a snob, but I wouldn't mind staying alive either)

    cheers again lads ;)

    ;-phobos-)


  • Moderators, Music Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 9,389 Mod ✭✭✭✭Lenny


    Make sure to wear suncream too,
    and also if you're going to go on the camel's make sure not to be wearing any perfume or aftershave :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,154 ✭✭✭✭Neil3030


    Beware of chicken on 2 counts.

    I'm sure you know how lethal chicken can be when undercooked. Also they let the chickens run wild on the streets eating all kinds of ****e and picking up god knows what and then they lob them into a pot and if not cooked right through they can be hazardous.

    Also i have heard from my uncle of a resteraunt in cairo that had a scam going with the local doctor where the resteraunt would intentionally serve jimmy ckicken curry to tourists and then direct them to the "nearest" doctor when they complain of food poisoning symptoms. The resteraunt then gets a cut out of the medical bill for supplying the doctor with a patient. Chicken being the easiest meat to "sabotage" (for lack of a better word) makes it a food that, in my opinion, should be avoided if dining in a smaller, more localised resteraunt.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,322 ✭✭✭phobos


    Right, then chicken is off the menu for all concerned then. Cheers lads this is exactly the kind of info, I was looking for. :)

    But can anyone recommend anything to do, places to see, while you're still alive and have money in Egypt :cool:

    What would one do at night? (clubs/pubs, price of drink, and what the local ale is like).

    cheers, all in all this is turning out to be quite an informative thread, I will be able to give first hand advice, aswell as some photos when I get back.

    ;-phobos-)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,524 ✭✭✭✭Gordon


    Not sure on the price of things - as far as I remember it is very cheap but others will tell you better.

    Two things to note quickly... try...
    1) Hammam - Pigeon meat. It is very bony but you should try it just to say that you did!

    2)Very easy to get over there "Sheesha". It's a big bong that you can get with apple tobacco or other flavours. A great smooth smoke even if you are not a smoker(!) - it is for the flavour of the apple that I loved it. Very cheap.

    Priciness happens when you want typically touristy things I think. If you want a camel ride, if you want a guide or a boat ride down the Nile etc.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 13 Minime


    I went last year:

    Dublin > one day Luxor > one week on the nile > Luxor one night> one week on the Red sea > one week Cairo > luxor one night > Dublin.

    Cairo is a $hit-hole. wouldn't recommend it at all; big sprawling mass of "civilization!" But Luxor is very nice; traditional dress and a real sense of Africa, people are frendly, and the Karnak temple is beyond increadible!!! Also the Vally of the kings is near and the colossos of memnon...The nile cruiz is sooo cool and relaxing, real opulant. You will visit many temples on the Cruiz, one in the morning and one before lunch. There is also entertainment on the boat at night. No Drinking holes to be found beyond the boat however! Also, be sure to check you balance each night, as you will be signing for the drink. You do not need shoots from the doctor for Egypt. You will need a visa to get into the country! (see you local Egyption Embassy).

    You may have a chance to see a temple called Abo-simbol, do go if you can afford it, as it will be a plane trip into the south, but god-all-mighty what a place.

    Last but not leased, do not get into dealing with the street traders, they are all con men, things to watchout for are, Funny money, Nubian pounds -they do not exist!, anything offered as a present- they give you a present and you give them a present of money!, etc.ect. the only real bargin in Egypt is the price of gold.

    BTW dont drink cold drinks as these will upset your tummy. because of the diffence in temp. rather than anything to do with the water- the ice on-board will be made of mineral water, but cold drinks made from anything will upset you. And tipping is compulsary! but 50p is okay. Watchout for the guys taking your bags at the airport, they aren't stealing them but they will look for money for the "work".




    :p


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,322 ✭✭✭phobos


    Again some good tips there Minime, cheers :)

    Again I am hearing problems with Cairo and the street traders etc etc. I have dealt with this kind of stuff before, actually one of guys I'm going with, was in Paris with me on a School Tour about 10 years ago. I will always remember legging it down the steps of the Sacre Coér (probably wrong spelling) with a local running after us trying to sell a whip. That is one of the funniest memories of my youth. I have also had to put up with the absolute scum on Playa del Finglas. Anyone who has been there, will know what lurks behind the Kasbah shopping centre. ;)

    ;-phobos-)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 78,610 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    Originally posted by OJ
    Make sure to wear suncream too,
    and also if you're going to go on the camel's make sure not to be wearing any perfume or aftershave :)

    And no deodorant down yer shorts either. Ye might get a licking.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,154 ✭✭✭✭Neil3030


    Originally posted by Victor


    And no deodorant down yer shorts either. Ye might get a licking.


    The problem there being......?:D


  • Moderators, Music Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 9,389 Mod ✭✭✭✭Lenny


    Yea, problem it being licked of by a camel is a MAJOR problem :)


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 78,610 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    Originally posted by Neil3030
    The problem there being......?:D
    It would be from a big hairy, smelly camel, in public.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,322 ✭✭✭phobos


    Neither I, or anyone else (??) affiliated with the creation of this thread, wanted it to end up as one BIG camel orgy. :sarcasm:

    So here's what I intend to do.
    1. I shall run up to the camel in question
    2. I shall remove a bottle of Tommy cologne, Tommy Girl if it's a female camel, from my pocket
    3. Then in one blast, I shall turn this indeed smelly camel in to a sexy/seductive camel
    4. Then having done that, I will have eliminated the need for the camel to investigate the contents of my pants
    5. While camel and I, ride off in to the sun set, leaving the poor local's Shocked, Appalled, and Slightly Arroused ;)

    ;-phobos-)
    PS: Who heartely endorses this product, and/or service?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,154 ✭✭✭✭Neil3030


    I shall run up to the camel in question........I shall remove......Tommy........from my pocket.......Then having done that........I will........ride ......the poor local's


    :eek:


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,219 ✭✭✭plastic membrane


    Phobos, having known you for a while, i know of your prediliction for some camel lovin', but to inflict it upon the rest of the population, thats just naughty.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,574 ✭✭✭Clinical Waste


    Yeah, all these horror stories are true, but who gives a smeg! Every F*cking country/city has these, including Dublin.

    Take:
    1) lots of small US bills (hard currency much loved by the locals),
    2) a Tshirt saying MARFI BAKSHEESH (No bribes)

    3) ACCEPT now the fact that you will be ripped off at every chance (it makes the trip more enjoyable when you are mentally prepared for it)
    4) and ENJOY!


Advertisement