15 Tips for a Successful trip to Egypt

| July 20th, 2010 | Egypt, Travel, Travel Tips

1. Always ask for the bill after your finished eating at a sit down restaurant. If you don’t ask, you’ll never get it and you’ll waste your day waiting to pay for your meal.

2. Learn how to haggle. Egypt is all about haggling, whether it’s for a water at the corner store, a souvenir at the market, or a non-metered taxi fare. We even haggled for the price of our hotel room in Dahab. Seriously, everything is negotiable!

3. BYOTP! (Bring Your Own Toilet Paper). You’ll be hard pressed to find toilet paper in most restrooms in Egypt. The toilets here have a built in bidet spray nozzle so if you don’t have toilet paper with you, prepare to walk out of the bathroom with a wet or dirty behind.

4. Accept that you’re a foreigner an you will be stared at all day, every day. Literally.

5. Be careful who you trust. You should be able to figure out who is genuine and whose not after the first two minutes of conversation. If the person starts mentioning “baksheesh”, tell them “shukran” (thank you) and simply walk away.

6. Ask the price before buying water, soda, candy, and anything else that you can buy at a convenience store. If you’re used to paying a lower price in other shops for your item, haggle with the shop owner a bit!

7. Use the Metro! It’s one of the most efficient metro systems that I’ve ever been on. Be aware, it’s extremely rare that you’ll run into other foreigners on the metro. We took the metro almost every day and not once did we see another tourist or foreigner. Considering you’ll be a minority, expect the train to go silent at times and when you look up, the entire car will be looking at you in awe.

8. Bring comfy shoes! Walking shoes or comfortable sneakers are best. You can wear flip flops or sandals but just realize you will be one of the only people wearing them and you’ll surely return with black feet from the dirt and pollution of Cairo.

9. Carry hand sanitizer! You’ll constantly be touching doors, hand rails an money while you’re in the city. You’re not the only one touching those things, remember there’s an estimated 25 million people in Cairo. Think about it!

10. Watch where you’re walking while exploring the city. The sidewalks, and streets of Cairo are not maintained well. I was really lucky I didn’t break my ankle after I fell into a hole in the sidewalk while walking through the city. This was not your typical pot hole, this was a hole that engulfed my leg, all the way up to my knee! Dangerous isn’t even the word!

11. Buy bottled water, lots of it! You’ll need to brush your teeth, drink plenty of it during the day and maybe even pour some on yourself after being in the extreme heat all day.

FYI: As a foreigner you’ll be charged 4 to 10 EGP for a “big bottle” (1.5, 2 liter) of water depending on where you purchase it.  You can get these bottles for 2 EGP, trust me. Just haggle with the shop owner and you’ll get it for 2 EGP. If they say that it’s 4, or 5 EGP just tell them that you buy water down the street all the time for 2EGP and they’ll usually have no problem selling it to you. Just act like you’re aware of what the “Egyptian” price is and you’ll be fine.

12. Eat where the locals do! Not only will it be the cheapest food that you’ll encounter during your travels, but you’ll also most likely be eating traditional Egyptian food which is what you should be doing if you’re in Egypt anyway, right? Even as a picky eater, I have to say that traditional Egyptian food is great, and very filling to say the least!

13. Don’t be afraid to cross the streets. The driving and traffic will be shocking when you first arrive. Crossing the streets at first is quite intimidating but after you get used to it, you’ll be crossing the streets with ease. Don’t bother letting the “Tourist Police” assist you with crossing the roads, if you do they’ll most likely want a tip (baksheesh) after they assist you in crossing.

14. Cover up! If you’re a woman you’ll need to be sure to cover up while in Egypt. Yes, it’s hot but it’s part of life here. Liz got away with wearing capri pants, and tops that covered the tops of her arms. She didn’t wear a headscarf, but all local women do wear these. Liz also got away with wearing flip flops for most of the trip through Egypt without any issues.

15. If you’re confident with your haggling skills, take a black taxi to your next destination. The black taxi’s are considered private and never have running meters. Most people will tell you to avoid them and use a metered taxi while in Cairo, but we took many black taxi’s during our stay. All you need to do is ask a local how much it should cost to go from point A to B and use that number to haggle with the driver. Make sure you agree on a price BEFORE entering the taxi. Confirm the price 2 or 3 times before actually getting in to avoid any issues. By doing so, you may save yourself a few pounds. Once again, if you’re confident and aware of the true “Egyptian” prices (what Egyptians would pay for something), you’ll most likely have no issues with agreeing on a price and you’ll be able to avoid being ripped off.

Do you have any tips to offer from your travels to Egypt? If so, feel free to leave a comment below!