The land border from Armenia to Iran was still locked back then and we had to find an alternative plan: Egypt! In most European countries Egypt is only known for its pyramids and soulless resorts in Sharm El Sheikh & Hurghada. The country has soo much more to offer than that and is literally dotted with thousands of amazing ancient, Muslim & Coptic sights. It was my first time traveling in Africa and an Arabic country and after a small Arabic crash course, we were ready to fly from Yerevan.
We took a flight in a nearly empty airplane with only 4 other passengers to the Sinai peninsula, the Asian part of Egypt. Our first stop in Egypt was Dahab, a place where plenty of foreign and local travelers hang out for diving, swimming and relaxing. The coastal town is like its own microcosm where some travelers ended up for several years. Basically, it's a mix of Bedouin hospitality, hippie flair and a place to meet long-term travelers from all over the world. The red mountains, blue water and spectacular sunrises above Saudi Arabia on the other side were really magic. Bonus: Hundreds of amazing dogs and cats. Some dogs joined us even on our morning swims in the Gulf of Aqaba.
After 7 days of relaxing, swimming and Sinai-exploring we left the peninsular with a night bus to Alexandria. On the way, we passed countless military checkpoints which are spread all over the area. Alexandria is Egypt's second biggest city and is located at the Mediterranean Sea. In Egypt we also started to use Couchsurfing, an online platform to stay at local people's homes, more and more often. In my opinion, it's the best style of traveling and understanding a country by staying with local people and immersing in their everyday lives. After using Couchsurfing 50+ times, we made amazing new friends and had some of the best oh our travel experiences. Highly recommended to try!
The next stop was the capital Cairo, a city we had a true hate-love relationship with. In total, we spent there 3 weeks in different districts and Cairo is a special city with plenty of interesting sights, amazing people but also scammers, touts and pollution. Among the highlights there were the Pyramides, Nagui (our Couchsurfing host we stayed with and met his 4 amazing cats), Old Cairo and the Egyptian Musem with the famous Tutankhamun Mask. In Cairo we also needed to extend our visa from 30 to 90 days which was an absolute nightmare. Bureaucracy in Egypt was the worst I had seen in my life that far (another country will trump that later :D) and in total I had to spend 14 hours in 3 days to get that visa extension. For Alicja's visa, they even needed longer than that.
After Cairo we spent a couple of days at the beaches of Hurghada. There it was the first time where we really met a few Western tourists. 99 percent of Western tourists in Egypt remain in their resorts all the time because "it is too dangerous to go out". I have heard that a couple of times already and it is just ridiculous. Everyone who has been out of the Egyptian tourist bubble will tell you how safe the country is and how friendly and open the people are. The only bad experiences we made with Egyptians were always at tourist places such as Luxor, Giza or beaches in Hurghada. Many Egyptians who are living in normal places are aware of that and are pretty much ashamed that those few scammers are lowering the reputation of a full country.
Then it was time for us to travel southwards the mighty Nile. First to Luxor with world-class sights such as the valley of the kings, then to Aswan where we got caught in the worst floods for 40 years and from there to Qena, where we explored my favorite historical sight I have seen so far (Dendera Temple).
The most annoying part in Egypt was always the police and government. They appeared everywhere to 'protect' us. When a police officer spotted us on a train he immediately called the police station and we were welcomed by a police gang at our destination. The hardest part was explaining to them that you don't have a hotel and are not part of an organized tour group. We managed to coexist with them and sometimes we used them as short free taxi rides. But in general, they were nothing else than a pain in the ass.
Amazing about Egypt were 99 percent of the people, the rich & for me most interesting history in the world and the cuisine. Egypt is for sure in my top 5 countries when it comes to food. We had delicious meals nearly every day and are still talking about Hummus, Falafel, Koshary, Kofta & Fava Beans. One day I will do a special food post for sure.
Egypt was an extremely memorable time for us and in the more than 2 months so many things happened. A huge thanks to Abdu, Namki, Nagui, Karim and Nuno for showing us your country and inviting us to be a guest in your home.
7 Highlights:
- Exploring the different districts and museums of Cairo
- Cycling around Luxor and visiting the Valley of the Kings
- Dendera Temple in Qena
- Relaxing and petting animals in Dahab
- Boat rides on the Nile in Aswan
- Walking around in friendly Alexandria
- Seeing the Pyramides and Sphynx (I nearly forget about them! :D)
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| Visited places in Egypt |
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| Landing in Egypt |
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| With 6 passengers on a flight from Armenia to Egypt |
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| Resting after arrival in Dahab |
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| Dahab |
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| Om Mahmoud Restaurant in Dahab, delicious food! |
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| Seeing Saudi Arabia on the other side |
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| Dahab, dog and cat paradise |
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| Sugarcane juice, ubiquitous in Egypt |
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| Typical Egyptian dinner |
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| Dinner in Dahab |
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| Haircut in Dahab |
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| There is a public viewing on every Liverpool matchday in Egypt |
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| Arriving in Alexandria |
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| Citadel of Qaitbay, Alexandria |
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| Fisherman in Alexandria |
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| Gathering at a cafe in Alexandria |
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| The neighborhood of our host Abdu in Alexandria |
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| Falafel at our place |
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| Delicious Kebda (Chicken liver sandwich) |
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| Fish and prawns are delicious in Alexandria |
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| Library of Alexandria |
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| Old Cairo |
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| Walks around Old Cairo |
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| Typical street scene in Cairo |
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| What do we have here? |
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| Pyramide! |
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| Nearly empty in COVID-times |
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| He was happier than he looks like |
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| Pasha! |
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| Nagui, the real top sight of Egypt! |
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| Coptic Church in Cairo |
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| Cats are always around in Egypt, literally everywhere |
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| The famous Tutankhamun-Mask |
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| Egyptian Museum in Cairo, world-class exhibitions |
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| Sunset over the Nile in Cairo |
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| Juice shop in Hurghada |
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| Hurghada Beaches |
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| Crossing the Nile on a ferry in Luxor |
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| Villages and farms around Luxor |
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| Exploring the countryside by bicycle |
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| Cycling to the Valley of the Kings in Luxor |
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| The Nile at night |
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| Elephantine island in Aswan |
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| At our host Nuno in Aswan |
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| Having a boat trip on the Nile in Aswan |
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| Delicious Nile Perch |
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| Watching the Africa Cup with Nuno |
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| Saving a dog from the floods |
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| Train to Qena along the Nile |
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| 12-year-old Taxi drivers in Egypt are normal. What's not normal is that a guy with a glass bottle will try to attack you afterward, that's what happened after that ride. People came and helped immediately. |
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| Beautiful Dendera Temple in Qena |
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| On a party boat in Qena |
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| With Nour and Karim in Qena |
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| Bye bye Egypt, off to new adventures! |
