The Travel Bug: Things I learnt in Egypt

*Shinta and I had our reservations about going to Egypt at first. We were a little nervous after reading warnings about how to behave there, what to wear, terrorism, customs, cheats and hassling. Despite some minor hiccups however, we had a fantastic time and it was definitely one of the most exciting trips ever. Egypt deserves its reputation as host of the world's most amazing wonders and everyone should go to at least once in their life.

Here are some interesting things we discovered on our trip. It's a mix of travel advice as well as interesting facts I didn't see on other Egypt guides. Hopefully it will make your own travelling experience better!

1. Independent travel is probably not possible

Many of the archaeological sites are situated in far remote places, and a scary and complicated transport system makes getting there on your own a huge pain. Tourists are not allowed to take the "local" public transport and unless you're used to driving in places like Rome or Greece, don't even think about self drive! You could hire a taxi or a driver + car, but the problem is making sure you find a reputable agency with reasonable rates and pray they don't abandon you in the middle of nowhere unless you pay more...

2. Compromise - A fully arranged private tour

Most people would probably choose to join a tour group. May I suggest you think about a private tour. Basically one company will take care of the logistics from end to end, including hotels, air tickets and transfers, entrance fees. You will be met at each city by your private guide and car. You can personalise your itinerary, have full flexibility over your time, and enjoy a better guide-to-guest ratio. Because you are not travelling in a large group, you spend less time waiting around for others, and more time admiring the sites. We managed to spend significantly more time exploring the ruins without the large crowds/groups around, and had the luxury of waiting for others to move off first, leaving us with a chance to take beautiful photos without other tourists in the foreground ruining the shot like the example below.

3. Talk to your guide - he knows a lot

Don't underestimate your tour guide. To be a guide in Egypt, you have to attend college for 3-4 years to study history, details on the archaeology sites, and read & write a second language. Guides are then given a licence for that particular language and have to take a test to renew it every 6 years. Being a tour guide is viewed as a pretty good career option, and our guide was telling us how his brother chose to become a tour guide over doing a fully sponsored PhD! If you're nice to your guide, he will help defend you from hustlers, get you out of trouble, give you advice on how much to pay for things and where to buy them from.

4. Ask your guide where to eat

If you go on a private tour, breakfast is usually provided, but lunch or dinner may or may not be. The best meals we had in Egypt were not the ones included in the package, but the ones our guide actually eats at himself and recommended to us.

5. High security??!! Er... if you say so...

Tourism being one of the top 4 drivers of Egyptian economy, the government took security very seriously after the 2005 terrorist attacks, in an effort to reassure tourists that Egypt was "safe" and encourage them to return. Everywhere throughout Egypt at the entrances of all the ruins, monuments, hotels (basically anywhere tourists might go), you will find x-ray machines and metal detectors similar to airport security procedures. Maybe they were more vigilant at the beginning, but today these are all pretty much for show. No one gave us a second glance or even looked up when we walked through the metal detectors still holding our bags in our hands and setting off all the alarms. We spotted quite a few Tourism Police nodding away at their posts, not even pretending to look around for suspicious characters.

6. Respect the place

What surprised us was how "open" Egypt was in terms of access to the sites. Tourists were free to wander around the premises, and while most respectfully kept their distance from the pillars and walls, there were the few rowdy ones climbing on the ruins or indiscriminately leaning against the intricate carvings on the pillars and walls. I guess the Egyptians think if the temples have been standing there surviving the hot sun for thousands of years, it can survive a few thousand tourists trampling on its grounds every single day.

7. Cairo and Giza stink. Literally.

Bring your inhaler if you're asthmatic. There was a constant haze in the skies and stink in the air, very much like Singapore at its absolute worst when the fires in Indonesia are raging. Alexandria in the north by the sea was marginally better, while it was very much better further south in Luxor to Abu Simbel.

8. Dress Code

Even if you don't enter the mosques, females should take more care with their outfits while visiting Cairo, Giza and Alexandria. If you don't cover up (no shorts, no sleeveless tops), you *will* feel uncomfortable and self-conscious. In Abu Simbel and the Nile Cruise areas (Aswan to Luxor), the concentration of tourists is very much higher, so the dress code accordingly becomes more relaxed. Covering up a little more does help shield your skin from the direct sun though, making the heat more bearable. Note that the further south you go, the warmer it gets. In Hurghada by the Red Sea coast where Russians seem to outnumber Egyptians, anything goes.

9. There's a lot of construction going on...?

When we first saw Cairo, we got the impression that there was a lot of residential construction throughout the city. The first few floors might look finished although not painted, while the top floor usually looked like it was half done, with no ceiling, unfinished brick walls with wires from open structural pillars sticking into the air... According to our guide, these were intentionally left uncompleted so that the owners could claim the buildings were not finished yet and hence avoid paying taxes. Never mind that families had already moved in and had been living there for years...

Along the way between cities such as Cairo to Alex, or Luxor to the Red Sea, the roads mainly passed through desert land. We did see a lot of what looked like construction of new residential / shopping compounds being built literally in the middle of nowhere. However, there didn't seem to be much on-going activity, and we were wondering if they had been abandoned halfway.

10. Shopping is not easy

The usual things to buy from Egypt are jewellery (Cartouches in gold, silver or metal), perfume essence, vases or carvings made from alabaster. I've heard so much conflicting information about whether the items are good to buy or not, that I must say I'm quite confused myself. For example, our guide brought *Shinta and I to a perfume store to get some perfume essence in oils, that were supposedly used for the base for famous scents like Chanel No. 5 and Tommy. We were later told by another guide that these oils might stain clothes, and so to be careful when using it. Your tour guide is likely to get a cut of whatever papyrus "museum" or alabaster "factory" or jewellery store he brings you to, so do take his advice with a pinch of salt.

In general for bargaining, start at 5% of their initial price they quote, and then settle around 10-15%. Seriously. I am NOT joking. The straw hats that they quote you EGP100 for? Pay at most EGP10. We walked away from an alabaster vase when they countered our 10% price with a 40% price, and only after we got into the car to leave, did they come running after us with an offer for 15% which we finally settled on.

One "safe" gift to buy and bring back is Egyptian sweets. These are not normally sold as gifts, but we got our guide to bring us to the bakery in the compound where he stays(Egyptians stay in "compounds" made up of many condo-like developments, all self-contained and with security around the period), and bought a few huge boxes back. They taste really good and can be easily shared with friends and family back home.

The Travel Bug: Wonders of Egypt #12/12 (Red Sea Snorkelling)

For the last of the Wonders of Egypt photo series, have decided to do a snorkelling special!

*Shinta and I were in 2 minds over whether to snorkel when at Hurghada. Just off the coast of our resort there are a lot of dead reefs, so to see nice ones you would have to take a boat out. We didn't take the full day snorkelling trip to Gifu island (which probably would have had better snorkelling), but went for the 3h glass bottom boat + sunset on sand dune instead.

The good thing about a glass bottom boat is that even non-swimmers can go for it. Viewing through the glass bottom wasn't a large part of trip, since obviously most of us were there to snorkel really. There are some pretty shots however, that can be taken even through the (dirty & wet) glass, as shown in the photos above and below.

There were quite a lot of clams lying around...

As well as sea urchins. Was a little afraid of them because the waters were quite shallow and we were snorkelling over the reef without wearing flippers. Definately wouldn't want to step on them!

There weren't many fish, just 4 to 5 varieties and in small groups, but those that were there were pretty friendly.

After the Maldives, the coral here was pretty disappointing. Not very colourful and only a few types. A lot of the coral was also kind of languishing, probably an effect of the pollution and abuse?

Still we managed to get in a few good shots before we got tired and decided to lounge on the boat instead.

So that's all for the pretty pictures of Egypt...!

The Travel Bug: Wonders of Egypt #11/12 (Desert Safari)

*Shinta and I were quite keen to try out the Dune Buggies, so we decided to sign up for the Desert Safari in Hurghada which included a 1h ride out in the sands, followed by a visit to a Bedouin camp and then riding back at night for another hour.

We absolutely loved driving our own Dune Buggies! Imagine something like a motorbike but with 4 wheels so that you don't have to worry about balancing. And since we're out in the desert, there's no road that you have to follow, you don't have to worry about hitting anything, its just enjoying the super bumpy ride and the thrill of the roar of the engines!

The Bedouin are are suppoed to be tribes that wander the desert in search of water. But these have effectively been bribed by the government with provision of resourses, so that they stay put to form a tourist attraction / theme park kind of thing.

Once we arrived at the camp, it was a mix of viewing some of the daily activities and crafts the Bedouin tribe engage in. Bread making was one such item...

A lot of the times it was set up such that visitors were "able" to purchase items that the Bendouin tribe had made. Weaved bags were one of the items I was more tempted to buy.

Basically the threads are sorted out and laid out before weaving commences. The loom needs 2 people to operate, to select the correct layer threads to appear as the design and to push these tightly against each other to form the cloth.

This guy was really skilful in making scenaries in sandbottles. It seemed fast and simple to make, but I'm sure they're a lot harder than it looked.

One thing we absolutely hated about the place was the "zoo". Basically they brought in random animals in to form a collection. It was very very sad to see them housed in very very horrible conditions. Small cages, dark and damp conditions, solitary cells.

Some of the more "fun" activities for us included a 2min Camel Ride round a bend and back...

We also paired up to try the spider buggy.

The only thing I liked about the Bendouin Camp visit, was being able to see the beautiful sunset...

The colours in the desert are really more beautiful than anywhere else.

Most of the Russians in the group tried out the Sheesha (water pipe). Luckily *Shinta didn't feel any inclination to try!

After that it was back onto the Dune Buggy for an hour drive back home. The plains were absolutely dark and there was only the headlight on the buggy to light the way back, as well as the stars in the sky above.

To be continued...

The Travel Bug: Wonders of Egypt #10/12 (Red Sea)

It's approximately a 5 hour drive from Luxor to Hurghada. Contrary to what we had read online, there didn't seem to be any need for a convoy or police protection. The road was well maintained with a reasonable amount of traffic in both directions, and a nice pit-stop (tourist trap!) along the way.

For most of the journey, there was nothing much in between Luxor and Hurghada except the desert. My impression of the desert is of large mostly flat sandy plains, but along the way on both sides of the road were these amazing rock formations that I didn't expect to see.

Apparently the desert on the right side (East) of the Nile River is where the rocky formations can be found, while the left side (West) is known for the very fine sand and flat plains more commonly depicted in movies.

The view changed as we approached the Red Sea, where the coastline is dominated by self-contained beach resorts.

Main activity to do there? Laze by the beach...

You can also take a glass bottom boat out to go snorkelling, combined with a trip to a sand bank to watch the setting sun.

Chilling out while watching the sunset...

To be continued...

The Travel Bug: Wonders of Egypt #9/12 (Luxor - Others)

We arrived in Luxor after passing through the Esna Lock. That's the gate that allows vessels move from the higher water level down to the lower level downstream.

Colossi of Memnon & Valley of Kings

On the West Bank (left side of the Nile, symbolises area of the afterlife) lie the Colossi of Memnon and the Valley of Kings. Of the Colossi, nothing remains except these 2 sitting statues of Amenhotep II. It's quite impressive to see them just standing there with nothing else around. The Egyptian government is supposedly restoring some of the temple ruins at the back, but judging from the way it looked its going to be a long time before its completed.

The Valley of Kings started because the land was too rocky to create the usual pyramid style tomb which requires flat land. Therefore they began building their tombs in the limestone hills of Thebes. The location was known only to the reigning King, the tomb architect and the Priests. Those working on the tomb were blindfolded and brought to the location without actually knowing where it is. Unfortunately most of the tombs were robbed (with the exception of King Tut's) and the remaining treasures have largely been brought to the Egyptian Museum. At any one time, about 9 tombs are open to visitors, although many may choose a 3 ticket option instead. Photographs are not allowed inside, probably to protect the beautiful paintings along the walls. Some looked like they had just been painted yesterday.

Hapchetsut

The Temple of Hatshepsut was built into the cliff by the last Egyptian Queen Hapchetsut (Cleopatra was not Egyptian).

In order to get power, she apparently married the young rightful ruler Thutmose III whom she locked up. He later escaped, came to power and destroyed much of the insides of the temple.

To gain acceptance by the people, she apparently dressed as a male.

Luxor Temple

The original entrance of the small Luxor Temple on the East Bank is not used because the area is difficult to access by tourists. Hence a new one was "created. 2 Obelisks used to stand there, but one has been given to France. Apparently the second one was also "promised" to them, but so far they have avoided having to give it over.

The larger statues looked really lovely lit up at night.

Christians also occupied the temple before. Unfortunately the photograph below is really blurry, but if you look carefully, you can see the remnants of paintings of a Christian scene below on the left.

Closed Papryus were used as the capital of the pillars, in contrast with the more common Open ones.

There were not many smaller statues left inside, these are some of the few.

To be continued...

The Travel Bug: Wonders of Egypt #8/12 (Luxor - Karnak)

The Temple of Karnak is actually a complex made up of smaller temples. The ruins are huge and in amazingly good condition.

The Avenue of Sphinx with Ram heads lining the entrance. These used to extend all the way to Luxor Temple about 2 miles away.

There were originally 4 obelisks in the Obelisk Court, but only 2 remain standing.

One of the fallen Obelisks remains in the premises...

...near the sacred lake that was used for purification.

Near the lake also stands a scarab statue, symbol of the Sun god. According to the guide, if you walk around the scarab 7 times it will bring you good luck.

In one of the back temple areas, a lot of the red and blue colours can still be seen on the ceilings.

Christians used to occupy part of the temple, and some of the relics left by them still remain.

In the Hypostyle Hall stand a 134 columns all with beautiful carvings on them. We loved wandering around the pillars and admiring the way the late afternoon sun shone through them.

As always, don't forget to look up where a lot of the carvings and colours still remain.

To be continued...