Egypt has timeless ancient history ready for you to explore. From sailing up the Nile River, exploring Tutankhamen’s tomb, getting up close with the Great Pyramids of Giza and walking into the temples of Abu Simbel. In recent times, Egypt has been targeted by terror attacks and bombings carried out by Islamic extremists. Terror attacks are occurring more frequently at tourist destinations across the world therefore it’s important to not allow these events to give you second thoughts about visiting one of the most historical countries on our planet.
EGYPT’S TEMPERATURE
We visited Cairo in April with a high of 27°C/81 and a low of 15°C/59. It rains on average 7 days of the month and 11 hours of daylight in Cairo. It’s always much cooler at night and depending on whether you are North or South of the Nile temperatures will change. Check the weather in advance to be prepared for a hot day of sightseeing to make sure you have spare water, suncreen, hat and sun protection clothing. Just like in Jordan, purchase bottled water for your health and for the heat! The sea temperature in Hurghada in April is around 23°C/73°F while in the Nile River it’s a little bit more cold!
TOURIST VISA
Everyone requires an Egyptian Visa. You can easily apply for an Egyptian Visa 7 days prior to travelling to Egypt. Egypt Immigration, Visa 2 Egypt and are the best websites to apply for an E-Visa. The visa permits up to 30 days of travel in Egypt and it’s valid for 3 months. So don’t apply for a visa over 3 months prior to your holiday. A single entry visa fee can be as low as 404EGP / 33CAD / 25USD / 19GBP / 26AUD. If you are to remain in Egypt for over 30 days you must renew your visa at an Embassy in Egypt. A print out of your E-Visa, itinerary, passport and hotel or tour bookings are the documents you require for when you arrive to Egyptian border security to make things easy.
However for the same price of a single entry visa you can easily obtain at the airport. I purchased an E-Visa prior to arriving to Egypt because I knew we were arriving to Egypt via a ferry port and it was a lot more easier to have a visa ready to go to avoid uncertainties.
EGYPTIAN POUNDS
The EGP is most commonly abbreviated to L.E. which means livre egyptienne in French. 1EGP = 0.082CAD / 0.062USD / 0.047GBP / 0.090AUD. The National Bank of Egypt is the best bank to withdraw cash from. Their ATMS are conveniently located through out all Egyptian cities. I didn’t arrive to Egypt with any money however I did bring USD for emergencies. Egypt can also accept Euros and the British pound. Egypt was a lot more easier to get cash out than in Jordan.
Our tour included at least half of the entrance fees and some breakfasts, lunches and dinners were included also. 2,700EGP is the rough amount of the entrance fees, photography permits and the transport to Abu Simbel. Souvenirs, meals and bottled water is also added to the costs so I would say in Egypt I spent around 3,500EGP / 286CAD / 217USD / 164GBP / 316AUD.
We spent 17 days in Egypt and most of the tourist destinations we visited were very pricey. You need to gain the mind set that you’ll probably only visit Egypt once in your life and you need to make the most of it! The places you are going to visit and the things you are going to see have been preserved for at least 3,500+ years. These sites have slowly eroded due to tourists, pollution and its sheer age. Tourism is the biggest contributor to preserving Egypt’s sacred sights. You would be happy to think the price you pay for the entry fees is to help preserve Abu Simbel, Karnak and the Pyramids for your grand children and great grand children to see one day!
WHAT TO BRING & WEAR
Hand sanitiser, sunscreen, GastroStop, sea sickness tablets are the main health items you should bring with you! You never know if your tummy will get upset. At the end of my ‘Jordan, The Middle East’ post I listed the must bring items along with photos and tips of the clothing I wore.
Back in April 2018, Nicole and I were 5 days into our Intrepid tour: Jordan & Egypt Uncovered. We had just spent 5 days in Jordan and then we were to spend 17 days in Egypt. The cost of the tour was 2,628 CAD / 1,998 USD / 1,617 GBP / 2,912 AUD. Mohammed Ali was our Intrepid tour guide. He was energetic, friendly, fun, knowledgeable, passionate about his home country and he gave us the best possible insight into Egyptian history. Mohammed made our time in Egypt unforgettable. Here’s a brief itinerary for our Egyptian tour: Red Sea (1 night), Dahab (2 days), Cairo (4 days), Aswan (2 days), Abu Simbel (1 day), Nile Felucca (1 night) , Luxor (2 days), Hurghada (2 days) and Alexandria (2 days).
Just 2 weeks prior to us arriving to Egypt, the 2018 Egypt Election took place on the 28th March. There were multiple protests and attacks happening within Egypt at the time. Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia border onto The Gulf of Aqaba where we were to catch a ferry from Jordan to Egypt. At the time it was marked as a high-risk area for tourists. The ferry terminal at Aqaba, Jordan was a little daunting, scary and unsafe. I went into detail about it in my previous post: Jordan, The Middle East. However the ferry ride across the Gulf of Aqaba to Nuweiba, Egypt was a much better experience.
It was around midnight when we arrived to Nuweiba, Egypt after experiencing ferry delays. Upon arriving to the ferry terminal there were different buildings around us and there were no terminal signs. We told someone who worked at the terminal that we were a tour group and they led us inside another building to border security. Our tour group were the only people there. There were 2 officers working but we had to wait 30 or so minutes and then they called one person up at a time to check our passport and Egyptian tourist visa.
We exited the building and walked across a large car park to a huge gate which were guarded by Egyptian soldiers with guns. We had to show the guards our passports and tourist visas again and then they opened the gates for our group. We could see 2 mini vans parked outside the gates and it was our new tour guide Mohammed and the 2 drivers, thank god. Our tour group split up into the 2 mini vans and we were on our way to the Red Sea Beach camp which was a 30 minute drive away. We had a police car escort also to make sure we arrived safely to our camp.
We witnessed border security and police at their most vigilant due to the current events happening in Egypt. The entire night was like a tourist horror story but we were in a group of 18, we made each other feel safe and multiple games of poker made it go by quicker! I guarantee you that was the only daunting time of the entire trip. We were aware before coming on this trip that we were to travel through high risk area that was not recommended for tourists. We used the website smartraveller.gov.au which gives you current information on safety, security, laws and health on any selected destination you’re travelling to.
CAIRO
After living the relaxed beach life in Dahab we made our way to the chaotic and colourful Cairo! We drove 1 hour South of the Sinai Peninsula to Sharm El Sheikh Airport. Mohammed, our tour easily communicated with Egyptian security, we had no difficulties or hold ups, the airport was clean and the short 1 hour flight to Cairo was a breeze.
Sharm El Sheikh is a dangerous hot spot for tourists so it’s recommended to avoid the area if you can. In 2005 Sharm El Sheikh was bombed by an Islamic group and 88 people were killed as a result. Then in 2015, a flight departed Sharm El Sheikh Airport for Russia and it was brought down by an on board bomb killing all 224 people. The tourism industry for Sharm El Sheikh never recovered and it’s highly recommended to continue avoiding the area.
Our last night as a tour group was back in Cairo and to celebrate we went on a Nile dinner cruise. The buffet food was delicious and the entertainment was great! It felt sudden saying good bye to everyone after spending 3 weeks with them. Since we travelled with an Australian tour company most of the people in our group were from Australia and Nicole has met up with a few of them back home since! For me, I haven’t returned to Australia and I moved from England to Canada. Nicole and I booked our flight out of Cairo to Heathrow Airport together. We then parted ways as I was living in Cornwall, England and Nicole headed back home to Australia.
Travelling across Jordan & Egypt was a surreal experience. I had never done a tour before and this one was close to perfect! For countries that are going through uncertainties and where there’s warnings for tourists it’s best to travel with a group. I felt safe the entire time except for the Aqaba ferry terminal but I was never in any danger as I was in a group the entire time.
The itineraries were set out in a way to retreat on a beach after exploring the busy tourist sights. All of our transport was air conditioned, our hotels were clean and the food was always delicious. Mohammed our tour guide took great care of us. If there was a problem with our hotel room he would sort it out straight away. If it was a hot as day he would take us to a shaded place and give us a brief talk about the history of the sight we were visiting. Mohammed constantly accommodated for us! He developed his talks about Egyptian history in a way where he paints it like a story, making it easy for us to understand and he involves us in the conversations. So thank you Mohammed Ali and Intrepid!
*Based on currency rates at the time of being published.
