Egypt – September 2019

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I travelled to Egypt in September – this trip was a little bit last minute for me as I only booked a few weeks before departure. The adventure company I usually use, Explore, did have several trips to choose from but none of the options were what I was looking for. I googled searched for solo Egyptian holidays and got quite a few suggestions back, mainly Nile cruises but factoring in the single supplement cost they ended up being more than I wanted to pay. More disappointingly though, was the lack of options to visit both Cairo and Luxor.

I managed to find a trip that combined both – 3 days in Cairo and 7 days on a Nile cruise £1,137 (single occupancy) with Tempt U Travel – YAY! But that’s when the costs start to mount. Firstly, you decide on flight times which can cost a bit extra (£65), if you want a pyramid view and go half board at your hotel in Cairo (£99 and £85 respectively). Then of course the cruise, the optionals are the full excursion package (which includes Valley of the Kings and Queens) and an all-inclusive drinks package (£189 and £165). This now totals £1,740… Don’t forget though, you’ll want to do things in Cairo like the Museum and Pyramids. Generally I would book excursions when I get there but as my time was tight and I wanted to go exploring first thing the next day, I found this site Get Your Guide. It had tons of tours to choose from so that’s what I did, 3 full days of back to back private tours.

Tours included a full day trip to the Museum, Pyramids and Bazaar, then back to the Pyramids in the evening for light and sound show (both a must). Quad biking desert safari (I booked for two hours), Cairo – best kept secrets night tour and Old Cairo & Khan El Khalili Bazaar half-day tour (totalling an additional £340). Word of warning, read the trip descriptions thoroughly as they often duplicate the same place, 3 of my tours included the same Bazaar…

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Cairo airport – landed and have to say, pretty good smooth flight but be warned, EgyptAir doesn’t serve alcohol, not a problem but who knew… Anyway, the airport is a NIGHTMARE! The queues are unbelievable and take forever, luckily when booking my tours, I also arranged for my visa which was only around £10 more ($35 total, paid in USD), a guide met before security with it – very handy as the visa queue was also very long. Baggage claim took quite a while, then we had another security queue.

The Capital is very very busy, traffic is horrendous no matter what time of day or night, it takes an age to get anywhere. Have to say it wasn’t as dirty or smelly as I’d expected, it wasn’t clean by any stretch of the imagination, but it never can be seeing as it was built in a desert LOL! To be honest I did feel quite safe as a single woman but then again, I did have private guides whilst visiting places.

I know that Egypt is a Muslim country, but I was still very surprised to see ALL the Shisha bars packed out with men, no women just men. When I raised this with one of my guides, he tried to assure me that women do go but as it was a Friday night, it was a ‘boys night out’ type of scenario… too funny!

Was picked up early from my hotel (Barcelo Cairo Pyramids), which by the way was lovely, although I had to ask to move rooms as I’d paid extra for a Pyramid view and didn’t get one. Anyway, although it was early and a Saturday, we made our way through Giza to the museum in stop start traffic. The Cairo museum was great, packed with artefacts but it was nothing like the ones at home (UK) only in the sense ours are ordered and well kept, this was a bit haphazard. They are currently building a new museum on the site of the Pyramids which will be much bigger and more ordered (apparently).

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Driving to the Pyramids is a surreal experience, you are driving along in this busy bustling city when you round a bend and then peaking up behind rows of shops and buildings, are the Pyramids – the vast Pyramids of Giza. Exciting and amazing all at once, felt like a kid. I was unaware prior to my visit but you are actually able to venture into one of the Pyramids, awesome! Now I was expecting it to smell because everyone that came out was all hot and sweaty, but it didn’t really. I get pretty claustrophobic, so it wasn’t the best idea to go in, but I did anyway. All I could think about whilst walking up the incline inside was, what if I have a panic attack how will they get me out… Needless to say, that didn’t happen. The incline obviously gets steeper and narrower and guess what, surprise surprise, there is nothing to see at the top. Not sure what I expected but empty wasn’t it!

Your guide(s) will take you into places/shops that you haven’t asked to go to trying to get you to buy stuff. My first guide showed me this cartouche key-ring and pendant which had the names of his children etched on them and asked if I liked them. Politely I said yes, next thing I know I’m in a jewellers looking at a 22k gold pendant for over £200… They are all very persuasive and to be honest, if I had had my credit card with me, I probably would have spent a ridiculous amount of money on something I didn’t want just to get out of there. As it is, I felt pressured into buying two really cheap key-rings (from a basket) for the equivalent of £38 (complete rip-off) but by this stage it felt like I was not going to be allowed to leave unless I bought something. I totally understand everyone needs to make a living, but the pressure is real. As for my guide, he was sat drinking coffee with the owners and other guides…

I was taken to a papyrus making place that sold art, I really didn’t care for it as by this stage, I was annoyed with myself for feeling like I was forced into buying something I didn’t want and now I am being hassled again into purchasing a painting. The dude in the shop kept following me around really putting the pressure on but I found my guide and told him I wanted to go. That’s the good part about booking a private tour, you get to leave when YOU want.

Pyramid evening light and sound show was very entertaining. I was shattered and half wished I hadn’t booked this BUT, so very worthwhile. The show was only about an hour long and I had a front row seat. This was a light show story of the how the Pyramids came to be, projected onto the Pyramids. It was loud and bright but also captivating. A  MUST!

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Quad biking was the most fun and I really enjoyed it but as I was the only single female in the group, one of the quad bike guides decided to sit on the grid at the front of my bike for most of the first hour, leaning back behind him to ‘help’ steer… They had already asked me if I knew how to drive and if I’d ridden a quad bike before to which I answered yes. Initially I was a bit irked, but it wasn’t much of a hindrance because I got to go faster as I was with the guide. He was being overtly attentive and a bit inappropriate (although not offensively so) but the intention was all about the tips (I’ll get to tips later). At one point I did have to ask myself if the guy was hoping for a 90 Day Fiancé situation ha ha ha! I was glad I booked the second hour as the rest of the group went back and it was only me, my guide and another quad bike guide so got to ride by myself and hit the sand dunes at speed. https://travellingwithmaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/7DEED8D0-B8F7-47E2-BD65-61B48B275C4E.mov

The Cairo night tour was a bit of a disappointment and to be honest, the only time in Egypt I felt apprehensive, the men thus far seemed respectful and not gawky at all. My guide was new and young, luckily for me there was another female on this tour so felt a bit better – safety in numbers and all that… Our guide took us through what can only be described as a really rough dodgy council estate. It was dark and closed in, there were a group of blokes in their late teens just hanging about watching us – it felt edgy and unsafe, nothing happened it just made me hyper vigilant and jumpy. The guide also took us on a short cut through a part of a market that was closed, dark and again a bit scary. It really was not a good tour but probably made worse because it was a Sunday evening and although busy, a lot was closed. The old town was predominately Christian back in the day, so Egyptians are respectful that Sunday is seen as a day of worship. The main highlight for me was that we went into a courtyard where there were musicians and whirling dervishes – that was a lot of fun and everyone on stage and in the audience were thoroughly enjoying themselves. A total toe tapper.

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Nile cruise – flew from Cairo to Luxor in under an hour which was good, again another smooth flight with EgyptAir. Was picked up by the transfer guide and driven to the boat. Luxor and Cairo are like night and day, Luxor is much quieter and a lot less busy. Arrived at the boat around 10pm and met with my cruise tour guide who gave me an itinerary and a sheet with additional trips (and costs) for me to look over.

So, as I have never been on a cruise before I wasn’t aware of the rules and rules there were… Room was smallish which is what I expected and not an issue, but the restaurant situation was an eye opener. Went down for breakfast and sat myself down at a small available table, one of waiters told me I couldn’t sit there and moved me to another small table. When I asked why I couldn’t sit where I wanted, noting I had an English accent, he then moved me to a table of eight and said this is where I am to sit for the duration of the cruise. Got to say, I was really unhappy about it. The other people on the table were also English and under the same tour guide as me so schooled me in the ways of the restaurant seating arrangements.

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Was advised about which additional trips to go on so booked and paid for those (can’t recall the costs or all the trips) but did include an early morning air balloon flight over the Valley of the Kings and Queens, at a cost of around £125. Really looked forward to that. First morning consisted of a visit to the temple complex of Karnak. Big complex with tons of visitors, the carvings are pretty amazing and so big. One thing I particularly noted which was in contrast to Cairo, was that some of the tourists in Luxor were not very mindful of the fact they were in a Muslim country and were dressed in the shortest daisy dukes. One Italian lady covered her hair out of ‘respect’ and had all but her nipples showing, I guess the thought was there.

The cruise itself was pretty relaxing especially when sunbathing on the upstairs deck whilst the boat was moving along the Nile. The staff were pretty friendly, and it was always interesting to see what towel animal would be sitting on my bed when I got back to my room – very inventive. The food was good, though not exciting and generally plentiful – pretty much the same every day, rice, pasta, chicken, beef, fish but cooked in a variety of different styles. You will soon come to realise that I am not a foodie by any stretch of the imagination, I eat to live and am not very adventurous when it comes to my food – everywhere in the World has either bread and/or rice so I’ll never starve. I have pretty much decided that the cruise thing really is not for me, well not at this stage of my life, perhaps when I’m in my 80s I may be more receptive…

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So, did a few more sightseeing things like the Aswan High Dam and Hatsheput’s temple, well worth a visit. A highlight, second to that of the Pyramids, was the temples at Abu Simbel in Aswan. A-MAZING structures and to know that they were moved to avoid being submerged only makes it that much more spectacular, a real must BUT be aware. This is a 3:30am departure from the boat with a 3.5-hour drive – you need to leave at this time not only because of the crowds but mainly because of the heat. To get back to your transport, you have to walk through the ‘market’, lots of knick knacks and stuff which ideally, you’d take your time and have a look around, but you just can’t. The merchants all try and get you into their shop by saying “no hassle, just come look” but by saying that very thing, that’s exactly what they are doing… It is a shame though because I would have bought stuff but couldn’t bear the thought of haggling etc.

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Like all these wonderful structures, they are great to see but the guides always spend more time at these sights than are actually necessary. I know there are people out there that REALLY like to take their time and ‘soak in the atmosphere’ but for me, once I’ve walked around and taken pictures, there isn’t much else to do, so leave.

Went on a Felucca boat but to be honest, it felt like a pretty useless endeavour. We went sailing for a little bit, saw a wall that resembled an Elephant, turned around and came back. What was funny though was these young boys paddling up to the boat on a surf board, singing the Frere Jacques nursery rhyme for a bit of change.

I would recommend the carriage ride around Luxor, just to see the city. In my opinion and the experience, I had, were that the horses looked in pretty good condition and appeared well looked after. I wouldn’t have gone if they hadn’t. So, remember I said I was quite surprised that Cairo didn’t smell, well I was just about to say that very thing to the lady I was sharing the carriage with when the most God-awful smell hit me. There was a massive pile of rubbish, didn’t see what was on it but the smell was so bad that I was retching for a full-on two minutes until we had properly passed it. GRIM! Happy to report it appeared to be a one-off.

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Let me tell you about the Valley of the Kings and Queens – as I had opted to take the hot air balloon ride, we had to leave really early again (4am I think) to get there ahead of the main tour group. Coach and boat ride later, we reached the site where there were these massive balloons. I thought, from what I had previously seen, that there would be approximately 4 people to a basket plus the captain. Oh No, these things are HUGE, 24 people plus the captain. The basket is divided into four sections with 6 people in each. This experience was worth every penny, I saw the sunrise over the Nile, the scale of the site and to know it was once all buried, was one of the most calming, awe inspiring and peaceful experiences I’ve ever had. Sooo worth it.

The Valley was really fascinating especially as they were just uncovering yet another underground tomb whilst we were there. Looking at it from the ground or above does not explain the scale and intricacies of how these were constructed. There is a model that shows you how far down the chambers of each tomb go and how many rooms each one has. Truly wonderful. Again, not to be a Debbie Downer but going into the tombs and taking photos of the hieroglyphics with all their original colours still intact, there is only so much time you need – spending hours in the searing heat is not necessary…

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THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW – Tips, the exchange rate was 20EGP to the 1GBP when I was there, I generally tip the equivalent of £1 (minimum), but the amount depends on the service. In Egypt you tip EVERYONE. You learn this pretty quickly. Example, when I arrived, I was met by a guide who took me through security etc., then he passed me off to another guide who was escorting me to my hotel plus the driver – a tip was expected to be given to all 3. It’s never-ending and you can never seem to have enough small notes. I am all about tipping, always but this was too much even for me especially as you often over-tip because you don’t have the appropriate amount. This makes me sound tight but honestly, I’m not, it was just overwhelming and too expected. I went to this one temple and went to climb some stairs, there was an old fella sitting at the bottom and unhooked the rope across the stairs (I totally could have done this myself or not even gone up the stairs if not allowed) – for that he expected a tip and moaned that all the change I gave him wasn’t enough, go figure… The cruises down the Nile get you to pay your tips upfront which you think is a great idea but as the trip goes on, you start to wonder how much of it actually goes to the staff… Our waiter was fantastic, very friendly and helpful so I decided to individually tip him at the end of the trip as well as my housekeeper (he of the towel animals).

Souvenirs – If you want to buy fridge magnets and other such trinkets, do not buy in Cairo, especially at the museum (which you’ll think is great because they all have a price so no haggling), wait until you get to Luxor especially at Abu Simbel, the prices there are less than a quarter of what is charged in Cairo and are the same quality…

Mobile Data – In my opinion, it is a really good idea to purchase a sim card at the airport. Yes, you get free WiFi in the hotels but on the cruise, you have to pay per device and doesn’t seem to last long either. I would suggest that whilst waiting for your luggage, go to the Orange network desk and buy a sim card.

Vaccinations – Hepatitis A and B, Tetanus and Typhoid. If you are just going to Luxor or a cruise these may not be necessary, check with your doctor.

My advice, if you get the opportunity go visit Egypt, it’s just like the History Channel but in 4D 🙂

*Disclaimer – all prices quoted were correct at the time of my trip.*