FAQ’s for Egypt

Best time to travel Egypt:
Best: Oct - May for main sights, and April-November for dive places.
Worst: Christmas and Easter school holidays [hugely overpriced and overcrowded] June-Sept [heat], and Ramadan [Muslim fasting month, Sept 1 - Sept 29 '08]

Length of stay:
Min. worthwhile stay, not including flights: 4 days [Cairo only]
Recommended: 2 weeks - 4 weeks for an all-Egypt encounter.

Egypt's main festivals:
22 Feb, Abu Simbel Festival one of the two days when the rising sun hits the three key statues inside the temple, courtesy of Ramases II. See the light and party!
22 Oct, Abu Simbel Festival, as above.

Activities Guide:
Riding: camels and horses, especially near the Giza pyramids or around Sinai Red Sea resorts. Overnight trips are possible for the more adventurous.
Sailing: laze for an afternoon or travel a few days down the Nile in a felucca [open old sail boat]; a local captain is necessary.
Biking: not much generally, though tooling around Luxor - especially the rural west bank - on two wheels is a terrific way to see the sights.
Scuba and snorkeling: In the Red Sea/Gulf of Aqaba around Sharm el Sheikh or Dahab, the former an upmarket resort town, the latter a more laid back village. Both of them have first-class dive shops and equipment available and excellent coral right near the shore, with some superb dives a little further out.
Also dive from Hurghada and other new resorts on the mainland Red Sea coast.
Alternatively for something different dive into 'Cleopatra's Palace', an underwater treasure in Alexandia's harbour, courtesy of Alexandria Dive Co.
Walking: other than around towns, not much fun - except maybe a walk to St Catherine's monastery in the Sinai.

Electricity:
220v, 2 round pin plugs.

Health Guide:
A few don'ts:
Don't drink juices or iced drinks outside good hotels, though ice-cream from a smart shop should be OK.
Don't swim or paddle in slow moving parts of the Nile River, it harbours a tiny, aggressive worm, that triggers a disease known as bilharzia.
Mosquitoes are not usually malarial in these tourist areas but they are a nuisance, so read Mosquitoes.
Also the sun is extremely hot in south Egypt so don't overexpose yourself or you will endanger your holiday.

Money advice:
Egypt is a low cost destination. ATMs are in short supply but credit cards can be used in many places and banks will supply necessary cash. Traveller's Cheques are widely accepted too.
Haggling is a part of market and transport [taxis, camels, horses] life and should be enjoyed at a leisurely pace. With care you could get half or two-thirds off the first asking price.
Do NOT make an offer if you are not willing to back it up with cash!

Travel Safety:
Most Egyptians are cheerful, friendly, deeply religious Muslims who will welcome you to their country and prefer to give than take.
However a small number will be happy to relieve you of your wallet if you are dumb enough to leave it in your back pocket in a crowded place.
Tourist areas including Red Sea resorts these days are ringed by police and army to prevent fundamentalists disturbing [again] Egypt's key revenue source, tourism.

Tout and beggars:
These guys can be a total pain and you need to learn to handle them to really enjoy your Egyptian Travel experience.
Don't ignore them or swear at them!
Look briefly at them and firmly say 'La!' [No] or 'La, shookrun' [no, thank you].
If it's boys try 'Emshi ya walid!' [go away, boy!']
Then there's 'Mish owse hagga' [I don't want anything'] for the linguists.
If you're getting on well with an Egyptian say 'Al hamdou lillah' [praise God] when you/he mention something positive, or 'Inshallah' [God willing] when you discuss the future e.g. See you tomorrow, Hamed. Inshallah.' He will be delighted!

Egyptian Shopping:
The souvenir possibilities are massive. This is probably the best African destination, and perhaps ANY destination for colour, variety, utility and price [if you haggle], though there's plenty of neo-Nefertiti rubbish around too for the undiscerning.
Some great buys are gold and silver jewelry, camel leather bags, rugs, brass flower pots, weird glassware and ceramics.

Travel in Town:
Don't even think buses in Egyptian towns, they're dirty, packed, incomprehensible and may result in a pocket picking.
Taxis and horse carts are fine, but it is vital to negotiate the price before you depart or you may end with a truly horrific argument.

Cuisine Guide:
Local staples such as beans, rice, tomatoes, stringy chicken and bread won't take a hungry traveller very far, but there's plenty of international food choice available at reasonable prices.
Alcohol is not a problem.

Downsides:
Hustlers/touts are a tiresome part of the Egypt experience, along with hideous buildings, garbage growing like weeds and flies.
Taxi meters don't work so expect endless arguments if you don't firmly negotiate beforehand.
The big sights can get horrifically overcrowded in peak seasons at peak times.