We took an incredible trip to Egypt for two weeks in November 2023 and before the trip we did a lot of research, we searched a lot on the internet, we wanted to have the perfect trip, we didn't want to miss any of the main points of Egypt and we also didn't want to spend more what is needed as Egypt is a complicated country with very little infrastructure, a lot of harassment, a lot of poverty and insecurity, most people do this type of trip by hiring closed packages. After a lot of research, we decided to take a trip on our own without hiring any package. which ended up working out very well and literally cost us 1 third of the land portion of what it would have cost if we had hired a package from a travel agency.
In this video I will talk about different aspects of the trip especially to make it easier for those people. who want to do this same type of tourism and are a little afraid or inexperienced and to make it easier I will divide it into nine chapters itinerary transport money food communication shopping accommodation tours and conclusion itinerary we started by arriving by plane through Cairo we took a hotel in the Giza region nearby of the pyramids in fact from the hotel terrace at breakfast you could already see the three pyramids right there in front of us on the first day we went to see the incredible Egyptian Museum then we went to one of those Souqs those traditional old markets in the middle of the city from Cairo the next day we left Cairo very early and went to the Saqqara region where we visited the first pharaoh tombs and visited the Saqqara pyramid which is the oldest pyramid in the world at 5000 years old, from there we followed to the city of Memphis, the birthplace of Egypt, where we saw, among other things, the famous reclining statue of Ramses II and that same day after lunch we went to see the pyramids of Giza, we spent the afternoon strolling there taking photos We went up on a camel to the end of the afternoon where we went to see the sphinx on the third day of the trip we took a flight from to Aswan which is much further south and there we stayed on an island in the middle of the Nile the island of Elephantine the option was ideal because we spent three days on that beautiful island in that beautiful region in complete peace since cars are not allowed on that island. We went to visit the famous town of Philas on the first day, which is on an island, then we went to see Vila Núbia with the colorful streets then we went to put our feet in the sand of a beach on the Nile, a place where the desert meets the River and then we went to visit the tomb of the Nobles with an incredible view of the region and to end the day there was still time to stroll around the Garden Botanist of Aswan the next day we woke up super early and a car took us there from Aswan we crossed the entire desert to the south arriving in the region where Abu Simbel is located there it is almost the border with Sudan Abu Simbel the greatest work of Ramses II a one of the most memorable moments of the trip, we returned to our island, we rested the next day, we took the car towards Luxor on the way to Luxor, two stops to visit two very important and very beautiful temples, the Temple of Kom Ombo and the Temple of Edfu, we arrived at night in Luxor, this region of Luxor is a region very rich in archeology, we spent three nights there.
On the first day, we visited the giant temple of Karnak in the morning, which is the ancient city of Thebes. And in the late afternoon we went to see one of the most of the entire trip, which is the Temple of Luxor, the next day we got up early to take the famous balloon ride through the Valley of the Kings, we ended up making a forced landing in the middle of the desert because of the very strong wind that morning, but it was a lot of fun it was very beautiful the other day we went to visit the famous Valley of the Kings with the various tombs of pharaohs one of the most shocking things of the trip too and that day we had time to visit two more wonderful temples that region is incredible we also had time to visit some markets to do some shopping in the city the other day we took a car in the morning and went to the coast of the Red Sea We arrived in the city of Hurgada where we stayed in an apartment inside a resort facing the sea Hurgada was very nice because We could rest, relax and we could take the opportunity to go diving in the Red Sea, a beautiful warm crystal clear sea with a lot of marine life, very beautiful in Hurgada, we took a bus to Cairo, we slept in the same hotel we had stayed at at the beginning of the trip, the next morning we went out a lot early to take a trip to the Sahara desert We went to the Fayum region there we took a 4x4 and went on safari in the desert we visited lakes waterfalls camels dunes we climbed in Pedras Altas and in the late afternoon at night we had dinner in the desert and slept in tents set up underneath of a dune like that in the middle of nowhere under that incredible starry sky and we woke up the next day there in the Sahara we went back to Cairo and at night we went to the airport and back to Brazil That was the itinerary Chapter 2 transportation all flights were purchased by us directly on the internet, back to Cairo and the internal flight Cairo to Aswan, we always search on the websites that we like the most, which are Sky scanner and Kayak and depending on the research we do, we are sent to another website and buy on this website, as long as it is a trustworthy website, this always works out, we have no problems, in relation to transport within Egypt, we used a lot of private car transport with a driver at our disposal, this we hired at the hotels themselves Negotiating the price at reception is very easy and is an excellent option because unlike a package tour where you stay with a group and have to adhere to the schedules of the van with a private car, you take the tour you want at the time you want and stay As long as you want the big leap, the trick is to do your research before booking hotels by reading guest reviews, reviews, you can know exactly what kind of hotel you're going to stay in and what kind of support the staff at that hotel will give you. These hotels we stayed in all of them had a lot of recommendations for us to hire packages directly at the hotel and also cars with drivers and that's what we did, great conditions, quality and price, that works out very well, in addition to the car, we also did tours by boat and it was the same thing in the region of aa we had a boat at our disposal for the whole day we hired it at the hotel we negotiated with the hotel owner good price excellent condition it was a trip that was very worth it also the long trips we took back and forth to the south to Abu Simbel, then from Luxor to Aswan and from Aswan to Hurgada, the three were also hired in the same scheme at the hotel reception, talking to the hotel owner, hiring a car with a driver to take us and the last stretch, which was the From Hurgada to Cairo we took the bus because we didn't have the option of a car or rather it was very expensive and we discovered a bus online that was good and cheap at the hotel reception they helped us and we bought it and it also worked out very well and the last tour in the desert was a package tour that included everything and transportation, accommodation, food and everything that we also hired at the reception of our last hotel in Cairo and to finish in terms of transportation we took Uber in the city of Cairo to The city is completely chaotic, it's difficult to find Uber because the sign is in Arabic, the letters and numbers are so this part is a little complicated but it worked very well and Uber takes you everywhere, it's much safer than taking a taxi, so Uber is a expensive option I'm going to open a parenthesis in this transport chapter to talk about the visa, in fact you don't need a visa to enter Egypt with a Brazilian passport, just take your passport and you need to pay a fee of US$25 at the airport, you have to be very careful with this rate because many people said that they gave 50 and didn't receive change or gave 100 and received change as if they had given 50 so knowing this we already took some change so as not to fall for this trick and after we went through immigration we got our passport stamped We were harassed while still inside the airport by a man who wanted our passport, said he was a police officer but didn't have a uniform, anything, and Carol kicked so much that there was no way it was going to work that the guy gave up and let us go ourselves I don't know what that was but it does to suspect that probably if he took our passport we would have to pay some kind of extra fee anyway, it's worth being careful with this kind of thing which is quite common in Egypt Chapter three money on our trips we like to use the Wise is a better exchange system than any other, the spread is smaller and the exchange rate is better and the IOF is only 1% So nothing beats Wise, I'm not sponsored, but it really is a perfect system now in Egypt There's a peculiarity, their currency is a very problematic currency, the official exchange rate is much lower than the parallel exchange rate.
So it's really worth taking cash, taking American dollars with American dollars and exchanging it for the local currency, your money will be worth 50% more. The best thing you can do is take American dollars to Egypt to exchange there and then with cash in hand negotiate because you can negotiate the price of even the hotel, the transport price of anything you can negotiate And lower the prices well That's the money tip Chapter 4 food from the experience we had, Egypt is not a place, a country to go on a gastronomic tour, many people there told us not to eat the meat because the meat had no quality control, we saw meat being sold in streets like this hanging raw meat in the open sun basking in the sun all day and they also warned us that the water had to be very careful you always have to take an unopened bottle of water receive the bottle and open it yourself Open these are precautions that we have to take in this type of place and in general the food is not good, it was a disappointment for us because we imagined that the food would be Arabic food, like that wonderful Arabic food that is eaten in Brazil and Lebanon or Jordan, but it was not average food Simple, so what we actually did was just focus on the quality of the source so as not to have any problems in relation to the food, something interesting happened there, which is the following when we went into shops in supermarkets to buy snacks, snacks, fruit juices The price was invented on the spot and a higher price than the real one because we can't read what is written, it's all in Arabic and because we are foreign tourists, in theory we have more money, right? So our driver said to People he would buy things for us at our place, he would ask us what we wanted, he would go into the store, buy fruit juices, water, biscuits, snacks, he would come back and had paid a fraction of what we paid when we went to the store in person, 10% 20% maximum It's incredible, so it's really worth it to take this kind of care and it can make a difference at the end of the Trip Chapter fifth communication communication in Egypt was easy, most people, especially those who work in tourism, speak English, speak at least Basic English, a good tip is to buy a cell phone chip to have internet on your cell phone at the beginning of your trip at a Vodafone store, it has to be an official store because if you go to a store that sells Vodafone chips but is not an official store, you will buy one chip that may not work or may be very expensive and not very dated, so here's this tip about the Vodafone chip with a cell phone with internet, everything becomes easier, you call Uber, you use translate if you need to, but in general, basic English is more than enough.
that's enough to get by in Egypt Chapter 6 shopping it's not easy to shop in Egypt they have that haggling culture there is no fixed price for anything so everything is based on negotiation and they are a little and sometimes very aggressive in the negotiation process But in general we didn't have that much difficulty buying our souvenir souvenirs because if you are prepared for this type of problem, this harassment and learn to say no and smile and move on there is no problem now one thing is for sure the price they will inform you. In the beginning, the price is always much higher than the real price, we ended up paying 5% or 10% of the initial order price, so this process is often so tiring that you give up going into a store because you know It's going to make you really tired to buy a souvenir, something like that, but there's nothing either a lot of attention in Egypt to buy souvenirs are beautiful those sculptures of Pharaoh and statues of pyramids are very cute other than that we didn't see anything else interesting we even went to a fancy Egyptian cotton store and it was very disappointing so it's more or less this in relation to shopping, chapter seven, accommodation, this is one of the most important tips on the trip, it is very easy to find a hotel in Egypt by searching on booking and making a reservation through booking, but the trick is how to do the research, you don't just have to look at the hotel 's rating the price and making the reservation it is very important to book a hotel that has many reviews many reviews from tourists from guests and read these reviews because by reading these reviews you will understand what type of hotel you are staying in if the bed is soft if the hotel it's noisy if it's clean if the location is good and especially if the staff is helpful and it was because of this and that's how we managed to make the entire trip to Egypt we booked hotels where the staff were very helpful service to guests and that everyone said it had good prices, fair prices, good conditions, so we booked, we booked the hotels and before going to Egypt, we got in touch with the hotel owner and we booked a taxi to pick up a car at the airport to take from one city to another and so on, all at great prices with great conditions, much better than if we bought any transport package or tour to a temple, it would be much more expensive and you wouldn't have a private car. So this tip is the best tip you can do it through Booking, if you want you can also do it through one of these operators similar to Booking which are Agoda or hotels.
com Expedia I think the result will be more or less the same airbnb doesn't have there in Egypt I think the deal The real thing is to stick to booking and follow this tip from the reviews because you can't go wrong Chapter 8 tours we left the hotels very early every day to go on a tour, most of the time we left with a car and a private driver, that's all As I already said, it was negotiated and hired at the hotel reception, you can negotiate a lot and lower the price a lot, also gasoline in Egypt is practically free, the important thing is to make sure that the car is good, has air conditioning and that the driver is good Talk a minimum of English and And this is where that trick with hotel reviews comes in, right, as I said before, this works 100%, all our cars and drivers were great at the hotel reception, we also negotiated a boat that spent the whole day with us and arrangement in Aswan and Luxor, we also negotiated a hot air balloon ride and I managed to reduce After a lot of conversation by 50% the initial price ended up being a very good price, a very cool ride, and also in hotels it is very easy to understand the dynamics and the logistics of each tour which temple to go to at what time of the day which tour is worth it which tour is not worth it is just to deceive tourists and so on so Eh, that's why communication, that's why helpful staff is so important in these times everyone we went to and there were many, we never hired a guide, we did everything on our own, we don't like that tight marking that the guide does and nowadays with Google in hand you can search for any information and we always like it to research the country we are going to in advance to enjoy the trip more the temples there are well signposted and super safe so it is very easy to walk around any temple alone there will be a bit of harassment from guide sellers and guards who stay in the temples in theory to take care of the archaeological artifacts but in reality they are there to try to sell you a favor and get some money But that's just saying don't smile and move on another tip is to buy the temple ticket at the entrance to each temple because they also try to sell you tickets to the temples in advance but they are often fake tickets this is something that happens commonly in Egypt conclusion it is the ninth chapter in conclusion our trip was fantastic we really loved it Despite all the difficulties it was not at all complicated as we had imagined First of all, Egypt is a poor country, dirty, disorganized, the traffic is absolutely crazy, I think it's one of the most aggressive and crazy traffic we've ever seen, maybe it's just not worse than India, walking through the streets, especially the guy, is a unique experience because you are attacked from all sides and in every way with that constant deafening noise of horns that chaos of people animals cars every man for himself the harassment of people wanting something from you the holes in the ground the lack of sidewalk and so on But in general, I don't know, we felt exposed We didn't feel like we could be robbed or attacked and I think we felt pretty safe, but it's logical It doesn't hurt to take basic precautions, it's worth taking an ear plug for those who have one as sensitive as I am to walking through the center of a big city like Cairo or to sleep at night Because there are few places in the country where you will escape the constant noise of horns, but despite all these little problems the tours are wonderful, unforgettable, beautiful and unique, the archaeological part of Egypt beats the archeology of any other country Italy Turkey Greece all this is left behind compared to Egypt because in Egypt you will visit a tomb, a 5000 year old pyramid, a city that is still there, the artifacts are still perfect, the painting that the pharaohs ordered the sculptures to be made is really very shocking, very remarkable, like any trip, the experience is never exactly what you were expecting and one of the best ways to overcome stereotypes and overcome prejudices is by immersing yourself in these trips head first into the local culture and that's what we always do And that's what we always recommend Egypt for those who are adventurous and for those who like history I think it's I recommend it 100% it's a trip that has to be done finally if you've come this far I I'm going to ask you to subscribe to the channel, leave a thumbs up and follow all the vlogs from Egypt that we made and I'll leave a link at the end of this video.
