There are a lot of glamour photo businesses in Egypt, and most have pretty amazing examples of their work on display in their window.
This is one of the best in Luxor.
I think every mother should have
a photo of their child carrying
weapons. So sweet!
Today I was told that 10 million camels would not be enough to buy me.
In case you’re wondering, this is the ‘look’ required to launch 10 million camels (or more)…
In January 2013 we went on a fantastic 4 day/3nights Nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor.
We’d booked through a travel agent in Cairo – but due to the low numbers of tourists in Egypt at the moment, there’s no real need to book in advance. There are dozens and dozens of boats – they are all very similar (most claim to be 5 star) and offer similar prices. We were booked on a boat called the “Grand Princess” which was lovely.
It was only US$55 per person per night including all meals (in a double room – all rooms have river views).
Like most of the cruises this leaves Aswan on Friday evening and arrives in Luxor on Saturday evening, but most people seemed to stay for 3 nights, and head off the boat during the days in Aswan and Luxor to do tours.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all pretty good (buffet style) and entertainment was offered every second night. There was also a great bar (expensive drinks) and a very cool rooftop with sun loungers and a pool.
When the boat was travelling down the Nile, it was lovely to just spend time in the room, which all have sliding glass doors which you can open to the amazing Nile views. The rooftop was also a great place to watch life on the Nile go by.
On the way to Luxor all of the boats stopped at the temples of Kom Ombo (and crocodile mummy museum) and Edfu, giving you time to head off the boat and check them out. Both are worth visiting, and despite turning up at the same time as about 6 other boats, were not crowded.
The Nile is a beautiful river with amazing history and this stretch of it is relatively quiet and not too developed – most of the scenery was farmlands and small villages. It was a very relaxing way to spend 4 days and a highly recommended trip!
The top deck of the Grand Princess, complete with sun loungers, pool, bar and minimalist gym!
Nile cruise boat in Aswan
Amazing sunshine in the cabin on the Nile
View of Luxor Temple from the boat
Sunset on the Nile in Luxor
The temple of Kom Ombo on the Nile River
Mummified crocodiles at Kom Ombo. Crocodiles were worshipped by ancient Egyptians as they were believed to be powerful beings, strongly connected to the all-important Nile River.
The massive temple of Edfu
Talking to travellers who’ve been to the Middle East, you often hear stories of the incredible hospitality people experience. Sadly as a tourist in Egypt there’s not much real hospitality to be had.
From the moment you arrive the guide books prepare you for it, but the constant pressure from salesmen, touts and scammers does get to you after a while. I can think of just 1 or 2 people who have approached us in the last 2 weeks without the end goal of trying to get money out of us somehow.
Many of these interactions are fairly straight-forward and easy to deal with – they go something like this.
(Walking down the street)
Man A: Hello my friends! Where are you from?
Us: Australia
Man A: Australia! Kangaroo! (or G’Day mate) I have been to Australia several times.
Us: That’s good
Man: So where are you going? Where are you staying? How long are you here for (one or all of these questions is possible)
Us: Just going for a walk / we’re staying nearby / we’re leaving soon
Man: I am just on my way home from work – let me show you where you can get a free tourist map (a friend’s shop where they are selling maps). The way ahead is closed.
Us: No thanks, we don’t want to buy anything
Man: Come with me my friends –Â this is just Egyptian hospitality
I can’t tell you how many times we’ve heard the phrase “Egyptian hospitality”. Sadly all of the dodgy touts that use that phrase, are going a long way to tarnishing the reputation of the entire country. “Egyptian hospitality” as they phrase it means either a) pressuring you to come into a shop to buy something you don’t want or b) warming you up to paying way too much for some random service.
As a tourist, Egyptian hospitality is really an oxymoron. It’s an interaction designed to rip you off in some way and hence have a bad experience and not want to return. Surely the opposite goal of what hospitality is meant to achieve?
It’s sad because Egypt is an amazing country. In every other country we’ve been to we’ve been able to have conversations with locals to learn about the culture and talk about our experiences. Here that’s only been possible here with hotel staff and tour guides. Which is a shame because it does make the whole tourist experience quite alienating.
Egyptian hospitality at Memphis. These guys jumped into my photo and that asked for “baksheesh” ( a tip) on the way out…..
Last week we visited the Pyramids of Giza which are incredible. Having touts and salesman follow you every step of the way really does taint the experience however. From people trying to sell you overpriced made-in-China trinkets, to guardians of the historical sites offering to take you (illegally) into sealed off tombs, to people giving you “presents” for which they later demand money for – it all gets a bit much.
I know a lot of people depend on tourism for their livelihood, and that tourist numbers have dwindled here since the Revolution. But trying to rip-off tourists is not the way the build tourism. It’s a short-term view that ultimately leads to less people coming to Egypt, and giving a bad experience to the ones that do.
Most tourists arrive now expecting they’re going to have to battle against scammers and touts – an expectation that makes you inadvertantly hostile towards people who may approach you without any bad intentions (though there are very few of those sadly).
Hopefully getting out of the main tourist areas over the next week will give us an opportunity to experience some real Egyptian hospitality….
The last thing we expected on our trip to the pyramids was to be freezing cold and practically alone. Winter is usually peak season for Egyptian tourism, but since the revolution all the most popular tourist sites are pretty much dead zones. Which was great for us, but not so great for the Egyptians.
A rare view of the Pyramids at Giza (without people)
The main pyramid at Giza
Sandstorm at the Sphinx
While I can appreciate the sheer majesty of the pyramids, their age, their size and their history – something about the experience was a little underwhelming. I think the fact that where once the glorious and majestic Nile once ran in front of the pyramids has now been replaced with a sprawling urban mass. In fact one of the best views of the pyramids can now be seen from the Pizza Hut building, which is just depressing. Couple this with the fact that the recent (actually not so recent if you account for Mubarak’s entire reign oh and the entire period of colonialism) troubles this country has experienced has only amplified the desperation of its people. Everywhere you go, and I mean everywhere, in any major tourist site you will be hassled. It’s relentless and arbitrary and beyond annoying. All the guidebooks tell you to beware of the hassling but the level has increased so much that it’s almost hostile.
It’s a tragedy what has happened to this country. We saw practically no police the entire duration of our trip – in fact the whole country had a wild west feeling to it. In major tourist attractions like the Egyptian Museum in Cairo the toilets were dirty and largely unclean without toilet paper. Unpaid staff were buying tissues with their own money and trying to earn some money by selling these to toilet goers for tips. And the museum wasn’t cheap. The place just reeked of corruption and greed. And a country once gloried for its advanced sanitation and hygiene programs is now almost one giant toilet bowl. Dirty, uncared for and desolate.
I heard that a lot of Egypt’s treasures now live in the museums and squares of other countries around the world, and originally this angered me. How neo-colonialist and paternalistic I thought. But when I visited Egypt and saw the way in which some of their sites were (not) cared for I had to be thankful that at least some of the historic relics will survive.
Egypt has such potential but it is a ravaged country. Ravaged by greed and corruption and blinkered religious fervour. And they largely have the West to thank for it – first through colonialism and then through their support of one of the most slimey despots of our time – Mubarak.
Luxor was definitely the most touristy town we visited in Egypt – actually it was the only place we visited in the country where we saw a lot of tourists.
Strangely it also seems to be a big base for expats, in particular the English. There’s a major street in town full of English restaurants (ie. Indian food) and pubs and we came across quite a few older expats during our week there.
Across the road from our hostel was a great bar (one of the few in town), where they held a quiz night twice a week, for the local expats. Think lots of beer, red faces and crazy hairstyles and you get the idea.
You have to love the English though – everyone we spoke to was very friendly and down to Earth – even though we were clearly the outsiders. We got lots of Egypt-related advice, from a very paternal older English guy (imagine Donald Trump with a better tan) – who was there with his wife, who was channeling an 80’s tennis star in her choice of fashion and hair. Mostly about what not to see and what to see. There wasn’t much cultural insight, even though they’d been coming here regularly for the last 15 years.
The other great English people we met were Ian and Julie – a couple who we shared a table with at each meal on the Nile cruise. They were lovely – middle aged and very adventurous travellers, who head overseas every year and always seem to make friends with random people. Although one area they weren’t adventurous was food – they refused to eat the local food, and I think were surviving on a diet of chicken, potatoes and chips.
I’m not really sure what the appeal of Egypt is to the older English couples. Sure it’s cheap so I’m sure as a retiree you could live relatively luxuriously for not much money. But very few people speak English (none of the expats spoke Arabic), it’s not very tourist friendly, and if you’re after the comforts of home (beer, cottage pie and quizzes), Luxor seemed to be the only city that fit the bill. Even then, it seems to pale in comparison with other expat havens like South East Asia where foreigners are treated with a deference that you don’t find in Egypt.
In light of the recent revolution, you’d also have to think Egypt has dropped even further down the list of destinations for English ex-pats to spend their time. But I suppose as long as the pub keeps up the twice a week quiz night, and doesn’t take cottage pie off the menu, it’ll all be OK.
It would have been great to get the stories of these expats, and find out how they ended up there.
Tear gas isn’t such a great thing. I’m sure tens of thousands of protestors, ordinary people in war zones and soldiers already know this. But for me tonight was my first time. Sadly I can’t say we were doing anything exciting like protesting – we just went out for dinner.
Dinner was very nice by the way. It’s just that while we were out the police fired tear gas in the area around Tahrir Square (not far from our hostel). There was only a slight hint of it when we went out tonight, but coming back from dinner we must have been down wind so got a heavy dose of it. For the record it’s very unpleasant – I’d definitely recommend it if you want to disperse a crowd.
As luck would have it (we had no idea when we booked our flights) we arrived in Cairo on the eve of the 2nd anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution (25 January). In general, arriving in a city on the anniversary of an emotionally charged day, when there’s still a lot of discontent with the government, is not ideal. I’m guessing most travel guides would also suggest to not travel to countries in the Middle East that are experiencing, celebrating or protesting any sort of revolution. Revolution’s sound cool, but if you’re a tourist, probably just best to watch them on TV.
But we have to say, the day of the anniversary seemed fairly peaceful in Cairo. The streets were quiet and shops were closed in anticipation of possible violence, but luckily it didn’t eventuate. There was however violence in Port Said – over 30 people were killed – and there has been on and off unrest since then in Cairo.
There’s been growing discontent with the new government over the past 2 years. The few people we’ve spoken to all expressed disappointment with the government’s progress since taking power – fuel prices and electricity have almost doubled, and security has degraded (the Police have apparently rarely appeared in the area around Tahrir Square since last December). Freedom is a word people seem to use a lot here – saying it was promised but not delivered. Although it’s hard to say what people think freedom really means.
Overall, it has been exciting to be here at this time – all of the cafes around our hostel have been filled every night with students watching the news, chatting and drinking tea. Most people seem quite calm, so we’re relaxed too. Despite being close to Tahrir Square, it feels like we’re a long way away from the action.
Last night the protests kicked off again and tonight there’s been some more clashes, in response to a state of emergency the President has announced in some Suez cities.
On the day of the anniversary, we saw lots of people out on the street demanding changes in a peaceful way, and the fact they were able to do that without the police or military trying to stop them, arrest them or shoot at them, is definitely a good thing.
Here’s hoping the protests return to being peaceful, and the government actually takes action to address people’s concerns.
Everything you read about Cairo tells you it will be loud and busy, with crazy amounts of traffic. Not so when we arrived. We had three of the quietest days you could imagine in Cairo. Here’s how:
Day 1: We arrived on the Prophet Mohammad’s birthday – it’s a holiday – everything was closed.
Day 2: It’s the second anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution. Shops remained closed for fear of violence – people stayed off the streets (apart from the protestors).
Day 3: The court announced the result of a politically charged court case, involving the football massacre of 2011. Shops remain closed and people stay inside for fear of violence. Luckily there wasn’t any in Cairo as they were happy with the result. There were major protests and deaths in Port Said however.
Luckily Cairo was calm over these three days, and as a result it was actually the perfect time to cruise the streets, enjoying the city without the usual barrage of traffic, noise and touts!
A quick overview of where we’ve stayed in case anyone is looking for recommendations. In general we’re staying in private rooms at budget hotels/hostels.
Cairo
Nubian Hostel
Cost: 120 LE a night for private room with bathroom and air-con including breakfast (English continental or Egyptian – ie. falaffel sandwiches and tea)
Good: The breakfast is great, the location excellent (downtown with a lot of great restaurants and student cafes nearby), the staff are friendly and helpful (although have limited English), private bathroom.
Bad: Not very clean – the rooms wasn’t serviced for the 4 days we were there, the shower was pretty crap.
Canadian Hostel
Cost: 120 LE for shared bathroom room 140 LE for private bathroom with air-con, including breakfast (bread roll, boiled egg and tea/coffee)
Good: Very clean, nicely decorated, huge rooms, friendly and helpful staff with very good English, great location near Tahrir Square (although that proximity is not good when there are protests).
Bad: Travel agent connected to the hotel is not reliable – we booked some things through them and they were deceitful and overpriced.
Aswan
El Salaam Hotel
Cost: 110 LE night for private bathroom and breakfast (continental)
Good: Great location on Nile, amazing rooftop terrace with incredible views over the Nile – they serve breakfast here, good clean rooms, good shower, helpful staff with good English, we booked a tour to Abu Simbel with them and it was all OK.
Bad: Nothing really – was great value for money.
Luxor
Happy Land Hotel
Cost: 90 LE night for private bathroom and breakfast (excellent and large Egyptian breakfast)
Good: Good location near local market in quiet street, excellent staff, nice clean rooms, excellent shower and hot water (best we’ve experienced in Egypt in a budget or mid-range place).
Bad: The hotel is quiet in terms of street noise but the polished floors mean you hear all the noise other guests make if they are moving around the hotel. A minor issue for an amazing value budget hotel!
Hurghada
4 seasons Hotel
Cost: 105 LE for private bathroom and breakfast
Good: Nice clean bright room, good hot water, helpful staff, good location
Bad: A bit pushy on the tours
Safaga
Coral Sun Beach Hotel
Cost: US$70 a night all inclusive (food and drinks including alcohol) – this is an off season rate.
Good: Amazing location 23 km south of Safaga – they have their own beach that has incredible coral reefs right off it – you can dive or snorkel – best snorkelling I have done anywhere in the world, service is excellent, food is really good, facilities excellent, spa centre was amazing value, this was an incredible find for the price
Bad: It’s not near any town so you really have to go all inclusive – but it is well worth it.
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