[Question] Anyone went Egypt from Singapore before?

[soulblader_89]

As a traveller, I try to research, even hwz travel forum do not have much info abt that country
my friends all never go before, not typical travel destination for singaporean, like Korea, Japan, Taiwan, etc etc, dun bother asking those sinkie girl, all tell me say egypt not safe etc etc


My questions is

What airline is recommend to travel to egypt?
Which country is recommend for layover?
How to find local guide? scare of being scam
is the klook tour or trip.com tour recommended?
Best way to travel to hotel from airport to avoid scam? Airport transfer or just call uber?
How is the food there?
Visa question? do I need to apply visa in advance or just buy from airport?

 

[qcy888]

Can try Tripadvisor forum.

 

[raven0305]

need visa. last time i transit zurich iirc. got a few website can booked, i forget which one i use the other time i go.

 

[keenklee]

IMHO. IIRC.
I think I went in 2011 - package tour. Cairo to Alexandra. Took Nile cruise and noisy train.
Safe or not? That period got protest at Tahir Square - saw tanks and armed forces.
Tour guide made last minute changes to the itinerary - SAFE.

 

[WarMage87]

As a traveller, I try to research, even hwz travel forum do not have much info abt that country
my friends all never go before, not typical travel destination for singaporean, like Korea, Japan, Taiwan, etc etc, dun bother asking those sinkie girl, all tell me say egypt not safe etc etc


My questions is

What airline is recommend to travel to egypt?
Which country is recommend for layover?
How to find local guide? scare of being scam
is the klook tour or trip.com tour recommended?
Best way to travel to hotel from airport to avoid scam? Airport transfer or just call uber?
How is the food there?
Visa question? do I need to apply visa in advance or just buy from airport?

The most efficient way to "travel" is by watching travel vlogs on YouTube.

 

[bohemian-indie]

Went to Egypt exactly 2 years ago as a solo female traveler. Def not your typical sinkie girl here
Just need to be really careful and all in all, I find it safe.

Here's my experience and take. Hope it helps, and enjoy the trip TS.

What airline is recommend to travel to egypt? Took Qatar and layover for about 2 hours.
Which country is recommend for layover? Doha. I like Qatar Airways when traveling to more obscure countries, more frequent timings and took Qatar to St. Petersburg too when I went to Russia back in 2019.

How to find local guide? scare of being scam What I did was I went on Airbnb, checked out the rates and reviews for a private guide (half day, few days etc), and for some adventures, I booked there. Did all my research combing websites, YouTube etc before deciding where I wanna visit and why (as in the historical facts about the particular place). In fact, when I get a guide, it's more for ease of transport in certain places and to have someone in case of communication issues. If I am to choose again, I probably will visit without a guide save for places like Abu Simbel and Nubian Village.

I was there for 2 weeks and went to Cairo, Luxor and Aswan. Visited the pyramids of Giza, the Dahshur, Memphis & Saqqara (these were the original pyramids), Islamic Cairo, Coptic Cairo, Cave Church, Zamalek etc in Cairo. When in Luxor, visited Valley of the Kings, took hot air balloon (woke up at 4am), Luxor Temple, Karnak Temple, Hatshepsut etc. Then took a road trip from Luxor to Aswan (stopover 1 night at Nubian Village) before going to Abu Simbel the next morning. I like Abu Simbel more than the pyramids Then road trip back to Luxor the same day. I then flew from Luxor back to Cairo and stay 3 more days and cos more flights to come back SG. Basically stayed in hotels, and for first Cairo stay, I took up an Airbnb cos the view of the pyramids is just right in front of me.

For Luxor and Aswan, I engaged a Airbnb guide outside of the platform so he needs not pay the commission and I get a cheaper rate. Well, this was proposed by him. They may tend to ask for USD. I also change to USD before going there, not much just USD200 in small notes though most of the times, I paid for CC for the admission fees on the spot, or restaurants. For Russia, I tend to book my museum, ballet and places of attraction tickets online and just collect there. But for Egypt, most of their attractions may not have a functioning website. But remember, if you are going to the Valley of the Kings, must make sure you get the ticket online! Else it will be 1-2 hours of queue there even if u go there early. One thing for Egypt is most of the attractions open as early as 6am and close by 4-5pm. So when I was there, I tend to wake up early and take hotel breakfast and meet my guide by 830am to venture out. It was a healthy lifestyle for me haha... but also productive since the weather can be extremely hot at noon. I went there in late Sept back then and first few days were HOT but after that, better. It's considered off peak and thus more hotel choices too when I was planning in July back then.

is the klook tour or trip.com tour recommended? GetYourGuide is also a great site and very reliable. Check out half day tours in Cairo, Luxor etc, or the hot air balloon ones. Though my guide will have direct contact with the balloon people and can give me direct rates. But hor, towards the end, my this guide got try to scam me but I avoided by acting blur. Ask me pay for some car fine when he anyhow parked his cark. It was a old ticket on the window and he tried to jerk up to close to SGD 70 here but I took a photo (and happened to take his face) and asked the hotel people. They told me it's old ticket and probably just SGD5. Hahaha... I did not pay him by the way. This was only one of many examples he tried to emotionally guilt me but too much can really piss people off la.

Best way to travel to hotel from airport to avoid scam? Airport transfer or just call uber? I used inDrive when I was there. Most locals use inDrive. Very convenient like our Grab or Uber. Just ensure you locked in the right location as the drivers' English may not be great but can text them or ask someone to help you communicate in worst case. One tip is if you find the driving and personality of the drivers is good, you can ask them to be your private chauffeur for that day. Which is what I did when I have back to back places to wanna go to They earn more that way, and I need not worry of getting lost hehe, and it works out to be inexpensive too. I did that back in London as well as they know the best food haunts.

How is the food there? I was initially afraid I could not take to the food but surprisingly it's great. OMG, out of everything, I miss the Egyptian flatbread the most. Such a normal bread but I miss it.

Visa question? do I need to apply visa in advance or just buy from airport? I did apply online before going there. I heard of cases where people buy on the spot but got communication issues. In fact, some said the visa is just a scam, they don't really check but better to be safe. This is the website I booked from (https://visa2egypt.gov.eg) and I received a e-visa pdf via email. Think it was USD25. No sweat. Just rem to print it out.

As a traveller, I try to research, even hwz travel forum do not have much info abt that country
my friends all never go before, not typical travel destination for singaporean, like Korea, Japan, Taiwan, etc etc, dun bother asking those sinkie girl, all tell me say egypt not safe etc etc


My questions is

What airline is recommend to travel to egypt?
Which country is recommend for layover?
How to find local guide? scare of being scam
is the klook tour or trip.com tour recommended?
Best way to travel to hotel from airport to avoid scam? Airport transfer or just call uber?
How is the food there?
Visa question? do I need to apply visa in advance or just buy from airport?

 

[fortunehunter]

Go YouTube find the video from the best food review.
He say this country is one of the worst in the world.
Somehow is read also is quite bad.
Go India is much more better than Egypt.

 

[the_dog]

I did Egypt some years back, by booking a land tour with some Egyptian tour company I found online.

Everything was done by trust, no deposit given or asked for, I just booked a return ticket to Cairo, hoping I wouldn't kena fly aeroplane at arrivals, and luckily they were there to meet me, they arranged everything from hotels to transportation, Nile cruise, and guides

Egypt is an interesting place, but the scamming and touts there are on a another level. LOL

 

[zensushi]

[Question] Anyone went Egypt from Singapore before?​

 

[Hello_Kitty]

i went before...but over 10 years ago

 

[dambio]

@cosmothecat

 

[zensushi]

[Question] Anyone went Egypt from Singapore before?​

You should read the comments section to this YouTube video. They are savage, man!

 

[kuti-kuti]

That place better not go alone ...
Even if u go with group of friends without anyone among your group familar is dangerous

 

[kuti-kuti]

You should read the comments section to this YouTube video. They are savage, man!

Egypt got to go with experienced tour. The one leading the tour have inside lobangs that can come in handy in time of problems. Also they know the dos and donts, where not to go

 

[the_dog]

Egypt got to go with experienced tour. The one leading the tour have inside lobangs that can come in handy in time of problems. Also they know the dos and donts, where not to go

I went everywhere with local guides and that didn't stop me getting scammed. Eg, some locals would warmly welcome me to their shop and hand me something at the door. Or sometimes its the staff at attractions like the camel ride.
And then after you have taken the item from them, they demand to get paid some ridiculous price. Sometimes they say welcome, while opening open a bottle of Coke and handing to you, and then refuse to take it back saying that they've already opened it, so you need to pay.

I was duped the first time since in other shops they would just serve you a drink like tea as a welcome gesture.
The guide just pretended not to see and didn't intervene.

 

[OutBreak]

Don't look for trouble. If you need more challenge in life, please do it.

 

[li9ht5peed]

I went everywhere with local guides and that didn't stop me getting scammed. Eg, some locals would warmly welcome me to their shop and hand me something at the door. Or sometimes its the staff at attractions like the camel ride.
And then after you have taken the item from them, they demand to get paid some ridiculous price. Sometimes they say welcome, while opening open a bottle of Coke and handing to you, and then refuse to take it back saying that they've already opened it, so you need to pay.

I was duped the first time since in other shops they would just serve you a drink like tea as a welcome gesture.
The guide just pretended not to see and didn't intervene.

i would curse them loudly and get ready for combat. yes and be ready to be gunned down

 

[tauntme]

u ft? if not NS should have equipped you with the skills to survive and thrive anywhere in the world!!!

 

[orwell76]

1 colleague went

 

[the_dog]

i would curse them loudly and get ready for combat. yes and be ready to be gunned down

the way I saw it, I'm midway thru my holiday and losing USD10 for a Coke is not going to make me broke. Just take it as a lesson learnt, no point playing a hero in a foreign land and die insisting that I stuck to my rights and principles
Its just like that guy who refused to pay more for his Pulau Ubin boat ride - in the end cause himself more problems just to be able to say that he stuck steadfastly to his principles. LOL