Travel Rant #5: Traveling In Egypt
When we booked our ticket to Cairo at the last minute, I underestimated the effort required to plan a 12-day trip to Egypt. As someone who appreciates the freedom and flexibility of independent travel, I found Egypt a tricky destination. Even though this is the most visited country in Africa, Egypt’s tourism infrastructure is surprisingly inadequate. Only after a few days of intense research did I give up on my dream of traveling without the help of a guide. I even had a hard time booking a Nile cruise, as there was no price transparency or reliable reviews to go by. Nothing was as straightforward as it seemed. It was clear Egypt was unlike any other country we had ever visited.
Egypt is not only a bucket list destination but also a source of frustration.
Ultimately, we opted for a hybrid mode of travel by organizing a series of guided day tours from various operators. The planning process was stressful, but the trip was tremendous, minus a few hiccups. This trip was a great introduction to Egypt and educated us about the logistical challenges of independent travel here. Unless you were fluent in Arabic or had plenty of time to spare, a guided tour package would be the way to go. Here are just a few reasons why traveling was different in Egypt.
The Land of Permissions
Since the Arab Spring in 2011, the Egyptian government has been on guard against popular uprising. The security apparatus has developed over the years to be part of daily life in Egypt. The presence of the security state was apparent even to short-term visitors. Local police or the Egyptian military guarded every tourist site we visited, which could also be found at the entrance to local villages. Most Egyptians agree the security presence in their daily life was not to deter terrorism or foreign threats but to surveil the general population. The government’s paranoia about political stability prompted it to construct a new administrative capital outside of Cairo to insulate itself from the population.
Police presence inside Cairo’s Coptic Quarter.
The omnipresence of security forces did not adversely impact the experience for most foreign tourists. However, it would be an entirely different matter for independent travelers. Because of security concerns, travelers may need to apply for transit permits to visit certain parts of the country. Take the Sinai Peninsula, for example; a foreign traveler had to obtain the license a few days before. We had to pass through over a dozen military checkpoints during our five-and-a-half ride from Cairo to Saint Catharine. It was almost impossible to apply for these permits without the help of a local friend or tour operator.
Even traveling to popular tourist hotspots, such as between Luxor and Hurghada or Aswan and Abu Simbel, is not as straightforward as Google Maps directions might suggest. Sometimes, everyone must pass a specific checkpoint before a particular hour. In other instances, foreigners cannot self-drive and can only be transported by drivers, particularly vehicles licensed to transport tourists. Since none of this information is published online in English, those independent travelers who choose not to employ a guide could risk being turned around unexpectedly by military police.
Hotline for the Tourist Police is travelers’ best friend.
The crowd control at the major tourist sights was surprisingly chaotic.
The complexity of permissions extends beyond just transportation. Minor regulations, such as whether cameras are allowed, are often not enforced uniformly. Since these regulations were seldom posted online or in real life, you never know what to expect. These less significant rules are often negotiable, making things even more complicated. A fifty Egyptian Pound note of baksheesh could open a lot of doors. A good tour guide could negotiate on travelers’ behalf.
Outdated information
Egypt is a bucket list destination, so there is no shortage of information online about traveling there. As odd as it sounds, there seemed to be too much information floating on the web. However, most tourist sites do not seem to have a website with the most up-to-date information, such as opening hours and admission prices. Instead, you would most likely rely on travel bloggers for your trip planning. But in a developing world, government regulations and business hours could all change on a whim without public announcement. Believe it or not, the tour guides are often the only ones aware of these changes.
Admission prices at tourist sites are frequently adjusted due to currency fluctuation.
One of the most misleading aspects of many online resources was the cost of goods and services in Egypt, as most travel bloggers like to quote all the prices in local currency. But we often forget that some currencies, including the Egyptian Pound, are volatile. Indeed, Egypt devalued its currency by than a third less three months after our visit. All the prices I noted were suddenly obsolete. The 400EGP cab ride from the airport is no longer considered a fair price. In anticipation of the currency devaluation, most tour operators request payment in U.S. Dollars or Euros.
Official tariff on the Giza Plateau is appropriately overlooked by the local vendors.
If you are planning on traveling within Egypt independently, the only resources travelers should rely on are travel bloggers based in Egypt. Some of my favorite resources include Egypt Adventure Travel and Egypt Travel Blog. Both blogs are run by Americans operating tour businesses in Egypt and offer valuable perspectives on trip planning and some common pitfalls for foreign visitors. If you are spending thousands on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Egypt, don’t let some travel bloggers who only visited once, me included, dictate your itinerary.
Don’t Trust ANY Reviews
There is no way to sugarcoat it: Egypt has a severe problem with unreliable online reviews if you are used to planning your trip based on Google or Tripadvisor reviews, good luck. If you click on a random restaurant on Google Maps, you might notice that almost every restaurant has a four-star rating or above. Even obvious tourist traps would have plenty of five-star reviews. For any savvy travelers, it is not difficult to spot many fake reviews. Whether online or in real life, the reality could be elusive. This added a layer of frustration when it came to Egypt, and there was no way around it.
Steigenberger Alcazar in Sharm Al-Shiekh.
The online ratings are artificially inflated by purchasing review farms and hardball tactics by persistent proprieties. When we were checking out of Steigenberger Hotel El Tahrir in Cairo, the “guest relation manager” insisted on supervising us and leaving five-star reviews for them right on the spot. She asked us to open the app and show her the review. I was very annoyed and told her that that was considered a form of coercion. While I had no problem saying no such tactic, I could see how most “normal” travelers would be friendly and give in. Considering this was a self-professed four-star international hotel, it was not a particularly classy move.
Similarly, shops or restaurants recommended by your tour guides or hotel concierge may not be the best. They often recommend shops with which they have a commercial relationship. Inevitably, they enjoy a little kickback from these businesses. However, they might recommend only “tourist-class” businesses because they genuinely believe tourists would enjoy them better than the more authentic local establishments.
Bait & Switch
Travelers need to be constantly on guard in any hustler culture. Almost everything you come across could be a scam, willingly or not. It could be a nightmare for inexperienced travelers. Having been to more than forty countries, I thought I would be pretty savvy at spotting a scam. Egypt was my biggest challenge then. My trouble started early when I reserved a hotel room in Giza for the last two nights of our trip. After consulting various review sites, I reserved the last available room at Peace Inn West Pyramids Cairo. This newly opened hotel is stylish yet relatively affordable based on the available information and published reviews.
A few days after booking, I received a message from a hotel staff member, Ahmed Haridy, offering us a complimentary airport pickup. We were pleasantly surprised by how proactive they were, considering it was still a month before our arrival date. After getting our flight information, the guy casually mentioned that our room had become unavailable due to unexpected repairs. We would be accommodated in a similar room at a different location. My bullshit detector immediately went up and asked about the details of the new rooms. Suddenly, the guy became uncommunicative and only assured us we would be more than happy with the room.
There are plenty of hotels in Gaza, but be careful of some bait-and-switch tactics.
After much follow-up, he told us we would get a room at their sister property, Jimmy Pyramid Inn. A simple search revealed the two locations were half an hour away on foot. The two properties looked nothing alike. Unsurprisingly, Jimmy Pyramid Inn was a lot older and shabbier. Since I originally booked the property’s premier suite, I asked the staff which room type we would have at Jimmy Pyramid Inn. Based on the prices I am seeing, the cost of the most expensive room is roughly a third of what I booked initially. When I asked them about the price difference, they did not bother to reply. They never addressed the price difference and stopped responding to my inquiry.
This kind of bait and switch was by no means unique to Cairo or Egypt. However, it is more typical for Airbnb reservations than larger hotels. Thanksfully, I booked the hotel on Expedia, and the reservation was refundable. Right after the cancellation, I suddenly found the same room on all the booking sites on my dates. Curiously, this same room was also available a week before and after. I am glad we did not wait until the day of our arrival to discover this little scam these people were planning.
Sadly, stopping at the scented oil shop is almost unavoidable for first-time visitors.
These bait-and-switch tactics are not limited to accommodation but every facet of the tourism trade. One particular infamous scam was the bait-and-switch at Cairo’s numerous oil shops. The visit often began with an extensive session where visitors could try more than three dozen different scented oils. Many travelers reported that the oil they sampled differed substantially from the samples they tried in-store. Unfortunately, one ought to have his or her guard up in Egypt.
