Concerns about our trip to Egypt
 

Can not cancel as we would loose big money but my husband is so concerned about our trip in two weeks to Egypt.
Anyone have advice

Have a browse thru this thread in the BA forum where folks discuss their travel to Egypt. The thread gets meatier a few posts on so please read to the end.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...ddle-east.html

Thanks read through all

You don't mention where you are going, so I will assume Cairo or somewhere along the Red Sea. You should remember that the parts of Egypt you are likely to visit have 200+km of Sinai between them and Gaza. Sinai has been on travel no-go lists for years with all sorts of problems, but has not impacted tourism to the rest of Egypt. Personally I would not be worried about a visit to the main tourist parts of Egypt. I have been both as a tourist with my family and for work and never a problem.

The BA discussion is indeed a good place to start. I am also booked for 2 weeks in Egypt in December before an ex CAI flight on Royal Jordanian to the far east. At the moment I am fully planning to go ahead and will only reconsider if there is a very significant development directly affect the parts of Egypt I plan to visit. Even then I would not be really concerned about my safety but more about travel disruption.

We fly into Cairo stay 3 days going to Giza as well then fly to Luxor for 4 day cruise down to Aswan. Stay overnight then fly to Abu Simba and back to Cario.

I'd be more worried about being flocked by hucksters trying to sell you stuff (harmless but very annoying), and the usual scammers/con artists (again harmless, amounts are relatively small but nonetheless annoying).

As things stand you have nothing to worry about. I would certainly be happy to do that with my family.

I agree. My itinerary is similar.

3 nights Hurghada
Bus or taxi to Luxor
7 nights Nile cruise to Aswan and back to Luxor
Fly to Cairo
3 nights Cairo

I have to be honest - I am not looking forward to this. I find this extremely irritating and I have heard Egypt is worse than most places for it.

It's the worst I've experienced... but well worth the price to see what Egypt has to offer.

After being suckered by a good opening line and led around from shop to shop, I saw a gentleman handle this situation perfectly. He simply smiled without making eye contact, calmly said "no thank you" and walked off.

Just keep in mind they're just trying to make a living. It's pretty much hard scrabble there for the masses.

I realise people need to make a living, but it is very irritating to be followed down the street after you have said no 5 times.

The problem is that there are so many naive tourists who are either stupid enough to fall for all their scams or simply feel sorry for them thru their feelings of collective guilt -- that it actually becomes far more lucrative for the scammers to earn a dishonest living scamming tourists than to get a real job earning an honest living or to stay in school and get an education. Then it becomes a terrible cycle that's impossible to break and ruins a society. Egypt is one of the worst places where this happens, but it's far from the only place. It's really sad.

Well intentioned tourists who think they're doing good by transferring their Western riches directly to scammers really do a disservice to the country. The best way to help the local people is to put money back into the local economy by rewarding those who provide useful services and by giving money/supplies to legitimate charities. If your guide, taxi driver, waiter, hotel bellman, etc. is honest and hard working -- reward him with a nice tip. If he tries to scam you, hold your ground and don't give in. It boggles my mind how many tourists incentivize bad behavior from scammers.

Not so much the scammer but the vendors (FYI, usually selling second/third quality). Did buy some cotton towels, t-shirts and shirts, which although of 2nd quality (mainly snags/stitching/cut issues), have actually lasted 16 years of regular use with lots of apparent wear left. We bargained hard and thought we paid what were fair prices.

I don't mind buying from street vendors. Often the cheap stuff they sell can be very useful during a long trip. What annoys me is the constant pestering from beggars, hawkers and prostitutes who will not take no for an answer.

Not to forget mentioning everyone including the street sweeper who ask for bakeesh.

Oh yes that old chestnut.

I wouldn't worry too much if your itinerary is alone all the touristy points of the country. I'm flying to Hurghada this Wednesday, then transfer by car to Port Ghalib and I'll embark on a diving boat for a week. I'll fly back to Switzerland a week later from Marsa Alam. I've checked again today what our Dept of Foreign Affairs is saying and it's just the usual and to avoid certain areas which are problematic.

The only thing you have to be concerned about where you're going would be the fact you'll be pestered and harassed the entire time. It's worse now because their economy is even worse since the pandemic. I would suggest if you haven't been to the pyramids in Giza before then take a private tour there to avoid them.

Maybe its my air of probity and moral rectitude, but I don't remember being pestered by prostitutes in Cairo. Maybe I go to the wring areas :)

I don't know about Cairo, but it is a big problem in many places, especially if you are travelling as a single male. I have had a lot of pestering in several large cities.

I never saw any hookers/prostitutes in Cairo, not saying there's none, But a slew of them in Belgium and UAE and other countries inside/outside hotels/shops.

Well at least that's one bit of hassle I won't get.

In terms of potential for disruption, this might be more worth thinking about that terrorists or prostitutes:

https://www.reuters.com/markets/curr...se-2023-10-17/

Looks like an impending currency collapse.

Just as data point. I landed yesterday October 18 in Hurghada from Brussels at 9pm. Nothing special or extra. No security checks other than the usual scanning of bags when exiting the airport. Customs and immigration went really fast and smooth.

Thank you for this. I am most likely to be flying into Hurghada from Paris so probably similar arrangements.

We fly into Cairo on the 8th of November and still quite nervous

I just talked to someone I "know" who lives in Cairo. Nothing is happening there other than the border with Gaza. Just stay away from the border.

And that border is 300km from Cairo.

And going into that general area (Sinai) is consider a DO NOT TRAVEL area 24/7 365 days a year due to terrorism, so anybody going into that region should know better anytime of the year, or they need to stay at home.

Depends who you ask. The UK doesn't have a "do not travel" on most of where tourists would typically visit in the Sinai -- Mt Sinai, Sharm, Nuweiba, Taba, etc.

https://assets.publishing.service.go...Rev2__WEB_.jpg

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/egypt

The US is more conservative, as always, and says to avoid the Sinai other than flying into Sharm.

An Egyptian contact of mine in the UK said exactly the same.

Thanks to all for your input as we leave Nov 8 for Cairo and the sites

Well, some activity going on in Sinai. Reports of projectiles hitting the town of Taba/Nuweiba on the Red Sea, with injuries. That's why all the cruise ships canceled their itineraries for the coming month in that area. But, you can go there if you like😁