Going to Egypt - anyone been before?

fRostiE

fRostiE

fRostiE

Soldato
Joined
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Hey,

just booked my first proper holiday for me and the missus go get away to Egypt for 2 weeks in early May.

does anybody have any advice? do's / dont's / make sure you do x, avoid y ect?

also, whats the currency!?! the more i google the more confused i get, Egyption pounds, US dollars, some even say the Euro... anybody whos been before care to shed some light?

thanks :)
 
I'm not sure about the currency. I went when I was very young.

Do:
See Sphinx & Pyramids.
Ask hotellier about good reastaurants - heard several times that food poisoning is rife.
Have a good time.

Don't:
Fall out with the missus :)

edit: Wiki is your friend
 
Last edited:
Its an absolute ****ing poo-hole.

You can do the tourist stuff in two days then you suddenly realised you've paid for two more weeks surrounded by ignorant idiot locals, stinking air, disgusting surroundings and absolutely nob-all to do.

*n
 
Some of the hotel staff, not representative of the whole population of course, did do their best to make me feel intimidated on one occassion. A swift running into to the hotel manager soon sorted them out. Haha! I was only 7 or 8 I think.
 
Go in, see the Pyramids/Temples and get the **** out of there.

I'm afraid to say the country is a hole, constant harassment from the locals and poor service nearly everywhere you go unless you pay through the nose.

Where are you staying? Pretty much everything I've said doesn't apply to the North coastal places, they're actually not too bad for snorkeling/diving etc.

If you've booked 2 weeks in Cairo, cancel it - now.
 
Frostie,

We went last year to do a nile cruise and then a week
in Hurghada, absolutely fantastic holiday. We enjoyed it
so much we went back this year to sharm el sheik.

Where are you going to ? My cousins like Egypt so much
they have been four times. I`ll happily go back next year,
although I think it might be too hot in May for me !
 
I have been to egypt and stayed in Sharm, which was nice. However, something which really let it down was the locals. Really, really rude and agressive. Fair enough we are exploiting their land for our enjoyment but considering we are paying for their living you would have thought some politeness wouldn't have gone amiss.

For example, I went for a brief camel ride in the desert and was given a cloth to stop my head from burning, which was nice. On returning I gave the man his cloth back and he promptly held his hand out for payment. Of course, not mentioning he wanted money for the cloth, I was suprised and told him I had no money (which was true) and I apologised. In return he was agressive and spat as me.

My brother and his girlfriend (who is quite model-esque) went for a quick getaway and were staying around by the swimming pool. All of a sudden he noticed that his girlfriend was sneakily having her picture taken by children. Yes, the men had bribed the children to take pictures of his girlfriend in her bikini. He promptly broke the cameras.
 
If you're going to Sharm, it's a great beach hol. If you're going ot Luxor, you'll be blown away by Karnak, Valley of the Kings, Deir El Medina, Luxor temple, Deir El Bahri. It's BRILLAINT!
 
buy some hand gel from boots, you'll be using it lots if you're handling currency :)

When we went last year (to Nuweiba), all we used were Egyptian Pounds.
 
sorry should have said where we were going

St. George Three Corners in Sharm - beach holiday was what we were after but we may take a day to go see something further into Egypt, the main plan is to catch some sun, and do 'nob all' as penski so delicately put it :)
 
fRostiE said:
Hey,

just booked my first proper holiday for me and the missus go get away to Egypt for 2 weeks in early May.

does anybody have any advice? do's / dont's / make sure you do x, avoid y ect?

also, whats the currency!?! the more i google the more confused i get, Egyption pounds, US dollars, some even say the Euro... anybody whos been before care to shed some light?

thanks :)
Click to expand...

US Dollars or Egyptian Pounds. We used Dollars for tipping and Egyptian for everything else.

If you go to the Pyramids, do not make eye contact with anyone, do not stop to talk to anyone, they will try and sell you stuff and it is very hard to get away from.

Do not drink tap water. Make sure any salad has been washed in bottled water and not tap water.

Take pills for when you get the runs.

Go snorkelling but don't feed the fish.

Have an awesome time :)
 
fRostiE said:
sorry should have said where we were going

St. George Three Corners in Sharm - beach holiday was what we were after but we may take a day to go see something further into Egypt, the main plan is to catch some sun, and do 'nob all' as penski so delicately put it :)
Click to expand...

Do your PADI diving course then if you haven't already.
 
fRostiE said:
sorry should have said where we were going

St. George Three Corners in Sharm - beach holiday was what we were after but we may take a day to go see something further into Egypt, the main plan is to catch some sun, and do 'nob all' as penski so delicately put it :)
Click to expand...

I was in Three Corners Kiroseiz in Sharm 10 days ago. My
body is still peeling from the sun :D

You will have a great time, there are plenty of things to do
as well as lying around the pool. We did the quad bike ride
through the desert, snorkeling in the Ras Mohammed park,
and took a trip to Jordan to see the ancient city of Petra.

The Egyptians are fine in Sharm, they were far more
aggressive in Cairo in terms of trying to sell you stuff. Just
smile and say you will come back later. There are a few
decent restaurants in Sharm with very friendly staff.

We are all planning to go back again next february.
 
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