NOTE: EFFECTIVE October 1, 2023, Canadian citizens will not be able to obtain a visa online before travelling to Egypt. Canadians will be required to obtain the visa from an Egyptian embassy or consulate. HOWEVER, after December 1, 2024 Canadians will again be able to obtain an electronic visa before traveling or upon arrival in Egypt.
Thanks so much, Bruce. We really enjoyed Egypt. It took a bit of adjusting, but we met some wonderful people and the sites are spectacular (so is the food!). We have a full series from our month there if you're interested in watching it. Nothing compares to 35 years there, though! -Judy 🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Thank you for watching and for sharing your experience! And we agree! If you want to follow along on the rest of our tour of Egypt, here's a link to the video series. -Judy Egypt playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Such a great and informative video! We'll be going to Egypt in October with our kids so this was great info. We will mostly be in Luxor, but we'll have a short bit in Cairo to of course see the pyramids.
Thank you so much for watching and for your sweet comment/compliment! We are excited for you and would love to hear what you think of Egypt when you return. If you haven't seen it, we have an entire playlist from our time in Egypt that we hope you will enjoy. -Judy Here's a link to all seven episodes: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
I’ve used the metro when visiting Cairo. As a female traveling solo I would recommend the women’s only car which at the time was the 1st car. My last visit was 10yrs ago so it could have changed. That is not to say that women can’t board other cars but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you are accompanied by a male companion and it is not rush hour. This is still a very conservative culture and using the women’s only car(s) will avoid any harassment or uncomfortable situations in what is predominantly a Muslim culture.
YES! Thank you for this information, Mildred. We had heard that there are women's only cars, but I wasn't sure how a couple could travel on the metro. It sounded a little confusing and we didn't have much occasion to need it. But we were curious and it seemed like it could only work in certain hours. We definitely aren't knowledgeable enough about it to have given much advice, so thank you.. -Judy
We are so glad to have you following along with us. Not sure if you've seen the rest of our videos from our month in Egypt, but I'm linking them below. Thank you for your kind comment. -Judy
Easily the best guide to Cairo. So sensible, informative and a joy to watch. Thank you so much! Practical, will take your advice and tips when we vist in three weeks time. Again thank you!
Thank you SO much! We really appreciate your kind words! Not sure if you caught the rest of our Egypt series, but I'll link it below. Hopefully it will be helpful for you. We absolutely loved our time there and hope you do the same. We'd love to hear what you think when you return! We also have some articles on our website at findingGinaMarie.com under Egypt. Thank you for watching! -Judy Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Sounds like you guys had a blast there! I just came back from a two weeks tour in Egypt. Since it was my first time in the country I used a tour operator called intrepid travel. They organize adventurous style trips with small groups up to 14 people (we were 9 in total). We had a local guide working for that agency and was with us the whole time. As with the visa, I did it online to save me some hassle and waiting time. I used the official government website for Egypt. Some fellow travelers did it at the airport and spent the same as I did ($25). My tour covered most of Egypt such as Cairo, Alexandria, Aswan, Luxor, Hugarda and overnight stay in Nubian village. As with Cairo, we saw the Ghiza pyramids and sphinx, had camel ride, visited the national museum, a papyrus museum the next day we arrived. We came back to Cairo a week later to visit the biggest bazaar in Africa and left next morning for Alexandria. After the end of the trip I spent an extra day in Cairo by myself to see extra stuff. I decided to visit the citadel of Salah al Din (former sultan). And glad I did. There are two beautiful mosques and the police and military museums. I wished I had been to Saqqara...that will give me a reason to go back someday.😅 I used uber during my day alone in Cairo to get to the citadel but got flustered when was time to leave as I couldn't get a quick uber driver and my mobile data was running out. So I got a white cab and contracted the price before getting in. It was around the equivalent of $15. Traffic was bad (Saturday afternoon) and had to drive to my hotel in the zamalek district. The airport transfer next day was already paid and included through the tour operator. Took me over an hour to get to the airport due to Sunday traffic (and schools reopening). Like many other travelers, I agree the negatives are the assailant street vendors. We were followed by a kid in Luxor we couldn't shake off until we got back to hotel. He was trying to sell us a box of cigarette and Kleenex. And yes I loved smoking Shisha/Hookah in every place I visited. And it's cheap too (about $4) including tea and water. They have a fixed charge for it and you pay extra if change flavors. My longest session was 4 hours with our tour guide😂. Other highlights of my trip are the felucca Cruise to Luxor (with overnight sleep), the hot air balloon ride over the valley of kings and hatchipsuit temple, abu simbal temple and the stay I Alexandria where we saw the library.
Sounds like you had a terrific tour. I'm glad you had an amazing time and it's clear you did all the stuff you should have done in Egypt! You might want to catch the rest of our series from our month in Egypt, which was truly incredible as well. Thanks so much for watching and for sharing your experiences with us! -Judy Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@tarrahbarker8809 Are you there now? We didn't actually feel like that was the case when we visited. So many of our meals were under $20 for both of us, and many times much, much less. I heard that the value of the Egyptian pound has changed quite a bit. We truly loved so much about Egypt! -Judy 🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Hi Ahmed, Thank you so much for watching! We weren't prepared for what to expect, and although we loved our time in Egypt, we know we would have benefited from having some of the information that we captured here. We spent 30 days in Egypt and it wasn't nearly enough. We have it on our list of places to return to. Here's our full playlist from our time in Aswan's Nubian Village, a ride in a hot air balloon, exploring Luxor, more experiences in Cairo, and a Nile River cruise. Definitely a bucket list country for us! -Judy 🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Thanks, Maureen! We so enjoyed the experience, and he really was such a warm and special man. I think about him often, especially when people complain about Egypt and its people. It's so wrong to generalize because there are so many amazing people in every country in the world if you're willing to take the time to find them. You might enjoy hearing about our other Egyptian travels, so we'll link them below. We visited Luxor, rode a hot air balloon, took a Nile River cruise, and more. -Judy Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Thank you so much. We loved experiencing Egypt and are grateful to the kind people who worked hard to make us feel welcome and comfortable. We will return to Egypt again for sure. If you would like to see more of our time in Egypt, here's a link to our playlist. -Judy Egypt video series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Thank you for your serious and helpful reaction. Your information was spot on. As a long time resident of Cairo (my wife is Egyptian) I was so happy that you enjoyed your time with us.
Hi Clive, We loved our time in Egypt. We wanted people to be prepared for what to expect so that they could have the best experience. We have made friendships in Egypt that we hope will last a lifetime. You might want to see our entire video series from our time there. -Judy Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Am really happy for you, just watch ur channel today for the first time... You so amazing, I loved the way you both have new start for ur life starting traveling around... Best wishes 🙏🌹
Thanks so much for watching and for taking the time to write this kind comment. You might want to watch the rest of our series from Egypt if you haven't already. It's linked below. -Judy Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Thanks for producing this great video. We especially appreciate that you focused on your "long stay" experience which is very relevant for those of us traveling full time. We have found it has been very rewarding to frequent a local shop and to get to know the owner(s)...even if you don't necessarily fluently speak the language. We are looking forward to watching your future adventures abroad. Cheers!
Thanks so much for watching! We also just subscribed to your channel! It is really important to us to make connections as we experience a country. We've been so grateful for all the people we've met along our travels and through our channel. The connections are such a large part of why we travel. Your comment means a lot to us as we are finalizing the point of view of our upcoming video from Cyprus that we are recording today! -Judy
Hi Alicia, We hope you have an amazing time in Egypt! If we haven't mentioned him previously, we want to recommend our Nile River tour guide who can give you additional assistance if you're looking for a guide. You can watch him in our Nile River cruise episode. He speaks excellent English, he’s passionate, super knowledgeable, and really made our trip memorable. Here’s his info: 💥 MAHMOUD NOUR | Call: +20 102 6979554 * Email: Mahmoudnour2055@gmail.com * (let him know we recommended you to him-we make no money by referring him, but he was amazing and we know you won’t be disappointed. We wish we had found him earlier in our travels! We'd love to hear about your experience when you return! -Judy
Hi Tas, Thank you so much for watching! We have a full series from Egypt if you're planning to visit. I'll put in a link below. In the series we take a Nile River cruise, a hot air balloon ride, spend time in Luxor, and even spend a night in the Nubian Village in Aswan. -Judy 🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
What an adorable couple! Thoroughly enjoyed seeing my home country that I miss, having been living in Canada for 30 years, through your eyes. Unlike some other travel youtubers, your videos about Egypt were fair and respectful, showing the good as well as the bad and leaving it up to people to decide if such an experience worked for them. Looking forward to binge watching videos you made in other countries on your channel.
Wow, SammyT, thank you so much for watching and for your kind words. Egypt was one of the very first countries we visited as full-time travelers, and we were initially overwhelmed. But Egypt and its people were incredible and we are so grateful to have had some time to get to know it and make bonds with some really lovely people. We would love to return and explore even more. We have a few articles on our website about Egypt as well that you might enjoy. Here is a link to the articles and stories from some of our time in Egypt. We are honored to have you watching along with us! -Judy 📝 Stories from Egypt: findingginamarie.com/search?q=egypt
@@FindingGinaMarie You're very welcome and thanks for the website link; will be sure to check it out. Hope you're having a great time in another exotic place; safe travels.
@@sammyt3514 Thank you so much! We are wrapping up our time in Busan, South Korea with a visit to Seoul tomorrow, and then on to Italy for almost a month! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie Wow; sounds awesome! Been to Italy and had a wonderful time there 10 years ago and South Korea (and Japan) are certainly on my to do list. Enjoy!
@@sammyt3514 At some far, far, far-in-the-distant future, we'll settle in Italy. I'm working on my Italian dual citizenship since I found my birth mother in 2020. It's a slow, tedious process. We've visited various parts of Italy at least half a dozen times (including before traveling full time). But this trip our daughter will be joining us, so it will be fun to watch her experience it for the first time. Here are links to our Japan and Italy (so far) series: 🎥 Japan travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0V4Brx4J0uWJdQENFZKWBT.html 🎥 Italy video series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1Tj_VCjUNQTJBMtKpkz5Sk.html
Thank you so much for watching and for your kind comment. We really did try to be fair and balanced. Egypt is not the US or anyplace else. The point is to accept that things are culturally different, and that's actually why you travel. If everything was exactly the same as your home base, then what would be the point of traveling?!! We loved Egypt and want to return someday. -Judy Egypt video series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
We absolutely loved our time in Egypt, Frances, and we are so glad to hear that you did as well! And you are right, we met some incredible people there. Have you seen the rest of our episodes from our month in Egypt? I'll link the series below if you're interested. -Judy 🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
I found your channel while doing research for an upcoming Egypt trip. Love your videos, so much info packed in a short time. Entertaining, but very informative. Thanks.
Thank you so much for taking the time to let us know you are enjoying our videos, Bernice! You probably figured out that we have an entire playlist about Egypt. We loved visiting there and definitely would return. Here's a link to our entire Egypt playlist. We'd love to hear about your experiences, and don't hesitate to reach out if you have questions in the meantime! -Judy th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@Sriwijaya888 YES, I sent you a reply in another thread, but I'll include it here as well. We did a ton of tours in Egypt, but our BEST GUIDE BY FAR was Mahmoud Nour. His English is excellent, he’s passionate, super knowledgeable, and really made our trip memorable. We wish we would have found him sooner so he could have guided us on the other parts of our trip. Here’s his info: 💥 MAHMOUD NOUR | Call: +20 102 6979554 * Email: Mahmoudnour2055@gmail.com * (let him know we recommended you to him-we make no money by referring him, but he was amazing and we know you won’t be disappointed. You can see him in action in our Nile River cruise, linked below. -Judy Nile River Cruise: th-cam.com/video/0L3PeJhnJL4/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for your video. I really like the format. It’s not all rainbows and unicorns which is appreciated. I definitely want to go. It looks like the temperature isn’t warm like I would expect.
Thank you so much for watching, Erin! You can see that my upper chest was red, so there were days when it was very warm. Sometimes the mornings were cool, but we were definitely warm walking through the pyramids. We dressed modestly for the culture, but otherwise, we would have been in shorts some of the time. We were in Cairo/Giza from Feb. 15-28 and then Luxor from Feb. 28-March 15 (and then back to Cairo for a few days!). It was much hotter in Luxor, but that could have been just the difference of a few weeks. And today it is 84 degrees in Cairo. We're so glad to hear that you enjoyed the format. We wanted to pass along so much information about our experience, so I am glad this was useful. -Judy
@@monikatestaferrata6243That's actually not worse than a lot of Europe and the US right now! I think of Egypt as having much higher temperatures, but maybe some of those are already behind you here in early September. Thanks for watching! -Judy
Kudos to you guys for being good sports about the tipping culture and chaos of Cairo! 😂 thank you for painting a fair and nice picture of Egypt and youre welcome back any time ❤
Thank you so much, Sarah. It was a new experience for us, but we try to be open to cultures that are different and respect why and how they work for the locals. We're lucky to be guests in their country and try to be mindful of that at all times. We appreciate your comment and taking the time to watch our video. You might also enjoy the rest of our series from our month in Egypt, which I'll link below. -Judy Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Great vid guys! Your shows are so accurate. We stayed in Giza too, but right in front of the pyramids. It was very similar to your spot, on the back streets we could also see how the locals live. But when we walked onto one of the busy streets, we kept getting accosted by everyone because it’s such a touristy area😂
Hi Dan, The area we were in when we were in Giza had no tourists and thus no vendors, even when we got into busier areas. We were surprised when we got to the pyramids and all the vendors came out. Would you stay in the same area again? We're somewhat reluctant to recommend our area and would suggest that Zemalek might be better because it's got more energy and is a little closer to all the action. However, we are very grateful for the experience we got to have, and our Airbnb host was incredibly kind. Thanks for watching, and for sharing your experiences. Have you seen the rest of our videos from our month in Egypt? I'll link it below if you are interested. -Judy Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@@FindingGinaMarie when we made our booking, we made sure that we could see the pyramids from our apartment, which put us right into the busy area. We could literally walk to the sphinx in 7 minutes. Accommodation cost was around 70usd per night. Yes we’d recommend this area, even with all the vendors hassling you. Yes I’ve seen the other Egypt vids, I’m going through your Europe vids now. We used your Egypt vids for travel advice before we left, thanks to both of you. I’ve done Europe three times now, if you want any travel suggestions I have a few good ones that I. Sure you’ll love.
Hi Dan, We were not nearly as close to the Sphinx as you were. That had to be pretty cool. We've been to various places in Europe before we became full-time travelers, but there is a lot we haven't seen. Before traveling the world, we tended to visit the same places on rotation (London, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, France), so we've been so happy to expand our time outside of those few places. Admittedly, we're still smitten with most of them and plan to continue to spend time exploring cities in those countries we've missed. But we have some time in Germany and in Spain next year and are excited to explore them if you have cities to recommend for us! Also, if you have any destinations that you think we should visit, please let us know! We have been deep in 2024 planning, but we don't have the year finalized yet. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie Hi Judy, here’s some suggestions for you. These are unique suggestions, I’m not going to bother you with obvious suggestions because I’m sure you’re already across it. Germany, visit Triberg in the Black Forest. There’s heaps of places in the Black Forest that are similar, but Triberg’s section of forest walking trails are a cut above, with amazing waterfalls, squirrels everywhere, so it’s uniquely beautiful. Spain, we stayed at the coolest accommodation called Can Pol Loft, which is in Llançà, Costa Brava. It’s on Airbnb, and it’s one of the coolest accommodations we have ever stayed in. And cheap. You’ll need to hire a car in costa brava, but it’s worth it to see the area. We used it as a base to see the Dali Museum, and Dali’s house in Cadaquez. Some of the best beaches in Europe, especially in Llançà itself which has more protected waters therefore the water is warmer than other parts of the Mediterranean. Best time to visit the Costa Brava is September or early October, the water is still warm and the weather nice, but the hordes of tourists are gone,and it is very cheap. If you ever go to Croatia, I strongly recommend staying at Aparmen Slap in Rastoke. It’s another place where you’ll need to hire a car sorry, but it’s on Airbnb too, and super cheap. The house is literally built on top of a waterfall, and you have your own personal entertaining island , complete with your own personal bridge. The area is very cheap, use it as a base to check out the local natural wonders such as Plitvice Lakes, Krka waterfalls, and limestone caves in the area. While we were having drinks on our island, tourists were taking photos of us lol. Pedro’s Restaurant next door is amazing to see, and the food is great too, they even serve bear! (Plitvice Lakes hint: choose route B, you’ll get to see all the really cool stuff, without too much walking. Some people choose to do the more difficult walks, because they want to see absolutely everything, but it’s just not worth the effort, because there’s not much more to see anyway.) If you’re ever near Dubrovnik, treat yourself to a meal at Konavoski Dvori restaurant. I recommend the lamb. My favourite part of Europe is Czechia, I’m hoping to see you guys post videos of your visits there soon! Some suggestions are Kutna Hora, check out the ossuary and the main town also. Orlik Castle is cool, it’s not as popular as some of the more famous castles, but the tour inside is a hidden gem. Other great towns are Cesky Krumlov, Karlovy Vary and Marianske Lazne. Also, Karlstejn is awesome to see, both the castle and the village. Most of these places can be seen doing day trips from Prague, but Krumlov is worth at least three nights to 1 week visit. We’re from Brisbane Australia, we have some of the best seaside locations in the world here. But we don’t have much in terms of history and culture, therefore when we visit Europe, we gravitate towards this. Even the beaches in Costa Brava don’t come close to what we have access to here. So we do our beach holidays locally. However I promise that all of the suggestions above will transport you to a fairytale wonderland of culture, history and natural beauty. Cheers, Dan PS if you’re ever visiting Australia, hit me up for some amazing suggestions here too!
Thank you so much, Dan, for such great information! You sound like you are very well traveled! We love these suggestions and are incorporating them into our wish list. -Judy
Hi Cheryl, We are so glad to hear that you enjoyed your time in Egypt. Spending 12 weeks there is quite impressive! And it's encouraging to know you felt safe. I did as well, but I only traveled alone during my night walks in Luxor. We currently are in Morocco and awaken early every morning to the prayer call (and roosters!), but we miss Egypt, too. We definitely want to go back and explore more. The GEM has continued its soft launch and we weren't able to see Alexandria when we were there. Lots of reasons for us to return! Here's our full series from our month in Egypt if you're interested. We take a Nile River cruise, a hot air balloon ride, spend time in Luxor, and even spend a night in the Nubian Village in Aswan. -Judy 🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@@FindingGinaMarie Hi Judy. I am so lucky to find your videos about Egypt tour on youTube a couple of weeks ago. I am going to visit Alexandria late this month, plan to stay there a few days before travel back to Cairo to visit Giza 1 day then hop on a cruise between from Aswan to Luxor. I am wondering should I travel to Aswan from Cairo to get on board from there for a 4 day cruise. Would you be kind to tell me if a train or bus trip is better, and how long it takes me to be in Aswan before 10AM so we will be picked up by the cruise organizer? I am invited by a friend who was born in Egypt but is currently living in Australia, and this is the first time I visit the country. Thank you very much for your time to help with this. Kind regards. Thu Ha
Hi @thuhanguyen6611 Hmm, interesting question. We had a decent experience on the train to Aswan, but personally I'd rather arrive the night before in Aswan so I wouldn't have to worry about delays. You could hire a private driver for an overnight drive, which is probably the most reliable idea if you don't want to spend the night in Aswan. It's a 10-hour commute by train or minivan, but a bus ride is 14 hours. Technically if you catch the 5:30pm bus, you would arrive in Aswan at 7:30am the next day, BUT that assumes that there will be no delays, and Egypt is not a place where things run on time (the train schedule was two hours behind, so we actually got on the train before ours!). If you decide to take a train to Aswan, the Nubian Village is amazing and worthwhile to experience. I don't know if I'd even trust an early morning flight from Cairo to get you to Aswan on time. We hope you love your cruise and would enjoy hearing what you think of Egypt! We missed Alexandria, but would love to return to see it. I think it will be a great complement to your trip! -Judy 📝 Nubian Village Experience (Blog Post): findingginamarie.com/articles/nubian-village 🎥 Aswan Nubian Village Must-See this incredible Place : th-cam.com/video/3d2qQ9nPegQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=bt_ACZbpM3xQ0xrs
To get the full experience of the pyramids visit, u should read about it’s facts & mathematics encoded in it to fully appreciate beyond the size & time it was built
We didn't have all that information, but what we did know still astounded us. The pyramids are incredible human achievements. And despite everything we know today thanks to computers, it's astounding how much ancient Egyptians knew thousands of years ago. Thanks for watching! -Judy
Thank you for watching! You might enjoy more videos from our month in Egypt, which I’ve linked below. -Judy Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
I am a Muslim from Egypt I enjoyed this video and these other videos You are good, respectful people and we are very happy to have you visit I am very sorry about the scenes of garbage and broken roads As you know, we have a system that builds the capital for the rich and other cities only for the rich The ancient valley leaves the Nile Valley and the people who live in it to themselves But when people rule their country away from the dictator who rules the country, you will see a country much more beautiful than what you saw
Thank you for watching and for taking the time to write. We understand that Egypt has had a complicated history and despite some things, we still absolutely loved our time there and plan to visit again. We have an entire playlist from Egypt if you want to see more information we shared from our time there. -Judy Egypt playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Hi @Sriwijaya888, YES! We did a ton of tours in Egypt, but our BEST GUIDE BY FAR was Mahmoud Nour. His English is excellent, he’s passionate, super knowledgeable, and really made our trip memorable. He was our guide for our Nile River cruise and we wish we knew about him sooner so he could have guided us earlier in our trip as well. Here’s his info: 💥 MAHMOUD NOUR | Call: +20 102 6979554 * Email: Mahmoudnour2055@gmail.com * (let him know we recommended you to him-we make no money by referring him, but he was amazing and we know you won’t be disappointed. Here's a link to our Nile River cruise so you can see Mahmoud in action: th-cam.com/video/0L3PeJhnJL4/w-d-xo.html -Judy
Hey guys, my wife and I are taking a Viking river cruise (Pharaohs & Pyramids) and near the end of the cruise we will be in Cairo for a second time and we have two 3.5 hour (2:00pm-5:30pm) excursions to choose from: 1) Old Cairo & its Coptic Quarter and 2) The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. I'm not into religious buildings and neither of us are museum people. Can you recommend something we can do around 2:00pm that would be fun in Cairo (we would have already visited the pyramids)? Thanks.
We avoided it like the plague, but would you enjoy strolling through the Khan El Khalili Bazaar? You could head to the Cairo Tower, where you can take an elevator to the top for panoramic views of the city. There's also strolling through Al Azhar Park (www.egypt-uncovered.com/blog/al-azhar-park). You could even just walk through the neighborhood of Zamalek, which is in downtown and walk along the river. There are a bunch of high rise hotels there that will give you a stark contrast from the archeological sites! I hope this helps! -Judy
We are going on three weeks' time to Cairo, and I am interested in the tips For example, what is considered reasonable to them a tip on; The guy that take a photo in the pyramid. The waiter in a coffee shop The waiter in a restaurant The taxi or bus driver The guy in a street food restaurant And in general what is considered a normal tip Thanks
Great questions, and we hope you have a fabulous time in Egypt! They will want tips for all of those things you've mentioned. They don't have a 20% tipping policy like what's in the US, but everyone will expect some sort of tip, and they aren't shy about telling you that you haven't given enough. There will be people waiting outside of the bathrooms who will give you a small amount of toilet paper and expect a tip (even if you bring your own or tissues and don't need any of theirs). People will try to help you with directions and expect a tip (£5 or £10 Egyptian, which is the equivalent of 15-30 cents US), and for sure everyone involved with the pyramids and archeological sites will want a tip or for you to buy something from them. We have an entire playlist from our time in Egypt that might help you, and we include tipping information at the end of each. We tried to keep in mind how much tips actually cost in USD, which helped us. So for a picture inside a pyramid, we'd probably give £50 Egyptian ($1.61). For a driver who took us to visit the sites (but who didn't really guide us), we'd give about E£200-£400, depending on how long the day was (we were told that US$2-3 PER PERSON was fair by our amazing guide from our Nile River cruise, but we tried to be at the higher end), and we'd give our all-day guides around E£500-£700, depending how long the tour was and whether they were good or not. We break out the tips for restaurants pretty well within the video. Thanks for watching!-Judy Egypt video series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Thanks for your amazing videos.. recently crossed your channel while ‘researching’ about egypt and nile cruise. Intending to explore egypt via nile cruise and cairo after our scuba live aboard in 2024. Looking for budget friendly cruise and tour guide for 2 people. first timers. any tips? thanks.
Hi Nesta, thank you so much for watching! Did you see our Nile Cruise episode? It should have everything you are looking for, but if it doesn't help, please reach out and we can give you more information: th-cam.com/video/0L3PeJhnJL4/w-d-xo.html Also, we have an entire playlist from our time in Egypt that is here: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html Here is info about our amazing guide, who we HIGHLY RECOMMEND: Mahmoud Nour +20 102 6979554 (let him know we recommended you-we are not affiliated in any way, but we'd love to have him succeed even more!) Our tour company (Egypt Portal Tours): www.egypttoursportal.com
Hi @@FindingGinaMarie , Thanks for the links. I have watched several videos from your recent trips to Egypt, and now a new subscriber. The advice given has been beneficial and especially in researching affordable rates. The Egypt tour portal link in your video details helped me save $$$ when booking compared to another tour operator. Your videos are informative and short yet very entertaining. Keep it going. Thanks! Looking forward to 2024, and many more of your future videos.
Thank you so much for letting us know that we were able to help you. I hope you were able to request our guide as well. Thank you for subscribing! Offhand, do you know what ship you will be on? We hope you have a wonderful experience in Egypt! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie Hi Judy, we are still in contact with egyptian portal agent. As of this time it is not confirmed which nile cruise we will have as it is based on availability from what they replied with. From their selection list, cruises do look cozy. we should know a few months prior to our trip. Another inquiry for you, would you know of or experienced an over night ferry ride from Sharm el Keith to Hurghada? The research I looked into stated service is still suspended as of 2 years ago. Only a matter of organizing airlines tickets. Which did you prefer, arriving in Cairo at night or early hours to avoid rush hour in airport or day time ? And how was your experience with obtaining an entry visa? online or in person? most convenient method.
@@nestawellman They try to get the lowest rate, which is closest to the time of departure. If you are open to any of their ships, that's great, but I would try to make sure you get what ship you want. We were very happy with ours, especially for the price we paid. Yes, that ferry hasn't been operational even before COVID, so I doubt it will suddenly resume. Here's a link to the website, but it shows no availability (meaning it's not operating-www.abmaritime.com.jo/en/content/egypt). We were fine to arrive at night, but Kevin said that he would have preferred to see it in the day since it's not a typical city. It will be loaded with traffic at all times of the day or night and be prepared for non-stop (I really mean non-stop) horns. If you think of it like a dance between vehicles, it will make it so much easier to lean into! Also, I 100% suggest you call an Uber to take you from the airport to your accommodations (download the app in advance if you don't have it). Do not let anyone touch your luggage because people begin soliciting from the MOMENT YOU GET TO THE LUGGAGE BELT, which I did not expect. Just let them know that you have already called an Uber. You can follow your journey on a map, you know the price won't change, and you won't get scammed. Please learn from us! For visas, the most convenient method was to have $25 cash per person ($60 if you need multi entry out of Egypt). As soon as you get off of the plane, there are "banks" where you hand them your passport and your cash and they give you your visa sticker. It was very transactional. They didn't ask us any questions about our travels; really all they wanted was our cash. There is no ATM and their wi-fi is spotty, so you can't trust that a credit card can work. If you are a US citizen, I would not go through the hassle and extra fees of getting an e-visa online in advance. I would have your itinerary handy in case they ask, but they didn't ask us anything. -Judy
Hi Carolina, I wouldn't have any problem as a solo woman traveling here. I'd maybe not recommend Mohandiseen, but Zamalek is super central to everything. We didn't really focus on it, but there also is downtown Cairo where the major hotel chains are located. It's a very high-end area. It wasn't the experience we were looking to have, but those hotels are very close to the other side of the Nile River and much more posh. Traffic is just as bad though! Zamalek would be a good compromise. I am very glad we got to spend time in Monhandiseen and felt it was safe, but it was extremely different from anyplace we'd ever been. Thank you for watching! -Judy
Hi Craig, thanks for watching. We gave our guide E£600 and our driver E£400, which comes out to about $20 and $13. Our guide was kind but young and a bit inexperienced. Our guide for Coptic Egypt was more knowledgeable, but her personality wasn't a great fit for us. We gave her the same. But I could see that someone who does an excellent job might be worth more. I think we gave E£600 to the Egyptian guide who walked us through Medinet Habu Temple, and that was only one temple versus a full day of touring. Our tour guide had mentioned that US $3 per person is a reasonable tip for the driver, but we felt that they worked very hard, and $13 was well worth it for us to give them. Especially with everything happening in that part of the world, tourism is down a bit and they are scraping for cash, so if you have it in your budget to be generous, we recommend it. I've been told you never need to give someone a tip who gives you directions. As far as other advice regarding tipping, get small bills so that you can tip inside the pyramids if you want someone to guide you inside one of the pyramids (meaning, they give you a 3 minute detail about the hieroglyphics (E£10), bathrooms, E£5 (E£10 if you're feeling generous), take your picture with some of the artifacts-E£5, You also will want to have E£50 handy for various things. We did also tip our waiters reasonably well-E£50 when we got coffee and a bit more for lunch/dinner. Our best tip overall is to understand that the value of the Egyptian pound is way down, but costs are up AND consider how much money it is in USD. When we'd do the math, it would feel like it's a generous tip, but when it's really US $2, we felt like it was perfectly fine to give it (and adjust as you spend more and the kindness of the person you're dealing with. There are ATMs everywhere, but remember to always ask for money in local currency. Don't ever let the machine do it (let your bank do it). Finally, you might want to read my article on avoiding scams, which is on our website, along with a bunch of other articles about Egypt: findingginamarie.com/articles/beware-of-these-six-scams-while-traveling Thanks so much for watching! -Judy
@CraigBurton so glad this is helpful. Not sure if you have a trip scheduled yet, but I need to give a huge shoutout to our Nile River cruise guide, Mahmoud. We did a ton of tours in Egypt, but our BEST GUIDE BY FAR was Mahmoud Nour. If you aren’t already fully booked, we highly recommend you contact him. He is expanding his services to anywhere in Egypt and speaks excellent English. He’s passionate, super knowledgeable, and really made our trip memorable. Here’s his info: 💥 MAHMOUD NOUR | Call: +20 102 6979554 * Email: Mahmoudnour2055@gmail.com * (let him know we recommended you to him-we make no money by referring him, but he was amazing and we know you won’t be disappointed. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie sorry for the questions Judy. If we're doing a tour to the various tour spots, approxiamtely how much Egyptian currency would you recommend we have on us per day for the various activities and tips etc? The issue that concerns us I guess is that we'll not have enough or, if we have too much, we won't be able to exchange it back for our own currency. Thank you very much Judy.
No problem at all, Craig. We would hit up the ATM every few days. In Cairo the ATMs limited the amount of money you could withdraw at a time (E£2,000), but we could pull out more at a time when we were in Luxor (E£6,000-7,5000). I think the limits were mostly due to them not having a ton of cash in them, so if you go to two ATMs on the same day, that should be fine. We mostly booked our tours online versus with someone in person, so we didn't have to worry about cash for the cost of tours. Tours weren't outlandish, but they were more expensive than other costs and they were payable in USD online. I think we have links to all our tours we booked in our videos (but we do recommend Mahmoud!). The only time we hired a local on the spot was when we toured places in Luxor that weren't included in our Nile River cruise. And we paid extra for the guide I mentioned at I guess it depends on how many people you are traveling with. I felt slightly more comfortable with the driver we hired in Luxor because he was recommended by the restaurant owner, but be very careful you understand all the details you agree to if you hire a local to drive you to places. For both of us (not apiece), we probably spent E£250 for breakfast, E£400 for lunch, and £500 for dinner. Some days were more, some were less. But that's probably a reasonable amount for each. We had a couple of splurge dinners that cost E£1200, but they were the exception (and I think they took credit cards). Note: we only ate local foods at restaurants or street food. We didn't cook or grocery shop and we never ate any American fast food (or any fast food). Figure E£30 per day for bathroom attendants (some days we only had to pay once per each of us, depending on the location and how long we were there-the Egyptian Museum, e.g., doesn't have a bathroom attendant as I recall). Then plan for E£1,000 in tips for your guide and driver (or slightly less, depending on whether it's a half day or full day), and you should be in good shape. In Cairo, we used Uber, so we could mostly tip and pay on the app. Tips are throttled, so sometimes we gave a few extra E£ if the trip warranted it. In Luxor, you'll need to pay your driver in cash and also have a tip, but usually you can arrange that in advance. Our Airbnb host had an on-site support person who coordinated transportation and gave us costs in advance, so we had time to get extra money if we needed it. I hope this helps, and we'd love to know better what it costs you when you go if you don't mind taking the time to report back! -Judy
Regarding the coffee shop- do you ask for coffee with bottled water? I’m a huge coffee lover but concerned about drinking the water. How did you navigate that?
We didn't, but some places may not be able to do that, especially if they have water piped to their devices. I can't actually remember what the espresso machines looked like to say for sure. But hot temperatures can kill most germs - usually at least 140 degrees Fahrenheit, and espresso typically is heated higher than that. Also, we met with a travel doctor beforehand who prescribed some probiotics and other meds to help us with our stomachs. I had one day of issues, but it wasn't due to coffee and Kevin had no stomach problems at all. Here's a link to that video. -Judy 🎥 Vaccinations and Preparations for Egypt: th-cam.com/video/ZJG4MI76u58/w-d-xo.html
@@FindingGinaMarie good to know! I wondered if hot coffee would be safe because of the temperature. I already have my pre-travel appointment scheduled!! 👍😀 thanks again!!
@@SwiftyTravels That's awesome. We think that taking daily probiotics, etc. made a difference for us. Some of the people on our Nile River cruise had stomach issues, but we did fine. But we took precautions about the things we chose to eat while we were in Egypt, which does help! Have an incredible trip! -Judy
No, you would reach out to him and he would price your cruise for you. He'd find you the best deal and he would also be able to arrange other tours if you want them, including arranging hotels and transfers if you want that much assistance. We were glad to have made our own accommodations, but we would have loved him as a guide for our other tours, etc. versus the random people we booked through Viator, etc., which were hit and miss. You decide how much of your trip you want him to help coordinate for you. We make no money from recommending him in any way. Hope this helps. When do you travel? Have an amazing time with whatever you end up doing! -Judy
Thanks for watching, Lisa, and for your sweet comment! It was decent enough. The part of the city was pretty raw, but our Airbnb host was terrific-she brought us a plate of desserts and also dinner one night, which was so sweet and thoughtful. The place itself was like someplace out of the 1970s, but we absolutely loved the rooftop patio. It was fabulous. I wrote about the "interesting" shower in this Airbnb here: findingginamarie.com/articles/spring-showers
Our aircraft carrier did a US Navy port call into Alexandria Egypt jan-1988 , We had to take 2 packed lunches from the ship and had orders not to eat or drink anything in that port , Did manage to take a tour for one day to the cairo museum and visited the pyramids they are a sight to see, Did a bucket list at 22 years old great times !
Wow, how cool of an experience for you, especially at such a young age. We wish we would have traveled more when we were young, especially internationally. I think it opens up a person's entire world view. We have an entire series from our month in Egypt if you're interested in watching it. Our time in Egypt was amazing and seriously unleveled our experience as full-time travelers. -Judy 🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
How wonderful it will be for you and your son to experience Egypt! We planned everything except for our Nile River cruise, and that was because you nearly always have to go through a tour company to book them. For that, we used Egypt Tours Portal. The details for that are in our Nile River cruise video. We absolutely loved our guide, who did an amazing job. Otherwise, except for our hot air balloon that we booked directly with the vendor, we booked our other individual tours through TripAdvisor and Viator. Here's a link to our full episode list of travel through Egypt for more details. And if you go into the descriptions, we have links listed as well. Feel free to ask us anything else! Thanks for watching! -Judy Egypt video series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@@FindingGinaMarie thank you so much for replying. Last question. I’m thinking about driving to see Kom Ombo, Edfu and Esna and Abu Simbel. I don’t won’t to spend so much time on a cruise. Is there anything else that you guys saw on the cruise besides the ones I listed? Thanks, Jay
@jaynjanna1 We didn't actually spend a ton of time on the ship at all, specifically because these places aren't so far apart from each other. I don't know that I'd recommend driving on your own unless you are an experienced traveler in Egypt. We had to go through a lot of security checkpoints, which could be intimidating. Also, the guide we had was excellent, and I'd suggest going to these places with a guide to get the best experience, so that will be an offset to your savings by driving yourselves. In Aswan we saw the Aswan High Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk, the Philae Temples. Near Kom Ombo is the crocodile museum. We missed Luxor Temple due to an issue getting through the river locks, but that is worth seeing in Luxor. In Luxor we also saw the Colossi of Memnon, the Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Valley of the Kings, and Karnak Temple. Our tour also took a ride on a carriage and a felucca. If you spend an extra day in Luxor, you also can visit the Valley of the Workers (Deir el Medina), and the Medinet Habu Temple, where the memorial temple of Ramses III is. The cruise took us to an alabaster shop in the Valley of the Workers, but that's not quite the same as walking through it and its burial sites. I included a link above to our Egypt series. Check out our video on Luxor and also the Nile Cruise so you can see for yourself these places that you'll be skipping. Happy to answer any additional questions you may have. Note that we did not visit Esna, and I don't believe it's covered on any of the standard Nile River cruises. -Judy
We had some vaccinations, but the US doesn't have any sort of central database of vaccinations for us to know with absolute precision what we've had done. So over the years we'd been going to drug stores and getting some of them from pharmacists or different general practitioners as insurance policies changed as our companies changed insurance providers. We didn't keep great track as we were going along and pharmacies only keep records for a short amount of time. We wanted to be sure that we were fully vaccinated from anything that a travel doctor thought would be concerning for us not to have before heading to Egypt. Thanks for watching. You might want to watch our full series from Egypt if you're interested. -Judy 🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Hi Jerry, we hope you have an amazing time! We stayed a month from mid February to mid March. We started with Cairo and there were many mornings and evenings when the sun was down that were cold. But it warmed up more during the day, and some of our videos in Cairo show that it was hot! Luxor in general was much warmer. We arrived there on March 1 and didn't wear a coat the entire time that we were there (except for our visit to Abu Simbal, which started in the very wee hours of the morning). You might want to watch our entire series from Egypt, which is linked below. Also, we did a ton of tours in Egypt, but our BEST GUIDE BY FAR was Mahmoud Nour. If you aren't already fully booked, we highly recommend you contact him. He was our guide on our Nile River cruise, so you can see him guiding us and that he speaks excellent English. He’s passionate, super knowledgeable, and really made our trip memorable. Here’s his info: 💥 MAHMOUD NOUR | Call: +20 102 6979554 * Email: Mahmoudnour2055@gmail.com * (let him know we recommended you to him-we make no money by referring him, but he was amazing and we know you won’t be disappointed. -Judy Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@@FindingGinaMariehi do you book by online Mahmoud?can we pay him at the site by cash?and how about the atm there?it is recommended using atm or we need to bring cash all the time?
Hi Sriwijaya, I'm not sure what he will prefer, but he will let you know. When we used him, it was as part of our Nile River cruise, so we didn't pay him directly. He is a great guy. There are ATMs everywhere. Just be sure that you have a card that doesn't charge you foreign transaction fees. We used a combination of cards and cash, but we probably used cash more. You will have an awesome trip! -Judy
It’s interesting that I was in Egypt 40 years ago and things were under construction everywhere THEN! I’ll guess that’s an eternal condition there. My wife and I took a tour of Morocco last year and I was dismayed by the amount of trash there, also. Not just in the cities but along the rural roads. I’m enjoying your videos as they offer deeper insights into your destinations than your average tourist vlog.
Thank you so much for your very kind comment. Construction at least means there is an investment in infrastructure, so that's not a bad thing. We have Morocco on our drawing board for 2024, so we are eager to see it. Thank you for watching; you might want to check out our other episodes from our month in Egypt. -Judy Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
We did not get a chance to get there. But how cool that must have been to have lived there. Was Egypt still recognizable to you after decades of being away? We would love to go back again because there is more we want to experience. Thanks so much for watching! Did you see that we have an entire Egypt video series if you're interested in reliving your youth?! I'll link it below! -Judy Egypt video series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@@FindingGinaMarie it was just before the revolution of 2011. The country was much cleaner and there were no soldiers on the streets. There was far less poverty as well. We left in 1968, after the war in 1967. I remember having to hide in the basement of the house as we were being bombed and I could remember the hearing shelling out in the desert. I am glad there is peace now and the condition of the country has improved because of this “peace dividend.” I think if I ever go back -I doubt it because of my age- I would like to visit that New Cairo city they are building in the desert. I hear it is almost like Dubai. If you ever go back make sure you visit Alexandria and Marisa Matroh, it is quite lovely there and the fresh seafood they serve is akin to what they serve in Key West. Thank you and to the many other TH-camrs that allow an old man to live vicariously through your work.
We were pleased that there weren't soldiers on the streets of Cairo, Giza, Aswan, or Luxor when we visited. I know that Egypt has had its share of conflicts, though. What you're describing sounds very scary. We didn't explore New Cairo because we were there primarily for the history. It will be interesting to see what that is like. We have Alexandria on our list, but we will add Marsa Matruh City, which is a place that's new to us. I don't think I gave thought to the fact that Egypt has the Mediterranean Sea as part of its coastline. We are so glad you found our channel. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. -Judy
Hi Maham, Our host in Giza, Nora, was incredible, but the area of town was very humble. Here's a link to our location in Giza: www.airbnb.com/rooms/12476990?guests=1&adults=1&s=67&unique_share_id=e556a503-2918-40af-9574-28bd78b36557 You might be more comfortable in the Zamalek area of town, which has more restaurants, etc. than the precise area where we were. You might also want to watch the other episodes from our month in Egypt, which are linked below. -Judy Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
It's a great question, Shirley. I would suggest dressing fairly modestly everywhere because it's a Muslim country. When we were on our Nile River cruise, people did swim and wear shorts, but I felt more comfortable everywhere else by covering up a bit more. Here's a link to our entire video series from Egypt if it's helpful. -Judy 🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Surprisingly, we haven't heard of problems from the several of our viewers who have visited since the situation there has heated up. It has seemed like the touristy areas have been protected, but everyone has their own comfort level and they need to do what's best for them. Thanks so much for watching. -Judy Here's a link to our full Egypt series if you're interested in watching what we did during our month there. Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Hi Bodhan, We have an entire series you may want to watch about our experiences in Egypt, which are linked below. All our meals were delicious, but in Luxor, we spent around E£400 or $13 USD, and that’s including a tip - Chicken tagine was £130 ($4.20 USD) - Chicken shawarma was £110 ($3.10 USD) In Cairo/Giza, a very upscale dinner was about E£400 and included an fancy cut of beef filet and mashed potatoes. We did a ton of tours in Egypt, but our BEST GUIDE BY FAR was Mahmoud Nour. If you aren't already fully booked, we highly recommend you contact him. He is expanding his services and speaks excellent English. He’s passionate, super knowledgeable, and really made our trip memorable. Here’s his info: 💥 MAHMOUD NOUR | Call: +20 102 6979554 * Email: Mahmoudnour2055@gmail.com * (let him know we recommended you to him-we make no money by referring him, but he was amazing and we know you won’t be disappointed. We'd love to hear what you think of Egypt if you go! -Judy Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
We enjoyed it, Matt, especially since the Coptic history is evidenced throughout many of the archeological sites. But is it critical? No. It was very crowded and the 9th century Ben Ezra Synagogue had been under renovation (It reopened last fall). But some of the earliest Christian history is here, so we don't think it is a disappointing experience if you have enough time to include it. Here's our full series from our month in Egypt in case you missed them. -Judy 🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
I really enjoy your reviews Kevin and Judy. I have been thinking about traveling to Egypt. I had a question for Judy, did you wear a hijab at any point in your travels to Egypt? I have been concerned about being respectful to muslim customs. Did you see other visiting women wearing hijabs? Maybe just a head scarf is good. I had a female friend travel to Egypt alone many years ago and she felt she really needed to cover her hair. Otherwise, some men looked at her with what she interpreted as displeasure. Otherwise, Egypt looks beautiful and the people to seem friendly in your videos.
I'm egyptian and in general no non Muslim women are not obligated to wear a hijab but I do highly suggest women dress conservatively to be respectful of the customs. 😊 you're most definitely always welcome ❤
Thank you so much for watching! I did not wear a hijab at any point. I wore long pants, even though it was hot and tried to be as covered up as was reasonable. But I never covered my hair. One of our guides was a Muslim woman, and she mentioned that the historic Muslim temples we visited did not require me to cover my hair. She mentioned a lot of tolerance for non-Muslims, especially if they are not praying formally. It won't hurt to bring a scarf for your head/hair, but I didn't feel judged in any way for not wearing one (and if I would have worn one, it would only have been for a mosque-I would not have been willing to wear one out in public in general). Bear in mind that there are Christians and other religions in Egypt besides Muslim, so there is a bit more tolerance in my opinion. You might also be interested in our other videos from our month in Egypt, which I'll link below. -Judy Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@@sarahasdfg8248 Thank You SO much for your timely response, Sarah! Your answer give me more confidence and I appreciate learning from you other religions are practiced in Egypt, making the country more tolerate of others faith experiences. I will definitely bring a scarf and likely will wear a long skirt. Here is another question for you, when did you travel to Egypt? It is Oct. 2023 and the US State Dept. travel advisory rates it 3. However, many tours are booking up. I traveled to Turkey many years ago, and wore a long skirt and 3/4 sleeve cotton shirts. When I entered mosques, I wore a head scarf. It was Autumn, and very pleasant weather. I really noticed the appreciative looks from the Turkish people. The day before I left, there was a protest encouraging women of the country to wear a hijabs- this was in the 1990s. Sarah, it would be very interesting for you and Kevin to do a travel video on being respectful as a visitor. I am bothered when I see tourists in a mosques or cathedrals wearing shorts, talking loudly. They seem to not understand these are active places of worship and should be respected. I see myself as a guest, invited to appreciate these countries and the cultures that developed over the centuries. Best wishes on your continued travels. Cheers!
Thanks, @sarahasdfg8248, for taking the time to respond here. That is the same information our guide gave to us, so I appreciate you validating it. -Judy
@CB-vg1wq I think you have combined your response to one of our viewers along with your note to me. We were in Egypt from mid February to mid March (2023). I appreciate your suggestion about a video suggesting protocols that people should follow however I feel like some of it is common sense and I don't think some of those people would watch or even see themselves in their disrespect, unfortunately. We try as much as possible to remember we're guests wherever we visit and be respectful of the local customs. We think it's just common courtesy. As of right now, Egypt is not on the do not travel list, but you'll need to decide for yourself whether you're comfortable or not traveling there. We did a ton of tours in Egypt, but our BEST GUIDE BY FAR was Mahmoud Nour. If you aren't already fully booked and still intending to travel, we highly recommend you contact him. He is expanding his services and speaks excellent English. He’s passionate, super knowledgeable, and really made our trip memorable. Here’s his info: 💥 MAHMOUD NOUR | Call: +20 102 6979554 * Email: Mahmoudnour2055@gmail.com * (let him know we recommended you to him-we make no money by referring him, but he was amazing and we know you won’t be disappointed). -Judy
Molokhiya is dark green leaves like spinage but it is different. They cut it and make a soup of it along with garlic. Egypt is the only country I ate molokhiya and khopeza however I don't like khopeza like Molokhiya .
Yes, and we loved it. We had trouble pronouncing it, but I had Molokhia at least three times while we were in Egypt. I hadn't heard of khobeza before, but it looks similar. Perhaps it's more bitter? We hope you also will enjoy watching the rest of our series from Egypt, which we've linked below. -Judy th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
I think Im gonna pass with the walking down the streets thing, I've done so much of that here in Saudi Arabia and the streets and food are pretty much the same though Riyadh is a much much more progressed city, things on certain areas in Cairo are almost exactly the same here. I will be staying for a max of 4 days only so i'm keeping that limited on the Pyramids and parks and museums and the Nile. I love your videos by the way!
Thanks for watching, Henry! We didn't realize until after we returned from Cairo that most deaths are attributed to pedestrians crossing the busy highways. So if you don't walk, you are saving yourself some potential grief. We are so glad to hear you are enjoying our Egypt videos. We loved our time there and hope you have an amazing experience there, too! It wasn't open when we were there and still is only partially open (there is a King Tut immersive experience there now), but you might want to consider visiting the GEM museum you have some time and the price is within your budget: visit-gem.com/en/tut -Judy
I am researching for a trip to Egypt soon. I have heard that sexual harassment towards women in public is common in the country. This would be concerning, especially since my two daughters are coming on this trip. Can you advise on this? Thank you!
Thanks for watching and for your comment. I did not find or see sexual harassment of any type. In fact, when I was in Luxor, I walked for miles alone at night and never encountered any issues at all. I would always suggest that regardless of where someone is traveling, they should be alert and aware of their surroundings, but there was nothing I saw personally that would concern me about Egypt versus anywhere else in the world. People were friendly, and even when the touts who were asking me to hire them for a boat ride, taxi, or tour were told no, they quickly backed off and were respectful. Those requests are frequent everywhere you go as it's part of the Egyptian culture and the country has been starved for tourists and the Egyptian pound is depressed. But if you understand that people do not mean any harm, it makes it a lot easier. We have several other videos in our Egypt series if you want to check them out. I'll include a link below. -Judy Egypt Playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Coming from an Egyptian, do not risk hanging out in streets with a woman (especially if she's young) and always use uber or taxi. People here can get mad when they see a white european woman and sometimes begin groping her or they at least stare continuosly. The case is much more obvious in low socio-economic crowded places.
@@AbCdEf56991 I am hard pressed to believe that it's impossible for Egyptian men to keep their hands to themselves. I wouldn't want someone to be unsafe, but there are inappropriate people everywhere in the world. Staring may make someone uncomfortable, but I don't think that means that someone means them harm. But it's always wise in Egypt to dress modestly and avoid doing things that may put someone at greater risk. We had a great experience in Egypt. -Judy
@abrahamhanfi5584 We did a ton of tours in Egypt, but our BEST GUIDE BY FAR was Mahmoud Nour. If you aren't already fully booked, we highly recommend you contact him. He is expanding his services and speaks excellent English. He’s passionate, super knowledgeable, and really made our trip memorable. Here’s his info: 💥 MAHMOUD NOUR | Call: +20 102 6979554 * Email: Mahmoudnour2055@gmail.com * (let him know we recommended you to him-we make no money by referring him, but he was amazing, VERY respectful, and we know you won’t be disappointed.
Wow nice information.. please visit indonesia (bali lombok and yogyakarta). indonesia is cheap country and very nice weather.. you will enjoy there with warm weather all the year. Thamk u ❤
Thank you so much for watching. Our daughter loves Bali and has been encouraging us to visit for a while now. We're not sure if we can make it work for 2024, but it's definitely on our bucket list of places to visit. Thanks for the encouragement to visit. We didn't know about Yogyakarta. -Judy
Yogyakarta is 1 city in indonesia with has place named Borobudur temple is huge historical temple and include their traditional life. Also not far from there, there is place named bromo mount it’s amazing place to visit during sunrise.and everything is very cheap in Indonesia:hotel, food, transportation etc. anyway I love to watching all your videos bcos I love traveling as well .. your video very informative. Thank you 😊
@@fifit8114 We appreciate this information. And you are really selling me with beautiful sunrises, which we love! Thanks so much for following along with us! -Judy
You should really visit Dahshur, with the Bent and the Red Pyramid. It's a one hour drive from Cairo, there are hardly any tourists there and the pyramids are magnificent !
This is really helpful to know. Thanks so much for the recommendation. We do plan to visit Egypt again. You might enjoy watching the rest of our videos from our time there, so I've linked them below. -Judy Egypt series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Thank you! I was in Egypt in November 2022 and also last April, I'm binging your videos right now ;-) Something also definitely worth checking out - Dahab, a small coastal town with a very relaxed, bohemian vibe on the Gulf of Aqqaba, one hour drive from Sharm El Sheikh. It's beautifully located right between the mountains and the Red Sea and there are a lot of excursions you can take from there - visit Mount Moses and Saint Catherine, the oldest still operating monastery in the world, the desert, you can even visit Jerusalem or Petra in Jordany from Dahab. Happy Travels !@@FindingGinaMarie
Someone else recommended Dahab, so we really need to consider it. It's helpful to hear what's nearby since we aren't really beach people. These additional stops sound fascinating. Thank you so much for taking the time to write to us! -Judy
i am very happy you enjoyed Egypt guys, many tourists focus on the bad stuff (and i admit there is a lot of).. but you stayed in Mohandeseen (not a touristic area), ate in local restaurants, took uber (no taxis),, so you lived it almost like a local. and i am glad you liked it. one thing to say though... you got scammed on that steak dinner man... 400 EGP,, thats about 2 kilos of meat in Egy. and 300 USD for that tour? thats twice the average monthely salary of an egyptian. i have seen places offering it for less that 50 USD per person.
Hi Ahmed, Thanks so much for watching. We did like Egypt and plan to return. One of our viewers just commented that the area we stayed in was in the neighborhood of Mid Akaba, which was very humble. We were glad to have a chance to experience this part of Egypt versus the New Cairo or the East side of the Nile where all the high-end hotels were. That wasn't the Egypt we were looking to experience. You apparently are right about the price of the tour. We used Get Your Guide, and although the guide was very sweet, she was way too young and quiet and didn't provide the in-depth information we were craving. I can see similar tours for $120 for two, which would have been much more reasonable. We did take at least one taxi to get across the main highway, and he offered it for free, but we paid him. As far as the dinner, it was actually well worth the price considering there was bread, olive tamponade, and some other spread. Mo Bistro was a fairly upscale place and the service was impeccable, so we were fine with the price there. And unfortunately, when you consider how low the exchange rate has gotten, it really wasn't bad. In fact, a pound of chicken at a grocery store currently costs E£ 161, and that's uncooked. We heard a LOT of frustration among locals at high meat costs had become. www.thenationalnews.com/mena/2023/01/10/anger-in-egypt-as-chicken-prices-soar-after-feed-costs-rise/
Ahmed do you even live in Egypt/ Cairo ? A kilo of meat is ranging from 330 to 400 Egp depending on the quality ... they did not get scammed. Also, what does the average Egyptian salary has to do with a company offering their service for 300 usd? if its expensive for u then don't use them put they have the right to price their service as they wish & just bec. The average salary is low doesn't mean everything has to be cheap!!
We still practice ancient Egyptian customs while r not even knowing, we still use a lot of ancient Egyptian words , that really doesn’t mean anything to one unless u r Egyptian like mum.. meaning food we still use it for babies, embo… to drink , same still use it… and many more, also other words we use from greek, Turkish, Persian , Italian , English, French, Nubian, Hebrew, coptic ancient Egyptian language still used till this in churches , ad. Off course Arabic In the end , so Egypt was conquered by all these civilisations but in return were conquered by its culture & heritage, & those who fought it never won, & welcomed many during ww 1 & 2, and till this day Kuwaiti, Iraqi, Syrians, Libyans, Africans, all living peacefully
Seems like we are talking about bread in that slot, Maeda. If so, is it not Egyptian as well? My understanding is that there are many, many different types of Egyptian breads. But thanks for watching! -Judy
Thank you so much for watching! You might also enjoy our other videos from our month in Egypt, which I am linking below. We loved Egypt and plan to visit again! -Judy Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Thank you so much for watching and for your kind comment. It means a lot to us. You might want to check out the rest of our episodes from Egypt as well. -Judy Egypt video series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Mohandessen used to be so beautiful and clean once upon a time, and it was full of trees, but the government destroys anything beautiful in here unfortunately, we pray that we see our beautiful Egypt back to It's glory one day insha'Allah
It turns out that the part of Mohandessen where we stayed was actually a poorer section of that district called Mit Akaba. Yes, it was very rustic and a poor area, but the people were very kind. You might want to watch some of our other videos from Egypt. We do think it still is a beautiful place to visit and we plan to go back. Thanks for watching. -Judy Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Thanks so much for watching. We have a full series from Egypt if you're interested. We take a Nile River cruise, a hot air balloon ride, spend time in Luxor, and even spend a night in the Nubian Village in Aswan. -Judy 🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Hey Steve, when we visited Egypt we had spent a whopping three months on the road as full-time TH-camrs. Prior to that our episodes were filmed more podcast style. So we've gotten a lot better in many, many ways since then, including how we talk with our hands. -Judy
150 bucks each to visit the pyramids and sphinx .. thats more than average Egyptian earns in a month .. someone is getting a huge kickback here. to put that in perspective , if you earned $2000 a month in the US, would you pay that to visit the Empire State building ?
We agree that the price was expensive, but it was for a full day of touring with a guide and a driver and included entry to all the sites. At the same time, work for guides isn't consistent and most tourists can afford those prices. And we were glad to get information on each of the places we were visiting and pay for that expertise. I wouldn't expect an Egyptian to pay for those tours because there probably are rates for locals versus tourists. We went through Viator at the time. You might want to watch our other episodes from our month in Egypt, which is linked below. And although our tours were expensive, food nearly always was cheap and so were accommodations. -Judy Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Thanks for clarifying. It seemed like there were certain times of day you could travel as a couple. We weren't quite sure how to navigate it, so although we walked down into the train area, we didn't dig too deep. Thanks for watching! We have an entire video series from Egypt if you're interested in it that I've linked below. -Judy th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Thanks for sharing. Clearly not my type of location to sleep when I'm traveling... I'm surprised how retired american people save money for this kind of tourism... In a very touristic city with lots of 5☆ high end hotels... I guess the world is changing.... I'm going to egypt next week... I hope it's much better than what you show...
We actually aren't interested in staying in 5-star hotels, but that's not because of our budget. We prefer having a more local experience. There's a lot of wealth in Egypt, but definitely also a lot of poverty. Our goal is to get to know the average life of an Egyptian (or whatever country we're living in) and not be a wealthy tourist living far differently than the average person. But no worries, Egypt caters to every type of traveler. -Judy
Love the video. If interested, study the great pyramid and the unbelievable complexity that caused people like Musk to say that humans couldn't have built it.
I’ve been following the research for years about how the pyramids were built and it’s fascinating. The engineering skills of the ancient Egyptians were incredible. Musk is just another billionaire who thinks too much of himself. Just because he can’t understand the math or physics behind those construction techniques, he wants to claim alien technology must have been involved. 😂 I prefer to study what really happened, as you suggested. Thanks for your compliment and your thoughtful comment! -Kevin
Nice video but not all souvenirs made in china there are more made in Egypt. Because of the shortage of US dollars unessential things like souvenirs it’s not easy or slowed to be imported
Interesting. My guides all said they were made in China and not to buy them. If they were made in Egypt, then they would have encouraged their purchase. I'm not sure what US dollars have to do with anything because China does things extremely cheaply, even to have imported. -Judy
Correction , when entering a mosque women should wear a head scarf , it’s not a must , but it’s must by culture and out of respect & modesty is the main issue above all even with no head cover
The mosques we went into were not operational. Our guide, who was a Muslim woman, mentioned that because we had to pay to visit, it was okay not to cover our hair/heads. Some people could pray there, but they were ancient mosques and not active ones. She said that an active mosque would never charge for you to visit. As far as modesty, I wore long pants and long sleeves. If she misguided us, that would be helpful to know. But she did sit down with us and talk a lot about Muslim tradition and culture. -Judy
Shown are the most cons of Egypt during tourism journey while Egypt most journey and amazing places are not in the video Even videos does show some places which are not distenation for tourist ! I would say journey in Egypt shall be comprehensive fair showing the real places needs to be visited with mention to some advices without reflicting a negative image about the country which is the most amazing distenation for tourism and cheap in terms of cost
Thanks for watching. This is only the first episode of a 7-part series. Please take some time to catch the rest of our episodes from our month in Egypt! We had an awesome time and plan to return. -Judy Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Oooh! My lower back is twinging, just remembering crouching in the ascending passageway! My sister was accosted in the descending passage. A young guy grabbed her breast and my husband slapped him!!!
Wow. What happened to your sister is so not cool, Claudia! That had to feel like such a violation on what should have been a fun, exciting occasion. But you are right about the passageway. It's one small advantage to being short! -Judy
I hope as you showed the dirty streets , you can show also the clean parts that is will be fair for the audience , about animals Egypt tried hard to control the problem and I think we have a lot of progress sun caring of street animals and dogs ..Mohandseen is not that big luxury is is medium , the luxury is in Cairo , six October city , made city , alameen near Cairo , Giza ,doki ,mohandseen the same locals places in Cairo , it used to be luxury from 30 years ago , now there are lot of new and clean places but you did not show it
You might want to take a look at our video about Do's and Don'ts of Cairo (th-cam.com/video/pMI0tLdfxmw/w-d-xo.html) or other of our video series from Egypt. I think we talk very kindly about Egypt and how much we enjoyed living there for a month. We agree that there are some lovely places that we did not show, but we wanted people to know about some of the things they might not see if they stayed on the Nile in luxury hotels and also prepare people who might stay in a less glamorous area. We tried to convey that it's a beautiful country, so I'm sorry if you didn't see that. We encourage you to watch our entire playlist from Egypt and hopefully you will see that we provided a balanced picture. -Judy Egypt video series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@FindingGinaMarie I have seen some of your next videos to the pyramids and luxor yes and I was sure that it will change thinking about egypt , we were talking about cairo, Old Cairo that is why You showed mentioned that Egyptians or the government already built new cauro modern city as well because of crowded and traffic jams, you should mentioned that this city hold at least 7 million African and Arab refugee , you should mention that Cairo in daily time can read almost 39 million people and that is make it one of the most African population city in Africa, I have lived almost 5 years in USA and been in almost 45 states and The same USA is not the one we are seeing on TV right ? I hope you enjoy your journey and wish you will have great experiences in egypt
I'm not sure about your point about the US. What you see on TV often is fake because it's movies and are made to be entertainment. Yes, there are poor areas as part of the US and those don't always get seen on TV. We shared everything we saw and experienced. Some of what you are mentioning about Cairo are places we didn't see or know about. That's on us to not know absolutely everything about the country we were visiting, but we don't think you need to know absolutely everything before traveling to a country. We know that there's a good likelihood that people visiting Egypt who see for themselves some of what we talk about. But we try to visit the "Old Town" of most cities whenever we can, and that is what we did in Cairo. We shared clean areas and high rises and an assortment of experiences we had to paint a full picture. We loved our time in Egypt, and I think we captured that in our video series and also in all of our comments here. Thank you for providing additional context for people interested in visiting Egypt. -Judy
HI Austin, you are half right. Kevin is a Gemini and I am a Libra. Thanks for watching. Curious about which traits made you guess each of us! Here's a link to our entire video series from Egypt. -Judy Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Not quite sure what your opinion is of China, but we enjoyed Egypt and would recommend it to anyone. But if it's not someplace that interests you, that's perfectly fine. We are trying to experience the entire world and not limit ourselves to places that are most like home. -Judy
I'm going to be an outlier. I really disliked Cairo with a passion. I would never go back :(. I would recommend other arab countries like Morocco or Jordan; but unfortunately I found Cairo (I can't generalize the entire country over one city, I realize that) to be extremely dirty, unfriendly for taking pictures, everybody harassing tourists, and in general underwhelming as far as historical sites due to graffiti and other things. I hope they make it better in the future.
Thanks for being one of the few people who've been respectful while disagreeing with us. Cairo is a noisy, very chaotic city, but we loved seeing the museums and archeological sites. You can spend less time there and focus more of your time taking a Nile River cruise, exploring Aswan's Nubian Village, or any of the sites around Luxor. There is more to Egypt than Cairo, so you might want to keep an open mind about some of the amazing parts of the country. We found many people in Cairo to be friendly, and are sorry to hear you had a different experience. We do plan to visit Morocco for 40 days this fall and are looking forward to it. We're glad to hear that you had a good experience there. -Judy 🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@@FindingGinaMarie Of course! Really love your content and the reason why is you both are super honest about your travels. Really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy Morocco. When you get a chance, don't miss out on Israel as well :)
We have Israel on our list. I'm not sure when it will be safe to travel there, but we would love to visit there. Thank you so much for your kind comment. We do try to keep it real and be as transparent as possible. -Judy
Re; Coffee shops. The oldest and best used to be downtown, near Talat Harb St. Called Groppi, was an institution, very faded grandeur-very art deco. Sadly, i hear it's now closed down and they've moved to another location, but heard many neg comments. The coffee shop at Semiramis very good and worth a visit as a treat. Though one time i was there, there was the assassination of the Speaker of Parliament on the Corniche right in front of the hotel and the bullets shattered the glass, but you should be ok now!
Thanks for watching, Vincenzo, and for sharing your experience. We didn't spent a lot of time in downtown Cairo, so we wouldn't have been able to utilize that coffee shop, but we appreciate the suggestion and it's great for our viewers or when we return. We stayed in a very rural part of Mohandiseen (not the rich area!!). You might enjoy the rest of our series from our 30 days in Egypt, which is linked below. -Judy Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
If you can do it, more power to you, Tabindah! But for most people driving in Egypt is best left to the locals! We have a full series from our month in Egypt if you're interested in watching. It's linked below. Thanks so much for your comment! -Judy 🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
I’d argue that drivers care a little because they do have a robust system for communicating! It’s a trickier thing for pedestrians who trust they aren’t going to get killed crossing the road! Thanks for watching. Our entire video series on Egypt can be found below. -Judy Egypt travel: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@@wncjanThanks so much for watching. We are sad to have missed it as well. It will give us an excuse to return, because we really want to visit Alexandria. -Judy
Egypt is a distinguished tourist country (historically), but there are some people in Egypt who do not care much about their country’s reputation, making the experience of visiting Egypt a bad memory.
I think there are people who are trying to get by and support their families, and there are people who will want to take advantage of tourists. But I also think people in the latter category exist everywhere on the planet. We try to focus on the kind people who make our travels so rewarding. And we enjoyed Egypt enough to want to return and explore more that it has to offer, so that is saying something! Thank you for watching. You might enjoy some of our other videos from Egypt, so I'll link them below! -Judy Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@@FindingGinaMarie I value your positive opinion about Egypt, as it is a country that deserves respect. The problem is the type of people you may meet there who don't care how they get the money. May be the economic situation a motive for this, as you mentioned. my regards.
@@eagleeye8920 You are right; I just feel that those type of people can be found everywhere. We had someone pull the "bracelet scam" on us en route to our hotel in Florence when we were still relatively naive travelers. And we went on to see similar people try to pull it on others. I've always spoken up, even though I get cursed at by the scammers. So I'm well aware that there are unethical people everywhere. I wrote a blog post about it that you can check out below. -Judy findingginamarie.com/articles/beware-of-these-six-scams-while-traveling
No... NO!! Take a complete tour from your home country. Don't try it on your own. You can arrange all the details with the agent and save at least 75% of your valuable time.
Thanks for watching and for sharing your perspective! It depends on your circumstances. We were in Egypt for a month, but we didn't have activities the entire time OR the money to have someone curate our time. We are full-time travelers moving around the world. We'd go broke if we hired a tour company to book all of our travel. When we did schedule an experience (a museum, seeing the pyramids, etc.), we had a guide that we booked for that specific event. But we had some duds, and if they would have been with us the entire time, that would have been a huge problem. Our best travel guide was the person who led us on our Nile River cruise. He's amazing and I highly recommend him BUT we personally do not need or want to have every moment of every day planned in some manner (even if it's to give us a rest day-we'll decide that on the fly). We had the right mix of busy time and free time and we only came to that by taking things day to day. You can get some great last-minute deals like ours on our cruise and even our hot-air balloon ride. We liked doing the research and knowing that the balloon company we used had a great safety record, since not all of them do. Here's a link to everything we did during our month in Egypt. -Judy Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
You should never travel to egpyt because the money there is more poorer than europe that you live at so please you need to save up to go back to europe because its way better staying there than staying in egpyt because my family is suffering in egpyt save up money to europe before you suffer like me
We are sorry to hear that your family is suffering and hope that their situation improves soon. For whatever political or other issues that Egypt may have, we know that tourism money helps Egypt's people, so we are happy to recommend and encourage others to visit. -Judy
NOTE: EFFECTIVE October 1, 2023, Canadian citizens will not be able to obtain a visa online before travelling to Egypt. Canadians will be required to obtain the visa from an Egyptian embassy or consulate. HOWEVER, after December 1, 2024 Canadians will again be able to obtain an electronic visa before traveling or upon arrival in Egypt.
I have worked and live in Egypt for the past 35 years, and still here. Your video is spot on!
Thanks so much, Bruce. We really enjoyed Egypt. It took a bit of adjusting, but we met some wonderful people and the sites are spectacular (so is the food!). We have a full series from our month there if you're interested in watching it. Nothing compares to 35 years there, though! -Judy
🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
I love Cairo , Foods everywhere and very safe plus people are so friendly sure I will be back there soon 🔜
Thank you for watching and for sharing your experience! And we agree! If you want to follow along on the rest of our tour of Egypt, here's a link to the video series. -Judy
Egypt playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Such a great and informative video! We'll be going to Egypt in October with our kids so this was great info. We will mostly be in Luxor, but we'll have a short bit in Cairo to of course see the pyramids.
Thank you so much for watching and for your sweet comment/compliment! We are excited for you and would love to hear what you think of Egypt when you return. If you haven't seen it, we have an entire playlist from our time in Egypt that we hope you will enjoy. -Judy
Here's a link to all seven episodes: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
I’ve used the metro when visiting Cairo. As a female traveling solo I would recommend the women’s only car which at the time was the 1st car. My last visit was 10yrs ago so it could have changed. That is not to say that women can’t board other cars but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you are accompanied by a male companion and it is not rush hour. This is still a very conservative culture and using the women’s only car(s) will avoid any harassment or uncomfortable situations in what is predominantly a Muslim culture.
YES! Thank you for this information, Mildred. We had heard that there are women's only cars, but I wasn't sure how a couple could travel on the metro. It sounded a little confusing and we didn't have much occasion to need it. But we were curious and it seemed like it could only work in certain hours. We definitely aren't knowledgeable enough about it to have given much advice, so thank you.. -Judy
Thank you. Really enjoying traveling with you from the comfort of my sofa.
We are so glad to have you following along with us. Not sure if you've seen the rest of our videos from our month in Egypt, but I'm linking them below. Thank you for your kind comment. -Judy
Easily the best guide to Cairo. So sensible, informative and a joy to watch. Thank you so much! Practical, will take your advice and tips when we vist in three weeks time. Again thank you!
Thank you SO much! We really appreciate your kind words! Not sure if you caught the rest of our Egypt series, but I'll link it below. Hopefully it will be helpful for you. We absolutely loved our time there and hope you do the same. We'd love to hear what you think when you return! We also have some articles on our website at findingGinaMarie.com under Egypt. Thank you for watching! -Judy
Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Sounds like you guys had a blast there!
I just came back from a two weeks tour in Egypt. Since it was my first time in the country I used a tour operator called intrepid travel. They organize adventurous style trips with small groups up to 14 people (we were 9 in total).
We had a local guide working for that agency and was with us the whole time.
As with the visa, I did it online to save me some hassle and waiting time. I used the official government website for Egypt. Some fellow travelers did it at the airport and spent the same as I did ($25).
My tour covered most of Egypt such as Cairo, Alexandria, Aswan, Luxor, Hugarda and overnight stay in Nubian village.
As with Cairo, we saw the Ghiza pyramids and sphinx, had camel ride, visited the national museum, a papyrus museum the next day we arrived. We came back to Cairo a week later to visit the biggest bazaar in Africa and left next morning for Alexandria. After the end of the trip I spent an extra day in Cairo by myself to see extra stuff. I decided to visit the citadel of Salah al Din (former sultan). And glad I did. There are two beautiful mosques and the police and military museums.
I wished I had been to Saqqara...that will give me a reason to go back someday.😅
I used uber during my day alone in Cairo to get to the citadel but got flustered when was time to leave as I couldn't get a quick uber driver and my mobile data was running out. So I got a white cab and contracted the price before getting in. It was around the equivalent of $15. Traffic was bad (Saturday afternoon) and had to drive to my hotel in the zamalek district.
The airport transfer next day was already paid and included through the tour operator. Took me over an hour to get to the airport due to Sunday traffic (and schools reopening).
Like many other travelers, I agree the negatives are the assailant street vendors. We were followed by a kid in Luxor we couldn't shake off until we got back to hotel. He was trying to sell us a box of cigarette and Kleenex.
And yes I loved smoking Shisha/Hookah in every place I visited. And it's cheap too (about $4) including tea and water. They have a fixed charge for it and you pay extra if change flavors. My longest session was 4 hours with our tour guide😂.
Other highlights of my trip are the felucca Cruise to Luxor (with overnight sleep), the hot air balloon ride over the valley of kings and hatchipsuit temple, abu simbal temple and the stay I Alexandria where we saw the library.
Sounds like you had a terrific tour. I'm glad you had an amazing time and it's clear you did all the stuff you should have done in Egypt! You might want to catch the rest of our series from our month in Egypt, which was truly incredible as well. Thanks so much for watching and for sharing your experiences with us! -Judy
Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
It's overwhelming !!
But this was amazing and the two of you are wonderful !! 💯🥰👍
OMG !! It's expensive to eat !!
@tarrahbarker8809 Are you there now? We didn't actually feel like that was the case when we visited. So many of our meals were under $20 for both of us, and many times much, much less. I heard that the value of the Egyptian pound has changed quite a bit. We truly loved so much about Egypt! -Judy
🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
I'm an Egyptian who immigrated to Canada, and I really like your videos showing my home country
Hi Ahmed, Thank you so much for watching! We weren't prepared for what to expect, and although we loved our time in Egypt, we know we would have benefited from having some of the information that we captured here. We spent 30 days in Egypt and it wasn't nearly enough. We have it on our list of places to return to. Here's our full playlist from our time in Aswan's Nubian Village, a ride in a hot air balloon, exploring Luxor, more experiences in Cairo, and a Nile River cruise. Definitely a bucket list country for us! -Judy
🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Love your coffee shop story and picture with the owner ❤
Thanks, Maureen! We so enjoyed the experience, and he really was such a warm and special man. I think about him often, especially when people complain about Egypt and its people. It's so wrong to generalize because there are so many amazing people in every country in the world if you're willing to take the time to find them. You might enjoy hearing about our other Egyptian travels, so we'll link them below. We visited Luxor, rode a hot air balloon, took a Nile River cruise, and more. -Judy
Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
I read a good tip when flying into Cairo: sit on the left side of the plane so you can see the pyramids of Giza on your descent, if the sky is clear.
That sounds like a great tip. Thanks for sharing it and for watching! -Judy
I think that depends on where you are actually flying from.... but i will keep this in mind
I tried it when I flew in to Cairo. I couldn't see the pyramids.
This is good to know. It would have been nice if it were true though! -Judy
I congratulate u about experiencing the true essence of ancient Egypt , it’s people, now u will understand more about what’s still lives in its people
Thank you so much. We loved experiencing Egypt and are grateful to the kind people who worked hard to make us feel welcome and comfortable. We will return to Egypt again for sure. If you would like to see more of our time in Egypt, here's a link to our playlist. -Judy
Egypt video series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Thank you for your serious and helpful reaction. Your information was spot on. As a long time resident of Cairo (my wife is Egyptian) I was so happy that you enjoyed your time with us.
Hi Clive, We loved our time in Egypt. We wanted people to be prepared for what to expect so that they could have the best experience. We have made friendships in Egypt that we hope will last a lifetime. You might want to see our entire video series from our time there. -Judy
Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Am really happy for you, just watch ur channel today for the first time... You so amazing, I loved the way you both have new start for ur life starting traveling around... Best wishes 🙏🌹
Thanks so much for watching and for taking the time to write this kind comment. You might want to watch the rest of our series from Egypt if you haven't already. It's linked below. -Judy
Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@@FindingGinaMarie I did indeed... Loved them as well... Thank you... And keep going with wt u do... My Best wishes.. ❤️🌹🙏
@shadidk9680 Thank you so much. We appreciate you very much! -Judy
@@shadidk9680 Thank you so much for watching and for your kind comments. They really mean a lot to us! -Judy
Thanks for producing this great video. We especially appreciate that you focused on your "long stay" experience which is very relevant for those of us traveling full time. We have found it has been very rewarding to frequent a local shop and to get to know the owner(s)...even if you don't necessarily fluently speak the language. We are looking forward to watching your future adventures abroad.
Cheers!
Thanks so much for watching! We also just subscribed to your channel! It is really important to us to make connections as we experience a country. We've been so grateful for all the people we've met along our travels and through our channel. The connections are such a large part of why we travel. Your comment means a lot to us as we are finalizing the point of view of our upcoming video from Cyprus that we are recording today! -Judy
Thanks so much for this series of videos. I'm planning a visit in November and I've learned so much about how to prepare. ❤
Hi Alicia, We hope you have an amazing time in Egypt! If we haven't mentioned him previously, we want to recommend our Nile River tour guide who can give you additional assistance if you're looking for a guide. You can watch him in our Nile River cruise episode. He speaks excellent English, he’s passionate, super knowledgeable, and really made our trip memorable. Here’s his info: 💥 MAHMOUD NOUR | Call: +20 102 6979554 * Email: Mahmoudnour2055@gmail.com * (let him know we recommended you to him-we make no money by referring him, but he was amazing and we know you won’t be disappointed. We wish we had found him earlier in our travels!
We'd love to hear about your experience when you return! -Judy
Love your video on Egypt. It has been very helpful and entertaining too. Stay happy and healthy.
Hi Tas, Thank you so much for watching! We have a full series from Egypt if you're planning to visit. I'll put in a link below. In the series we take a Nile River cruise, a hot air balloon ride, spend time in Luxor, and even spend a night in the Nubian Village in Aswan. -Judy
🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@ I’ve seen all of them and they were very informative and encouraging to visit the places. We plan to visit Morocco and Albania too.
@@tasa3655 Oh awesome. We hope you have great experiences in all three. There's a lot to enjoy in each of them! -Judy
What an adorable couple! Thoroughly enjoyed seeing my home country that I miss, having been living in Canada for 30 years, through your eyes. Unlike some other travel youtubers, your videos about Egypt were fair and respectful, showing the good as well as the bad and leaving it up to people to decide if such an experience worked for them. Looking forward to binge watching videos you made in other countries on your channel.
Wow, SammyT, thank you so much for watching and for your kind words. Egypt was one of the very first countries we visited as full-time travelers, and we were initially overwhelmed. But Egypt and its people were incredible and we are so grateful to have had some time to get to know it and make bonds with some really lovely people. We would love to return and explore even more. We have a few articles on our website about Egypt as well that you might enjoy. Here is a link to the articles and stories from some of our time in Egypt. We are honored to have you watching along with us! -Judy
📝 Stories from Egypt: findingginamarie.com/search?q=egypt
@@FindingGinaMarie You're very welcome and thanks for the website link; will be sure to check it out. Hope you're having a great time in another exotic place; safe travels.
@@sammyt3514 Thank you so much! We are wrapping up our time in Busan, South Korea with a visit to Seoul tomorrow, and then on to Italy for almost a month! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie Wow; sounds awesome! Been to Italy and had a wonderful time there 10 years ago and South Korea (and Japan) are certainly on my to do list. Enjoy!
@@sammyt3514 At some far, far, far-in-the-distant future, we'll settle in Italy. I'm working on my Italian dual citizenship since I found my birth mother in 2020. It's a slow, tedious process. We've visited various parts of Italy at least half a dozen times (including before traveling full time). But this trip our daughter will be joining us, so it will be fun to watch her experience it for the first time. Here are links to our Japan and Italy (so far) series:
🎥 Japan travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0V4Brx4J0uWJdQENFZKWBT.html
🎥 Italy video series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1Tj_VCjUNQTJBMtKpkz5Sk.html
Love your content. Fair and comparing Egypt in light of of similar touristic countries not the US.
Thank you so much for watching and for your kind comment. We really did try to be fair and balanced. Egypt is not the US or anyplace else. The point is to accept that things are culturally different, and that's actually why you travel. If everything was exactly the same as your home base, then what would be the point of traveling?!! We loved Egypt and want to return someday. -Judy
Egypt video series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Thank you for taking me back to Cairo...Many beautiful memories of a fascinating land and warm and welcoming people.
We absolutely loved our time in Egypt, Frances, and we are so glad to hear that you did as well! And you are right, we met some incredible people there. Have you seen the rest of our episodes from our month in Egypt? I'll link the series below if you're interested. -Judy
🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
I found your channel while doing research for an upcoming Egypt trip. Love your videos, so much info packed in a short time. Entertaining, but very informative. Thanks.
Thank you so much for taking the time to let us know you are enjoying our videos, Bernice! You probably figured out that we have an entire playlist about Egypt. We loved visiting there and definitely would return. Here's a link to our entire Egypt playlist. We'd love to hear about your experiences, and don't hesitate to reach out if you have questions in the meantime! -Judy
th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
May i know the recommender local tour in egypt?we want to go to cairo, luxor,aswan and giza
@Sriwijaya888 YES, I sent you a reply in another thread, but I'll include it here as well.
We did a ton of tours in Egypt, but our BEST GUIDE BY FAR was Mahmoud Nour. His English is excellent, he’s passionate, super knowledgeable, and really made our trip memorable. We wish we would have found him sooner so he could have guided us on the other parts of our trip.
Here’s his info: 💥 MAHMOUD NOUR | Call: +20 102 6979554 * Email: Mahmoudnour2055@gmail.com * (let him know we recommended you to him-we make no money by referring him, but he was amazing and we know you won’t be disappointed.
You can see him in action in our Nile River cruise, linked below. -Judy
Nile River Cruise: th-cam.com/video/0L3PeJhnJL4/w-d-xo.html
@@FindingGinaMarie thanks again Sir, greetings from West Java, Indonesia
Thanks for your video. I really like the format. It’s not all rainbows and unicorns which is appreciated. I definitely want to go. It looks like the temperature isn’t warm like I would expect.
Thank you so much for watching, Erin! You can see that my upper chest was red, so there were days when it was very warm. Sometimes the mornings were cool, but we were definitely warm walking through the pyramids. We dressed modestly for the culture, but otherwise, we would have been in shorts some of the time. We were in Cairo/Giza from Feb. 15-28 and then Luxor from Feb. 28-March 15 (and then back to Cairo for a few days!). It was much hotter in Luxor, but that could have been just the difference of a few weeks. And today it is 84 degrees in Cairo.
We're so glad to hear that you enjoyed the format. We wanted to pass along so much information about our experience, so I am glad this was useful. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie.⁹90
@@monikatestaferrata6243That's actually not worse than a lot of Europe and the US right now! I think of Egypt as having much higher temperatures, but maybe some of those are already behind you here in early September. Thanks for watching! -Judy
Kudos to you guys for being good sports about the tipping culture and chaos of Cairo! 😂 thank you for painting a fair and nice picture of Egypt and youre welcome back any time ❤
Thank you so much, Sarah. It was a new experience for us, but we try to be open to cultures that are different and respect why and how they work for the locals. We're lucky to be guests in their country and try to be mindful of that at all times. We appreciate your comment and taking the time to watch our video. You might also enjoy the rest of our series from our month in Egypt, which I'll link below. -Judy
Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Great vid guys! Your shows are so accurate. We stayed in Giza too, but right in front of the pyramids. It was very similar to your spot, on the back streets we could also see how the locals live. But when we walked onto one of the busy streets, we kept getting accosted by everyone because it’s such a touristy area😂
Hi Dan, The area we were in when we were in Giza had no tourists and thus no vendors, even when we got into busier areas. We were surprised when we got to the pyramids and all the vendors came out. Would you stay in the same area again? We're somewhat reluctant to recommend our area and would suggest that Zemalek might be better because it's got more energy and is a little closer to all the action. However, we are very grateful for the experience we got to have, and our Airbnb host was incredibly kind. Thanks for watching, and for sharing your experiences. Have you seen the rest of our videos from our month in Egypt? I'll link it below if you are interested. -Judy
Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@@FindingGinaMarie when we made our booking, we made sure that we could see the pyramids from our apartment, which put us right into the busy area. We could literally walk to the sphinx in 7 minutes. Accommodation cost was around 70usd per night. Yes we’d recommend this area, even with all the vendors hassling you.
Yes I’ve seen the other Egypt vids, I’m going through your Europe vids now.
We used your Egypt vids for travel advice before we left, thanks to both of you.
I’ve done Europe three times now, if you want any travel suggestions I have a few good ones that I. Sure you’ll love.
Hi Dan, We were not nearly as close to the Sphinx as you were. That had to be pretty cool. We've been to various places in Europe before we became full-time travelers, but there is a lot we haven't seen. Before traveling the world, we tended to visit the same places on rotation (London, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, France), so we've been so happy to expand our time outside of those few places. Admittedly, we're still smitten with most of them and plan to continue to spend time exploring cities in those countries we've missed. But we have some time in Germany and in Spain next year and are excited to explore them if you have cities to recommend for us! Also, if you have any destinations that you think we should visit, please let us know! We have been deep in 2024 planning, but we don't have the year finalized yet. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie Hi Judy, here’s some suggestions for you. These are unique suggestions, I’m not going to bother you with obvious suggestions because I’m sure you’re already across it.
Germany, visit Triberg in the Black Forest. There’s heaps of places in the Black Forest that are similar, but Triberg’s section of forest walking trails are a cut above, with amazing waterfalls, squirrels everywhere, so it’s uniquely beautiful.
Spain, we stayed at the coolest accommodation called Can Pol Loft, which is in Llançà, Costa Brava. It’s on Airbnb, and it’s one of the coolest accommodations we have ever stayed in. And cheap. You’ll need to hire a car in costa brava, but it’s worth it to see the area. We used it as a base to see the Dali Museum, and Dali’s house in Cadaquez. Some of the best beaches in Europe, especially in Llançà itself which has more protected waters therefore the water is warmer than other parts of the Mediterranean. Best time to visit the Costa Brava is September or early October, the water is still warm and the weather nice, but the hordes of tourists are gone,and it is very cheap.
If you ever go to Croatia, I strongly recommend staying at Aparmen Slap in Rastoke. It’s another place where you’ll need to hire a car sorry, but it’s on Airbnb too, and super cheap. The house is literally built on top of a waterfall, and you have your own personal entertaining island , complete with your own personal bridge. The area is very cheap, use it as a base to check out the local natural wonders such as Plitvice Lakes, Krka waterfalls, and limestone caves in the area. While we were having drinks on our island, tourists were taking photos of us lol. Pedro’s Restaurant next door is amazing to see, and the food is great too, they even serve bear! (Plitvice Lakes hint: choose route B, you’ll get to see all the really cool stuff, without too much walking. Some people choose to do the more difficult walks, because they want to see absolutely everything, but it’s just not worth the effort, because there’s not much more to see anyway.)
If you’re ever near Dubrovnik, treat yourself to a meal at Konavoski Dvori restaurant. I recommend the lamb.
My favourite part of Europe is Czechia, I’m hoping to see you guys post videos of your visits there soon! Some suggestions are Kutna Hora, check out the ossuary and the main town also. Orlik Castle is cool, it’s not as popular as some of the more famous castles, but the tour inside is a hidden gem. Other great towns are Cesky Krumlov, Karlovy Vary and Marianske Lazne. Also, Karlstejn is awesome to see, both the castle and the village. Most of these places can be seen doing day trips from Prague, but Krumlov is worth at least three nights to 1 week visit.
We’re from Brisbane Australia, we have some of the best seaside locations in the world here. But we don’t have much in terms of history and culture, therefore when we visit Europe, we gravitate towards this. Even the beaches in Costa Brava don’t come close to what we have access to here. So we do our beach holidays locally. However I promise that all of the suggestions above will transport you to a fairytale wonderland of culture, history and natural beauty.
Cheers, Dan
PS if you’re ever visiting Australia, hit me up for some amazing suggestions here too!
Thank you so much, Dan, for such great information! You sound like you are very well traveled! We love these suggestions and are incorporating them into our wish list. -Judy
I spent 12 weeks in Egypt. I walked the streets by myself. I always felt safe. The people are some of the nicest people. I miss the prayer call!
Hi Cheryl, We are so glad to hear that you enjoyed your time in Egypt. Spending 12 weeks there is quite impressive! And it's encouraging to know you felt safe. I did as well, but I only traveled alone during my night walks in Luxor. We currently are in Morocco and awaken early every morning to the prayer call (and roosters!), but we miss Egypt, too. We definitely want to go back and explore more. The GEM has continued its soft launch and we weren't able to see Alexandria when we were there. Lots of reasons for us to return! Here's our full series from our month in Egypt if you're interested. We take a Nile River cruise, a hot air balloon ride, spend time in Luxor, and even spend a night in the Nubian Village in Aswan. -Judy
🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@@FindingGinaMarie Hi Judy. I am so lucky to find your videos about Egypt tour on youTube a couple of weeks ago. I am going to visit Alexandria late this month, plan to stay there a few days before travel back to Cairo to visit Giza 1 day then hop on a cruise between from Aswan to Luxor. I am wondering should I travel to Aswan from Cairo to get on board from there for a 4 day cruise. Would you be kind to tell me if a train or bus trip is better, and how long it takes me to be in Aswan before 10AM so we will be picked up by the cruise organizer? I am invited by a friend who was born in Egypt but is currently living in Australia, and this is the first time I visit the country. Thank you very much for your time to help with this. Kind regards. Thu Ha
Hi @thuhanguyen6611 Hmm, interesting question. We had a decent experience on the train to Aswan, but personally I'd rather arrive the night before in Aswan so I wouldn't have to worry about delays. You could hire a private driver for an overnight drive, which is probably the most reliable idea if you don't want to spend the night in Aswan. It's a 10-hour commute by train or minivan, but a bus ride is 14 hours. Technically if you catch the 5:30pm bus, you would arrive in Aswan at 7:30am the next day, BUT that assumes that there will be no delays, and Egypt is not a place where things run on time (the train schedule was two hours behind, so we actually got on the train before ours!). If you decide to take a train to Aswan, the Nubian Village is amazing and worthwhile to experience. I don't know if I'd even trust an early morning flight from Cairo to get you to Aswan on time. We hope you love your cruise and would enjoy hearing what you think of Egypt! We missed Alexandria, but would love to return to see it. I think it will be a great complement to your trip! -Judy
📝 Nubian Village Experience (Blog Post): findingginamarie.com/articles/nubian-village
🎥 Aswan Nubian Village Must-See this incredible Place : th-cam.com/video/3d2qQ9nPegQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=bt_ACZbpM3xQ0xrs
To get the full experience of the pyramids visit, u should read about it’s facts & mathematics encoded in it to fully appreciate beyond the size & time it was built
We didn't have all that information, but what we did know still astounded us. The pyramids are incredible human achievements. And despite everything we know today thanks to computers, it's astounding how much ancient Egyptians knew thousands of years ago. Thanks for watching! -Judy
Excellent Information! Thank you
Thank you for watching! You might enjoy more videos from our month in Egypt, which I’ve linked below. -Judy
Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
I am a Muslim from Egypt
I enjoyed this video and these other videos
You are good, respectful people and we are very happy to have you visit
I am very sorry about the scenes of garbage and broken roads
As you know, we have a system that builds the capital for the rich and other cities only for the rich
The ancient valley leaves the Nile Valley and the people who live in it to themselves
But when people rule their country away from the dictator who rules the country, you will see a country much more beautiful than what you saw
Thank you for watching and for taking the time to write. We understand that Egypt has had a complicated history and despite some things, we still absolutely loved our time there and plan to visit again. We have an entire playlist from Egypt if you want to see more information we shared from our time there. -Judy
Egypt playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@@FindingGinaMarie ✅✅✅✅♥♥
Hi, do you have recommended local tour there?
Hi @Sriwijaya888, YES! We did a ton of tours in Egypt, but our BEST GUIDE BY FAR was Mahmoud Nour. His English is excellent, he’s passionate, super knowledgeable, and really made our trip memorable. He was our guide for our Nile River cruise and we wish we knew about him sooner so he could have guided us earlier in our trip as well. Here’s his info: 💥 MAHMOUD NOUR | Call: +20 102 6979554 * Email: Mahmoudnour2055@gmail.com * (let him know we recommended you to him-we make no money by referring him, but he was amazing and we know you won’t be disappointed.
Here's a link to our Nile River cruise so you can see Mahmoud in action: th-cam.com/video/0L3PeJhnJL4/w-d-xo.html -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie thank you so much sir
Hey guys, my wife and I are taking a Viking river cruise (Pharaohs & Pyramids) and near the end of the cruise we will be in Cairo for a second time and we have two 3.5 hour (2:00pm-5:30pm) excursions to choose from: 1) Old Cairo & its Coptic Quarter and 2) The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. I'm not into religious buildings and neither of us are museum people. Can you recommend something we can do around 2:00pm that would be fun in Cairo (we would have already visited the pyramids)? Thanks.
We avoided it like the plague, but would you enjoy strolling through the Khan El Khalili Bazaar? You could head to the Cairo Tower, where you can take an elevator to the top for panoramic views of the city. There's also strolling through Al Azhar Park (www.egypt-uncovered.com/blog/al-azhar-park). You could even just walk through the neighborhood of Zamalek, which is in downtown and walk along the river. There are a bunch of high rise hotels there that will give you a stark contrast from the archeological sites! I hope this helps! -Judy
We are going on three weeks' time to Cairo, and I am interested in the tips
For example, what is considered reasonable to them a tip on;
The guy that take a photo in the pyramid.
The waiter in a coffee shop
The waiter in a restaurant
The taxi or bus driver
The guy in a street food restaurant
And in general what is considered a normal tip
Thanks
Great questions, and we hope you have a fabulous time in Egypt! They will want tips for all of those things you've mentioned. They don't have a 20% tipping policy like what's in the US, but everyone will expect some sort of tip, and they aren't shy about telling you that you haven't given enough. There will be people waiting outside of the bathrooms who will give you a small amount of toilet paper and expect a tip (even if you bring your own or tissues and don't need any of theirs). People will try to help you with directions and expect a tip (£5 or £10 Egyptian, which is the equivalent of 15-30 cents US), and for sure everyone involved with the pyramids and archeological sites will want a tip or for you to buy something from them. We have an entire playlist from our time in Egypt that might help you, and we include tipping information at the end of each. We tried to keep in mind how much tips actually cost in USD, which helped us. So for a picture inside a pyramid, we'd probably give £50 Egyptian ($1.61). For a driver who took us to visit the sites (but who didn't really guide us), we'd give about E£200-£400, depending on how long the day was (we were told that US$2-3 PER PERSON was fair by our amazing guide from our Nile River cruise, but we tried to be at the higher end), and we'd give our all-day guides around E£500-£700, depending how long the tour was and whether they were good or not. We break out the tips for restaurants pretty well within the video. Thanks for watching!-Judy
Egypt video series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Thanks for your amazing videos.. recently crossed your channel while ‘researching’ about egypt and nile cruise. Intending to explore egypt via nile cruise and cairo after our scuba live aboard in 2024. Looking for budget friendly cruise and tour guide for 2 people. first timers. any tips? thanks.
Hi Nesta, thank you so much for watching! Did you see our Nile Cruise episode? It should have everything you are looking for, but if it doesn't help, please reach out and we can give you more information: th-cam.com/video/0L3PeJhnJL4/w-d-xo.html
Also, we have an entire playlist from our time in Egypt that is here: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Here is info about our amazing guide, who we HIGHLY RECOMMEND: Mahmoud Nour +20 102 6979554 (let him know we recommended you-we are not affiliated in any way, but we'd love to have him succeed even more!)
Our tour company (Egypt Portal Tours): www.egypttoursportal.com
Hi @@FindingGinaMarie , Thanks for the links. I have watched several videos from your recent trips to Egypt, and now a new subscriber. The advice given has been beneficial and especially in researching affordable rates. The Egypt tour portal link in your video details helped me save $$$ when booking compared to another tour operator. Your videos are informative and short yet very entertaining. Keep it going. Thanks!
Looking forward to 2024, and many more of your future videos.
Thank you so much for letting us know that we were able to help you. I hope you were able to request our guide as well. Thank you for subscribing! Offhand, do you know what ship you will be on? We hope you have a wonderful experience in Egypt! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie Hi Judy, we are still in contact with egyptian portal agent. As of this time it is not confirmed which nile cruise we will have as it is based on availability from what they replied with. From their selection list, cruises do look cozy. we should know a few months prior to our trip. Another inquiry for you, would you know of or experienced an over night ferry ride from Sharm el Keith to Hurghada? The research I looked into stated service is still suspended as of 2 years ago. Only a matter of organizing airlines tickets. Which did you prefer, arriving in Cairo at night or early hours to avoid rush hour in airport or day time ? And how was your experience with obtaining an entry visa? online or in person? most convenient method.
@@nestawellman They try to get the lowest rate, which is closest to the time of departure. If you are open to any of their ships, that's great, but I would try to make sure you get what ship you want. We were very happy with ours, especially for the price we paid. Yes, that ferry hasn't been operational even before COVID, so I doubt it will suddenly resume. Here's a link to the website, but it shows no availability (meaning it's not operating-www.abmaritime.com.jo/en/content/egypt).
We were fine to arrive at night, but Kevin said that he would have preferred to see it in the day since it's not a typical city. It will be loaded with traffic at all times of the day or night and be prepared for non-stop (I really mean non-stop) horns. If you think of it like a dance between vehicles, it will make it so much easier to lean into! Also, I 100% suggest you call an Uber to take you from the airport to your accommodations (download the app in advance if you don't have it). Do not let anyone touch your luggage because people begin soliciting from the MOMENT YOU GET TO THE LUGGAGE BELT, which I did not expect. Just let them know that you have already called an Uber. You can follow your journey on a map, you know the price won't change, and you won't get scammed. Please learn from us!
For visas, the most convenient method was to have $25 cash per person ($60 if you need multi entry out of Egypt). As soon as you get off of the plane, there are "banks" where you hand them your passport and your cash and they give you your visa sticker. It was very transactional. They didn't ask us any questions about our travels; really all they wanted was our cash. There is no ATM and their wi-fi is spotty, so you can't trust that a credit card can work. If you are a US citizen, I would not go through the hassle and extra fees of getting an e-visa online in advance. I would have your itinerary handy in case they ask, but they didn't ask us anything. -Judy
Very interesting video. Would you advise a solo woman to travel there?
Hi Carolina, I wouldn't have any problem as a solo woman traveling here. I'd maybe not recommend Mohandiseen, but Zamalek is super central to everything. We didn't really focus on it, but there also is downtown Cairo where the major hotel chains are located. It's a very high-end area. It wasn't the experience we were looking to have, but those hotels are very close to the other side of the Nile River and much more posh. Traffic is just as bad though! Zamalek would be a good compromise. I am very glad we got to spend time in Monhandiseen and felt it was safe, but it was extremely different from anyplace we'd ever been. Thank you for watching! -Judy
yes no problem
Hi Gina, I really enjoyed your video. What were you tipping your tour guide to Memphis and Saqara. Any other tipping advice? Thank you. :)
Hi Craig, thanks for watching. We gave our guide E£600 and our driver E£400, which comes out to about $20 and $13. Our guide was kind but young and a bit inexperienced. Our guide for Coptic Egypt was more knowledgeable, but her personality wasn't a great fit for us. We gave her the same. But I could see that someone who does an excellent job might be worth more. I think we gave E£600 to the Egyptian guide who walked us through Medinet Habu Temple, and that was only one temple versus a full day of touring.
Our tour guide had mentioned that US $3 per person is a reasonable tip for the driver, but we felt that they worked very hard, and $13 was well worth it for us to give them. Especially with everything happening in that part of the world, tourism is down a bit and they are scraping for cash, so if you have it in your budget to be generous, we recommend it. I've been told you never need to give someone a tip who gives you directions.
As far as other advice regarding tipping, get small bills so that you can tip inside the pyramids if you want someone to guide you inside one of the pyramids (meaning, they give you a 3 minute detail about the hieroglyphics (E£10), bathrooms, E£5 (E£10 if you're feeling generous), take your picture with some of the artifacts-E£5, You also will want to have E£50 handy for various things. We did also tip our waiters reasonably well-E£50 when we got coffee and a bit more for lunch/dinner. Our best tip overall is to understand that the value of the Egyptian pound is way down, but costs are up AND consider how much money it is in USD. When we'd do the math, it would feel like it's a generous tip, but when it's really US $2, we felt like it was perfectly fine to give it (and adjust as you spend more and the kindness of the person you're dealing with. There are ATMs everywhere, but remember to always ask for money in local currency. Don't ever let the machine do it (let your bank do it).
Finally, you might want to read my article on avoiding scams, which is on our website, along with a bunch of other articles about Egypt: findingginamarie.com/articles/beware-of-these-six-scams-while-traveling
Thanks so much for watching! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie Thank you so much for your detailed reply Judy. Really appreciate it. Keep making awesome videos :)
@CraigBurton so glad this is helpful. Not sure if you have a trip scheduled yet, but I need to give a huge shoutout to our Nile River cruise guide, Mahmoud. We did a ton of tours in Egypt, but our BEST GUIDE BY FAR was Mahmoud Nour. If you aren’t already fully booked, we highly recommend you contact him. He is expanding his services to anywhere in Egypt and speaks excellent English. He’s passionate, super knowledgeable, and really made our trip memorable. Here’s his info: 💥 MAHMOUD NOUR | Call: +20 102 6979554 * Email: Mahmoudnour2055@gmail.com * (let him know we recommended you to him-we make no money by referring him, but he was amazing and we know you won’t be disappointed. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie sorry for the questions Judy. If we're doing a tour to the various tour spots, approxiamtely how much Egyptian currency would you recommend we have on us per day for the various activities and tips etc? The issue that concerns us I guess is that we'll not have enough or, if we have too much, we won't be able to exchange it back for our own currency. Thank you very much Judy.
No problem at all, Craig. We would hit up the ATM every few days. In Cairo the ATMs limited the amount of money you could withdraw at a time (E£2,000), but we could pull out more at a time when we were in Luxor (E£6,000-7,5000). I think the limits were mostly due to them not having a ton of cash in them, so if you go to two ATMs on the same day, that should be fine.
We mostly booked our tours online versus with someone in person, so we didn't have to worry about cash for the cost of tours. Tours weren't outlandish, but they were more expensive than other costs and they were payable in USD online. I think we have links to all our tours we booked in our videos (but we do recommend Mahmoud!). The only time we hired a local on the spot was when we toured places in Luxor that weren't included in our Nile River cruise. And we paid extra for the guide I mentioned at I guess it depends on how many people you are traveling with. I felt slightly more comfortable with the driver we hired in Luxor because he was recommended by the restaurant owner, but be very careful you understand all the details you agree to if you hire a local to drive you to places.
For both of us (not apiece), we probably spent E£250 for breakfast, E£400 for lunch, and £500 for dinner. Some days were more, some were less. But that's probably a reasonable amount for each. We had a couple of splurge dinners that cost E£1200, but they were the exception (and I think they took credit cards). Note: we only ate local foods at restaurants or street food. We didn't cook or grocery shop and we never ate any American fast food (or any fast food).
Figure E£30 per day for bathroom attendants (some days we only had to pay once per each of us, depending on the location and how long we were there-the Egyptian Museum, e.g., doesn't have a bathroom attendant as I recall).
Then plan for E£1,000 in tips for your guide and driver (or slightly less, depending on whether it's a half day or full day), and you should be in good shape.
In Cairo, we used Uber, so we could mostly tip and pay on the app. Tips are throttled, so sometimes we gave a few extra E£ if the trip warranted it. In Luxor, you'll need to pay your driver in cash and also have a tip, but usually you can arrange that in advance. Our Airbnb host had an on-site support person who coordinated transportation and gave us costs in advance, so we had time to get extra money if we needed it.
I hope this helps, and we'd love to know better what it costs you when you go if you don't mind taking the time to report back! -Judy
Regarding the coffee shop- do you ask for coffee with bottled water? I’m a huge coffee lover but concerned about drinking the water. How did you navigate that?
We didn't, but some places may not be able to do that, especially if they have water piped to their devices. I can't actually remember what the espresso machines looked like to say for sure. But hot temperatures can kill most germs - usually at least 140 degrees Fahrenheit, and espresso typically is heated higher than that. Also, we met with a travel doctor beforehand who prescribed some probiotics and other meds to help us with our stomachs. I had one day of issues, but it wasn't due to coffee and Kevin had no stomach problems at all. Here's a link to that video. -Judy
🎥 Vaccinations and Preparations for Egypt: th-cam.com/video/ZJG4MI76u58/w-d-xo.html
@@FindingGinaMarie good to know! I wondered if hot coffee would be safe because of the temperature. I already have my pre-travel appointment scheduled!! 👍😀 thanks again!!
@@SwiftyTravels That's awesome. We think that taking daily probiotics, etc. made a difference for us. Some of the people on our Nile River cruise had stomach issues, but we did fine. But we took precautions about the things we chose to eat while we were in Egypt, which does help! Have an incredible trip! -Judy
How does your Nile cruise tour guide work? If I book my own cruise, he can be the tour guide for any cruise?
No, you would reach out to him and he would price your cruise for you. He'd find you the best deal and he would also be able to arrange other tours if you want them, including arranging hotels and transfers if you want that much assistance.
We were glad to have made our own accommodations, but we would have loved him as a guide for our other tours, etc. versus the random people we booked through Viator, etc., which were hit and miss. You decide how much of your trip you want him to help coordinate for you. We make no money from recommending him in any way. Hope this helps. When do you travel? Have an amazing time with whatever you end up doing! -Judy
As usual, great video. How was the Airbnb?
Thanks for watching, Lisa, and for your sweet comment! It was decent enough. The part of the city was pretty raw, but our Airbnb host was terrific-she brought us a plate of desserts and also dinner one night, which was so sweet and thoughtful. The place itself was like someplace out of the 1970s, but we absolutely loved the rooftop patio. It was fabulous. I wrote about the "interesting" shower in this Airbnb here: findingginamarie.com/articles/spring-showers
Our aircraft carrier did a US Navy port call into Alexandria Egypt jan-1988 , We had to take 2 packed lunches from the ship and had orders not to eat or drink anything in that port , Did manage to take a tour for one day to the cairo museum and visited the pyramids they are a sight to see, Did a bucket list at 22 years old great times !
Wow, how cool of an experience for you, especially at such a young age. We wish we would have traveled more when we were young, especially internationally. I think it opens up a person's entire world view. We have an entire series from our month in Egypt if you're interested in watching it. Our time in Egypt was amazing and seriously unleveled our experience as full-time travelers. -Judy
🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@@FindingGinaMarie Thank you and i sure will !
I’m retired and planning a trip with my son soon. Did you plan all of your trip or did you use a guide/tour company any? Thanks
How wonderful it will be for you and your son to experience Egypt! We planned everything except for our Nile River cruise, and that was because you nearly always have to go through a tour company to book them. For that, we used Egypt Tours Portal. The details for that are in our Nile River cruise video. We absolutely loved our guide, who did an amazing job. Otherwise, except for our hot air balloon that we booked directly with the vendor, we booked our other individual tours through TripAdvisor and Viator. Here's a link to our full episode list of travel through Egypt for more details. And if you go into the descriptions, we have links listed as well. Feel free to ask us anything else! Thanks for watching! -Judy
Egypt video series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@@FindingGinaMarie thank you so much for replying. Last question. I’m thinking about driving to see Kom Ombo, Edfu and Esna and Abu Simbel. I don’t won’t to spend so much time on a cruise. Is there anything else that you guys saw on the cruise besides the ones I listed? Thanks, Jay
@jaynjanna1 We didn't actually spend a ton of time on the ship at all, specifically because these places aren't so far apart from each other. I don't know that I'd recommend driving on your own unless you are an experienced traveler in Egypt. We had to go through a lot of security checkpoints, which could be intimidating. Also, the guide we had was excellent, and I'd suggest going to these places with a guide to get the best experience, so that will be an offset to your savings by driving yourselves. In Aswan we saw the Aswan High Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk, the Philae Temples. Near Kom Ombo is the crocodile museum. We missed Luxor Temple due to an issue getting through the river locks, but that is worth seeing in Luxor. In Luxor we also saw the Colossi of Memnon, the Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Valley of the Kings, and Karnak Temple. Our tour also took a ride on a carriage and a felucca. If you spend an extra day in Luxor, you also can visit the Valley of the Workers (Deir el Medina), and the Medinet Habu Temple, where the memorial temple of Ramses III is. The cruise took us to an alabaster shop in the Valley of the Workers, but that's not quite the same as walking through it and its burial sites. I included a link above to our Egypt series. Check out our video on Luxor and also the Nile Cruise so you can see for yourself these places that you'll be skipping. Happy to answer any additional questions you may have. Note that we did not visit Esna, and I don't believe it's covered on any of the standard Nile River cruises. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie awesome!
@@AvaRose00 So glad this could help! -Judy
Thanks. Have you been vaccinated before travelling to Egypt, vaccination against Hepatitis etc. ?
We had some vaccinations, but the US doesn't have any sort of central database of vaccinations for us to know with absolute precision what we've had done. So over the years we'd been going to drug stores and getting some of them from pharmacists or different general practitioners as insurance policies changed as our companies changed insurance providers. We didn't keep great track as we were going along and pharmacies only keep records for a short amount of time. We wanted to be sure that we were fully vaccinated from anything that a travel doctor thought would be concerning for us not to have before heading to Egypt. Thanks for watching. You might want to watch our full series from Egypt if you're interested. -Judy
🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
What month did you visit? I see some locals with coats on. We hope to go March 2024. What to wear?
Hi Jerry, we hope you have an amazing time! We stayed a month from mid February to mid March. We started with Cairo and there were many mornings and evenings when the sun was down that were cold. But it warmed up more during the day, and some of our videos in Cairo show that it was hot! Luxor in general was much warmer. We arrived there on March 1 and didn't wear a coat the entire time that we were there (except for our visit to Abu Simbal, which started in the very wee hours of the morning). You might want to watch our entire series from Egypt, which is linked below. Also, we did a ton of tours in Egypt, but our BEST GUIDE BY FAR was Mahmoud Nour. If you aren't already fully booked, we highly recommend you contact him. He was our guide on our Nile River cruise, so you can see him guiding us and that he speaks excellent English. He’s passionate, super knowledgeable, and really made our trip memorable. Here’s his info: 💥 MAHMOUD NOUR | Call: +20 102 6979554 * Email: Mahmoudnour2055@gmail.com * (let him know we recommended you to him-we make no money by referring him, but he was amazing and we know you won’t be disappointed. -Judy
Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@@FindingGinaMariehi do you book by online Mahmoud?can we pay him at the site by cash?and how about the atm there?it is recommended using atm or we need to bring cash all the time?
Hi Sriwijaya, I'm not sure what he will prefer, but he will let you know. When we used him, it was as part of our Nile River cruise, so we didn't pay him directly. He is a great guy. There are ATMs everywhere. Just be sure that you have a card that doesn't charge you foreign transaction fees. We used a combination of cards and cash, but we probably used cash more. You will have an awesome trip! -Judy
It’s interesting that I was in Egypt 40 years ago and things were under construction everywhere THEN! I’ll guess that’s an eternal condition there. My wife and I took a tour of Morocco last year and I was dismayed by the amount of trash there, also. Not just in the cities but along the rural roads. I’m enjoying your videos as they offer deeper insights into your destinations than your average tourist vlog.
Thank you so much for your very kind comment. Construction at least means there is an investment in infrastructure, so that's not a bad thing. We have Morocco on our drawing board for 2024, so we are eager to see it. Thank you for watching; you might want to check out our other episodes from our month in Egypt. -Judy
Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Did you visit El Dokki? I used to live there back in the sixties. Last time I went back to Egypt in 2009, I stayed at the Fairmont in Heliopolis.
We did not get a chance to get there. But how cool that must have been to have lived there. Was Egypt still recognizable to you after decades of being away? We would love to go back again because there is more we want to experience. Thanks so much for watching! Did you see that we have an entire Egypt video series if you're interested in reliving your youth?! I'll link it below! -Judy
Egypt video series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@@FindingGinaMarie it was just before the revolution of 2011. The country was much cleaner and there were no soldiers on the streets. There was far less poverty as well. We left in 1968, after the war in 1967. I remember having to hide in the basement of the house as we were being bombed and I could remember the hearing shelling out in the desert. I am glad there is peace now and the condition of the country has improved because of this “peace dividend.” I think if I ever go back -I doubt it because of my age- I would like to visit that New Cairo city they are building in the desert. I hear it is almost like Dubai. If you ever go back make sure you visit Alexandria and Marisa Matroh, it is quite lovely there and the fresh seafood they serve is akin to what they serve in Key West. Thank you and to the many other TH-camrs that allow an old man to live vicariously through your work.
We were pleased that there weren't soldiers on the streets of Cairo, Giza, Aswan, or Luxor when we visited. I know that Egypt has had its share of conflicts, though. What you're describing sounds very scary. We didn't explore New Cairo because we were there primarily for the history. It will be interesting to see what that is like. We have Alexandria on our list, but we will add Marsa Matruh City, which is a place that's new to us. I don't think I gave thought to the fact that Egypt has the Mediterranean Sea as part of its coastline. We are so glad you found our channel. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie thank you for your videos. i enjoy them very much.
@@cherifbarYou made our day! -Judy
Can you please mention the air bnb you stayed at?
Hi Maham, Our host in Giza, Nora, was incredible, but the area of town was very humble. Here's a link to our location in Giza: www.airbnb.com/rooms/12476990?guests=1&adults=1&s=67&unique_share_id=e556a503-2918-40af-9574-28bd78b36557
You might be more comfortable in the Zamalek area of town, which has more restaurants, etc. than the precise area where we were. You might also want to watch the other episodes from our month in Egypt, which are linked below. -Judy
Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Do I have to always wear clothing that cover my knees and shoulders? 14:21 6/8/24
It's a great question, Shirley. I would suggest dressing fairly modestly everywhere because it's a Muslim country. When we were on our Nile River cruise, people did swim and wear shorts, but I felt more comfortable everywhere else by covering up a bit more. Here's a link to our entire video series from Egypt if it's helpful. -Judy
🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
I believe the current situations in middle east could make it a bad time to go now. Thanks for the interest vid and information.
Surprisingly, we haven't heard of problems from the several of our viewers who have visited since the situation there has heated up. It has seemed like the touristy areas have been protected, but everyone has their own comfort level and they need to do what's best for them. Thanks so much for watching. -Judy
Here's a link to our full Egypt series if you're interested in watching what we did during our month there. Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
How is the price of good lunch or dinner. Please 🙏
Hi Bodhan, We have an entire series you may want to watch about our experiences in Egypt, which are linked below. All our meals were delicious, but in Luxor, we spent around E£400 or $13 USD, and that’s including a tip
- Chicken tagine was £130 ($4.20 USD)
- Chicken shawarma was £110 ($3.10 USD)
In Cairo/Giza, a very upscale dinner was about E£400 and included an fancy cut of beef filet and mashed potatoes.
We did a ton of tours in Egypt, but our BEST GUIDE BY FAR was Mahmoud Nour. If you aren't already fully booked, we highly recommend you contact him. He is expanding his services and speaks excellent English. He’s passionate, super knowledgeable, and really made our trip memorable. Here’s his info: 💥 MAHMOUD NOUR | Call: +20 102 6979554 * Email: Mahmoudnour2055@gmail.com * (let him know we recommended you to him-we make no money by referring him, but he was amazing and we know you won’t be disappointed. We'd love to hear what you think of Egypt if you go! -Judy
Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Is Coptic cairo a must visit?
We enjoyed it, Matt, especially since the Coptic history is evidenced throughout many of the archeological sites. But is it critical? No. It was very crowded and the 9th century Ben Ezra Synagogue had been under renovation (It reopened last fall). But some of the earliest Christian history is here, so we don't think it is a disappointing experience if you have enough time to include it. Here's our full series from our month in Egypt in case you missed them. -Judy
🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
I really enjoy your reviews Kevin and Judy. I have been thinking about traveling to Egypt. I had a question for Judy, did you wear a hijab at any point in your travels to Egypt? I have been concerned about being respectful to muslim customs. Did you see other visiting women wearing hijabs? Maybe just a head scarf is good. I had a female friend travel to Egypt alone many years ago and she felt she really needed to cover her hair. Otherwise, some men looked at her with what she interpreted as displeasure. Otherwise, Egypt looks beautiful and the people to seem friendly in your videos.
I'm egyptian and in general no non Muslim women are not obligated to wear a hijab but I do highly suggest women dress conservatively to be respectful of the customs. 😊 you're most definitely always welcome ❤
Thank you so much for watching! I did not wear a hijab at any point. I wore long pants, even though it was hot and tried to be as covered up as was reasonable. But I never covered my hair. One of our guides was a Muslim woman, and she mentioned that the historic Muslim temples we visited did not require me to cover my hair. She mentioned a lot of tolerance for non-Muslims, especially if they are not praying formally. It won't hurt to bring a scarf for your head/hair, but I didn't feel judged in any way for not wearing one (and if I would have worn one, it would only have been for a mosque-I would not have been willing to wear one out in public in general). Bear in mind that there are Christians and other religions in Egypt besides Muslim, so there is a bit more tolerance in my opinion. You might also be interested in our other videos from our month in Egypt, which I'll link below. -Judy
Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@@sarahasdfg8248 Thank You SO much for your timely response, Sarah! Your answer give me more confidence and I appreciate learning from you other religions are practiced in Egypt, making the country more tolerate of others faith experiences.
I will definitely bring a scarf and likely will wear a long skirt. Here is another question for you, when did you travel to Egypt? It is Oct. 2023 and the US State Dept. travel advisory rates it 3. However, many tours are booking up.
I traveled to Turkey many years ago, and wore a long skirt and 3/4 sleeve cotton shirts. When I entered mosques, I wore a head scarf. It was Autumn, and very pleasant weather. I really noticed the appreciative looks from the Turkish people. The day before I left, there was a protest encouraging women of the country to wear a hijabs- this was in the 1990s.
Sarah, it would be very interesting for you and Kevin to do a travel video on being respectful as a visitor. I am bothered when I see tourists in a mosques or cathedrals wearing shorts, talking loudly. They seem to not understand these are active places of worship and should be respected. I see myself as a guest, invited to appreciate these countries and the cultures that developed over the centuries.
Best wishes on your continued travels.
Cheers!
Thanks, @sarahasdfg8248, for taking the time to respond here. That is the same information our guide gave to us, so I appreciate you validating it. -Judy
@CB-vg1wq I think you have combined your response to one of our viewers along with your note to me. We were in Egypt from mid February to mid March (2023). I appreciate your suggestion about a video suggesting protocols that people should follow however I feel like some of it is common sense and I don't think some of those people would watch or even see themselves in their disrespect, unfortunately. We try as much as possible to remember we're guests wherever we visit and be respectful of the local customs. We think it's just common courtesy. As of right now, Egypt is not on the do not travel list, but you'll need to decide for yourself whether you're comfortable or not traveling there.
We did a ton of tours in Egypt, but our BEST GUIDE BY FAR was Mahmoud Nour. If you aren't already fully booked and still intending to travel, we highly recommend you contact him. He is expanding his services and speaks excellent English. He’s passionate, super knowledgeable, and really made our trip memorable. Here’s his info: 💥 MAHMOUD NOUR | Call: +20 102 6979554 * Email: Mahmoudnour2055@gmail.com * (let him know we recommended you to him-we make no money by referring him, but he was amazing and we know you won’t be disappointed). -Judy
Molokhiya is dark green leaves like spinage but it is different. They cut it and make a soup of it along with garlic. Egypt is the only country I ate molokhiya and khopeza however I don't like khopeza like Molokhiya .
Yes, and we loved it. We had trouble pronouncing it, but I had Molokhia at least three times while we were in Egypt. I hadn't heard of khobeza before, but it looks similar. Perhaps it's more bitter? We hope you also will enjoy watching the rest of our series from Egypt, which we've linked below. -Judy
th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
I think Im gonna pass with the walking down the streets thing, I've done so much of that here in Saudi Arabia and the streets and food are pretty much the same though Riyadh is a much much more progressed city, things on certain areas in Cairo are almost exactly the same here. I will be staying for a max of 4 days only so i'm keeping that limited on the Pyramids and parks and museums and the Nile. I love your videos by the way!
Thanks for watching, Henry! We didn't realize until after we returned from Cairo that most deaths are attributed to pedestrians crossing the busy highways. So if you don't walk, you are saving yourself some potential grief. We are so glad to hear you are enjoying our Egypt videos. We loved our time there and hope you have an amazing experience there, too! It wasn't open when we were there and still is only partially open (there is a King Tut immersive experience there now), but you might want to consider visiting the GEM museum you have some time and the price is within your budget: visit-gem.com/en/tut -Judy
Thank you so much for the info@@FindingGinaMarie
I am researching for a trip to Egypt soon. I have heard that sexual harassment towards women in public is common in the country. This would be concerning, especially since my two daughters are coming on this trip. Can you advise on this? Thank you!
Thanks for watching and for your comment. I did not find or see sexual harassment of any type. In fact, when I was in Luxor, I walked for miles alone at night and never encountered any issues at all. I would always suggest that regardless of where someone is traveling, they should be alert and aware of their surroundings, but there was nothing I saw personally that would concern me about Egypt versus anywhere else in the world. People were friendly, and even when the touts who were asking me to hire them for a boat ride, taxi, or tour were told no, they quickly backed off and were respectful. Those requests are frequent everywhere you go as it's part of the Egyptian culture and the country has been starved for tourists and the Egyptian pound is depressed. But if you understand that people do not mean any harm, it makes it a lot easier. We have several other videos in our Egypt series if you want to check them out. I'll include a link below. -Judy
Egypt Playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Coming from an Egyptian, do not risk hanging out in streets with a woman (especially if she's young) and always use uber or taxi. People here can get mad when they see a white european woman and sometimes begin groping her or they at least stare continuosly. The case is much more obvious in low socio-economic crowded places.
@@AbCdEf56991 I am hard pressed to believe that it's impossible for Egyptian men to keep their hands to themselves. I wouldn't want someone to be unsafe, but there are inappropriate people everywhere in the world. Staring may make someone uncomfortable, but I don't think that means that someone means them harm. But it's always wise in Egypt to dress modestly and avoid doing things that may put someone at greater risk. We had a great experience in Egypt. -Judy
@abrahamhanfi5584 We did a ton of tours in Egypt, but our BEST GUIDE BY FAR was Mahmoud Nour. If you aren't already fully booked, we highly recommend you contact him. He is expanding his services and speaks excellent English. He’s passionate, super knowledgeable, and really made our trip memorable. Here’s his info: 💥 MAHMOUD NOUR | Call: +20 102 6979554 * Email: Mahmoudnour2055@gmail.com * (let him know we recommended you to him-we make no money by referring him, but he was amazing, VERY respectful, and we know you won’t be disappointed.
Wow nice information.. please visit indonesia (bali lombok and yogyakarta). indonesia is cheap country and very nice weather.. you will enjoy there with warm weather all the year. Thamk u ❤
Thank you so much for watching. Our daughter loves Bali and has been encouraging us to visit for a while now. We're not sure if we can make it work for 2024, but it's definitely on our bucket list of places to visit. Thanks for the encouragement to visit. We didn't know about Yogyakarta. -Judy
Yogyakarta is 1 city in indonesia with has place named Borobudur temple is huge historical temple and include their traditional life. Also not far from there, there is place named bromo mount it’s amazing place to visit during sunrise.and everything is very cheap in Indonesia:hotel, food, transportation etc. anyway I love to watching all your videos bcos I love traveling as well .. your video very informative. Thank you 😊
@@fifit8114 We appreciate this information. And you are really selling me with beautiful sunrises, which we love! Thanks so much for following along with us! -Judy
You should really visit Dahshur, with the Bent and the Red Pyramid. It's a one hour drive from Cairo, there are hardly any tourists there and the pyramids are magnificent !
This is really helpful to know. Thanks so much for the recommendation. We do plan to visit Egypt again. You might enjoy watching the rest of our videos from our time there, so I've linked them below. -Judy
Egypt series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Thank you! I was in Egypt in November 2022 and also last April, I'm binging your videos right now ;-) Something also definitely worth checking out - Dahab, a small coastal town with a very relaxed, bohemian vibe on the Gulf of Aqqaba, one hour drive from Sharm El Sheikh. It's beautifully located right between the mountains and the Red Sea and there are a lot of excursions you can take from there - visit Mount Moses and Saint Catherine, the oldest still operating monastery in the world, the desert, you can even visit Jerusalem or Petra in Jordany from Dahab. Happy Travels !@@FindingGinaMarie
Someone else recommended Dahab, so we really need to consider it. It's helpful to hear what's nearby since we aren't really beach people. These additional stops sound fascinating. Thank you so much for taking the time to write to us! -Judy
i am very happy you enjoyed Egypt guys, many tourists focus on the bad stuff (and i admit there is a lot of).. but you stayed in Mohandeseen (not a touristic area), ate in local restaurants, took uber (no taxis),, so you lived it almost like a local. and i am glad you liked it.
one thing to say though... you got scammed on that steak dinner man... 400 EGP,, thats about 2 kilos of meat in Egy.
and 300 USD for that tour? thats twice the average monthely salary of an egyptian. i have seen places offering it for less that 50 USD per person.
Hi Ahmed, Thanks so much for watching. We did like Egypt and plan to return. One of our viewers just commented that the area we stayed in was in the neighborhood of Mid Akaba, which was very humble. We were glad to have a chance to experience this part of Egypt versus the New Cairo or the East side of the Nile where all the high-end hotels were. That wasn't the Egypt we were looking to experience. You apparently are right about the price of the tour. We used Get Your Guide, and although the guide was very sweet, she was way too young and quiet and didn't provide the in-depth information we were craving. I can see similar tours for $120 for two, which would have been much more reasonable. We did take at least one taxi to get across the main highway, and he offered it for free, but we paid him. As far as the dinner, it was actually well worth the price considering there was bread, olive tamponade, and some other spread. Mo Bistro was a fairly upscale place and the service was impeccable, so we were fine with the price there. And unfortunately, when you consider how low the exchange rate has gotten, it really wasn't bad. In fact, a pound of chicken at a grocery store currently costs E£ 161, and that's uncooked. We heard a LOT of frustration among locals at high meat costs had become. www.thenationalnews.com/mena/2023/01/10/anger-in-egypt-as-chicken-prices-soar-after-feed-costs-rise/
Ahmed do you even live in Egypt/ Cairo ? A kilo of meat is ranging from 330 to 400 Egp depending on the quality ... they did not get scammed. Also, what does the average Egyptian salary has to do with a company offering their service for 300 usd? if its expensive for u then don't use them put they have the right to price their service as they wish & just bec. The average salary is low doesn't mean everything has to be cheap!!
We still practice ancient Egyptian customs while r not even knowing, we still use a lot of ancient Egyptian words , that really doesn’t mean anything to one unless u r Egyptian like mum.. meaning food we still use it for babies, embo… to drink , same still use it… and many more, also other words we use from greek, Turkish, Persian , Italian , English, French, Nubian, Hebrew, coptic ancient Egyptian language still used till this in churches , ad. Off course Arabic In the end , so Egypt was conquered by all these civilisations but in return were conquered by its culture & heritage, & those who fought it never won, & welcomed many during ww 1 & 2, and till this day Kuwaiti, Iraqi, Syrians, Libyans, Africans, all living peacefully
This is interesting history information. I did not know all of this, but it's a rich history for sure. -Judy
9:58 its an iraqi traditional food .. not egyptian.
Seems like we are talking about bread in that slot, Maeda. If so, is it not Egyptian as well? My understanding is that there are many, many different types of Egyptian breads. But thanks for watching! -Judy
ولكم 👍
Thank you so much for watching! You might also enjoy our other videos from our month in Egypt, which I am linking below. We loved Egypt and plan to visit again! -Judy
Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@@FindingGinaMarie ok مع أني مفهمت وش تقصد
I like you guys😊 thank you for the great review
Thank you so much for watching and for your kind comment. It means a lot to us. You might want to check out the rest of our episodes from Egypt as well. -Judy
Egypt video series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Mohandessen used to be so beautiful and clean once upon a time, and it was full of trees, but the government destroys anything beautiful in here unfortunately, we pray that we see our beautiful Egypt back to It's glory one day insha'Allah
It turns out that the part of Mohandessen where we stayed was actually a poorer section of that district called Mit Akaba. Yes, it was very rustic and a poor area, but the people were very kind. You might want to watch some of our other videos from Egypt. We do think it still is a beautiful place to visit and we plan to go back. Thanks for watching. -Judy
Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
👍👍❤❤
Thanks so much for watching. We have a full series from Egypt if you're interested. We take a Nile River cruise, a hot air balloon ride, spend time in Luxor, and even spend a night in the Nubian Village in Aswan. -Judy
🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Some good & useful info thank you but please think about your viewers and reduce the hands waving about in front of camera
Hey Steve, when we visited Egypt we had spent a whopping three months on the road as full-time TH-camrs. Prior to that our episodes were filmed more podcast style. So we've gotten a lot better in many, many ways since then, including how we talk with our hands. -Judy
150 bucks each to visit the pyramids and sphinx .. thats more than average Egyptian earns in a month .. someone is getting a huge kickback here. to put that in perspective , if you earned $2000 a month in the US, would you pay that to visit the Empire State building ?
We agree that the price was expensive, but it was for a full day of touring with a guide and a driver and included entry to all the sites. At the same time, work for guides isn't consistent and most tourists can afford those prices. And we were glad to get information on each of the places we were visiting and pay for that expertise. I wouldn't expect an Egyptian to pay for those tours because there probably are rates for locals versus tourists. We went through Viator at the time. You might want to watch our other episodes from our month in Egypt, which is linked below. And although our tours were expensive, food nearly always was cheap and so were accommodations. -Judy
Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Hi again the metro or underground they have one car for female in respectful way. but you can ride on in any car its up to you
Thanks for clarifying. It seemed like there were certain times of day you could travel as a couple. We weren't quite sure how to navigate it, so although we walked down into the train area, we didn't dig too deep. Thanks for watching! We have an entire video series from Egypt if you're interested in it that I've linked below. -Judy
th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Molokhia (Mulukhiyah), not Molokai.
Yes, I understand the spelling, but my pronunciation wasn't the best. Thanks for watching! -Judy
Thanks for sharing. Clearly not my type of location to sleep when I'm traveling... I'm surprised how retired american people save money for this kind of tourism... In a very touristic city with lots of 5☆ high end hotels... I guess the world is changing.... I'm going to egypt next week... I hope it's much better than what you show...
We actually aren't interested in staying in 5-star hotels, but that's not because of our budget. We prefer having a more local experience. There's a lot of wealth in Egypt, but definitely also a lot of poverty. Our goal is to get to know the average life of an Egyptian (or whatever country we're living in) and not be a wealthy tourist living far differently than the average person. But no worries, Egypt caters to every type of traveler. -Judy
Love the video. If interested, study the great pyramid and the unbelievable complexity that caused people like Musk to say that humans couldn't have built it.
I’ve been following the research for years about how the pyramids were built and it’s fascinating. The engineering skills of the ancient Egyptians were incredible. Musk is just another billionaire who thinks too much of himself. Just because he can’t understand the math or physics behind those construction techniques, he wants to claim alien technology must have been involved. 😂 I prefer to study what really happened, as you suggested. Thanks for your compliment and your thoughtful comment! -Kevin
Nice video but not all souvenirs made in china there are more made in Egypt. Because of the shortage of US dollars unessential things like souvenirs it’s not easy or slowed to be imported
Interesting. My guides all said they were made in China and not to buy them. If they were made in Egypt, then they would have encouraged their purchase. I'm not sure what US dollars have to do with anything because China does things extremely cheaply, even to have imported. -Judy
Correction , when entering a mosque women should wear a head scarf , it’s not a must , but it’s must by culture and out of respect & modesty is the main issue above all even with no head cover
The mosques we went into were not operational. Our guide, who was a Muslim woman, mentioned that because we had to pay to visit, it was okay not to cover our hair/heads. Some people could pray there, but they were ancient mosques and not active ones. She said that an active mosque would never charge for you to visit. As far as modesty, I wore long pants and long sleeves. If she misguided us, that would be helpful to know. But she did sit down with us and talk a lot about Muslim tradition and culture. -Judy
Shown are the most cons of Egypt during tourism journey while Egypt most journey and amazing places are not in the video
Even videos does show some places which are not distenation for tourist !
I would say journey in Egypt shall be comprehensive fair showing the real places needs to be visited with mention to some advices without reflicting a negative image about the country which is the most amazing distenation for tourism and cheap in terms of cost
Thanks for watching. This is only the first episode of a 7-part series. Please take some time to catch the rest of our episodes from our month in Egypt! We had an awesome time and plan to return. -Judy
Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Oooh! My lower back is twinging, just remembering crouching in the ascending passageway! My sister was accosted in the descending passage. A young guy grabbed her breast and my husband slapped him!!!
Wow. What happened to your sister is so not cool, Claudia! That had to feel like such a violation on what should have been a fun, exciting occasion. But you are right about the passageway. It's one small advantage to being short! -Judy
I hope as you showed the dirty streets , you can show also the clean parts that is will be fair for the audience , about animals Egypt tried hard to control the problem and I think we have a lot of progress sun caring of street animals and dogs ..Mohandseen is not that big luxury is is medium , the luxury is in Cairo , six October city , made city , alameen near Cairo , Giza ,doki ,mohandseen the same locals places in Cairo , it used to be luxury from 30 years ago , now there are lot of new and clean places but you did not show it
You might want to take a look at our video about Do's and Don'ts of Cairo (th-cam.com/video/pMI0tLdfxmw/w-d-xo.html) or other of our video series from Egypt. I think we talk very kindly about Egypt and how much we enjoyed living there for a month. We agree that there are some lovely places that we did not show, but we wanted people to know about some of the things they might not see if they stayed on the Nile in luxury hotels and also prepare people who might stay in a less glamorous area. We tried to convey that it's a beautiful country, so I'm sorry if you didn't see that. We encourage you to watch our entire playlist from Egypt and hopefully you will see that we provided a balanced picture. -Judy
Egypt video series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@FindingGinaMarie I have seen some of your next videos to the pyramids and luxor yes and I was sure that it will change thinking about egypt , we were talking about cairo, Old Cairo that is why You showed mentioned that Egyptians or the government already built new cauro modern city as well because of crowded and traffic jams, you should mentioned that this city hold at least 7 million African and Arab refugee , you should mention that Cairo in daily time can read almost 39 million people and that is make it one of the most African population city in Africa, I have lived almost 5 years in USA and been in almost 45 states and The same USA is not the one we are seeing on TV right ? I hope you enjoy your journey and wish you will have great experiences in egypt
I'm not sure about your point about the US. What you see on TV often is fake because it's movies and are made to be entertainment. Yes, there are poor areas as part of the US and those don't always get seen on TV. We shared everything we saw and experienced. Some of what you are mentioning about Cairo are places we didn't see or know about. That's on us to not know absolutely everything about the country we were visiting, but we don't think you need to know absolutely everything before traveling to a country. We know that there's a good likelihood that people visiting Egypt who see for themselves some of what we talk about. But we try to visit the "Old Town" of most cities whenever we can, and that is what we did in Cairo. We shared clean areas and high rises and an assortment of experiences we had to paint a full picture. We loved our time in Egypt, and I think we captured that in our video series and also in all of our comments here. Thank you for providing additional context for people interested in visiting Egypt. -Judy
I'm going to guess that Kevin is a Gemini and Judy is a Capricorn.
HI Austin, you are half right. Kevin is a Gemini and I am a Libra. Thanks for watching. Curious about which traits made you guess each of us! Here's a link to our entire video series from Egypt. -Judy
Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
I doubt you really were in Mohandseen. You probably were on the less rich side of the area which is next to Mohandseen. It's called Ard El-Lewaa.
We were within the Mohandiseen district, but in a neighborhood called Mit Akaba. The people were very kind. -Judy
That's not a fancy neighborhood, yeah@@FindingGinaMarie
@@MuhammadEgypt Yep, not at all. But we were very glad to experience it. -Judy
no Egypt or any middle east. i've. will go n check the part of community in China
Not quite sure what your opinion is of China, but we enjoyed Egypt and would recommend it to anyone. But if it's not someplace that interests you, that's perfectly fine. We are trying to experience the entire world and not limit ourselves to places that are most like home. -Judy
I'm going to be an outlier. I really disliked Cairo with a passion. I would never go back :(. I would recommend other arab countries like Morocco or Jordan; but unfortunately I found Cairo (I can't generalize the entire country over one city, I realize that) to be extremely dirty, unfriendly for taking pictures, everybody harassing tourists, and in general underwhelming as far as historical sites due to graffiti and other things. I hope they make it better in the future.
Thanks for being one of the few people who've been respectful while disagreeing with us. Cairo is a noisy, very chaotic city, but we loved seeing the museums and archeological sites. You can spend less time there and focus more of your time taking a Nile River cruise, exploring Aswan's Nubian Village, or any of the sites around Luxor. There is more to Egypt than Cairo, so you might want to keep an open mind about some of the amazing parts of the country. We found many people in Cairo to be friendly, and are sorry to hear you had a different experience.
We do plan to visit Morocco for 40 days this fall and are looking forward to it. We're glad to hear that you had a good experience there. -Judy
🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@@FindingGinaMarie Of course! Really love your content and the reason why is you both are super honest about your travels. Really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy Morocco. When you get a chance, don't miss out on Israel as well :)
We have Israel on our list. I'm not sure when it will be safe to travel there, but we would love to visit there. Thank you so much for your kind comment. We do try to keep it real and be as transparent as possible. -Judy
Re; Coffee shops. The oldest and best used to be downtown, near Talat Harb St. Called Groppi, was an institution, very faded grandeur-very art deco. Sadly, i hear it's now closed down and they've moved to another location, but heard many neg comments. The coffee shop at Semiramis very good and worth a visit as a treat. Though one time i was there, there was the assassination of the Speaker of Parliament on the Corniche right in front of the hotel and the bullets shattered the glass, but you should be ok now!
Thanks for watching, Vincenzo, and for sharing your experience. We didn't spent a lot of time in downtown Cairo, so we wouldn't have been able to utilize that coffee shop, but we appreciate the suggestion and it's great for our viewers or when we return. We stayed in a very rural part of Mohandiseen (not the rich area!!). You might enjoy the rest of our series from our 30 days in Egypt, which is linked below. -Judy
Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
it is pakistani environment, i can drive like them. from pakistan
If you can do it, more power to you, Tabindah! But for most people driving in Egypt is best left to the locals! We have a full series from our month in Egypt if you're interested in watching. It's linked below. Thanks so much for your comment! -Judy
🎥 Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
It is not MOLOKAI, that is in Hawaii. it isMOLOKAHIA MO-LO-KA-HA-IA .
Thank you for clarifying. We did the best we could at the time, but we knew it didn't seem quite right to us! -Judy
Whrn I worked in Cairo 20 years ago, I was told thar Egyptians didn't take care in traffic as Allah decided when they would die anyway. Fatalism!
I’d argue that drivers care a little because they do have a robust system for communicating! It’s a trickier thing for pedestrians who trust they aren’t going to get killed crossing the road! Thanks for watching. Our entire video series on Egypt can be found below. -Judy
Egypt travel: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@@FindingGinaMarie Great series. Just sorry you missed Alexandria, my favorite town.
@@wncjanThanks so much for watching. We are sad to have missed it as well. It will give us an excuse to return, because we really want to visit Alexandria. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie You should. A walk a,ong the Corniche watching the sun set over the Mediterranean is fantastic
@@wncjan You are right. That does sound amazing! Sunsets are daily miracles. We can't get enough of them! -Judy
Egypt is a distinguished tourist country (historically), but there are some people in Egypt who do not care much about their country’s reputation, making the experience of visiting Egypt a bad memory.
I think there are people who are trying to get by and support their families, and there are people who will want to take advantage of tourists. But I also think people in the latter category exist everywhere on the planet. We try to focus on the kind people who make our travels so rewarding. And we enjoyed Egypt enough to want to return and explore more that it has to offer, so that is saying something! Thank you for watching. You might enjoy some of our other videos from Egypt, so I'll link them below! -Judy
Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
@@FindingGinaMarie I value your positive opinion about Egypt, as it is a country that deserves respect. The problem is the type of people you may meet there who don't care how they get the money. May be the economic situation a motive for this, as you mentioned. my regards.
@@eagleeye8920 You are right; I just feel that those type of people can be found everywhere. We had someone pull the "bracelet scam" on us en route to our hotel in Florence when we were still relatively naive travelers. And we went on to see similar people try to pull it on others. I've always spoken up, even though I get cursed at by the scammers. So I'm well aware that there are unethical people everywhere. I wrote a blog post about it that you can check out below. -Judy
findingginamarie.com/articles/beware-of-these-six-scams-while-traveling
No... NO!! Take a complete tour from your home country. Don't try it on your
own. You can arrange all the details with the agent and save at least 75% of
your valuable time.
Thanks for watching and for sharing your perspective! It depends on your circumstances. We were in Egypt for a month, but we didn't have activities the entire time OR the money to have someone curate our time. We are full-time travelers moving around the world. We'd go broke if we hired a tour company to book all of our travel. When we did schedule an experience (a museum, seeing the pyramids, etc.), we had a guide that we booked for that specific event. But we had some duds, and if they would have been with us the entire time, that would have been a huge problem. Our best travel guide was the person who led us on our Nile River cruise. He's amazing and I highly recommend him BUT we personally do not need or want to have every moment of every day planned in some manner (even if it's to give us a rest day-we'll decide that on the fly). We had the right mix of busy time and free time and we only came to that by taking things day to day. You can get some great last-minute deals like ours on our cruise and even our hot-air balloon ride. We liked doing the research and knowing that the balloon company we used had a great safety record, since not all of them do. Here's a link to everything we did during our month in Egypt. -Judy
Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
You should never travel to egpyt because the money there is more poorer than europe that you live at so please you need to save up to go back to europe because its way better staying there than staying in egpyt because my family is suffering in egpyt save up money to europe before you suffer like me
We are sorry to hear that your family is suffering and hope that their situation improves soon. For whatever political or other issues that Egypt may have, we know that tourism money helps Egypt's people, so we are happy to recommend and encourage others to visit. -Judy