This trip took place between May 14th and June 4th 2006. I left from San Francisco, flew to Cairo, traveled by bus or by train to Louxor, Aswan, Abu Simbel, Dahab and Ste Catherine. The principles that guided this trip were the following:
- independence:
the idea
was to decide where to go and when to go on a daily basis.
Consequently, there was no reservation made for hotels except for the
first few days and the last (in Cairo). No reservation either for
transportation. This allowed me to decide which place was worth staying
at only after experimenting it for a while. This also supposed going
there during the low season when I could be pretty sure to find
availability in hotels wherever I went.
- Freedom:
I was also
traveling on my own because I didn't find anybody who share the same
interest as I did for this trip and I wanted full freedom. Of course
this has advantages and inconvenients. If the inconvenients are obvious
for this can of vacations, the advantages are undeniable: to cite a
few, going wherever you like, go at the pace that best suits
you,
meet new people on the road.
- comfort:
although I
traveled alone, use the (very uncomfortable) bus a lot and was
carrying my luggage behind me between all my destinations, I still was
not using a backpack. Instead I was using a "business man" suitcase
with wheels. And the trip was 3 week long, the idea was was to use
those vacations to rest and not come back to work being exhausted and
needing a full week to recover. So I went to comfortable hotels all
along the trip, they were all 4 stars for Egyptian standards meaning
they were very clean, had a pool, offered nice buffet breakfast on
pleasant terraces and had air conditioning.
My budget for the trip was sufficient but I probably could not have afforded it during the high season. High season is during the winter in Egypt and the low season extends from May to October.
This page does not intend to be a replacement for any guide book. This only my experience and may very only reflect the specificities on my own experience rather than tips that would apply to everyone. So don't take everything I write for granted. You'll have been warned!
Practicalities
Visa
The visa can be obtained very easily when arriving at the airport in Cairo. Before passing the customs, go to a bank teller that is conveniently placed next to the immigration booths and buy the visa stamps. You don't even need photo IDs, at least if you have a valid passport. The visa is valid for 1 month but can be renewed easily.Money
It can be useful to bring a few hundred dollars or euros, first to pay for the visa and second to pay for some hotels or travel agencies that don't accept the Egyptian pound easily. But even if you don't you should be able to work your way by taking Egyptian pounds from an ATM and then by going to a Change Bureau or a bank to exchange them back to dollars.ATMs can be found everywhere and accept most types of cards, don't charge you extra and should be your primary source of local currency.
Transportation
The plane ticket from San Francisco to Cairo is not cheap even though it was not the most busy period of the year. I paid $1600 for the round trip and it took me 16 hours on the way in and 48 hours on the way back (that part of the trip didn't go well, the plane from Paris to SFO experienced technical difficulties).Other transportation expenses to consider are the bus and the train. But here no worries, it's extremely cheap. The fare to Cairo to Aswan by train (about 1000km) was just EGP 75. This was the tourist 1st class wagon (with air conditioning and ample leg room. It felt like this wagon had been build 50 years ago though so don't expect to have your personal TV screen. Instead expect to listen to the very noisy ear phones of your Egyptian neighbors. An attendant will also pass by your seat to sell beverages and food. You'll need it, the trip last more than 18 hours to go to Aswan. That is really too long unless you can sleep. The train stops every where, in stations, outside of stations and is overall extremely slow. The toilets are just horrendous.
A better option, that I wish I had used, consists in taking the night train. It's way more expensive but you can have your travel in your own cabin with a bed.
Taking the bus is mandatory to go to some destinations. In particular, to go from Louxor to Dahab or from Dahab to Cairo there is little other choice. It's just something you have to go through and you're really, really glad when you can get out of it. The buses have air conditioning but have leg room that is good enough only for lilliputians, all the more as it's full most of the way and you can count on grabbing a little more space with the seat next to you.
Check points are everywhere especially in the Sinai so expect to have to wake up in the middle of the night to show your passport or get out of the bus and open your bags whenever the military or the police along the road feel like it.
I also took the public bus to go from Aswan to Abu Simbel. There are pros and cons: the pros are that you don't have to wake up at 3 in the morning and you don't have to deal with the hoards of tourists once you are on site since you get there when all the tourist buses leaving, so in fact you can have the temples all for yourself. The cons are that the bus leaves you 2 kilometers from the site with no indication on how to go to the temples and the return bus leaves just 2 hours after the arrival (better to check the the return bus schedule before the departure).
Any way the bus is always extremely cheap, so cheap, it's not even worth mentioning. But given the hard conditions and the length of those train travels, you will arrive to destination in poor shape and feeling like spending the rest of the day sleeping. So having an idea of where you want to go on arrival is a good idea. Also don't plan any excursion on the arrival day. There's nothing to be ashamed of spending the day next to the pool after after many hours spent on the train.
Climate in May
Hot but tolerable except in Louxor. I don't have exact numbers, but I have impressions. Be aware those impressions are from someone who likes the heat very much:- Cairo heat was pretty tolerable all day long when I arrived on May 15 and until I left on May 19th. It was a different story in June
- Aswan from May 21st to May 26th was pretty nice too although it's the South of Egypt. I guess the light wind coming from the north was helping. Only in the afternoon starting at 4PM, it became really hot, like "need to dive in the pool now" hot.
- Luxor, end of May, was the worst, starting at 11AM in the morning, the heat was really unbearable. It's only around 9PM that you can go out again and not have a stroke. My advice is wake up at 5AM in the morning, right when the sun rises and be on the road at 6 spend the afternoon near a pool.
- Dahab is very windy, it's next to the sea and overall that was the place where the temperature was the most pleasant. Ste Catherine in the Sinaï desert was OK, but I was not there in the middle of the afternoon.
Tourist hassles
Given all the warnings guidebooks have about hassling in Egypt, I was rather pleasantly suprised. Egyptians want to sell their stuff, sure, and they will stop you in the street to ask you to take a look at their shops sometimes shortly grabbing your shoulder but they rarely go over the edge.There were few hassles in Cairo overall except for merchants in the most touristic part of Khan-El-Khalili.
The Corniche in Aswan is the hassling freeway. Taxi and caleche drivers will stop right next to you and ask if you need them. Felucca captains are the worst. It looks like there are hundreds of them all along that street and you can't walk 50 feet without being annoyed. The ratio hassler to tourists was certainly more than 5 to 1 at this time of the year so it's no surprise.
It's about the same story in Luxor but one level down.
It's annoying but usually if you just say hello and continue walking, the hassle will stop right there. And you can also smile and joke about it with the hasslers, they will smile back.
Maybe what is more troublesome are the pseudo guides that will stalk you during visits in archeological sites, hardly saying a couple of English words and asking for a baksheesh when you come out. You had already paid a ticket, those people are more a nuisance than help during the visit, they still gave you 5 or 10 minutes of their time so you feel pissed off and at the same time you feel you would dupe them if don't give them anything.
Do not miss
- Khan-El-Khalili in Cairo (Islamic district); go there and get lost in the maze if little strrets. As long as you don't care too much for the wastes all around you, you won't regret it. There are magnificent hunderds years old mosques at every street corner.- Dashour pyramids early in the morning: at this time of the year, at 8 in the morning, the Dashour pyramid will be all yours, inside and outside.
- Hike from the tomb of the Nobles to St Simeon Monastery through the desert in Aswan: true taste of a sand dune desert.
- Mt Moise Hike for the sunset in Ste Catherine: priceless.
- Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan: if you're bored with the Hilton and such, or even if you just want to treat yourself, this is the hotel that will change your view about 4 start hotels. Unique location, unique building, unique service.
To avoid
- do not stay in Abu Simbel overnight: there really nothing worth staying except for the temple.- do not but your travel ticket (train or bus) through some local travel agent: he may try to rip you off. It happened to me in Aswan. Not only was I ripped off but he still brought me with him to the railway station to buy the ticket.
Travel agents have good prices for upscale hotels though, better than if you just show up in the hotel lobby.
- do not book hotel too far in advance at this time of the year. Hotels are 75% empty. The price they will ask you if you reserve via email or phone are higher than the prices you can get on site.
- Snorkeling at the Blue Hole in Dahab. Cold, dirty, jammed with tourists, I think I might have caught turista with the tuba that was given to me there.
Budget
Note: $1 ~ EGP 6This the total amount I spent for those 3 weeks: Airfare: $1600
All the rest in Egypt: $2000
Taxis:
Between 5 and EGP 10 for a 10 minute course.
In Aswan, for a full afternoon going to Philae and to the high dam: EGP 60.
In Cairo, for a full day, Dashour, Saqqarah, Giza: EGP 175.
Visits:
That's a part of your budget you should not underestimate. Visits are relatively expensive and in Luxor, there is enough sites for you to have to pay for 5 tickets in a day. An don't forget to account for the tips for the guards or fake guides at the entrance of each monument.
The average amount spent for tickets and baksheesh every day was EGP 120. That doesn't include any transportation fare.
Restaurants:
Not very expensive, count between EGP 20 for the most basic meal to EGP 80 for a very decent restaurant. Price over quality ration in Luxor is higher than anywhere else.
Hotels
This is a list of hotels where I stayed during the trip:| Cairo | Osiris Hotel ** |
Very nice host. Great views of Cairo from the terrace. Not all rooms have bathrooms but very clean. Best AC of all hotels I went to. | ~$35 |
| Aswan | Isis Corniche **** |
Excellent location. Rooms clean but noisy AC. Great pool. | EGP 315 ~ $55 |
| Aswan | Old Cataract ***** |
The Nile view and the 3 meter high ceilings, 18th century curtains beat everything else I've seen in 4 or 5 start hotels before. Awesome breakfast. | $75 through a local travel agent |
| Luxor | Iberotel **** |
Very modern and comfortable hotel. Nice pool on the Nile. | EGP 300 ~ $50 |
| Dahab | Coralia (Hotel club) **** |
Clean and small bengalows (economy rooms). An
absolutely wonderfull beach with transparent and warm waters and a
great view on the Sinaï mountains at the same time. Great
breakfast too. Dinner included in price. They gave me trouble for checking out after the regular time. |
EGP 300 ~ $50 |
Questions? Comments?
Money
Transportation
Climate
Hassles
Do not miss
To avoid
Budget
Links
Photoshttp://lerohellec.net/catalog
Blog
http://lerohellec.net/wp
Guidebooks
Le Guide du Routard EgypteThe Rough Guide Egypt
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