So many people rush to judge a place the moment that they arrive.
But, we wanted to take in Cairo, Giza and the entirety of Egypt before giving a fair opinion
of our time in the country. Unfortunately some content creators who came to Egypt recently
didn't have the best time, but we wanted to share five things that surprised us.
mostly in a positive way and explain why we wouldn't hesitate to come back to Egypt.
We are going to start with a negative though and get it out of the way. Unfortunately, a lot
of people in the tourism industry are going to look at you as a dollar sign first and foremost
and that starts from the top down. Whether it's a Nile River cruise or an overnight sleeper train,
you're going to be paying more than Egyptian locals... and by a lot. A small upcharge for tourists
definitely makes sense and we understand it and we've seen it before. But, in Egypt it's definitely
the biggest gap between locals and tourists that we've ever experienced before. We also knew when
going to Egypt to prepare for the street sellers and while most of them were friendly enough,
we did have one time where someone tried to reach out and grab Gokce as we were walking past.
(Salesman being very push for a sale)
Don't touch me, don't touch me!
Thankfully, he quickly let go, but the best way is to
just keep walking and repeat no thank you. It's a little bit harder though when you
get approached by boat which is definitely one of the craziest things we saw while we were in Egypt.
There are sellers who will pull up next to your Nile cruise ship and try to sell you
something even almost getting smashed at the Esna lock just to make a sale. Of course,
a lot of sellers will be trying to have you buy things at marked up prices so be aware of that
No, he's saying 450 EGP.
Ahh, no 450.
(jokingly) Don't buy from this guy! (laughter)
That also happens in so many countries around the world, so don't be afraid
to bargain to get a better price or some extra stuff thrown in for free. The biggest
problem for us was there was always people looking for tips at Egypt's historical sites,
especially as we like to call them the tomb guardians at the Pyramids and the Valley of
the Kings. But, we did learn something important about them thanks to Mostafa.
And the people live there.
In the tombs? (Yes) How?
They are very poor people and they were homeless.
Unfortunately, the pandemic hurt a lot of people in
the tourism industry and Egypt was no exception. So, while it's true that you're going to have to
bring your money with you, especially if you're an American or European, as long as you have the
right tour guide, more on that in a little bit, you'll be completely fine while you're
in Egypt. Don't let something small like this ruin an amazing time in a beautiful country like Egypt.
A lot of people show the pushy salesmen and the beautifully chaotic parts of Cairo and Giza, but
there are some parts that really surprised us for how beautiful they are and we wanted to
share them with you so hopefully you can enjoy them too when you go and visit the country.
First up is Zamalek. It's where our Cairo hotel was located it's considered to be one of the
best areas to stay in all of Cairo. We're glad Mostafa got us out onto the river to take it
all in. It gave us a much different feel for Cairo and we really appreciated it. And to our surprise there
was even radio stations in English due to the high population of diplomats and expats in the area.
Cairo also has some amazing green spaces like Al-Azhar Park which gives you a great view of
the city. Which, considering what everybody normally shows of Cairo, we were so surprised and impressed by.
You need to pay to get in but it's just 25 or 30 Egyptian Pounds and it's so worth it to
find yourself in the middle of nature and beauty. It's very attractive to local people as well and
people come to hang out, enjoy, have a picnic, or even have a graduation or wedding party.
We actually wound up crashing a wedding party ourselves and Gokce wound up even leaving a note in their wedding book.
Giza also has its own spots away from the hustle and bustle of the big city,
with beautiful hotels like the one we stayed at right next to the Pyramids. We were able to
stay at the Marriott Mena House on Marriott points and we're happy to show you how you could do
that too on our patreon page. And there's even a beautiful restaurant with breathtaking views
overlooking the Pyramids of Giza all within its property.
While most people think of Egypt as a Muslim only county,
Gokce and I actually know that's not true. She has a friend who grew up
as a Christian in Egypt. What was really surprising to us was learning that 10 percent of the entire country's
population is actually Christian. Not only does Egypt have a huge Christian population, but
it's also home to the largest monastery in the entire Middle East and the way to get to that
monastery is the most interesting and unique experience Gokce and I probably have ever
had. Definitely the most surprising thing that we experienced during our time in Egypt... talking about Garbage City.
All the people who live here, they work in collecting the garbage from the city
and also they do the recycling. There are about 70 000 people (that) live here. (oh my gosh)
Most of them are Christians and many of them are very rich. Even they don't like look like it,
but they are rich because of the recycling. Its a living city.
A living city, that's full of garbage (yeah)
The only way to get up to the church that we're going to, is passing through the Garbage City.
20 years ago there was this religious Polish man, he arrived here and found a Christian Egyptian girl
and decided to stay because not only he fell for the girl, but also this area
and he decided to make all these carvings. We're at the biggest church in the entire Middle East
and it is carved into a mountain. We have no idea about this place existence.
We're quite overwhelmed by the beauty of it. There are 10 million Christians living in the
entirety of Egypt and we're actually with one of them. We have Nermine, here she got this tattoo
here when she was five years old and they had a ceremony here actually at this church. So, Christian
Egyptians, in order to differentiate themselves from the rest of the people, they actually have
the same exact tattoo the cross tattoo on there (wrist). Is it the same exact place or do you get it at different places?
Yeah, maybe here, or here.
Either here or there, okay. So, in the winter when the weather is not nice instead of gathering at
the summer church they come here. It's entirely in the cave. I've never seen anything like this before.
So, next up is probably the biggest question on everybody's mind when they're visiting Egypt
and that is, is Egypt safe? Of course, like everybody else we heard stories and read news
articles about safety issues in Egypt, but honestly we really felt safe the majority
of the time that we were in the country. Of course though, there were a few instances that
made us a little bit concerned about our safety. So, we wanted to touch upon those really quick.
The big thing that surprised us at first upon landing in Egypt, is the amount of military and
police checkpoints in the Sinai Peninsula, at train stations and more. We got used to
it after the Sinai Peninsula and it really is for the benefit of your safety, but seeing that
much police and military presence made us a little worried at first. The biggest safety
concern of ours during our two weeks in Egypt, actually came on the overnight train experience
from Luxor to Giza. While we felt safe on the platforms with the police presence,
unfortunately train crashes and safety issues are a common occurrence on the Egyptian rail system.
There was even a crash the day before we rode the train and it was bumpy the whole entire night.
I guess we stopped somewhere...
Its not easy to sleep because it feels like there is a turbulence.
It was definitely when we felt the least safe
in all of Egypt and we were happy to make it to Giza and get off that train. Last, but not least, we
wanted to touch on the subject of women's safety while we were in the country. And while we did have
that one incident where someone reached out and grabbed Gokce's arm, that was the only time where
Gokce felt a little bit concerned about her safety and we really took into the fact that
it was a pushy salesman, right after covid hit and the tourism industry had just started to reopen.
One bad apple doesn't represent the entire country. While she was there she was very mindful of the
fact that we were in Egypt and that there's certain cultural norms and customs that are
observed. Women in the country dress a certain way, so as long as you are respectful of those cultural
norms and dress appropriately, you won't have any issues in Egypt. Of course we were wearing western
style clothing, even though we tried to dress a bit more conservatively while we were there, so
we got stares anyway and probably got stares for this camera of course as well. So, nothing more than
what we saw in other countries and experienced in other countries that we visited so far.
We want to end though on something that surprised us in the best possible way and surprising is
really not the right word for it, because Egyptians were so friendly, so hospitable and so welcoming.
It was really unbelievable to experience and it is probably the biggest reason that we will go
back to Egypt, because we really left with friends. First up was Ashraf and Daha, whose energy was
infectious and we even got to meet his family.
Wow, how many years difference?
You can ask him.
You are like twins.
He cares so deeply about Dahab's beauty
and showed us why it is becoming a must-see spot in Egypt.
Dolphins?!? Yes?!? Yes!
And he even made sure we got back to our hotel after missing the last boat back the last booth
The last boat left us, that means we would stay here, and he have to come back again.
I told him, "I will pay you on the way back".
Ahmed made our trip up to the summit of Mount Sinai as enjoyable as possible. And up near
the top, we even got to meet some of the other bedouins and shared Turkish Delight with them
In Luxor, Sayma started off our day by buying us some delicious falafel to try.
So, she wants us to try...
The Egyptian falafel (okay), which is the best falafel ever!
Okay I'm excited, all right.
And speaking of delicious food, the entire dinner that we had on our last night in Giza
was thanks to Mostafa's amazing friends, but most importantly it was because of Mostafa that we had
so many great memories in Egypt. Everyone around the Pyramids and Sphinx were friendly and let us
enjoy Egypt's most important sights unbothered. By the end of our time there, we really became
friends with him and he even invited us over to his own house to meet his family and have dessert.
Now we're gonna try one of the most traditional Egyptian desserts, it's
called Om Ali. There are two options one is with nuts and the other one is with the cream.
Wow, this is becoming one of my favorite desserts, very rapidly. There's a little angel here,
who wants my attention, yes.
We're gonna have to cut here people enjoy the food and cut it. (laughter)
We're just so happy and thankful to even be here like right now. We didn't know what to expect when
we came to Egypt and now we're leaving with so many friends.
We really met some incredible people
that made our time in Egypt unforgettable. We're very lucky to have been to some incredible places
during our travels, but we could honestly say Egypt was our favorite country to visit so far. It really
was like a red pepper, it made us feel alive in a way we definitely did not expect. But, that's it
for Egypt and chapter three. We cannot wait to share our next chapter with you so stay tune,
subscribe, ring the bell for notifications and we'll see you on our next video, bye.