Weddingbee Blog

And so after 3 very long posts, I’d like to share with you the Lightning Guide to Egypt!

Booking your trip:
I highly recommend booking a package tour when visiting a foreign country where English is not the first language. Your transfers from airport to hotel are taken care of and if you book any tours through them as well, you are less likely to be taken for a ride or charged more than normal. We booked through a local travel agent and were taken care of by Excel Tours in Egypt. Excel had very friendly, well spoken representatives who helped us immensely in retrieving our bags. They also took us outside of the tourist areas to purchase water and batteries (both of which are incredibly expensive in the hotels and nearby cafes).

Touring in Cairo:
We had very little time in Cairo, but did manage to do a half-day tour to the Pyramids and Sphinx. I believe you can do a full day, but if you are not used to that sort of heat, you might find the experience very debilitating. A half-day tour was more than enough for us. Many of the temples and sites have sound and light shows, heavily punted by the tour groups, but we chose to do the traditional tour vs the evening extravaganza (if we were going all that way I wanted to see the pyramids up close, not from a seated area at the foot of the pyramid complex, and there really is no need to go to Giza twice for a day tour and light show).

The Museum:
We opted out of a tour to the museum with it being directly opposite our hotel (we chose the hotel for this reason). The exhibits are often poorly labeled, but after walking through the whole building, you are unlikely to remember everything you saw, as there is simply just too much to take in. Also, being lead around by a guide did not appeal to us, as we wanted to go at our own pace after a long journey. But if you are looking for a little bit of added information while you admire the artifacts, you can always hang near a group with an English speaking guide. They can’t stop you from listening in when you are viewing the same exhibit,and if the lecture starts to drag, you can move on to the next group.

Before going in, you should note the Mummy rooms are extra (100 Egyptian pounds p/p) but the Tut exhibition is free.

Other sights we didn’t see:
Sadly, we did not make it to Khan el Khalili, the large market famous for its diverse selection of wares, but I recommend it from what I have heard (but only if you are comfortable with saying, “no,” repeatedly).

The Citadel was also a place we really wanted to visit, but Ramadan made this impossible as it closed at 3PM and we couldn’t make it in time to enjoy it properly.

On the note, Ramadan and tourists:
We visited during Ramadan, which had its pros and cons. The pros were that there were less people on the streets during the day, and at night there was an incredible sense of celebration as soon as the sun set. The cons were that everything closed at 3PM and it was so busy at night that we struggled to walk around.

Cruising the Nile:
This was by far my favourite part of the journey. The cruise is a really great deal with all touring and food included. You need to purchase your own beverages at meal times, which can be really pricey, but all in all this is a great way to see a lot on a budget. The room was decent, the view spectacular, and the staff was  wonderful. The food wasn’t quite for me at times (I’m lactose intolerant and I couldn’t be sure what food had dairy in it or not), but they did have an Eastern-themed evening, which I loved.

Dollars, Egyptian pounds, and travellers cheques:
The Egyptian pound, or LE, as it is written, was actually a stronger currency than our South African Rands (1:1.5). Against the dollar it was 1:5.6. We carried dollars and travellers cheques but found it very difficult to exchange our cheques without paying exorbitant service fees at the hotel. The American Express office was housed in a nearby hotel (The Nile Hilton) but it was still a nightmare to get there before it closed at 3PM. As a result, we ended up using our credit card at lot and have no idea what we spent in charges as a result.

Egyptian merchants will accept dollars, but they round it down to 5, so every time you pay for something you will lose out on that 0.6, which can really add up.

Tipping:
You will be told regularly that Egyptians mainly survive on tips for a living. No one will beg you for money, but they will expect a tip if they provide you a service. We were advised to tip all sorts of amounts, but we stuck to an agreed amount for certain services. We were often asked for more tips once we paid for things, but we jokingly responded that we were from South Africa and they actually left us alone (perhaps they also know we have a poorer currency). And admittedly, the tips were rather large for our taste, but in the end, we were on holiday and we needed to roll with the punches.

Generally we tipped:

• 10 LE to the hotel staff who brought up our luggage (ironic, considering we didn’t have much, really)
• 20 LE to taxi drivers (not the normal taxis; I refer to the taxis organised for us through our tour)
• 10 LE to bar/restaurant staff (you are already charged a service charge by the restaurant, but it is still common to give extra to the waitron)

Sometimes you will be in a situation where no charge is set, like at the camera hold room at the museum, for example. Here you are expected to pay “as you like”. We gave 10 LE here.

On the cruise it is common to tip at the end. We placed our tip in an envelope with our room number and handed it in at reception. I believe this gets distributed among the cruise staff. Sadly at this stage we had run out of money to tip heavily. We had used more money than we had on us to purchase clothing, and there wasn’t exactly an ATM on the boat. I would advise to tip as you would above (count how many times you were served on the boat and add to that 10 LE for each time you room was cleaned). This seemed fair to us but of course, it is up to you.

Tipping tour guides:
We were not sure if this was expected or not but after we experienced such genuine help from our guide on the cruise, we decided to leave him a hefty thank you at the end of the trip (300 LE). He truly made our honeymoon all the better and I would have given him more if I could (we did the same for the representative who retrieved our bag for us after running from terminal to terminal with us in tow).

People:
As Westerners, we stuck out like sore thumbs. You can’t hide it and shouldn’t even bother. You will always look like a tourist and will more often than not be charged “tourist” prices. This is how it is all over the world though, and it doesn’t make Egypt a bad place to visit. You will be approached to purchase items but a strong walk and determined attitude will get you far. If you show any interest, you will be harassed endlessly. I advise if you wish to purchase anything, to do so with the help of your guide and buy where the goods are made, not on the street. The tour guides will offer to take you to papyrus, perfume, cotton, and alabaster factories. These places generally have the real deal and they even show you how it is made, which is an added extra to the visit (of course, they would prefer that you purchase something). We chose to visit a papyrus factory and an alabaster factory (we only purchased statues however, as we really didn’t think we’d hang the papyrus print anywhere).

Dressing for Egypt:
As a very fair woman with blond hair, I knew I was likely to be a source of attention. I dressed respectfully, but it didn’t hide that I look different, and so people did stare. I was also without luggage on the first day, so really had no choice but to wear what I had. Comments were made, but I expected this, and to be honest, I was very easily able to ignore it. Mr Lightning kept close watch on me and the fact that we were married helped us greatly, as men were more inclined to congratulate him than to say anything nasty. Many tourists walk around wearing tiny shorts and cleavage-revealing clothing, but they tend to stare, regardless (I walked around with a shawl almost all of the time, and they still looked). You just need to take it with a grain of salt. I was never touched inappropriately or outright disrespected, what was said under their breath I cannot say, but then again, it didn’t really matter, as worse has likely been said to me on a night out at home.

I recommend you wear what you want, really. I chose to wear long dresses with different shawls, as this kept me cool and protected. I only covered my forearms, neck and face with sun block regularly. If you are visiting any mosques, you do need to wear appropriate clothing, so be sure to pack long sleeved items and long loose skirts for that.

Final words of advice:

1. Our journey was very short and sweet; there are many other places in Egypt you should see if you can. I encourage anyone that wants to go to spend time online and read reviews from fellow travelers.
2. Be careful where you eat unless you know what you are doing. Local cuisine can be some of the best in the world, but if you have a weak stomach you won’t survive the ordeal.
3. Shopping for clothing isn’t easy, so be sure to take what you need with you.
4. Take your own sunblock, as well as stomach and headache medication, as it is very expensive in Egypt.
5. Buy and drink bottled water only, and take it everywhere with you.
6. Alcohol is very expensive, if you can, skip it and save the money.
7. Take LOTS of pictures.
8. Buy a few small souvenirs and cherish the memories, instead.

Good luck if you plan a trip to Egypt, and do share your adventure!!