Let's Travel: Egypt -- The Logistics

February 2022

Hello Friends!

Lets's catch up. This is an addition to my "Let's Travel: Egypt" post, however this one is tailored to the logistics. If you're considering traveling there, I highly recommend giving this a read.

Disclaimer: I, of course, am in no way affiliated with the tour company Friendly Planet. I was in no way asked to write this, & it is purely for my own enjoyment.

The exact title of the tour we took is: Best of Egypt & Nile Cruise - Friendly Planet Travel.

Time of Year:

My parents & I chose to take the tour Feb 3-13, which is winter in Egypt. The temperatures ranged from 80+ to 40's. I took along my heaviest weight autumn jacket, & wore that every day except two days. Evenings can be chilly, but during the day it's usually warm enough to leave your jacket behind.

Obviously, it goes without saying to pack sunscreen & aloe vera. No matter what time of year you go, it's intense sunlight, & some places, like Vally of the Kings, offer little to no shade. A hat is another good option, although I never used mine. I do highly recommend packing sunglasses--that is one thing I did not pack & wished I had.

Culture:

Egypt is a very safe place to be. In Cairo, there's a security guard that is required to travel with you daily. & at every location, you go through X-ray machines (including entering hotels, cruise ships, & the tourist sites). In general, Egyptians tend to cater to Americans, as they think we are all rich. Merchants and vendors tend to be really aggressive--they'll run up & hold items in your face while shouting "there's no pressure to buy", etc. They will sometimes follow after you as well, especially if they saw you looking at a particular item. That made most of us on the trip feel a bit too uneasy to really look in any stalls, unfortunately. But I must stress that overall, Egyptians are very friendly, & very courteous.

At most all of the sites (pyramids, temples, etc) they do expect you to dress conservatively. Shoulders & chest should be covered, & pants or skirts should fall below the knees. Since it can get warm there, I opted for some lighterweight tops, & always brought a scarf I could use as a shawl/wrap. Also, I strongly recommend packing a couple pairs of tennis shoes. The terrain can be uneven & there's lots of walking/hiking. I had packed some sandals as well, but I only used them on the cruise ship.

Most all of the modern buildings in Egypt appear "under construction", with the skeletons of rooms partially completed on tops of most apartment buildings. There's lots of rebar sticking up, but it's intentional. Egyptians believe in families living in the same apartment structure. Older parents live on lower floors, & their children live on the floor above, so they can take care of them. Most families have an unfinished apartment over them for their own children (so the cycle continues). & because the building isn't totally "finished", the owner is taxed less.

Traffic there is crazy. In Cairo there are painted lines on the roads, but in more rural cities & towns, there is just a basic road & everyone is trying to drive in one direction, without any specific lanes of traffic. Honking is apparently the favorite pasttime of Egyptians. There is constant, incessant honking at all hours of the day. It's just their culture. Some others on our tour group joked that they have to get their car horns replaced before their brakes.

Egyptians are also used to walking out in front of traffic everywhere. It could be an interstate, & people will be casually walking through the cars. Egyptians are used to this, but it can be a bit unnerving to watch.

There also isn't a good system for garbage pickup. As a result, there is lots of garbage in the streets, on store rooftops, & in ravines. It is shocking initially, but it has apparently gotten a lot better over the last few years. & the garbage is just in the towns & cities. At the ancient sites, you will not find litter anywhere.

Travel Tips:

Airline: The flight with EgyptAir from JFK to Cairo is around 10-12 hours going there, & 13 hours returning. I highly recommend booking aisle seats (really anything but the middle. That is actual hell). There was also an average of 20 toddlers & babies on the flight. Bring earplugs. For the meals, they passed out plastic cups with handles for the tea & coffee. I highly recommend saving these cups, as they are very handy for use on the trip.

Tour Group Size: In general, most bus tours average around 30-50 people. Friendly Planet, however, specifically designs their tours to be smaller & more intimate, with roughly 16 or so people total for a tour. On our specific trip there were 10 of us, & that made it a lot easier to see more of the sites & stay more engaged.

Water is not safe to drink in Egypt (for tourists). Our tour provided us with bottled water daily, & the hotel in Cairo also supplied bottled water each day. This is where the plastic cups from the flight came in handy.

Money: Take lots of cash for purchases as well as for tipping the guides & drivers. For shopping, it's recommended to take small amounts like $5.00 bills & $1.00 bills. Most Egyptian vendors can't make change, & you should only use credit cards at major locations (our tour guides told us when it was safe to use cards). I also suggest exchanging some cash for Egyptian currency as well. Places do take the US dollar, but usually you're paying more for the item than if you had paid in Egyptian pounds.

Shopping: It is true that Egyptian goods/items are not the same quality as US products. They are cheaper, but if you see something you really like, get it anyway. I purchased some jewelry on the trip, & within a month, the stone had fallen out of my ring, & the clasp on my necklace chain had broken. I have since taken them to a jeweler to get repaired, & while it is frustrating, I truly love those pieces & feel it's worth the investment. Where else am I going to come across that again?

Bathrooms in Egypt: Egyptians will try to charge you $1.00 for using public bathrooms. Inside you will very rarely find toilet paper, & they may or may not have soap for washing your hands. Our travel agent warned us ahead of time, so before the trip, my parents & I saved the last quarter of toilet paper rolls, which we carried with us at all times in Egypt. We also all had our own hand sanitizer bottles on our packs as well.

If you have any specific questions about anything in this post, or anything travel related, feel free to message me! I could talk about Egypt for days. I've got so many stories from there, & I'd love to share more. And of course, don't forget to read my main Egypt post--that one covers our trip day by day & site by site.

If you have any good recommendations of things for me to review, or just general comments or suggestions, please send them my way! I truly love & appreciate all feedback.

Slainté!

Kathleen 💛

[ Photos taken by me. ]