Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

Hotel: Conrad Cairo

Quick check in, staff is pleasant; several restaurants- so you can always get a bite even if you arrive at 3am. All of the rooms have a view of the Nile. The only down side is that it’s a little far from everything, so you’ll pay a bit more in cab fare. Downtown is within walking distance, but it is a hike.

Nile Cruise, Grand Hyatt

Two hours, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., buffet dinner, music and a belly dance show. ($33 per person).

I read on tripadvisor that the Grand Hyatt was a good one, but IMO it was pretty cheesey. I’d pass, if I were to go again. Best part of the night was actually the Grand Hyatt. We were wandering around the lobby and heard some loud music and clapping, went to see what it was and it turned out to be a wedding. Egyptians know how to party! The bride and groom were in the middle of a circle of guests and musicians, and everyone took turns dancing with them. Funny thing was, this took place in the middle of a lobby, and everyone was welcome to watch. Welcome to Cairo!

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Re: Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

Egyptian Museum
This place broke my heart. It has an unbelievable amount of artifacts, but they are so poorly labeled and preserved. It looks like someone’s dusty basement. A lot of things are right out in the open- you can reach out and run your fingers over hieroglyphics and get nose to nose with statues of Ramses and Nefertiti. Incredible, right? But you can see the effects of so many grubby hands. A lot of the stuff is streaked with fingerprints and freaking GRAFFITI! You aren’t allowed to take pictures inside the museum. Pay the extra $ to go to the Mummy room, it is quite sight.

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Re: Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

Khan El Khalili

The Khan is a big outdoor shopping market, a big tourist spot. They have everything you can imagine- gold, silver, (really beautiful pieces), hand carved chess sets, leather shops, cheesey tee shirts, replicas of the Pyramids and the Sphinx, hand sewn pillow cases and wall hangings, spices of all kinds, loose hibiscus tea, leather slippers, handbags. The shop keepers are aggressive and persistent, and one or two might follow you for a while. It can be overwhelming, but no one is out to hurt you. It’s a lot like the Straw Market in Nassau, Bahamas. There are police of all kinds all over the place, especially here. We mentioned to our guide Karen that their presence was reassuring, and she said that for every policeman you see, there are 3 undercover officers, and the country as a whole takes tourist safety very seriously.

Anyway- prices aren’t set. You haggle. It’s a lot of fun! The shopkeeper will name a price, you counter with 30% of what he is asking, and after some back and forth, you’ll probably get 50% off the original asking price. I was bargaining with one man and offered X Egyptian pounds- he staggered backwards with his hand over his chest and told me I was breaking his heart. It was hilarious!

We went twice, and paid lower prices the second time. I think it was because we went in the evening the 2nd time. They must have been tired of haggling all day. LOL.

The Naguib Mahfouz café (named after a famous writer) is in the heart of the Khan. Good to know where it is, they have the only clean bathroom in the area. Food is unremarkable, but safer to eat than anywhere else.

A good place to rest your feet (and your wallet) is Fishawy’s coffee house. It’s a bustling little place with drinks and sheesha (hookah/water bongs). DH and I aren’t smokers, but I really wanted to try it. We had the strawberry and it was pretty pleasant. In case you’re wondering, it’s just flavored tobacco in the sheesha, not weed!

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Re: Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

Al-Tannoura Dance troupe

Ugh- we missed it! If you’ve ever heard the term “whirling dervish”, that’s what these guys are. It’s an Egyptian folk dance. First the musicians perform alone (rebaba/fiddle, ney/flute, mizmar/shawm, frame drums, cymbals, and another drum called a tabla). Then one dancer starts spinning, and the others join in. Sometimes they spin continuously for 40 minutes and supposedly they go into a trance.

That was just info I looked up online. We heard that this group performs Saturday and Wednesday evenings, and we weren’t able to find them. We looked all over the place, and asked several people for directions, but they all told us that they weren’t performing and to come back on Wednesday. I’m sorry to have missed it

Re: Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

Mosque of Ibn Tulun

It was built in AD 876 to 879, I think it is the oldest one. It is free to visit, but you pay $2 per person to the men in the front who give you cloth shoe covers. You return them when you leave.

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Re: Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

Gayer Anderson Museum

This museum was restored and furnished by John Gayer Anderson, a British major. It is two adjoining 16th century houses, filled with art, furniture and books from his travels. The wood work is a carpenters dream- so gorgeous! The Spy Who Loved Me was filmed there.

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Re: Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

Pyramids

To avoid getting herded around the Pyramids and Sphinx on a tour bus like cattle we hired a private guide. We found Karen on tripadvisor, she’s a British woman who lives in Cairo, making her living as a tour guide. She picked us up from the hotel for lunch at Felfela. They had the best falafel (tamiyya in Egypt), hummus and baba ganoush I’ve ever had. Makes the falafel here taste like bullets. The difference being that their falafel is made from fava beans, not chick peas. It’s a lot lighter and crunchier.

The Solar Boat Museum is pretty interesting, too. They found a giant hole in the ground with wooden planks and stuff and realized it was a boat, intended for the pharaoh to use in his next life.


While researching, I read that it’s somewhat overrated to in Khufu’s/Cheops pyramid. The lines are very long, and there are only 300 tickets per day (in two admission sessions), and it is the tourist high season, so the lines for the tickets form insanely early AND there is nothing in there. So we chose to go inside Khafre’s pyramid, which is accessible at any time. In the Lonely Planet Egypt book, they advise you not to go inside the pyramids at ALL if you are older, out of shape or the tiniest bit claustrophobic. I took it lightly…Until we got there and I saw people coming out who were crying, gasping and totally freaked out. On line in and one line out that moved at a snails pace. The passageway is SOOOOO tiny. I am only 5’ and had to squat and shuffle along while squatting, AND the passage descends kind of steeply. The air inside is really hot and stifling, I can easily understand why so many people panicked. I can’t imagine doing that in the summer time, where it is 120F outside and twice as bad inside.

Ya know what? There is not a damn thing in there. The passage goes down, levels off, and goes up into a chamber with an empty sarcophagus. No wall carvings, no hieroglyphics, no mummies. NOTHING. The experience is really the effort to get there.

And the big pyramid is worse.

So a word of warning- if you are even slightly claustrophobic, I recommend that you admire the pyramids from the outside.

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Re: Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

Onto the camels! In my very limited experience, they don’t spit or deserve the bad rap they get. Just like riding a horse, but a little higher. They make a bizarre bubbling-gurgling-donkey bray - goose honk –cappuccino machine kind of noise.

Riding past the pyramids at sunset was surreal. Even as it was happening, I didn’t believe I was there. It felt like we were on a movie set.

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Re: Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

Alexandria

It’s about a 3 hour drive from Cairo to Alexandria, and it is well worth the trip. It is so much cleaner and quieter than Cairo. Not as touristy, either.

Alexandria National Museum

The building is a restored Italian villa, and it is exquisite. It’s pretty small, only three floors and can be done in an hour of two. My favorite exhibit was the one of the sphinx and other sculptures found during an underwater excavation of Abu Qir. A lot of the sculptures and statues are still in the bay, under 60 feet of water. I wanted to dive to see them, but the only dive shop lost its PADI membership for doing some shady stuff. While it is still open, I wasn’t confident enough to dive with them. Too bad.

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Roman Amphitheatre

Straight out of ancient Rome, it’s 13 terraces of white marble. There is a round stone towards the front row and if you stand on it, your voice is amplified throughout the entire area. But step off it and your voice won’t carry past the first row. Amazing stuff. Oh, and a stray dog was sunbathing down in front.

North of the amphitheatre is an ongoing archaeological excavation. You can see groups carrying baskets of dirt and rubble to and from the site. Further along towards the Villa of the Birds are giant piles of pottery shards from the dig. There must be thousands of little pieces of pottery just lying there. Some of them have carvings, patterns, even paint.

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Re: Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

The Catacombs

The stuff of myths and movies! No photography allowed at all. Sad, but necessary for preservation. You descend a winding staircase into the “bottom”, it goes a lot deeper than tourists are permitted to go. Also, much of it is underwater because of the rising water table. Greek and Roman carvings line the walls. They merged their culture with the Egyptians- Anubis, the god of the dead is drawn here in a Greek/Roman military skirt and shoulder pads. I got this picture online, so you can get an idea of what we saw:

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Re: Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

Drove by Pompey’s pillar, but didn’t go in.

We drove along the Corniche, the road along the Mediterranean coast. A really great view! Right outside Qaitbey fort is a pier. Lots of strolling couples, families and fishermen. Their fishing rods are a trip- 10 ft long poles with no reels, just fishing line.

We had dinner at a local seafood restaurant (more delicious goodies), and headed back to the hotel to check out and go home.

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Re: Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

Practical info:

-Visas can be bought here in NY, but it is easier to get them in the airport in Cairo. Immediately after you get off the plane, you will see a row of banks, you can exchange some money and they will give you two stamps for the passport, those are the visas. They are $15 USD per person.

-5.7 Egyptians pounds, abbreviated LE to the US dollar.

-Taxis are cheap and plentiful, take these rather than the bus or train, at least until you get used to things.

-Baksheesh is tipping on steroids. This isn’t a tourist scam, baksheesh is a way of life, even for the locals. Tip for the luggage guys, tip for the guy who finds you a taxi, tip for the taxi driver- it never ends, but it is relatively small amounts. Keep your tip money away from other bills.

-Dress: keep your clothes conservative. Short sleeves are fine, but sleeveless and low necklines are not, unless you are in your hotel. Shorts are a no-no as well, long skirts are ok. If you find that you need clothes, go to the Khan El Khalili and buy a few galabiyya (long tunic shirts), those will be fine. I wouldn’t go out of my way to dress up, because the streets and the taxis are dirty. Don’t wear heels, either. You will twist your ankle on the rubble in the streets.

-Local customs: Learn to say a few Arabic words, you won’t believe how people will open up to you if you can say hello/ salaam alaykum and thank you/shukran. The Egyptians we spoke to are the friendliest people. Everyone will ask you where you are from and tell you “welcome to Egypt!” or “America is beautiful” or “Howdy-doody!” Apparently they get the Howdy Doody show on local televison and all the kids will greet you that way. ? If you stop and ask someone directions, five more will come running to help you out and make sure you get to your destination- without expecting a tip/baksheesh. If they can’t help you, they will find someone who can.

-Odd bits: I noticed a lot of people staring at us. I thought it was because we are an interracial couple, a rarity over there. It turned out to be that DH looks a little like some Egyptian movie star and that’s why people were staring!

-Research: I love the Lonely Planet books and tripadvisor.com forums. I found Karen, our tour guide from trip advisor and she was fabulous!

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Re: Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

Ahh, one more thing!

Traffic lights are just window dressing. No one obeys them. You just wait for a slight lull in traffic and go running across the street. Same for the highways!

Don't even THINK of renting a car here.

Re: Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

Posted by baghag

-Local customs: Learn to say a few Arabic words, you won’t believe how people will open up to you if you can say hello/ salaam alaykum and thank you/shukran. The Egyptians we spoke to are the friendliest people. Everyone will ask you where you are from and tell you “welcome to Egypt!” or “America is beautiful” or “Howdy-doody!” Apparently they get the Howdy Doody show on local televison and all the kids will greet you that way. ? If you stop and ask someone directions, five more will come running to help you out and make sure you get to your destination- without expecting a tip/baksheesh. If they can’t help you, they will find someone who can.

Re: Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

WOW!!!!!!!!!!! AWESOME PICS!

I LOVE the one of you & DH riding the camels with the pyramids in the background. that looks like a postcard!

Re: Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

WOW REBECCA!!!!!! What an amazing trip!!!!

Re: Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

Fantastic review!!

Love the pictures!

I was getting a little claustrophobic just watching you go into the pyramids!!

Re: Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

Holy Moley!!! I cant wait to read this again. I've always dreamed of going to Egypt and you've ignited that passion in me once again. The pictures are amazing and your description brings them to life. Thanks for a great review!!

PS - I love the pics of you and Josh going backwards in the pyramid and your description of how a camel sounds!!

Re: Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

Wow great revew - Must of been and amazing vacation - Love the view from Pizza huts window -

Re: Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

Becca, what a detailed review.

I'm so jealous, that place is filled with history.

it sounds amazing.

Glad you had a great time !!!

Re: Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

Incredible pictures!!! Sounds like an amazing trip!

Re: Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

What an amazing trip! Great review.

Re: Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

WOW! This is my dream trip! Thanks for the review! AWESOME

Re: Cairo & Alexandria, Egypt review w/pics

Posted by SweetestOfPeas

WOW!!!!!!!!!!! AWESOME PICS!

I LOVE the one of you & DH riding the camels with the pyramids in the background. that looks like a postcard!