Planning to go to Egypt cause my gf is from there. I told her I'm nervous about going cause literally every person I know who went there and a shit load of youtubers hate the place. She just brushed it off and said I'll be fine. Here are my questions:
1. What scams should I watch out for?
2. Any cultural faux pas I should be aware of?
3. I plan to be there for 1-3 months. Probably Airbnb (unless you can recommend something else) What area should I rent in?
4. What date activities can we do?
No one's gonna scam you, they'll just use 30 years' worth of expertise to charge you triple for a carpet or a camel ride. Don't interact with drug dealers and you'll be fine.
I had my own car there so I dunno if public transport guys try to overcharge tourists like they do in Morocco.
>cultural faux pas
not really, just avoid eating with your left hand if you're invited to a family home.
Egypt isn't really that bad, especially if you're a man and especially if you have any experience traveling in other impoverished-but-tourism-dependent countries.
Beyond that, going with a local should help immensely. If your girlfriend grew up in Egypt and speaks Egyptian Arabic, she should be able to deter most touts by simply opening her mouth. Similar principles apply for business-related negotiations and taxi fares (in which cases your girlfriend will almost certainly recommend keeping your shut).
The yidtubers and vloggers are being paid by glowies to spam FUD about Egypt for some reason. I have multiple friends both male and female who have traveled there. it’s not bad, it’s surprisingly undangerous, it’s fun and there is LOTS of very cool shit. Basically all the FUD facts these spammers spread about Egypt is a total lie. I think that the reason for it is that globohomosexual is feuding with Egypt over various things, so they’re trying to attack their tourism sector in a ‘guerilla propaganda’ sort of way. I’m going soon(tm).
Apparently all the insufferable shit happens around the pyramids. Otherwise, it should be fine.
Cairo is unironically one of the most interesting cities in the world and it is an absolute filter
- Entire neighborhood of families living in ancient mausoleums. Try to get invited in and have some tea by an open fire
- Church built into a massive cave on top of the hill, pass through a neighborhood made almost entirely out of trash, by a society of people responsible for the city's garbage collection (which the city does not normally do)
- Some of the coolest mosques anywhere, each with actually original architecture instead of copypasta
- Souk that is properly ancient instead of being created in like 1950
- Climb down into the giant nile-o-meter pit thing (there are no railings, you might need to bribe the guard)
- Pay some random dude with a boat a tiny amount of money to take you to watch the sunset on the nile
There are very few places in the world where you can feel that many layers of civilization built on top of eachother. Maybe Rome or Instanbul - but in those cases, the past has been sort of paved over and sequestered to museums, in Egypt, it's all around you, and no one gives a frick if you touch it or climb on it. You will absolutely want to pummel like 80% of the locals for being lazy fricktards who sit around all day in the hopes they can scam some random tourist out of like $2 instead of fixing the decrepit state most of the city is in, but if they keep it from becoming an instathot ridden hellhole, good on them
what this guy said IF you are into that
another thought for you: a Nile cruise
you see a lot of historical stuff with a guide during the day and sit on the top deck of the boat with wienertails every evening
investigate
dated 2017, but it puts Egypt at the very bottom of the list for cost of lodging & dining
https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/hotel_and_restaurant_prices_wb/
Cairo is hell don't go.
There's no crossings anywhere, so you can't cross any roads. I literally was restricted to my hotels block, and had to sometimes call taxis to cross the roads, who'd charge me loads for a 1 minute journey.
The food is inedible. I tried something and was violently sick. I had to survive on crisps and chocolates for most of my stay. I didn't even trust the hotel food.
It's really expensive. Bottles of water, because it's the desert, were selling for like 10$ on the street, and they never gave change.
It's so hot. I felt like I was burning after 5 minutes. The pollution is horrible too. I had to wear a mask to breathe, but it got sweaty and horrible.
The Pyramids are horrible. I was kidnapped by someone on a camel who demanded money to help me get off. You're not even able to get to the Pyramids without bribing loads of people asking you for money. I gave up and went home.
There's no alcohol anywhere. I tried getting beer at the shops. But they looked at me like an alien.
The fricking mosques are loud. I kept getting woken up at like 4am. I tried complaining to the hotel but they did nothing.
I did find a nice shop though. A friendly guy from the street apparently was related to Mohammed Ali and showed all his pictures. Managed to get a rare signed photo for like $200. Apparently is worth thousands. The essential oils were pretty tasty,too, especially with chips.
Lmao, okay good bait, 8/10
its obviously bait, but he's kinda right on a lot of points
Yeah he is, but if you’re not moronic it filters out all the instaprostitutes and idiots. Then you can actually enjoy the good stuff about cairo
Based Cairo knowers. 8/10 wasn't a had attempt. Like anon said above. The ultimate filter city.
Having locals show you around probably alleviates 3/4 of the common bad experiences with Egypt.
Does your GF have family there? If you can take a private car you avoid the major hassle that is egyptian taxis and transportation and if you have them show you around they can swat away scammers and touts with some arabic cursing and be taken to some actually good establishments.
Gf has family there but they don't know about me. She said I can meet them when I propose to her which likely will happen at some point in the future but the plan is she will come to my hotel/AirBNB on some days then at night she had to head home. I was thinking of finding a second gf while there but I don't know how possible that is.
> was thinking of finding a second gf
In egypt, not possible actually. If you were a Muslim and serious about finding a wife, you’d probably find a wife immediately but girlfriend, no, they’re very conservative there still even in cairo
Also kind of a dick move in that the actual girlfriend seems pretty cool.
>anon gets a mummy-gf
>use uber only (tuktuk and cabs will terrorize you)
>the gps sucks ass so finding your uber driver, the gps will pin a spot on the map closeby and you need to walk to your driver
>theres a lot of street dogs, they are not aggressive
>get an egyptian sim card if you can
>egypt is a cash society, prepare to pay cash for everything. The people prefer cash also. They have change a lot of the time so you dont need exact change.
>where to rent: maybe nasr city, somewhere in new cairo
>activities, theres fricking loads of museums and historical things to do
>idk how much arabic your gf speaks but nobody there speaks english
>tell people you and your gf are husband and wife it will be easier
>do not take pictures of police in the streets this will cause an issue
>be warry of taking photos in public unless youre in a place where its super touristy and everyone is taking pictures.
>be as polite as possible, this goes a LONG WAY in egypt manners are everything.
>learn some arabic phrases, the locals will really love it, learn to smile and say salaam alaikum the people will respond well to that
>if you’re solo the best way to get around is by uber scooter.
>if you’re going there during the month of ramadan be respectful and dont eat in public during the day while people are fasting.
>familiarize yourself with basic islamic manners and boundaries
Thats all I can think of enjoy yourself!!!
Not gonna lie I got filtered by Cairo. It's a fricking shithole.
I'd love to go back though. When I went it was just my gf and I and I felt overly paranoid probably due to sleep deprivation and the fact that I'd never been to a "dangerous" country before.
>When I went it was just my gf
The experience should be much better if you go alone. Traveling to shitholes with a girl can be mentally taxing because not only do you have to look out for the typical hazards of a third-world country, you also have to think about your girl's safety.