Egypt Visit-Musings of an Accidental tourist 

The Qatar airways flight sped towards Doha as it crossed Italy into the Mediterranean Sea. The pilot came on the public address system urgently and let us know that due to the escalation and missiles being launched in the Gulf, we were being diverted to Cairo. The other options like Athen, Greece and Bombay, India were not viable due to congestion and fuel respectively and we landed in Cairo, Egypt. Surprisingly the passengers and the crew were very calm. So we landed in Cairo. Even thought it was late Feb, the weather was a little cold but humid. Light jacket weather.

Immigrations and Customs

The first thing that you notice about Egypt is that it is a cash economy especially around tourism. They like dollars not just any dollars. They want them crisp and clean. Old looking dollars are suspect. There is a 20% premium to the undiscounted tourism charges, to enter Egypt, we needed a visa. There was a USD cash line which was manned 2x compared to the card which was just one person. It took us a while to get the Egypt visa stamped on our passport.

Heading to the hotel

It was a lot of confusion heading to the hotel and we were not clear as to which hotel it was, and we finally found it was the Hilton near the airport called Hilton Helioplois which is like a Vegas convention dump hotel. We were asked to share rooms with strangers as the rooms were getting fewer.

Where to stay in Cairo

I don’t recommend the airports near the hotel. They are a dump. The hotels near downtown are better. Also avoid hotels near Tahrir square which is the center of the city. If there are violent protests and they are rare these days, that place is a tinderbox. The best hotels to stay in are downtown and on the banks of the river Nile. In the evenings, you can walk along the riverwalk although it can be quiet and lonely. So, exercise caution. Also, group tours have pickups at certain hotels which work out nicely instead of trying to join the pickup spot.

A note on personalized private tours

Because of the exchange rate, it is possible that personalized private tours for 2 people (husband and wife) may work well. Because parking is hard in Egypt, most personalized trip will have a driver who will pick you up and drive you around and then will pick up the English-speaking guide at a different place (close to their home) and drop them off before going to the hotel. This is a little expensive but affordable but you get personalized attention. These tours work well for 2 people because the cars can be smaller. For 4 people, they will have to mobilize an expensive SUV which increases the cost of the trip but is still affordable and more worth it than a large group tour.

Working Remotely

It is possible to work remotely if your company allows it. For e.g. I finished my tourism by 2PM, took a power nap and started my workday from 3PM to 11PM (EST working hours)

How to spend a day in Cairo

Morning

We recommend waking up early, getting a nice breakfast at the hotel and being on your way to the tourist spot by 7AM. The good things are you will avoid traffic (rush hour starts at 8AM) and the tourist spots will be cooler and less crowded. The large tours land at 9AM and you are now competing with them, and it can get crowded and noisy around important interest points.

Afternoon

Recommend finishing the tour by 1PM, having lunch outside and take a nap for a couple of hours.

Evenings

In the evenings, I recommend walking around downtown, old Cairo and do some bargain shopping.

Late evening/early night

I recommend going to a bar for a nightcap and going to bed early.

Tourist Locations and Timings

All Tourist locations operate on a 8 to 5 schedules. I recommend being there early, especially in summer as the summer hear can become unbearable. Indeed, the lightest tourism months are summer months. So, if you can go early and finish everything by lunch, it is a good deal.

Currency Exchange

A dollar is about 50 Egyptian Pounds (EGP). The ATMs there do dispense cash if your ATM is Visa enabled and your bank is aware that you are withdrawing money. The max the ATM dispenses at one time is 4000 EGP. You can withdraw multiple times of course. The tourist shops prefer USD and you get a better discount.

First trip to the Pyramids

A bunch of us from the hotel decided to go the Pyramids in the afternoon but it was late and we were the last group allowed in at 3PM. There are a bunch of touts there who own horse carriages and camels. For 20 USD, they will take you around and get some good pictures. The horse carriages are easier to climb than the camels. We got some good photos. I actually recommend this even though the negotiation process is a little painful.

Cabs and Taxis in Cairo

It is hard to get cabs and ubers from tourist’s spots to the hotels. They know they can extract more from you and they make it difficult to find you. In any case, the cab numbers are in Arabic so you can’t really figure out the cab from the license plate but more from the color and model. Don’t get into a cab when approached. Always use Uber and negotiate and add a 100 EGP tip or 2 to 3 dollars in USD.

Second Day in Cairo

The second day we made a beeline to the Grand Egyptian museum. You have to buy the tickets online. It is a new museum with great exhibits and a must-see. We went around the museum and then headed back.

Third Day in Cairo

I used viator to book personalized tours. Viator is a nice service that lets you book private tours and you can custom build your own tours. It can include picking up from your hotel to dropping you back and you can itemize the things you want to see. The third day in Cairo was to see the Jewish and Coptic Cairo locations and the grand mosque (the oldest), the Citadel of Cairo and the downtown Cairo Museum and it also included lunch. We started at 8AM and it all took six hours, and it was nice and was back at my hotel at 2PM so I could start my work day.

Fourth Day in Cairo

The fourth day I organized a Viator trip to Saqqara and Memphis. Saqqara also has pyramids and these pyramids have hieroglyphs in them. The Great pyramid at Giza does not have hieroglyphs in them. Another cool thing about Saqqara is that the Nile valley ends right there and the great Sahara Desert begins. So, it is a cool geographical thing. Saqqara had some nice pyramids that you could go into and some nice inscriptions.

Memphis was kind of a let down although the Sphinx there was a sight to behold and a couple of other tourist spots.

My guide was a Coptic Christian who spoke English well and explained to me some of the challenges facing the community.

Fifth Day in Cairo

The fifth day was visiting Alexandria which I booked on Viator. Again got picked up at 6AM and left for Alexandria which was 3 hours away. We reached there and did the Alexandria tour. We visited the Roman theater ruins, the great modern library at Alexandria and the great fort overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Had lunch at a great place overlooking the ocean. Reached Cairo at 4PM.

Sixth day in Cairo

On the Sixth day, I decided to go back to the Pyramids and the Sphinx with a tour guide on viator. We reached there at 9AM and there were several group tours already there. So, it is better to be at these sites by 8AM to be the early bird and check them out under less pressure. The Pyramids are simply awe-inspiring. You have to buy tickets to go into the pyramid. I went into the largest pyramid, and it was hot and humid. It was also not easy to climb in and out of the narrow passage way. So being physically fit and flexible helps. We avoided the tourist traps and headed home after seeing the Sphinx and the pyramids and taking some photos.

Cruising on the River Nile

There are a couple of ways to cruise on the river Nile.

Dinner and Evening cruises

This is a touristy version where a not-so-great dinner is accompanied with entertainment including belly dancing, Egyptian dancing and some nice music with some good old fashioned romantic sings if you want to dance with your partner.

Felucca Rides

Felucca are small boats with sails that can be a much nicer option than a cruise. Plan one for sunset so you can see the sunset and also the lights come on.

Fine Dining Experiences

Hotels

Almost all big hotels downtown have fine dining experiences. The Hilton has a revolving rooftop restaurant which offers great views of Cairo.

Iconic tower rooftop Restaurant

The iconic tower is the tallest building in Africa, and you can go to the top and do viewings. They also have a rooftop restaurant which is considered good.

Shopping

There are three things to buy in Egypt.

Papyrus Mementos

Egypt has an ancient papyrus tradition. One can buy a papyrus mural and get your name inscribed in it. Some of them are nice and make great addition to a house. These things can run you a few hundred dollars. They will offer tea or jasmine extract juice. It is considered rude not to accept it. Do some reasonable bargaining. Usually, 10% and waiver of credit card fees is considered acceptable. You can have your name written on the papyrus for a small charge.

Perfumes

It is a well-kept secret that Egypt has been home to perfumes for thousands of years. They make them crushing lotus and other flowers. You can have your guide take you to a bespoke custom perfumery and make a collection.

Cartouche

The cartouche is a kind of jewelry, and the price has a wide range depending upon how much silver and gold you want to embed. You can have your name inscribed in jewelry design. So that is a good gift to the wife or the daughters.

Other Mementos

Of course, there is always magnets, pens, pencils, cups, book-marks, shot glasses and other things that can one buy.

Closing Thoughts

Cairo and the surrounding tourists’ spots can be seen in 6 days. You can also squeeze a workday in if you can wrap your tourism by 2PM especially if you work in US hours and are allowed to work remotely.

Egypt has two tourist hubs. Cairo and nearby areas are the Mediterranean part of the hub. Luxor is the other part of the hub and it is in Southern Egypt and closer to the Red Sea.

Luxor Tourist Hub

There are a couple of ways to get to Luxor. The easiest and fastest way is to take a one-hour flight. You can also go by train which would be an experience. There are cruises that will take you down the Nile and it can get expensive and you have to book early.

Some of the key tourists spots in Luxor are the Valley of the Kings, Abu Simbel temple, hot air ballon rides, Karnak temple, valley of the kings, Aswan dam, Dendera temple, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Colossi of Memmon. I am guessing this would be another 6 days.

Diving Enthusiasts

If you are a diving enthusiast, Luxor has something to offer where you can dive to the ancient sunken attractions. You should probably have advanced diving experience in the ruins of dives which can be risky. With the right planning, one can see the country while working remotely over a 15 day period.