Egypt Travel Guide

The Bare Bones

Population: 62.5 million
Area: 1 million km2
Currency: Egyptian Pound
Language: Arabic
Religion: 90% Muslim 10% Coptic Christian

Cash and Plastic

Hard cash works well in Egypt with major banks able to exchange readily. The same applies to travellers' cheques. Exchange can also be made in hotels and exchange bureau. Major credit cards are widely accepted and ATM machines are increasingly widespread. All these guidelines are apt to go out of the window the further off the beaten track you venture. Make sure you have change available for tipping; this is a society that runs on Baksheesh (tipping and haggling). Try not to be palmed off with tatty notes anywhere, you may have trouble spending them.

Health and How to Maintain it

If you are properly organised and follow a few simple, common sense rules your stay in Egypt should pass without problems. Go and discuss your trip with your GP well in advance of going - at least two months - he will give you the most up to date advice. Expect that he will suggest Typhoid, Hepatitis, Diphtheria, Polio and Tetanus as a minimum. Depending on where you are planning on travelling to he may also suggest anti-malaria treatments.

Take sensible precautions with regard to the heat and dehydration. The water is safe to drink but to be on the safe side stick to bottled water. Make sure meat is properly cooked and vegetables well prepared, avoid the shellfish. Anyone providing medical care will require cash payments; ensure you get a receipt for claiming payment back later. Make sure you have ample medical insurance to cover any illness or accident that may occur. This should include being flown home if necessary.

Law and Order

Egypt is, generally speaking, a very safe place to visit. Beware pickpockets in the main tourist areas; there are always a small number of people who will try and scam foreigners. Violent crime is almost non-existent but women - especially travelling on their own - may find themselves receiving mostly harmless but persitent attention. Do not get involved in the consumption possession or trafficking of narcotics. Penalties are harsh and may even extend to the death penalty. Being a foreigner in no way earns you immunisation from the law.

Visas and other Paperwork

Almost everyone going into Egypt needs a visa. These can be obtained from Egyptian Embassies at home but the easiest way is to get it at Cairo airport on arrival. It doesn't take long and is fairly cheap. Visas allow one months stay but can be easily renewed at passport offices. These days travel permits are not required for the interior of the country but check the most up to date information.

Keeping Safe and Sound

All the normal rules apply. Do not travel around with more money or documentation than is necessary. Do not wave cash about. Use hotel safe deposit boxes. Tell people where you are going and when you are coming back. Try not to travel alone and follow any local advice regarding places to avoid. Terrorist activity is unusual but no stranger in Egypt so be vigilant. Carry photocopies of passport and visas with you leave the real thing behind at your hotel. Use common sense.

Getting Around

There is an extensive network of public transport in Egypt. Buses and trains are cheap but crowded a great way to meet the people. Travel in Upper Egypt is difficult so check before making plans for instance you are only allowed on certain trains. The car is a good way of seeing the country at your own pace, petrol is cheap but the distribution network is not comprehensive so you may want to carry a spare can. Driving can seem at bit haphazard so be wary. Drive on the right and do not get caught speeding the police take your licence and you need to jump through hoops to retrieve it. When driving ensure you have your licence and passport with you.

Insurance

Make sure you have loads. Have comprehensive cover for loss or theft of luggage, money or documents. You will also need ample medical insurance in the case of accident or illness.

What about the Weather?

In the mornings it tends to be hot, whilst in the afternoons it is hot. That's in the summer. In the winter, however it's mainly hot. The desert can get cold at night and in the north, in the winter, it does get a little cooler and wetter but in the main it is hot. And very dry.

So, What's it Really Like?

Lets get one thing straight right from the start; Egypt is so much more than just a one-attraction place. There are many reasons to visit the country not just the big pointy, very old, stony things that reside in a Cairo suburb.

Egypt is very much a mix of old and new. In the cities expect to see guys in suits going to work in the office; outside the urban areas you will see agricultural life pretty much as it has been for hundreds of years. Of all the worlds Arab nations Egypt aligns itself most closely to the West yet it is still staunchly Muslim by religion. Egypt is also the closest thing the Middle Eastern Arab countries come to being a democracy. Egypt historically is not significant just for its role in ancient history; it lay at the heart of so much of the turmoil of the twentieth century. It is very much a country of the present.

The Nile

This is where it all begins and ends for Egypt. Were the river with its annual miracle not there then we would have had no pyramids, no 'cradle of civilisation' and subsequently no Pharaohs and no Egypt. The bulk of the countries population are resident on its banks living in the ribbon of towns and cities that stretch from the Med to Lake Nasser.

Here is how it all works: The Nile is a massive entity, the worlds longest river it stretches, debatably, from Lake Victoria to the Med some 5,600 km. The reason why Egypt is there is because every year the miracle of the Nile occurs. The monsoon like weather in Equatorial Africa causes the river to flood miles down stream. As the water pours across the Nile valley it deposits vast amounts of rich, fertile, alluvial soil. This provided the trigger for agricultural settlement, which in turn led to the area becoming a major centre of population, and, well you know the rest. Since time immemorial the Nile has been the lifeblood of Egypt and this continues down to today. With the bulk of the nations populace engaged in agricultural production the river is still a vital part of everyday life.

The best way to watch Egypt past and present unfold before your very eyes is to get on a Nile cruise. For the true Egyptian experience, take a three or four week trip from Cairo to Aswan on a triangular sailed Felucca. The other thing about the Nile is that all the major Pharoanoic sites are along its sun drenched banks.

The Pyramids - The Real Reason why people visit Egypt

Clearly, Egypt is a place of some allure even without its ancient monuments to lost civilisation but these sites are an attraction of global importance and as such the biggest draw for tourists. Why is one question that springs to mind, the other is how. When Christ walked the earth these 'buildings' were already 2500 years ancient. Originally they were encased with luminous white limestone, sadly over the centuries this external layer has been removed for building work elsewhere. If it were still in place the pyramids would still look as they did when first constructed. The best guess by historians (and this guess is backed up by trivial stuff like facts) is that they were monumental tombs to see the Pharaohs into the afterlife. Obviously, the most likely scenario is that they were the remnants of an alien spacecraft parking lot. Either way they are astonishing, to have marshalled the work force and mastered the technology to build them was an amazing feat. (Although, had you been able to navigate your way across the universe to crash land in a desert, surely all things are possible.)

Then of course there is the Sphinx. This amazing man faced lion is in a terrible state and yet still retains the power to inspire awe. This statue is smaller than you may think at only 22m high but is as much of a mystery as ever it has been. Whose face is it? Recently it has been suggested that the sphinx was built many years before the pyramids (space aliens again?). Who knows? Go and see it because it is suffering from some internal strife that science has thus far been unable to halt. Seeing the pyramids at dawn or during one of the daily sunset light shows will be a memory that will stay with the visitor for eternity.

Abu Simbel

This is the huge array of ancient statuary that was saved for posterity from the rising waters of Lake Nasser. Essentially, it comprises the great temple of Rameses II. The most famed aspect of this complex are the four seated statues of the Gods Amun, Ptah and Harakhty as well as Rameses himself. Also on the same site is the rock cut temple of Hathor. Abu Simbel is in the Upper Egypt region that makes it a sensitive area with access controlled however there are signs that restrictions are being relaxed. Check locally for further information.

Luxor and Karnac

If it is possible, this rivals - if such a thing could be - the Pyramids. Luxor is a modern city based around the ruins of the 4000-year-old city of Thebes. This is the site of the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens (including the very impressive Tomb of Nefertari) and the Temple of Hatshepsut. The most well known of all sites on offer are the Temples of Karnac. A truly stunning example of the Pharaohs building work. As with the Pyramids, Karnac is best seen during one of the daily light and sound shows. In the centre of Luxor is the Temple built by Amenophis III, there are also two small but decent museums in the town centre.

And the Rest?

Egypt is covered in sites of grandeur and interest, there are impressive Temples, Churches, Mosques and statues all over. The Pharaohs are just part of the story there is stuff from Alexander, the Romans and the Arabs to take in as well. A short weekend break is not going to do the trick.

Food, Drink and a Place to Sleep

Accommodation to suit all tastes and budgets is available. There are very basic (and grim) hotels up to some of the grandest hotels the world has to offer and everything in between. Egypt is not recognised as one of the world's culinary leaders with very good reason. Whilst there may not be much choice, the food is cheap and filling.

Egypt is not the place to go for a booze-fuelled break. Alcohol is available; the best bet is to stick to the beer it is drinkable unlike the wine and spirits. I have tried Arrack, the local firewater, and it is horrendous. Getting stinking drunk in the bar of your westernised hotel and then going reeling through the streets singing ABBA's greatest hits won't win you many friends.