Egypt whos been advice needed.

Wow Nitefly makes me not want to go. :D

Is this the normal for people haggling with there reactions seems to be the first I've heard of it. Did this happen only in the one area.

All Inclusive deals seem really good but after reading reviews on quite a few different hotels/place it seems that all the free food seems to be terrible. Not sure if this is to make you eat at the places charge of course.
 
Duggan said:
Wow Nitefly makes me not want to go. :D

Is this the normal for people haggling with there reactions seems to be the first I've heard of it. Did this happen only in the one area.
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Perhaps I have had a particuarly bad experience or I am just not used to being treated so rudely.

The best of Egypt is amazing. I do not regret going, but the hospitality was less than impressive.
 
I went for eight days earlier this month.

You must go to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo - spare at least 3 hours for this.

Also, with regards to pyraminds, I strongly recommend doing it in this order:

1. Go to Dahshur (best to get here around 9-10am) (about 30km south of Cairo) to see The Red Pyramid and The Bent Pyramid. Go inside the Red Pyramid.

2. Go to the museum in Memphis (can't remember its name!)

3. Go to Saqqara to see the Step Pyramid.

4. Go to Giza for the huge pyramids - they're a bit bigger than The Red Pyramid. You can go inside the 2nd pyramid.


Remember, there aren't just two pyramids in Giza, there are up to twelve. You don't need to see any but the first three though. Also, there are 130 pyramids in Egypt in total!

Also, you simply cannot leave Egypt without a full day or two in Luxor. You'll have to fly here unless you can handle 8-10 hour road journeys (not recommended). Go to Luxor Temple first, then Temples of Karnak (incredible).

Then what will probably be the highlight of your trip, check out the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens. The tombs are very well preserved and breathtaking. Check beforehand on which tombs are open. Valley of Kings: one ticket (I think 80 EGP) allows you to go into three tombs. Tutankhamun's tomb costs another 100 EGP!

Aswan is supposed to be good and isn't too far from Luxor (south). Worth checking out if you have time.

I suggest you get a copy of Lonely Planet's Guide to Egypt - it's very handy. Read it before going.

If you're going for two weeks, some may suggest going up to Alexandria - but I've read and seen stuff about it - there isn't much left to see. Probably not worth the journey.

There is also the Siwa Oasis, but again, very far. The Sinai Mountains are also supposed to be very good - again, a flight away.

Then, to go diving there are a few options: Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada, Dahab. Dahab seems to be the place to go now.

With regards to costs and money:

The exchange rate has gone from 1 GBP = 12 EGP to 1 GBP = 8 EGP in a year. This makes things considerably more expensive over there. Furthermore, their prices for everything are heavily inflated for tourists. Haggle *everywhere*. Dinner in nice restaurants (in hotels) will cost you as much as a decent restaurant here. With travelling, flights, shopping, eating and other activities, you're going to need many hundreds of pounds.

Don't let peoples' opinions of Cairo discourage you though. It's not essential to stay in Cairo for long - do the Museum and some other stuff on one day, the Pyramid tour on the other.

Also, a Nile cruise is essential! It's not necessary to go on full-day or many-day cruises, but they could be good too. I went for 2 hours, and saw the sunset at the Nile Delta. Incredible view (but very cold in December!!).

Temperatures will be 20-26 degrees depending on part of Egypt in December. Will start getting warmer from February.

Have fun!
 
Duggan said:
Wow Nitefly makes me not want to go. :D

Is this the normal for people haggling with there reactions seems to be the first I've heard of it. Did this happen only in the one area.

All Inclusive deals seem really good but after reading reviews on quite a few different hotels/place it seems that all the free food seems to be terrible. Not sure if this is to make you eat at the places charge of course.
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I went to sharm el sheikh last year in September. It was really hot, in the high 30's and never had any rain. I went scuba diving in the Red Sea, and the sea life down there was amazing! If you do go, its definitely worth doing!

I think it was only half board i did which meant we got dinner but not breakfast!? The food wasnt very good, infact i tried to escape many times to eat else where but was pretty much in the middle of nowhere!

I did go into the local town Na'ama Bay and wasnt all that, i did get offered into a shop one evening and they tried to sell me after shave and basically tried his best to make me buy it, they did seem quite forcefull in those circumstances and in the towns, but that aside was a good trip but if your not into seeing sites or scuba diving then give it a wide birth! :D
 
I've been on several different trips. One to view the pyramids/museums etc - which I think everyone should do as it is pretty amazing (try and get a good/enthusiastic tour guide!) and also on several dive holidays. Are you in to diving at all?
If you are I would recommend going further down south where it is less busy.
Great place to visit and sure you'll have an excellent time no matter where you go :)
 
We went to Taba Heights and it was good for diving. Much smaller, quieter area too...which is either a good or bad thing depending....
 
The coloured canyon is nice..

Try and stay away from the touristy parts, get taxi's down the coast etc.

Be beligerent, people will hassle you to buy stuff - don't succumb.
 
My dad took me there when I was pretty young. One of the only things I remember is that we had guards armed with assault rifles with us a lot of the time :p

The pyramids were very impressive, and the museum in Cairo was brilliant as well. There were a lot of people trying to scam us. The funniest was a man who pointed at a random woman nearby and asked us to buy stuff from him so he could feed his wife. The woman overheard and said "I'm not his wife". Was priceless :D
 
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N9ne said:
SNIP

Have fun!
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Thanks very much for the massive reply, its been very helpful. I'm looking forward to booking and going now. Just need to sort out spending money and I think I now have a really good idea of where to go and what to do also.

Cheers N9ne

out of interest how much did you spend while on your holiday.
 
The thing with the locals is you have to remember your not in blighty any more. This is an area where the tourists are the only source of cash for them.

Be prepared to haggle if you wish to purchase something and do not under any circumstances allow them to give you any gifts or place something in your hands as you will then be expected to pay for them. Asking for money to take photos with your cameras is another one they like.

I found the best way to deal with the locals trying to flog stuff is to simply keep your sunglasses on and keep walking, if they they start their little sales pitch a simple No thank you and carry on walking works wonders.

Engaging in eye contact or conversation is seen as a sign of encouragement of many of them and more than once I saw a lone female tourist hassled almost to the point of tears because she was trying to be to polite.

The culture and the diving are well worth it but you do have to be prepared for the locals. As soon as you learn how to be polite and firm they will soon ignore you and look for the next mug tourist with to much money.
 
Duggan said:
Thanks very much for the massive reply, its been very helpful. I'm looking forward to booking and going now. Just need to sort out spending money and I think I now have a really good idea of where to go and what to do also.

Cheers N9ne

out of interest how much did you spend while on your holiday.
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I lived quite lavishly whilst there, so over eight days I probably spent around £450-500. It is possible to both spend less (not much less, though) and a lot lot more.

Also, look carefully for hotels in Cairo. It's a bit of a double-edged sword - while it's busy and polluted in the centre, it's also nearer the more fun stuff. The area of Zemalek is very nice at night, and has a number of nice restaurants (but expensive). I stayed much further out near Heliopolis. Hotels along the Nile are very good but very expensive. Further out, hotels are still good, but no Nile and a distance to travel to get into Cairo. However, the saving on the room price far outweighs additional transport costs.

Also, I hope you like bread because everywhere you go, you'll get kilograms of the stuff :P (complimentary, it seems, with *every* meal).
 
Look towards Hurgurda or even better, Marsa Alam, quiet, and the diving is less spoilt than Sharm, plus you are closer to Luxor and Aswan.

Went end of September and it was 36' at least, and no clouds, water was 31'c at 25m and not too bad vis...

Looking at going back there twice in 2009 before tripping to the Indian Ocean :)
 
Baz said:
Look towards Hurgurda or even better, Marsa Alam, quiet, and the diving is less spoilt than Sharm, plus you are closer to Luxor and Aswan.

Went end of September and it was 36' at least, and no clouds, water was 31'c at 25m and not too bad vis...

Looking at going back there twice in 2009 before tripping to the Indian Ocean :)
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Apparently Hurghada is fairly damaged now too. Dahab and Marsa Alam are much less damaged.
 
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