In my last post, I described booking tours off of cruise ships. In this blog, I am going to talk about doing something a little for adventurous; booking a tour when flying through a Country.
We have tried twice before to go to Egypt to see the Pyramids. Both times the cruise we were scheduled on opted to skip the ports in Egypt. This time when it happen, I decided to fly on our own for a few days in Cairo and an all day tour of the Pyramids and the Egyptian Museum….after-all who doesn’t love a good mummy or two.
We flew Egypt Air directly to Cairo from Rome after we got off of our cruise on the 18th of May. This was the completion of a Transatlantic cruise and a follow on cruise to the Holy Land which was modified to take in account political unrest in Israel.
Americans are required to have a VISA to enter Egypt and the Government offers a VISA on arrival program. In front of Immigration, there are bank kiosks which sell the VISA sticker for $25. We were told that they accept cash only, but credit cards were accepted as well. It only took a moment to get the sticker and we got into the immigration line. The line went quickly, since most Americans were unaware that they had to go buy the VISA sticker first and were sent out of the line to make the required purchase. As we made our way through immigration, the agent looked at our passports, peeled the sticker off and affixed it to an empty page, logged the sticker number in the computer and then stamped our passports allowing us entry for up to three months. As we headed through customs, even though it was only a few hundred feet, our passports and sticker were check two more times…..seemed like overkill to me, but when in Egypt …. walk like an Egyptian.
I had made arrangements to have a driver pick us up at the Airport. He had contacted me via WhatsApp and had been at the Airport an hour before the flight was due to arrive. I was amazed that for $20, you could have a private driver meet you and escort you to the hotel which was a 30 minute drive away. As we walked through the Airport Terminal, I was shocked at how few people were around. Usually, you see crowds of travelers, taxi drivers and others. Here this was almost empty except for the slow trickle of travelers processing through security. Once I got outside the driver was easy to find. He was standing on the curb with a half dozen other drivers holding a sign with my name on it. So far so good, I thought. The driver grabbed our bags and we walked a short way to where his car was parked. The lot was mostly empty? We jumped in his car and headed for the Ramses Hilton in Downtown Cairo.
It was 7:00 in the evening and traffic in the City of 22 million was quite heavy. The driver didn’t speak English but used google translate on his phone to quiz me on how he could get a job in the States. He was doing this as we were zipping along a four lane highway with cars and scooters everywhere and everyone blowing their horns. Fortunately, we weren’t going that fast but everything was on the road….even horses pulling carts. When we got to the hotel, we were in the left lane and the driver had to get into the right side of a roundabout …. this was not pretty! When we got to the drive into the hotel, before the barricades were moved for our driver, a security officer and bomb sniffing dog verified that we were staying in the hotel and there were no explosives in the vehicle or our bags. Then we could proceed to the hotel lobby. When we entered the hotel, our bags had to go through an X-Ray machine and we had to pass through metal detectors. Wow, I thought this is serious security!
We had been upgraded to the Executive floor of the Hilton hotel and our room was on the top floor with a balcony and a view of downtown Cairo and the Nile River. When we checked in, we learned that we were one of the few Americans staying in the hotel. The hotel was undergoing renovation and there were only 4 old working elevators. Luckily, we enough food for the evening and the next day, food would be available in the Executive Lounge which was also on the 30th floor.
After, a good night sleep (relieved that we had actually made it to Cairo) and a great breakfast in the hotel we were ready for our tour. Youssef our tour guide was early and contacted me via WhatsApp (great app to use outside of the US and used worldwide). We met him in the lobby and he made a quick call to our driver, Ali, who was parked on the street to come around and pick us up. After we were picked up, our guide talked quickly with the Tourist Police in front of the hotel. The guide quietly slipped him a few bills. The policeman smiled and we were off.
The drive to Giza and the Pyramids took about 30 Minutes and took us through the heart of Cairo. The number of high-rises that were either incomplete or partially collapsed was staggering. Youssef explained that the majority of Egyptians were struggling with high inflation. Last year , the exchange rate for the Egyptian Pound (EGP) was equal to about 15 EGP to 1 USD. Now, however, it had shot up to 30 EGP to 1 USD; losing half of its value in just one year. However, wages had not went up, but everything else had.
As we were driving, the Pyramids came into view and Ali, pulled to the side of the road so we could get a good photo. The contrast between the brown desert with the Pyramids and the high rises of Cairo was dramatic. We had always heard that the Pyramids were right at the edge of the City, but it was very sharp contrast. One side of the street was a city, the other side …… nothing but barren desert.
Our tour included entry into the pyramid site but not entry into the actual pyramids. Youssef recommended that if we wanted to go into either of the two big pyramids, we would need to buy a ticket and recommended that we enter the second, smaller one. In his opinion, it was more impressive and less crowded. We agreed and when we arrived at the entrance, Ali drove right up to the barricades and dropped us off. We passed through the security gate to get to the ticket counters, Youssef advised us on which line to get into for the correct ticket while he waited in a second line to purchase our other tickets for the day. This only took a few minutes and we headed for the next security screening point. We passed through the metal detectors and headed into the site.
I am not impressed with many sites …. but the Pyramids were different. I was more excited to see these Wonders more than I had expected. Maybe it was the effort it took for us to get here or the fact that these were more than 4,000 years old and built without modern tools. I had always wanted to climb and sit on these bad boys, but I had heard that you could no longer could. Fortunately, that was not totally true.
We walked over to the Great Pyramid, Youssef went over the history of the Pyramids and explained how they were built and what had been discovered in the structure. It is unbelievable that these structures could have been made and stood for over 4,000 years. We were able to climb up to the entrance to the structure and I took the opportunity to hop up and sit on one of the ancient blocks. Since we were with Youssef, the hawkers mostly stayed away from us, and we weren’t bothered too badly. We were advised not to let anyone take pictures for us unless we were prepared to give a tip. Also, no one will be happy with any tip….its just a scam to get you to tip more.
As walked around the Great Pyramid over to the second Pyramid, Youssef explained the culture of the time and Egyptian Culture in general. He explained that only tombs were built on the west side of the Nile and the Pyramids were just tombs. Important structures were built on the east side of the Nile. The sun rising represented life, while the sun setting represented death. When we reached the second pyramid we found the entrance. The entrance sloped inward and led to a 4ft opening downward into the Pyramid. This required crouching while we were passing tourists heading in the other direction down across and up into the center of structure. The interior of the Pyramid was quite plain and warm. It the center of the Pyramid we reached the Burial Chamber. The mummy had been removed, but the burial cask remained. Very cool!
When we exited the pyramid, Youssef was waiting. “Next we go to the Panoramic area and ride camels.” As we walked toward the road, Ali drove up on the sidewalk to pick us up. “I like having a private driver!” Ali navigated around tourists and camels as he drove up a small hill overlooking the pyramids. Impressive, I thought! The pyramids contrasted well with desert and camel drivers. It was like stepping back in time…..except for the busses and tons of tourists. We followed Youssef until he found a camel driver to give us a ride. I am not much for camels, this was my third camel ride, but it what you do at the pyramids. Reva, on the other hand, was excited to ride a camel. Actually, the camel ride was probably what convinced her to fly to Egypt with me……that and the fact that our return flight to the US was out of Cairo.
The camel driver took Reva’s phone to take pictures for us and I climbed on a camel first. Reva went to get her camel and the camel driver went to help her. At that point, my camel decided to get up. Camels lift their hind legs up first, as he did that I found myself almost on my and the camel’s head. I held on and didn’t totally make a fool out of myself. Once Reva was on her camel, the driver told her to lean back when the camel stood up. “That would have been good to know”, I thought to myself. And we were off. The camel driver took us to a spot where there was a clear view of the pyramids and snapped about 50 photos. He then led us back to pick up his next customers. As planned, once we got off the camels I handed him a $5. He was not happy and motioned over to Youssef. Youssef spoke to him as we were walking away. Youssef told me that he told the driver, that was all the ride was worth and he asked the Driver why would he expect more?
Our next stop was to visit the Sphinx. Youssef told us the stories behind the Sphinx being crafted as a guard for the tombs of the Pharaohs. This area was crowed with several groups of tourists. Ali dropped us off in front of the parking lot and we were off. Youssef took out a few bills and handed them to a guard who opened a gate and let us in without going through the ticket lines. Money talks in this country and Youssef tipped everyone. He led us into the area and explained about how the Sphinx was damaged and all of the artifacts that were found there and are now housed in the museum. We were free to roam around as much as we wanted. When we were done, we walked through a small shopping area out of the site where Ali was waiting with the car running.
Next, Youssef wanted to take us to a scent factory and then a Papyrus Paper manufacturer where we could get our names written in hieroglyphics. We agreed to go to the scent factory only because they had free, clean restrooms. They made scents and shipped them worldwide. We were seated and asked what we would like to drink. The young woman who had brought us to the sitting area sent a man out to get us a few different types of tea. In the mean time, the young woman asked us what kind of scent we would like in a perfume and handed a list of about 50 scents. I looked at Reva and she looked at me. I looked at the young woman, apologized and told her that we are not interested. We got up and headed for the door. The woman was surprised, but didn’t say anything to stop us. When we went outside, Ali was standing by a tree talking to a few other drivers. He was startled to see us and immediately went to find Youssef. Youssef came quickly. I told him that we are not interested in scents or paper. He immediately, apologized. “This is your tour, we will do what you want to do” “We can go to lunch early.” As we got into the car, I saw the young woman bringing our tea outside looking for us. I thought that was a nice gesture since we were not buying her smelly stuff. But we moved on.
The tour included a traditional Egyptian meal and we drove to a nearby hotel where they were waiting for us. Youssef had called ahead and told us our options were chicken or a mixture of chicken and beef. Everything was included except for drinks. When we pulled into the hotel that had the restaurant, Reva noticed a woman in the corner of the parking lot cooking bread in a clay oven. She mentioned that to Ali and when we got out of the car, Ali took us over to watch the woman bake her bread. Ali said something to the woman and she brought us over a fresh baked pita. Ali took the Pita and squeezed it to show us how soft it was and then handed it over to us to either squeeze or eat. I am thinking, “this bread is being handled by everyone do I really want to eat it?” “Oh well….what the hell.” Reva and I split the pita……it was fantastic!
The restaurant was on the roof of the hotel and when we arrived we had a choice to sit inside or outside. It was a bit windy, so we opted for the inside. The meal was massive! It was brought all at once and consisted of a potato like soup, salad, humus, pita bread, beef sausages, grilled chicken, rice and and an okra dish for dipping the pita bread into. When we finished, Youssef walked over and asked how we enjoyed it. “Exceptional”, was my response and we were off to our next stop.
Next stop was the bazaar. Youssef commented that some tourists skip the shopping area and spend more time at the museum, but we had time for both. As we drove to the bazaar we continued to pass the partially collapsed high rises. Youssef pointed out to us what he described as the world’s largest cemetery which stretched for miles along the highway and up the hillside. Youssef pointed out that people actually live in the cemetery surrounded by the dead. Reva asked if they take tours into the cemetery. Youssef indicated that it was not a safe place to be and we dropped the topic. The Cairo skyline is dominated by a large fortress and several large mosques. There are also a large number of Christian churches mostly Greek Orthodox and Coptic Christians. Youssef commented to us that Cairo was know as the City of 1,000 minarets and he described the different designs and what they symbolized.
The bazaar was located between several of the large mosques and stretched over a vast area. Ali, couldn’t park anywhere around the area, so they dropped us off and gave us 45 minutes to look around and shop. We needed to be out of there by 1:00 since it was Friday and the market would be packed when the Call to Prayers began. Friday is a Holy Day in the Islamic world similar to our Sunday. Their workweek begins on Sunday.
The bazaar was full of tourists as well as locals. Surprisingly, we were not harassed in any way. Vendors were happy to show off their trinkets but they were not as aggressive as other places we had been. We stopped to buy a few T-Shirts at one stand and as we were looking at the shirts, the table began meowing. We finally lifted a quilt covering the table to find a very hungry and loud kitten. The owner of the shop, came over and was also amused that the kitten had found a home. The T-Shirts were 100 EGP or about $3.35 each….before haggling. I didn’t have EGP and the store owner didn’t have USD or much of an understanding of the conversion rate. He was happy when I gave him $10 for two t-shirts and then started offering to give us other items since he understood we paid too much. We smiled and continued to walk around the bazaar. We didn’t go too far before we headed back to wait for our guide and driver. Watching the people was fascinating. Everything was on the road. There were people balancing large baskets of bread on their head while they road bicycles in the heavy traffic, motor scooters with three people on them, garbage trucks with men sitting on top, another truck full of plastic with a shirtless man laying on it 12 feet from the ground waiving at the tourists…..absolute craziness! Security police were at almost every corner mostly directing traffic and trying to keep people out of the way of the tourist busses which were trying to navigate the narrow alleyways of the bazaar. Youssef walked over to us and asked if were ready. We were and he called for Ali who showed up in about 5 minutes and we were off to tour the Egyptian Museum.
The new Egyptian Museum is under construction next to the Pyramids and many of the artifacts have been relocated. However, the old museum was still quite impressive. There is only one item in the museum that is not original (the Rosetta Stone original is in the British Museum in London) and almost everything is at least 2,000 years old. In order to get into the museum we had to go through three separate security check points. The Egyptians are serious when it comes to security! The relics from King Tut Ankh Amun’s tomb including the 220 pound golden casket were interesting, but I was there to see mummies! And the mummies were impressive. Most of the mummies had been moved over to the new museum but there were several very well preserved 3,000 year old mummies to view. Youssef gave us the low down on how mummification was conducted and showed us the various tools utilized. I was amazed at the tools available to the Egyptians 2,000 years before Christ. They were a very advanced society. They even had created a loom for weaving fabric. I would have imagined these tools to be a few hundred years old……not 4,000. Youssef assured me that everything was real and found in the tombs.
We concluded the tour and Ali drove us back to the hotel. Along the way, Youssef asked us to invite other Americans to come back to Egypt, “Egypt is safe, no one will hassle you here, If they do, all you have to do is mention it to any of the police and the issue will be resolved immediately.” “No one wants trouble and we want you to visit!” “You are welcome here!” I understood, tourism is a major source of income for Egyptians and the fact that few Americans are visiting, because of security concerns, is damaging their economy. We never felt threatened or harassed. But this is a poor country and police are everywhere. The number and size of the weapons the police carried was a bit intimidating, but everyone was friendly. I tipped Youssef $30 and Ali $15 (he got a little extra for driving on the sidewalks to pick us up), they were both very appreciative.
That night we drank Egyptian Wine and ate at the hotel in the Executive Lounge. The food was excellent…..the wine not so good. I guess you can’t expect much in a Muslim Country where alcohol consumption is illegal for citizens…..drinking is OK for tourists.
The next morning, we had an early flight and I had arranged for a driver at 2:15 in the morning. So it was an early night. The driver texted me at 1:30 to let me know that he was on the way and again at 1:45 when he was in the lobby. When we got to the lobby he was waiting for us with a sign with our names. You can’t get this service for $20 anywhere in the world I thought. Our driver spoke decent English and he gave us a bit of a city tour as he drove us to the Airport. Traffic wasn’t bad, but the none stop horn blowing continued. When we got within a few miles of the Airport Terminals there was a security checkpoint. No one could enter the Airport grounds unless they were flying out or were driving someone. I understood now why the Airport was so empty. When we got to the entrance, before we could go to the ticket counter, we had to present passports and tickets and go through a screening, including an x-ray of our luggage. Security, security security! After dropping off our luggage, we passed through immigration easily and got our sticker re-stamped. Before we got on he plane we went though additional security screening. Our flight was on-time, we had connections in Germany and LA. It was a long day and I watched five movies but, that evening we slept at home.
Looking back on this tour, I am glad we did it and I would no hesitate to return to Egypt possibly to see the new museum, visit Luxor, cruise the Nile or maybe see the resorts in Sharm El Sheikh. I would probably limit my time in Cairo….way to much horn blowing.
Viator had come through quite well. In this case the company we used actually was advertised on most of the websites but Viator gave us a 24 hour free cancellation. We appreciated the flexibility. In this case, I was glad I we everything pre-arranged. Egypt was complicated enough!
