Stay on any street corner for 5 minutes, and you’ll get a dozen offers for everything you can imagine, from souvenirs and perfumes to hashish and beautiful ladies. Oh, and here is the best part – they are everywhere. They will follow you, shout at you, push their merchandise in your hands claiming it’s a gift, only to ask for a gift from your currency in return, and if you make the mistake to show even a slight interest in their goods -you got yourself a companion for hours. Neither the night markets in Bangkok nor the bazaars in Istanbul can come even close to these guys. The situation in Cairo however, is out of control. Now, I’ve been to a lot of tourist places and I know the street vendors and hawkers will do anything to make you buy their stuff. If you decide on this one, make sure you book it online, prices you’re going to get on the spot are often 3-times bigger. Before you get one, clarify if the tour price includes entry fees, tips, and going inside pyramids.įull-day tours will take you not only to the Giza complex but also to Sakkara and Memphis. Tours: Half-day tours include the pyramids and the Sphinx. If you have an Egyptian sim card, you can also get an uber which I found to be the most cost-efficient way of transportation in Cairo. You can get a taxi but make sure you get the price before getting in. If you use a tour, your guide will pick you up and drop you at your hotel. Avoid camels with recent wounds or fresh scars you don’t want to support animal cruelty. If you want a camel or a horse ride, please pick one of the cameleers that look after their animals.
If you do any of those things, they will expect you to pay them. This is not the way I travel, so I spent three days in Cairo, trying to find the essence of the city, hoping to stumble upon a magic lamp or at least a flying carpet (even a small rug would’ve been good) and exploring as much as my feet allows me.ĭon’t listen to guards, vendors, or cameleers trying to give you a history lesson, don’t take pictures of them when they strike a pose next to a camel, and don’t take tips about good photo spots. Their trips consisted of staying in resorts by the Red Sea, having day-trips to the Luxor and the Pyramids, rushing from one attraction to another. Asking them what to see in Cairo was useless. Most of the people I know visit Egypt via a tour company. You got me, I love Disney’s Aladin, and while, I wasn’t expecting to find a beautiful princess with a pet tiger in Cairo, I truly hoped the city’s recent bad reputation was just an over-exaggeration by the media.
#Cairo papyrus museum full#
If you are like me, you have this romantic version of the city in your head, with small sandy streets surrounded by white-stone buildings, the camels roaming around street stalls full of exotic spices, fruits, and scarabs, and flying carpets and genies floating just over your head.
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