Egypt Again 2023 - All About Money, ATM cards, and Cairo Traffic.... And Tipping

 As every Egyptian will be happy to tell you without being asked, Egypt is currently going through a bit of a crisis and the Egyptian Pound, LE, has been allowed to float, the follow on as a result of the Egyptian Govt using the import 'escrow' to pay for other things rather than the imports it was supposed to be used for.....

While prices have risen in the last few months because of the fall in the value of the LE it also means that visitors are now getting more LE for their USD/GBP/Euro.

The end result of this is that many prices for tourists have fallen because for instance the rate of exchange for LE to GBP has risen by almost 50%.

This makes Egypt an even cheaper place to go than it was before!

Many tourists are still taking wads of cash with them and it really is not necessary because there are  ATMs available almost everywhere, so by all means take some cash with you, indeed you will have to because your hotel if you have not already paid for it in advance will need to be paid using foreign currency, it's the law.

Many hotels will now take a card of course, but for small amounts cash is still preferred! They will take USD, GBP, or Euros (as a last resort), but do keep an eye on the exchange rate bearing in mind that the Euro is now worth more than a USD.

And note that some places do not actually have access to an exchange facility so they will want LE! 

If you have to round the bill up by a couple of dollars/pounds/euros because you only have larger foreign bills then don't be frightened to do so as the hotel owner probably will not have small bills or even coins to give you change, and in true Egyptian style you probably will not get any change anyway!

To be honest, as a Westerner, I feel their pain with the way prices are going at the moment, especially for energy and gasoline which in Egypt is now around 12 LE a litre, up from 6LE four years ago. (I will do the sums for you 12 LE is almost exactly 33 pence in UK money).

It is becoming increasingly difficult to change cash these days as none of the banks will now do it and there are fewer official licensed money shops that will give you the top rate, beware of people that will change money for you including your hotel as they are going to make a profit out of it. There are also illegal money dealers who will meet you in dark alleys and them give you only 20 or 25LE to the USD when it should be about 30!

So the first thing to do is get some local currency at the airport from one of the many ATMs available, there is a huge 'bank' of them in the baggage reclaim area.

Get yourself a card that allows you to make cash withdrawals without charge. For people in the UK this means something like the Halifax Clarity card, which makes no charge for using it to buy goods abroad or take cash from an ATM, and also gives you top whack exchange rates through the Mastercard system. Some people, of course, have a similar card that works through the Visa system. either way the exchange rates are good.

Avoid the use of ordinary ATM cards because they will charge you a commission and give you a crap exchange rate, unless you have one that does otherwise.

Use the ATMs that give you the choice of it exchanging the money for you or allowing you to let your home bank do it because they give you a rotten exchange rate and sometimes charge you commission for changing it as well.

Avoid Euronet ATMs at all costs because they either change the money up for you at a really bad exchange rate or if you choose to let your bank do it then they charge you 100LE for the pleasure of using their machine. 100LE/EGP at 36 LE to a GBP doesn't sound like much but it is 3 quid or two beers!

There are also 'cyberbanks', like Revolut, that give excellent exchange rate but you do have to pay for a physical card.

Don't forget that carrying a card is also more secure than carrying cash wherever you go, innocent and inexperienced tourists are a target for thieves. I personally have not carried a lot of cash on me for years because there is now no need! But for added security I do have two cards I can use leaving one in a safe place in my room just in case.

If you are looking for an ATM head to the nearest mobile phone shop as they normally have one if not two ATMs outside.

Back to the traffic... I am staying in Giza instead of central Cairo because I am 'hoping' to go to the GEM, I don't think I will stay in Giza again unless it is somewhere central becuase I am out on the Alex Desert Road and it just a tad too far to walk into Giza, but very convenient to walk to the GEM which isn't open. I did try walking but because of the road works I had to take a big detour, and taxis have to do the same, indeed throughout Cairo detours of 3/4 kilometres just to take a U turn and come back again, are not unusual.

In Giza near the Pyramids they are building a new Metro line which has closed Al Haram down to Giza Square....  No wonder that taxis try to avoid some areas!

And lastly on this post the sensitive subject of tipping....

Did you know that you are not obliged to tip anybody??

Personally, having lived in Australia, I don't tip anybody. Other nationalities seem to tip everybody for no particular reason! (You know who you are!)

My idea of a tip is to give a taxi driver a £5 note for a £4.90 fare and tell him to keep the change, because I have enough loose change already.

And I positively loathe the system, widely used in the USA and Canada, where you are paying by card and they have already added on a tip that you have to cancel off the card reader before you tap or insert your card to pay.

Why are you giving them a tip for doing their job?

In Trip Advisor recently I was reading a travel report from somebody visiting Egypt where the writer said keep a good stock of one dollar bills/coins to use as tips. (They also said they felt like a walking ATM machine but that is not surprising either)

Why? There is no earthly reason to tip somebody in Egypt, and indeed a one dollar coin or bill is no earthly use to them because they cannot change it! Similarly with a Pound or Euro coin. And even if the tip is bigger then they might not have any way of getting it changed so it will end up in the hands of an illegal currency dealer who will give them a crap rate for it.

If I feel that somebody has gone over and above the call of duty then maybe I will tip, like lugging a heavy suitcase for me, but they will get nothing for watching me lift it myself.

And the same goes for waiters and bartenders.

Even if you do tip there is a limit. Why give a toilet attendant 5 USD when all they normally get is 1LE, it used to be a lot less but all the small coins seem to have disappeared these days?

If you feel that somebody has done a particularly good job for some reason, then yes, like I did by buying my barman a drink at the end of my recent stay. He got a beer which cost 50 LE.

And wherever did the idea come from that you had to give the chambermaid something everyday just to do her job, but fine if she has gone over the top and give her something at the end of your stay if you wish, much like in days of old when you were staying at an English country house when you tipped the butler, but those days have gone, and so has the tip!

If you do have a stock of foreign coinage give it to the children who ask for baksheesh, they will be delighted they have got something even though it is worthless to them, although it would be cheaper to give them 1 LE coins!

And beware of people asking you for baksheesh too, don't give them anything because some of them actually have businesses. I came across one on the East Bank in Luxor who was asking for baksheesh and the Egyptian sitting next to me shooed him away and then informed me that he owned a tuk tuk but was too idle to go out and drive it!

English people will feel quite at home with the new Egyptian 10LE note..Although this one is not looking good since it went through the wash on a hot wash.

Vaguely familiar perhaps? To start with I thought I had been given a dud note.

  

Egypt Part The Third 2022 - Special Assistance, More COVID Bureacracy, Unecessary Expense, And The Journey Home

Many years ago I used to travel behind the Iron Curtain for work

All I had to do was send my passport along with my 'work order' to the relevant embassy in London and about a week later I would get my passport back with the necessary visa stamp in it.

That was in the days before somebody decided to put explosives in their shoes and carry bottles of inflammable liquid with them... Back in the days when suddenly our bags were searched and if you had a Sinclair calculator with you you had to turn it on to prove that it was not a small bomb...

Now coronavirus has produced its own form of hysteria and the number of pieces of paper needed to even enter the airport has become ridiculous....

Indeed in Greece you cannot even go and buy a light bulb without wearing a face mask, carrying a copy of your vaccination certificate and your official ID to confirm the person on the vax certificate is actually you etc., etc., etc.,.....

In order to get back in to Greece I must either produce a pcr test valid for 72 hours or a rapid antigen test valid for 24 hours.... I have to have the expensive one because my journey is going to take more than 24 hours because I am flying to Cairo and staying overnight there before taking an onward flight to Athens the following day. 

Somebody did suggest, quite sensibly, that I didn't need to get a rapid test until the evening before my departure and I could go into Cairo centre to do this. 

This sounds fine until you look at how much the taxi fares are going to be and so I might as well pay the extra and get fully tested in Luxor on the Sunday morning and this would be valid until well after my arrival in Athens on Tuesday.... 

This is going to cost me of course.. And somebody told me that it would cost me 2,000 EGP or about 100 GBP, except when I went and asked at the private clinic it turns out it is only 1,000EGP, or about 50 quid... I didn't bother to tell the boy who has come up with a price of 1,700 EGP.... He has obviously found out that it is only 1,000 EGP and is going to collect 1,700 from me and then keep 700 EGP. He thinks I am stupid...

And I would get the results in 24 hours time, i.e. 9.30am on Monday morning.

But I am getting ahead of myself because you don't know how I am getting to Cairo yet, because if you have been paying attention then you will remember that my flight was in and out of Cairo..... 

As I changed my outbound flight after finding that I didn't need another visa and could stay as long as I liked because I am over 60, I also took the chance to change the flight time as my original flight was at 4.40am, so that became 10.30am... So I have choices, I can go on the day train costing 145 EGP, for nearly 13 hours and stay overnight, or I can take the overnight sleeper train and arrive early in Cairo for 126US$, or I can fly which means getting up really early to get the morning flight from Luxor, or taking the afternoon flight from Luxor and stay overnight at Cairo airport.... In the end flying the previous afternoon won out because it only cost €55 and the hotel at Cairo airport was only US$30 with a free transfer bus,

The man on the free transfer bus seemed to think he was worth a huge tip in US dollars although why he though I might even have dollars I don't know, he got 2 EGP instead...

My trip to Luxor airport was more like a charabanc ride for the boy and his cousins of which there seemed to be two in the back seat....

Family is everything in Egypt, you don't just get one you get the whole family, but give him  his due he didn't charge me too much. Here is his FB Page Ahmed-Your-Driver-in-Luxor-Egypt

But arriving at Luxor airport far too early I had to wait before I could go and check in... With the usual Egyptian security which is get all the bags X rayed before you even get to check in.... Luxor airport is only small so you don't really need much in the way of assistance here..

Tomorrow is ''leaving Egypt day'', and I checked with the local Egyptair office in Luxor about my special assistance because I didn't get it on the way in, so arriving 3 hours before my flight is due to depart I have to go to to the 'service desk' window number 3... The man in window number 3 says ''Window number 4'', the man in window number 4 says ''Window number 5'', the man in window number 5 says ''Window number 3''... it turns out it is really number 4 because the man there didn't realise he was the one with the blue wheelchair sign in the window. Apart from that the special assistance is so well organised that I am through emigration, without a visa remember, with the only comment from the young lady on the desk, ''Pull the mask down please, if it wasn't written in your passport I would not have thought you were over 60''......

An uneventful flight after having all my papers checked at check in and all the plfs and certificates checked and I am at the gate 2 hours before my flight is due to leave.

Arriving in Athens it is considerably cooler and inclined to rain... On landing the have got the flash new hoist out for me even though I am quite capable of walking down the steps but it is in a wheelchair from now on through immigration... Where.... Wait for it they scan the code on my PLF, (Passenger Location Form if you don't know by now), don't even bother to ask for my vaccination certificate or for the pcr test results, which you will notice is just an image of the paper turned into a pdf..

 

And wheel me straight into the testing department at Athens airport for a rapid test, which they text me the results of later... This has happened before.. All the expense of a test and they don't even bother to look at it...

With some hours to wait for my connecting flight and my bags not on transfer because the two legs were booked separately, I am at a loss as to what to do with my luggage in Athens airport for the next 5 hours, but Aegean to the rescue and speaking to the man on the check in, they take my bag check me in and give me a voucher to the Business Lounge, not only that when I go to board the flight they have upgraded me to Business Class!!

A highly successful end to the journey....

The (Belated) Return to Egypt January 2019 - Cairo.

Somehow i just knew I was going to come back to Egypt again.....

But first, I have taken the liberty of re-dating the original posts so that they start earliest first, this will give new readers a chance to start at the beginning instead of the end of the 2017 trip!!

A few weeks after my return from the January 2017 trip I was taken into hospital in Greece (where I was spending the winter), the doctors were surprised that I had been able to fly to Egypt so recently, and even more surprised to find that the previous January (2016) I had spent 13 hours on a flight to Singapore!! Anyway it is the end of March and I am due to fly back to the UK the following weekend in time to celebrate my 65th birthday in Brighton. Except I am not because they will not let me......

Two days after I returned from the 2017 trip I was already looking flights and doing a bit of planning towards returning in January 2018, but the (not unexpected), news that I had chest problems put the fear of God up me, and the plan was dropped as I had now become a nervous flyer!!

Yes me, nervous. Me who over the period of many years has clocked up millions of miles at least!!

But in the meantime something else came up that didn't need to much flying, well only one way across the Atlantic anyway, and in September 2018 I spent 6 weeks in the USA and Canada, but that is another story.

The hankering to return to Egypt was still there and having clocked up a few more air miles I had free tickets to Egypt and back..... So........ The trip to the US and Canada having been a bit breathless (pun intended), a more relaxing holiday to Egypt is called for and time to fill in a few blanks as it were.

The itinerary will be Cairo, and Luxor, and that is it. No desperate one day tours into the desert, no cruise to anywhere, and just a few visits that were an absolute must to fill in the gaps from before.

Arriving in Cairo in the middle of the night, (that's air miles for you, they put you on a flight that nobody wants to be on), I have booked a transfer except that this time there is nobody to meet me before passport control, but that is OK because I have done this before... First change money, and get the visa, stick it in the passport, and go to immigration with the landing card.... Reclaim bags, but still nobody with a sign up with my name on it.....

Something different, after reclaim you don't get your passport checked yet again, but they do X ray your bags on the way out.

I get the usual approaches from taxi drivers and at this point many might think, ''Hell my transfer is not here. I'll get a cab''. But my driver is outside the terminal building, no sign up but a tablet instead!! How modern is that then?

And Tim's Tip Of The Day.... Get WhatsApp on your mobile phone. Everybody in Egypt is on it and it is a really good way of getting in touch with transfer drivers and tour companies. You don't even need to use data because there are Wi-fis everywherem and if you do need to turn data on then WhatsApp is very frugal with it!

I am staying at Mena House, yes I am still on the Agatha Christie trail, and remember I was a bit put out because my co-travellers on the Nile cruise in 2017 had stayed there and I hadn't. Not that I was jealous of course.

So Day 1 is in Cairo.... Breakfast time at Mena House. And what a crap view that is to have to look at while you are having breakfast on the terrace at Mena House.

Slightly disappointed that the old part of Mena House is not currently open but never mind. I am in Cairo so what else matters. And the Great Pyramid of Cheops is just a short walk away.

Walking up to the Pyramids is like, well I don't know what it is like, but it involves getting accosted by taxi drivers, (why do I need a taxi? It is only half a mile away), and people trying to sell you tours, and tour guides, and who needs one of those when you can read the guide book??

But I found the same tactic worked as with boatmen in Luxor, engage them in conversation and then walk off..... On the way up the hill you pass a yard where they keep lots of very dusty cars, carriages, and spare camels.

Getting a ticket into Giza means standing in a queue, but this gives you time to read the price list, (entry in Egyptian archaeological sites is still cheap compared with other countries), and the plethora of options that seem to be available is confusing in spite of the gentlemen that approach you and offer to sell you a ticket for US$50. When you finally get to the ticket office, be prepared to be ignored and get pushed out of the way by a local who is obviously in a lot more of a hurry than you. So when I finally get the man's attention I just ask for a ticket. 

''Just one?'' 

''Yes, just one.''

Five English Pounds later I have my ticket, (which apparently does most things depending on the time of day, and the day of the week, and whether it is an odd or even date, and whether there is an R in the month), and on the way up to the Great Pyramid I am accosted yet again by an ''official guide'' flashing a very official looking ''badge'' asking me what ticket I have. So I show him and he very helpfully tells me what it entitles me to see, except the man checking the tickets has already told me... I think he was expecting a tip for telling me but he didn't get one.

The last trip was somewhat rushed and with long explanations from my guide there was no time for roaming. This time I am able to roam at my leisure and marvel at the people taking selfies with nothing but desert and blue sky behind them. Rather like people who take pictures of themselves on a beach with nothing but sea and sky behind them. They could be anywhere.....

My ticket does not let me go into everything, but I manage to get into the Boat Museum, and also I can visit the Temple of Khafre and The Sphinx..... And also the Tomb of Seshem Nefer Theti.






Meanwhile I encounter Ali..... Ali has a camel.... Ali wants me to take a camel ride, and if you read the blog on the 2017 trip, I am never getting on a camel again.

Ali will take a picture of me sitting on the camel, while it is on the ground, for a couple of English pounds... Ali is a rip off merchant.....




 Ali takes a very nice selfie of himself using my camera, and a picture of me on the camel.... Which is fine but then he pockets my camera, whistles and the camel stands up and takes off across the desert, stopping next to a ruined wall which means I can get off the camel on to the wall......


He then thinks I am going to give him US$200 for the camel ride and to get my camera back. Ali doesn't know that I only have a few English Pounds on me and he can keep the camera...

Something of an argument ensues while I walk back up to the track leading to The Sphinx, but I do give him a fiver and he does give me back the camera while still shouting (presumably) abuse at me.......

I think Ali is saving up for some serious dental work.

On the way down to the Sphinx I pass two policemen who ask me what was going on up the hill, so I tell them and show them the picture of Ali. They are not happy and a few minutes later I see them up the hill talking to Ali.

I think Ali got into trouble. But never mind, I arrive down the hill at the Sphinx and a very nice official guide takes my photograph for me, doesn't even want a tip, and restores my faith in human nature. Before leaving Giza Plateau I take a look around and still marvel at how Giza has grown since I saw pictures of the Sphinx in the ''Children's Book Of Knowledge when I was about 7 or 8 years old, when it was in the middle of the desert.... They seem now to be pulling down some buildings nearby, and I am heading for the rather excellent restaurant where I had lunch the last time I was here, only to find it is closed, and has been for some some, as is the restaurant next door.

Indeed none of the restaurants in the area seems to be open. A sign of the times, or are they going to knock them down I wonder??

I cannot re-enter the Plateau it seems so I take a walk by the main road back to my hotel, this turns out to be the long route, and certainly not the prettiest. Egypt is not a place for those of limited physical capabilities. The pavement all seem to be at least a foot high and involve a big step up and down as you cross a side road. Which is why everyone walks along the side of the road I guess.

I don't think many tourists walk this way as I don't get accosted at all by any of the shop keepers. Disappointing in a way, but I do get something to eat and I let the man in the shop do the choosing for me, and end up with more food than I can eat for EG£75, say GB£3.50 roughly.

When I get back to my hotel I pause to take a picture of the very large light fitting in reception before getting an early night.

Tomorrow is flying to Luxor day, and as I didn't get to sleep until gone 3 am this morning and early night is called for.

The next day is a leisurely one with plenty of time for breakfast before my taxi to the airport.

You will read that the trip from Giza to Cairo Airport takes less than an hour via the ''ring road''. It doesn't because the traffic is at a complete standstill and it takes over an hour and a half. Luckily I have allowed plenty of time, and it was worth the extra time just to get a view of IKEA on the way.....

Let's Start At The Beginning, The Independent Traveller Follows Poirot.....

Which is always the best place to start.....

I have wanted to visit Egypt ever since I read (at primary school), about the plans to save the temple of Rameses II from the rising waters of the newly formed Lake Nasser, and also seeing pictures of the treasures from King Tut's tomb.

Yes I really am that old!

Somehow I never seemed to get around to making the trip until finally last August 2016, I decided that it was time to go. 

When I said to friends that that I was thinking about Egypt the instant response was ''Hurghada or Sharm El Sheikh?''

Neither I replied, ''Cairo, a Nile cruise, and maybe some extra time in Luxor and Aswan.''

''You can't do that,'' they said, ''It's not safe''.

Well three weeks later I am back home after one of the most enjoyable, and interesting holidays I have ever had.

So let's get rid of a few myths to start off with...

Egypt isn't safe - Well if you walk down unlit back alleys in the middle of the night nowhere is ''safe''.

You will get robbed - As ever, walking around dripping in jewellery, flaunting expensive designer clothes is always a draw anywhere you go.

There are children who will approach you begging for money - Occasionally

.

People will try to sell you things you don't want - Then don't buy them.

You have to bribe everyone - Well no not really, but an occasional bit of ''baksheesh'' never hurts anywhere you go. Just look upon it as a tip but a lot less than you have to pay in other countries.

You have to travel in convoys with armed guards - Well actually no you don't.

Unfortunately since ''the revolution'' in 2011, which was mainly centred around Cairo and Alexandria many would be visitors have been put off, and with reports of the occasional shooting by extremists at some archaeological sites 20 (yes 20) years ago, it is still more than likely true to say that you will get on the wrong end of a shooting in the USA rather than in Egypt. 

Take a look at this web site if you don't believe me, http://www.gunviolencearchive.org/ and then tell me how many reports there have been of tourist being shot in Egypt, and rest assured you would have heard about it if there had been!

So minor rant over and let's get down to business. Of course these are only my findings, and it was after all my holiday, but I do like to ask questions and I don't always ''follow the herd''.

Egypt is majority a Muslim country. Not all Muslims are extremists or terrorists, that is only what the press (and possibly your government) make them out to be. Some of them are devout Muslims, and some are not. Just like Christians of which there are a fair amount too. And look all of them manage to live together!

As for Egyptians themselves? Well they are ready to smile, you smile at them they return the smile without imagining that you are some kind of nutter, not only that but they have a great sense of humour too. 

They are polite and helpful, and expect you to be the same.

They will walk past you in the street and say ''Welcome to Egypt''. And they mean it. And they will help you to cross the street too, and boy, will you need the help in Cairo!

They are incredibly impressed if you can read Arabic numbers if nothing else, even though, like everywhere these days, all the bills and cash registers print out everything in Latin characters. And virtually all them speak English.

So there is your xenophobia gone for a start.....

Many people still go to the Red Sea resorts, but all inclusive hotels resorts are not Egypt.

To see Egypt you have to travel and this is what this blog is about.

Us English are a strange lot, apparently. Or so one of my tour guides seemed to think. Well I think that he thought that because we have an author called Agatha Christie, who wrote a book called Death On The Nile.

Agatha, bless her, travelled around a bit, and she went to Egypt, to Cairo, Aswan, and down the Nile and was inspired to write the book, and ever since armchair travellers have followed her. Of course you have to remember that the English (rightly or wrongly) have had a close relationship with many parts of Africa not only with Egypt and Sudan, but many other parts of it too.

My inspiration comes not from her book, but from things I read so many years ago and I don't like things that are too organised and like to do a fair amount of things on my own, with the help of the internet of course. But of course I would like to follow a little bit in Poirot's footsteps so on the list of things to do is visit Karnak, the Aswan Dams, and Abu Simbel, and stay at The Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan, and The Winter Palace in Luxor, so naturally the Nile cruise is going to be the way to go.

But I also want to see The Great Pyramid, THE Sphinx, (as opposed to any other sphinxes there may be) and Fayoum Oasis which not so many people go to.

So at ''the core'' of my trip is a Nile cruise with bits bolted on to visit other things away from the Nile. There are about 280 Nile cruise ships in existence, only about 80 of them are actually running because of the current downturn in visitors to Egypt which for those tourists that are visiting, (and there are many of them), makes the whole experience mush more enjoyable as you are not vieing with hoards of other people everywhere you go. (Although it does not do a lot for the Egyptian tourist industry).

This makes the choice of cruises a bit more limited especially as I do not want a flight from the UK included in the package because I live on Crete, and surprisingly some of the tour companies do not want to know you unless you are taking the whole package. So by the time I have added on the single supplement, (which I personally think should be dropped), moved my cabin up a deck, and taken the ''included drinks package'', the price came out about the same, a shade short of £900, as if I had had the flights included.

Having booked a 7 night cruise I have to look at the other things I want to see so I started with 6 nights in Cairo, my original plan of taking the train from Cairo to Luxor to join the ship was changed to flying so that I got a full extra day in Luxor so that I had time to visit the Temples at Abydos and Dendera, and also booked a 2 day guided tour around Cairo, a bit extravagant that might seem but so much easier logistically than doing it my own. Further investigation produced the overall feeling that guided tours were definitely the way to go, you certainly don't want to be driving a rental car in Egypt!

The prices of guided tours are quite reasonable, most of them include lunch and you get a guide and a driver both of whom are licensed.

And here's Tim's Top Tip Of The Day - Car registration plates are colour coded in Egypt. Private cars have a blue stripe along the top, taxis have an orange stripe, tourist vehicles (cars and minibuses) have a cream coloured stripe along the top, and public transport/freight have a red stripe.

So if you are told by someone that they are a licensed tour guide and they put you in a car with a blue stripe then they are no such thing, similarly the man that asks you if you want a taxi, grabs your bags and puts them in a car with a blue strips is not a taxi driver.

Most of the important sites are already included in the cruise itinerary, but the trip to Abu Simbel is an extra, and from the cruise itinerary it is fairly obvious that to take the optional trip to Abu Simbel means getting up at 3am!

I am on holiday so there is no way I am getting up at 3am, which is the reason for backtracking to Aswan so that I can take a 10.30am departure! 

The final night in Egypt is going to be spent in Cairo again, and as I always like to have at least one train trip I am taking the overnight sleeper train from Aswan arriving back in Cairo (well Giza actually) at around 9am which gives me another whole day to look round Cairo some more but there is an oddity here because although I can book the sleeper train on the Web, I cannot book the day train from Luxor to Aswan, but we will cross that bridge a little later.

And the last thing to do is hit Ebay for a second hand guide book with small maps of Cairo, Luxor, and Aswan. And to get an Egyptian Arabic phrasebbok and dictionary which turned out to be completely unnecessary!

So armed with my trusty Panama hat (a real one that you can roll up and put in your hand luggage), that everyone says make me look the part of the traditional English archaeologist, and bottle of insect repellent and a tube of sting cream, I am ready to go.

Well nearly because three days before I am due to leave I realise that my typhoid jab has expired, not time to get one now, but there is not that much risk if I avoid drinking Nile water and stick to bottles.

The Weather Turns Against Me, and The Egyptian Experience Begins A Day Late.

I just know this is going to make you laugh.

I drive to the airport on the first leg of my journey to Cairo via Athens.... In a snow storm following the tracks of the car in front through slushy snow and water... 

Yes a snow storm on Crete. You see we do have a winter.
There are no flights going from Heraklion because the incoming flights coming from Athens have been delayed by snow in Athens. Eventually two aircraft arrive, the 8am flight leaves 4 hours late, mine doesn't go anywhere because there is a problem with the aircraft as well as the snow. No problem as I had a four hour wait in Athens, three hours later it is clear that I will not be in Athens in time to get my onward flight. No problem they say, we will put you on the night flight from Athens to Istanbul, a good one hour flying time in the wrong direction, and from there you can pick a flight to Cairo and you will only be 12 hours late. No thanks.



So I am spending the first night of my hols in Athens, and then onward to Istanbul and then Cairo the following afternoon, except that at 7.30am they decide that the flight from Athens to Istanbul has been cancelled due to snow at Istanbul airport. Finally I am put on the direct flight from Athens to Cairo to get me there a day late.

Which is well and good, but I have a hotel booked, and I have an airport transfer booked, fortunately the transfer company got the message in time to re-arrange the transfer, but I have lost the hotel booking because it is not refundable. 

(Notice there that I said I had booked an airport transfer? I almost always do that unless it is somewhere that I know. It just saves all the hassle of getting taxis, airport buses etc. after a day travelling, and in this case the transfer rep even meets you before you go through immigration and carries your bags. The Egyptians are wonderful).

And at the airport is where your Egyptian Experience begins...

The first job is to get an Entry Visa and you can buy this from any of the banks/exchange booths when you change some money into Egyptian Pounds (EL for short), and whatever you read on web sites to the contrary you are going to need cash to buy bottles of water, cups of coffee, and above all to pay tips to everyone that does something for you, and that includes the toilet attendant who gives you a bit of toilet roll to dry your hands on. 

And you might well need it for ''baksheesh'' which in a way is a bribe, for instance I managed to get photos of the inside of Abu Simbel for the small ''consideration'' of 5 EL (about 25 pence in English money).

You might also read of beggars and children approaching you for money as well, although this is not as common as some web sites would have you believe, if you are approached then do remember that giving alms is one one of the tenets of Islam. More often the asker will actually be offering you something, a pack of tissues is not uncommon with children for instance. It is up to you whether you actually take them or not! This type of baksheesh is quite rare in my experience.

The biggest problem you will have here is having any coins to give! You just don't see them that much although they do exist, even 1 EL coins and notes are a rarity and you have to be really insistence with shop keepers (who want the odd 5 EL from you so that they can give you large notes for your change), that you do not have any small notes!

Tour guides always seem to have quite a stock of coins which is a very good reason to take guided tours and you will often see them give odd coins to security guards at archaeological sites for no apparent reason.

Having got your visa sticker and stuck it in your passport, you will then pass through immigration where they stamp it and take the boarding card you filled out on the aircraft and then it's time to get your baggage.

After that you get your passport inspected once again as you leave baggage reclaim and you are out in the big wide world where you will be mobbed by taxi drivers and their helpers (who will want a tip for carrying your bags).

Welcome to Egypt!

On the way from Cairo airport into the city you will realise why you do not want to rent a car, if there are supposed to be two lanes on the highway, the Egyptians will make three, if there are three lanes they will make four. Indeed in many places there are no road markings at all and you need a pretty strong stomach to sit in the front passenger seat of a car!

Surprisingly there seems to be very few accidents although a lot of cars seem to have rounded corners!

On your way you will get your first sight of security measures as there are frequently check points manned by army and police, both armed, and that ''sentry box'' that looks empty probably isn't because there is the barrel of a machine gun sticking out of the window. Sometimes the inspection is cursory, sometimes the boot is opened and they will check who is in the car.

And when you arrive in your hotel you get the second sight... Every hotel has an X Ray machine and the good old metal detector arch just like in the airport.

My hotel receptionist is delighted to see me and finds it very amusing that 
I am a day late due to bad weather..... I ask about a refund for the first night as it was not my fault. ''No'' is the answer, ''but I have upgraded your room to a Nile view suite''! And quite right too, after all it is a Novotel, and they are part of Accor and they own Raffles in Singapore where I have stayed twice and paid a fortune for the pleasure!

Early night called for after something to eat, and my tour guide for tomorrow has sent me an SMS to say he will be picking me up at 6.30am. Well actually he won't because I am on holiday and I tell him that it is going to be 8.30am and no earlier, but when I get downstairs for breakfast he is already there so I take him for breakfast.... And the Egyptians certainly know about breakfast, a buffet with virtually everything you could want (except bacon of course, but then they do do that wonderful smoked beef), and while we are at it we discuss the day's plan.....

And we are not doing that either because there is not time for coffee anywhere in the schedule.

Adjustments will need to be made!

Cairo to Saqqara and back again.

Would you believe I am quite excited by all this?

Well I am! Something about the very name ''Cairo'' is doing it. Somehow the remote and mysterious East is stirring within me.... And at my age that doesn't happen as often as I would like. There is almost something romantic about it all.....

We have ahead of us 4 days of concentrated history ahead of us, and what I don't want is archaeological (and cultural) overload which is why I discussed the itinerary with my guide, (who is called Jesus by the way), and anyway it makes less work for him!

Driving out of Cairo in daylight is a bit of a surprise, I think I am being taken by the prettiest route though, but what is surprising is the large number of unfinished apartment blocks. I live in Greece and we have a fair number of those

but nothing like the ones I am seeing here. They are vast condominiums, not just a block of half a dozen. And many of them are dull drab khaki colour, but that of course is just the colour of Egyptian concrete, in Greece it is darkish grey. Some are just skeletons while others are partially completed, and even partly occupied. 

Getting out of Cairo is surprisingly quick and we are heading for Dahshur and my first taste of a pyramid in the flesh!

For many I guess that leaving Cairo for the country would be a bit of a culture shock, but this is the Egypt where donkeys are still an everyday mode of transport, and many buildings are a bit dilapidated to say the least, and there is a lot of dust, and a fair amount of rubbish blown into corners, and the infrastructure is variable to say the least, the roads are rough and there are speed humps every so often, (which means the drivers race a break neck speed from one hump to the next and brake heavily when they get there.

Most of the roads follow canals that bring water for irrigation from the Nile quite some distance away, the banks of the canals are obviously a good place for dumping rubbish...... You certainly would not want to go for a swim in them.....

And there are date palms!

Dahshur reached we have a bit of a problem getting past the security guard and the policeman at the gate. In spite of the fact that we already have tickets money changes hands but my guide remains unfazed by it all!

Of course the first visit is to one of the most famous pyramids, The Bent Pyramid

of Sneferu about 4,600 years ago, one of the first attempts at a true pyramid it, still has its outer casing of limestone nearly intact. According to my guide there are various reasons why the outer casings on all other pyramids have disappeared, it seems some say erosion removed it, by my guide follows the theory that the outer skins were removed on purpose to be used elsewhere!

Nobody was around at the time who can actually tell us....

Here also we find the Red Pyramid, which is made from red limestone, hence the name. It didn't look red to me which is why I asked, ''Why do they call it the Red Pyramid?'' Doh......

Built be Sneferu again it was the second bash at getting it right. If you are into a bit of engineering then you will appreciate the technology behind the construction, and how difficult it must have been for the ancient Egyptians to actually build these things. Which is why they had a few attempts and a couple of disasters before they got it right. Indeed building pyramids became something of a family hobby after this because his son, Khufu, built, or rather commissioned the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Tim's Tip of The Day. If you want to see pyramids then you have to go to Cairo because that is where they mostly are...... 

Dahshur is quite a spread out site and there are other things to see if you have the time and inclination, there is a fair amount of walking over not very good terrain so if you are not a ''walker'' you might find that you get

tired quickly, and that goes for nearly all Egyptian archaeological sites.

But we are off to Saqqara, probably best known for the Step Pyramid, one of the first attempts at a true pyramid.... Unfortunately it was surrounded by scaffolding when we got there, which was a bit disappointing, but there is lots more to see, and some great opportunities for photographs once you have fought your way past the row of stalls selling some unbelievably tacky souvenirs.... (It's a common problem in any country so we will not single out Egypt as the worst case, I think Peru is the worst!).

My guide, and at this point I should say that I was his only tourist that day, has found somebody who is interested in what he has to say, and actually asks some astute questions, (well astute for me anyway), and is waxing lyrical about Old Kingdoms, Middle Kingdoms, First Dynasty, Third Dynasty, Fifth Dynasty.......... Indeed, even the not so humble average Nile boatman knows all about this stuff. You think his only talent is shinning up a felucca mast to take down the sails, well beware because if you start him off with an idle question you will get a potted history of Egypt. And hats off to them I say, they are proud of their history and have every right to be.

Saqqara is a big site, apart from Djoser's Step Pyramid there are another 15, (or was it 16?), pyramids built by various kings of Egypt, plus a vast amount of other nobles' tombs. Well every court has its ''hangers on'', I have a few myself. 

There is a bit of graffiti in one of the building too, you have to take a picture of it even though you do not know what it says. Strangely my guide seems a little disinclined to tell me. 

There is also a tomb that you can go down to and for many visitors if they are starting their tour in Cairo then this will be their first Egyptian tomb.... The way in and out is easy enough but if yu are a bit claustrophobic you might have a problem! (The Valley of The Kings is easier).

We missed lunch! So it is back to Cairo and something to eat. My guide is a bit surprised when I ask him to eat with me, but I am a sole traveller. 

Back in the hotel I collect my thoughts and go through my dozens of photos taken that day.

Tomorrow is a big day......

Cairo, The Egyptian Museum, The Pyramids at Giza, and I Take A Camel Ride....

The Pyramids at Giza has got to be one of the highlights of Egypt. Is there anybody in the World who has not seen a picture of them??

Just for a change I am up early because this is gong to be a busy day......

My hotel is not far from the Egyptian Museum so when Jesus comes to collect me we are going there first. He already has the entry tickets but I want to take my camera in with me so I have to pay a bit extra.

The Egyptian Museum is not huge by European standards, and by those standards it is not the ''best'' museum either. Indeed it all seems a bit haphazard and not very well kept. Everybody apologises for it and says it will be so much better when they open the New Museum ''next year''. But this is Egypt and things

do seem to be a bit haphazard at the best of times so it does not come as a surprise. It has, nonetheless, some of the prime exhibits of Egyptian artifacts of any museum in the world, (except perhaps for The Louvre where a lot of Egyptian things seem to be housed). We walk around and I take photos, some of it is a bit gruesome as a do not really want to walk around a room full of mummified bodies. Persons of a nervous dispostition take note. But what did surprise me was the fact that they mummified animals as well. A favourite dog or cat to take with you into the afterlife perhaps, but a sheep or a goat?? What's going on there then??

And then finally we get to the Tutankhamen display, so many glass cabinets, and a small army of women armed with a bottle of Windex and a yellow duster, except that the dust is on the inside of the glass not the outside, but somehow it does not detract from what you are looking at. Up to this point my guide stays with me, and then we get to the holy of holies, the room where you are not allowed to take photos, and guides are not allowed because they take up to much space and make too much noise although he gives me some advice on the layout before I go in, except there is something I have not told him yet.

Inside THE room we find King Tut's sarcophagus,

various bits of jewellery, and the ultimate piece, that death mask of solid gold although the Japanese couple taking selfies with a mobile phone rather detracts from the atmosphere, and the security guard is having problem with them because they do not speak English, (I bet they do), and they do not understand the sign with a large picture of a camera and a mobile phone with red lines through them.... 

But I am here in Egypt looking at King Tut's death mask in its rightful place... 

In Egypt.

Absolutely choked. I am having a moment. The last time I felt like this was walking into St Peter's in Rome, where I had to have a tall Italian to hold me up.

I leave the room after a few minutes in deep thought, my guide meets me and starts to speak to me , and then asks if I am OK.

''No. I am fine but I want to go now....''

Sitting outside in the sun while we wait for the driver he asks me again what I thought of it all. Blase as ever, I reply ''Well I have seen it before but somehow it is completely different seeing it here, in Egypt''

''You have seen it before?''

''Yes. In London in 1972. I queued for hours.... But this is his home''

Lunchtime... And we go to a restaurant that has a view of The Sphinx. Not many restaurants can boast that. Somewhat surprised as I think the only pictures I have seen of The Sphinx it is miles from anywhere. But of course like any city Giza has grown and now borders right on to the Pyramids and Sphinx.

But first the Pyramids which are way over the other side of the hill..... You can see as many pictures as you like of something but seeing the real thing is completely different because you never quite get the scale of things right.

And the Great Pyramid of Khufu, (it is the Greeks that called him Cheops), is indeed awe inspiring, and truly deserves its place as one of the 7 Wonders of The Ancient World, indeed it is the only

one left virtually complete!

Which says quite a lot about the builders!

I just know I am going to get the statistics any moment now.... As Jesus starts I complete the sentence..... ''built by Khufu who was the second Pharoah of the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom''.

Silence.... Then

''You have been doing some reading have you?''

''Yes''...... ''And earlier we saw the only statue of him in the museum.''

The subject of slavery rears its ugly head. Hollywood would have us believe that everything in Egypt was built by slaves, probably with Charleton Heston leading them, but current thinking is that they did not use ''slaves'' in the way that we use the term. Indeed fairly recent research concludes that the workforce building the Great Pyramid were well treated and were probably peasants who were unable to farm their land during the Nile flood periods. Wherever they came from they had their work cut out building the Great Pyramid.

We can but marvel at man's ingenuity.

Of course there are other pyramids at Giza and although we get time to look at them we have a timetable which includes a camel ride....

Tim's Tip of The Day... Never, under any circumstances, try riding a camel...

But you are going to do it anyway so why am I wasting my breath?

It is possibly the most uncomfortable and nerve wracking experience known to mankind, unless of course you are Arab in which case it is second nature to walking, and why walk when you have a camel?

It is nothing like riding a horse, or even a donkey, and they can be a bit uncooperative at times. But on the plus side the camel will kneel down to let you mount it. And the best way that I can describe the ''ride'' is that it is a bit like a bicycle where the spokes have been adjusted so that the wheels are oval instead of round, except that the ''ovality'' seems to vary at random.

All the time you're expecting to get used to the motion but it doesn't happen. The sole saving grace is that the camel driver has the most stunning eyes, which is the only bit of him that you can see because he is wearing the full ''Lawrence'' costume.

Returning to base after an interminable 30 minute trek around the Pyramids, Jesus is waiting for me. And he is smiling, but I am about to get my own back because as he approaches the camel which is sitting down to let me get off, the camel sticks its nose straight into his crotch. While we are trying to get a ''group photo'' the camel is constantly fascinated by him and his crotch. Jesus maintains that it's because he sometimes has food in his ''fanny bag''.

When I start to say ''Well it is quite a good looking camel'' Jesus replies, ''Do not do any camel jokes.''

See, I told you they had a sense of humour.

The last event for the daylight hours is, of course, the Sphinx, and the ultimate photo call that you only do once in a lifetime.

The Sphinx is a mystery. It is carved directly out of of the bedrock, (which was also used to build the Pyramids), but some of it is now made from blocks of stone to replace the parts that have been eroded away, you can make up your own story if you wish.

The buildings nearby are fascinating, the interlocking of the blocks of stone is incredible if you look closely enough.

Time for a trip back to the hotel and a wash and brush up before the evenings activities. No piece for the wicked when you are in Egypt!

On the schedule for the evening is a felucca ride on the Nile followed by an evening of entertainment on a cruise boat that doesn't go anywhere with ''a show''.

Cairo in January is not the warmest place in the world, especially at night, and there is no way I am going sailing in the dark even though the lights of Cairo look very nice from my upgraded Nile view suite at the Novotel El Borg with the heating on.

Jesus knows this so he is taking me from my hotel direct to the ''cabaret'' show, which will be a novelty in as much as they serve alcohol on the boat (that doesn't go anywhere).

The entertainment is a ''whirling dervish'' and a belly dancer..... I ask Jesus to join me for dinner, (he gets his free anyway but usually eats apart from his guests, but as I point out, I am a sole traveller), it was a good move on my part because he is now thawing out a bit.

I will not say too much about the cabaret except that the belly dancer is, apparently, world class, and comes from the USA... The whirling dervish is, well, a whirling dervish.... It is impressive in its own way, and of course very energetic..... But if, during your visit to Egypt, you manage to miss either show then I wouldn't worry to much!!


A final note on The Pyramids and The Sphinx..... 

There is a ''sound and light show'' (used to be called Son et Lumiere when I was a boy, but it seems nobody can speak French anymore), done in front of the Sphinx. It is worth attending even if it a bit fanciful at times, the commentary is excellent and there is some excellent music played through a very good sound system. Somebody did make the comment that it made it look like Las Vegas, and in a way it did, but my dream would be to see Aida staged at the Pyramids. It has been done once but is unlikely to ever be done again!

And there's me on that bloody camel again, in the middle of nowhere expecting any minute that Omar Sharif will arrive to rescue me from the clutches of white slave traders........