You need to go to Egypt on a budget
Egyptian flag
Visas and Stuff
Tight Arsed Travels to Egypt on a budget – Australians need a visa for Egypt it’s valid for 30 days and costs $60. Apply straight to the Egyptian embassy in Sydney, other people charge over $100.
Cairo
Flying from Brisbane Via Abu Dhabi to Cairo is a long haul, bring a good book lol. You need to allow at least and hour to get out of Cairo airport, they are not noted for speed! They is no bus or train to Cairo from airport yet but they are building a train link soon.
Cheapest taxis are the small Suzuki vans which cost around 300-350 le (pounds) $24 Aussie dollars to get to Cairo. Make sure you settle on a price before you get in the van and If you’re a woman, sit in the back seat.
Very few signs are written in English.
The metro train station in Cairo is the place to go to book long distance tickets on the sleeper train. Book at least a week in advance if you plan to go to upper Egypt places like Luxor or Aswan. Prices around 2000le for a sleeper.
Getting Around
Toyota vans are used as buses and very few speak drivers can speak English. Passengers are packed in like sardines, but the fare costs around $3 and they to go most places
Only drink bottled water,and when not available order tea instead, and always wash or peel fruit and vegetables. Egypt on a budget is simple to achieve this way.
Everyone expects you to haggle on price, same as most Asian countries. A camel ride around the pyramids will set you back around 200le for an hour, don’t pay anymore and settle on price before you get on.
Koshary restaurants are cheap, big meal costs $7 AUD.
Alcohol is only sold in big tourist centres along the coast and only foreigners can buy it. Private drinking in your motel room only.
Flats are cheaper to rent than a motel room and you can find bargains on booking.com, i paid $107 for 5 days for fully furnished modern 2 bedroom flat in Luxor.
If staying in Luxor a trip in a river taxi across the river should cost no more than 15le and taxi from river to city no more than 30 le.
If you are visiting all the sites in Luxor it’s cheaper for a foreigner to buy a Luxor pass costs around 2000le but gets you into everything and lasts for 3 days.
Often the people you rent flat from have contacts for drivers, camel rides, taxis and just about anything else you might want to do as a tourist. Don’t forget to haggle on price.
Restaurants in Luxor are very cheap and food is fresh and people also speak more English there due to the tourist trade
Citadel in Cairo from ottoman empire days.
The Saladin Citadel of Cairo is a medieval Islamic fortification in Cairo, Egypt.
Arched door
Domed temple
Columns
Cairo Tower
The fee standing Cairo tower boasts 187m in height and was considered the tallest structure in Egypt and North Africa for about 50 years. Then in 1971 the Hillbrow tower surpassed it in South Africa. This is a great place to capture the magnificent views night or day.
Nile River
Cairo Nightscape
Old Cairo and Imam Hussein Mosque square
More arches
Souvenirs anyone ?
Giza pyramids
They are the oldest of the seven wonders of the world, and only one to be mostly still intact after 3000 years. You can get there from Cairo using the Metro Line 2 to El-Giza station, the distance is about 6km.
All taxis in Cairo are metered, so i thought it was safe and economical to use one. Well as usual nothing is as easy as it seems when you’re a foreigner, we must have a sign on our foreheads that reads RIP ME OFF. You can use a metered taxi for this 30 minute ride but as soon as you ask to go to the Giza Pyramids they insist on not turning on the meter so they try to scam you, because they don’t want to return empty so you can negotiate a reasonable fare of about $10.00. Be patient, it took me 30 minutes to find an honest taxi driver who didn’t speed off mid sentence.
Pyramid Sunset
More Pyramid Sunset
Giant Sandpit
