Info Egypt

I’d organized the $25 visa online and a pick-up with my hotel, so Cairo International Airport provided a seamless experience. There are money exchange places inside where the luggage carousels are but they weren’t open when I arrived at 8 pm. There was one open on the other side, however.

Travel Info: Taxis should cost around 200 Egyptian pounds into the city. You could go up to the arrivals area and try catching a taxi heading back into the city after a drop off for cheaper.

Worth Noting: Different sites online said New Zealanders both could and couldn’t get a visa-on-arrival so I played it safe and organized it online. It’s the same price and may make things a bit speedier at the airport when you arrive.

Ode to the Sensation of Arriving

The first ride from an airport into a new town is a dance of competing stimuli. A dance your mind races to keep up with. If only we could preserve those sensations for the future. And have that chance to return back, long after the senses have become accustomed, to feel the exhilaration, hear, smell and see it all again with fresh, fresh eyes.

The hum of a new language rolled over me as my pickup guide and driver spoke in Arabic. Cars, vans, trucks and the occasional helmet-less motorbike merged and swerved in front of us. Seeing for the first time displayed on number plates, a language of squiggles I was yet to become accustomed to.

Even at night, the architecture serves you with an imprint by which to build the city’s image in your mind. Flying in Cairo had looked like a structured maze of different hued, sand-colored Lego blocks. On the ground, the Lego blocks have been fashioned into short, plump buildings. They look like they’ve been battered by sandstorms, the residue of which lines the streets’ sidewalks.

SIM Cards

Take your passport to any of the provider’s stores and you can get a SIM card and credit without any drama. I used Vodafone and paid $8 for the SIM and as much data as I could use in two weeks. There seem to be three other mobile providers. You can obtain credit for all providers at any corner-store type place.

Armed Security

Terrorist attacks are a fact of life in Egypt and it still has in place a nationwide state of emergency, imposed in 2017 after two church bombings. The attacks happen mainly with regard to political officials or the police but occasionally at religious sites and unfortunately, tourist sites can get caught up in it. Egypt is very keen to encourage the return of tourists however and therefore has procedures in place to make it as safe as they are able.

There was a significant amount of armed military around Alexandria and understandably they were not happy with any photography within their proximity. An unknowing fellow traveler was approached and asked to stop. She showed him the photos she’d taken and he seemed happy with that. We also had a big burly security guy, complete with polyester suit and pistol under his jacket, ride on the bus with us on our trip out to El Alamein. While there, following our van around was an armed security vehicle.

In Cairo, our van was stopped on entry to the large bazaar and security guards ran mirrors underneath, checking for bombs. The same procedure also happened on entry into the airport at Hurghada.

Friendliness of the Locals

In Alexandria, strangers were friendly for the sake of it. No ulterior motives here, other than the staple, practicing of their English. “Welcome, welcome! Where are you from? Oh, a Kiwi. I’m from Upper Aswan. You’re welcome”

This is not always the case.

Cairo is a typical big city full of the poor, con-artists, junkies and shop owners trying to provide themselves with an income. Which can also mean peddling their wares, not always in the most pleasant or honest of ways.

There are also genuinely friendly, helpful people. Unfortunately, they can be a little harder to find in amongst the 22 million people that reside there.

The Egyptian Museum 

If you have a few hours to kill, or even if you don’t the Museum is worth a visit. Full of impressive antiquities from across the dynasties which clearly demonstrate both the craftsmanship and the wealth of the Kingdom of Egypt.

The museum is huge and not the most organized or signposted so a guard is advised to have some understanding of what it is you are looking at. Most impressive has to be the contents taken from Tutankhamun’s tomb – “all that glitters is gold”. His coffin (sarcophagus) alone was made partly of 110kg of gold.

There were 5000 objects taken from the tomb including; statues, thrones, arms, and furniture. A lot of it made of gold and intricately inlaid with semiprecious stones such as turquoise and lapis lazuli.

The mummies room is also worth a visit and the additional 150 Egyptian pounds. It’s quite mind-blowing just how well preserved these 11 ancient bodies are. In fact, it was a bit unnerving for me seeing skin and a nest of hair sitting at the base of one of the skulls. Almost like the eyes would pop open at any minute and they’d scratch an itch that’s been bothering them for centuries.

Cost: 120 Egyptian pounds

50 Egyptian pounds to be able to take photos

150 Egyptian pounds to visit the mummies

Worth Noting

• the price of entry into any of the historical and tourist sites went up in November 2017 to cover the 40% drop in tourists. For example, it’s now 120EGP to visit the Pyramids of Giza. The drop in tourist doesn’t mean you’re going to have all the sites to yourself however as they still receive over 5 million tourists a year.
• after my visit in June 2018 to the Egypt Museum, posts on TripAdvisor were advising that things are already being packed up ready to move to the new Grand Egypt Museum near the Giza Pyramids