How safe is Egypt for 2 females in their midtwenties to
travel around? Aside from being hassled, is there any
personal danger?????? Please advise.
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Having spent a month 'doing' Egypt, I (23, blond, Canadian)
found it to be the most frustrating, enjoyable, challenging
and exciting country I have been too. I've been on the
road for about 8 months now, and Egypt, by far, is the one
place I want to go back to.
*
Just be smart. Wear modest clothing. Be prepared for A
LOT of harassment no matter how you dress. It's sad to
say, but don't trust ANYONE, but most important of all,
bargain bargain bargain.
*
I flew into Cairo alone, almost got fleeced for every penny
I owned, and then hooked up with some other young people
with whom I spent the rest of the month. You'll find it
easy to hook up with other travellers.
*
Don't miss out on the felucca up the Nile, and do some
diving on the Sinai if you can. Write with any questions,
I'd be happy to answer.
It depends on what you mean by trust. As a tourist, there
are some people working in the tourist industry who will do
things that may be less than honest to make a living, such
as tell you the buses aren't running to get you to take
their taxi. But in my experience, after about 2 days in
Egypt, those type of people disappeared. They can tell who
is fresh off the plane and who is not, and they know
that tourists learn quickly. And you have to realize that
it is embarrasing in Egyptian culture you don't know the
answer to someone's question, so your question will be
answered even if they don't know the answer. Therefore,
it is your responsiblity to know who to ask. For
instance, don't ask traffic police for directions, because
they are assigned to a different location every day and
don't know the neighborhood, go into a shop and ask
someone who lives there. If you make the blanket statement
to not trust Egyptians, you are making an insulting
generalization about 60 million people. If you tell people
not to trust anyone, without qualifying it, then how are
people supposed to interperet it? If someone invites you to
enjoy a meal with their family, are you saying they will
poison you? Are you saying that if you walk down the
street, every person is trying to pickpocket you? As for
harrassment, it is a problem in touristy areas, but that is
because some tourist women who came before you have given
the men the impression that they will get something, if you
know what I mean, because they have given. If you get away
from the touristy areas,and you put a scarf over your hair,
not a single man will hassle you.
I covered my hair and walked around non-touristy areas, and
still was harassed. I ended up spending the rest of the
month with a group of 16 people my age, and the guys in our
group told us they were sure that we had a completely
different experience in Egypt than the women did. I called
them our token penis's!! :) Unfortunately, a western woman
is treated best when she is with a man.
*
As for my comment re don't trust anyone, I still stand by
it. I found very few Egyptians, no matter where I was, who
did not want my money. This is not meant as an insult
really, since the country has lost up to 90% (depending on
your source) of their tourist dollars since the tourist
killings in the last few years. Who can blame the people
who harrass you when they depend on the little money that's
left that trickles into the tourist industry?
Unfortunately, after a few days, an instant barrier comes
up around you, as a sort of protection. While it might
keep you from some cultural experiences, I found it
necessary for both my sanity and my wallet!
*
I still advise that if you are a single woman, that you
NEVER visit someone's house for a meal, no matter how
trustworthy they are. I wouldn't do it in the United
States or in Australia and I won't do it in Egypt. It's
just common sense, and if the person who asked has any,
they should understand why.
*
And I certainly didn't mean that all Egyptians are horrible
people. I met some wonderful people (especially the women)
who were warm and welcoming and very helpful. If you want
to have anything done in Egypt, get an Egyptian to do it
for you (ie, like dealing with bureaucracy etc), they have
a much easier time working the very complicated system.
This country has captivated me and I plan to return for a
year or so. I just wanted Jenny to be prepared, it sure
knocked me on my butt when I first arrived! :)
My wife and I just left Egypt and I couldn┤t agree with
Katcalls more. The last time I was in Egypt was without my
wife and I had a much better time. I was still harrassed,
but nowhere near the amount I was this time. We did as nbh
suggests above and tried to get to know a couple of locals
by not being suspicious and nearly got fleeced both times.
It just doesn┤t pay to trust anyone there, despite the fact
that you may be spurning a legitimate attempt at friendship
by someone. They (the ones who want to part you from your
money) are very good at what they do and are looking for the
slightest opportunity - for you to let down your guard.
We┤ve been to much poorer countries and have NEVER been
hassled the way we were in Egypt this last visit (3 weeks
ago).
And beware: things that you THOUGHT you┤d paid for aren┤t.
You┤ll find yourself forking out extra cash for the smallest
of services. So, it┤s better to be vigilant and suspicious
than to let down your guard on the expectation that the
person who has approached you is possibly legit.
Try not to let these hassles ditract you from the wonderful
sights and have a great time!
And I forgot to mention, we WERE invited to someone┤s house
for dinner (nbh: ¿If someone invites you to enjoy a meal
with their family, are you saying they will poison you?¿)
and it turned out not to be for dinner at all, but so that
they could use our passports to buy duty free goods. So
unfortunately, I┤d have to agree with Katcalls again: never
trust anyone and you┤ll be safer than if you take a chance.
Thanks to the previous posts on the info that you have
given. My friend and I both women in our early 30's are
leaving for Egypt next week. I just about prepared for
anything to happen to us from one extreme being great to the
other horrible. I hope with of all the information I have
read in the past months in planning this trip it will fall
in the middle somewhere. I also that mine and her's combined
street smarts will help us a little bit too.
I think the point here is that there are many tales from all sorts of travellers and you should glean the most relevant from each. I too have been to Egypt as a single traveller and with my partner, who used to work there. I've had this discussion before in this section but I think that the way YOU behave has a lot to do with how you are treated. And this goes beyond what you wear. Be confident, alert and do not respond to any unwanted advances. It is true that there are a lot of hustlers in Egypt but their very success depends upon finding that one out of every ten people who is taken in. If they start to hassle you then they will usually give up and go onto the next person. Do not go anywhere or buy anything you don't want. It is very easy. If someone harasses you to buy this or that just say NO and keep going. Once you show the slightest interest in anything they will go to work on you. You have the final say in everything. I found after a while that I had trouble getting the shopkeepers to give me their time because I had turned myself into the shopper from hell. I also had a lovely time in a house with a guy. It was during Ramadan and my partner and I were walking down the road to some small village along the Nile. We had a lovely meal and watched TV from a room that overlooked the Nile and the desert beyond. If you do get to go to a house, then look around. Are there other women, family etc in the house. If it looks like a genuine home then maybe it is. Be aware but not so much that you miss out on the whole experience.
I found Egyptians to be estremely honest people. What people have to understand is that in terms of the market/shopping or commercial environment they do things differently. We may interpret their ways as scamming, sly, sneaky or dishonest, but you should respect their ways of doing things. It is a vastly different culture and all people who go there should make the effort to know a bit about the place before they go. Your bag is just as likely to be stolen if you leave it laying around in Cairo as it is in London or New York.
As for the remark about invitations being pretexts for
buying duty free alcohol, I have no doubt that this might
have happened, but you have to be cautious about advice like
this. The Rough Guide to Egypt warns people that requests
to read letters from abroad by Egyptians are ALWAYS pretexts
to get you into their shop. I have been asked to read and
write letters dozens of times in Luxor, and not a single
time was it a pretext to get me into their shop. Every time
it was a genuine need to have a letter read or written, and
I always have agreed to do so.
Mel, You're right on with your advice. Especially how your
behavior affects how you are treated. Katcalls, I have no
doubt that if you were hanging out with a big group of other
young people, that was the reason you were hassled. The
more you are the more obvious you are and the more likely
you are to attract attention, and the less likely you will
have any interaction with ordinary honest Egyptians not
involved in tourism. That has been my experience. When I
have travelled to cities in Egypt that very rarely see
tourists, I have never been hassled in the streets. I think
that tells you that the ordinary Egyptian doens't engage in
that sort of behavior, only the ones who see tourists on a
regular basis, which tells you that it is something about
the tourists themselves that encourages such behavior. And
as a female alone you are better off than if you are with
another female. Katcalls, I suggest you don't spend a year
in Egypt. With your attitude, you will manage to offend a
lot of people. Haven't you heard of learning from
experience and mistakes? Yes, there may be some people who
scam you, but you learn to distinguish those people if you
actually open yourself up to new experiences, and you soon
are able to spot those people from a mile away and don't
even have to bother with them, and along the way you also
will meet nice people. I got knocked on my butt myself at
times in Egypt (but I'd have to say that at least half of
the time or more it was by other foreigners of varying
nationalities living in Egypt, and not Egyptians), but I
learned from those experiences and I can handle anything
now. If you do everything you can to avoid those bad
experiences, you will also miss out on the many
opportunities for good experiences. I'm going to tell you
about one of my experiences in Egypt, and what it has meant
to me. My first time in Egypt six years ago I spent my
first five weeks travelling around with a friend. We had
gone to the beach in Alexandria near the end of our trip,
and as we sat on the beach there was this Egyptian family
nearby, except there was this teenage boy with red hair with
them that didn't look at all Egyptian but he was speaking
Arabic and so my friend and I kept looking over at them
trying to figure it out. They noticed and invited us over
to sit with them. Their English was very limited, as was
our Arabic. We sat with them awhile, and they invited us to
dinner. We refused, refused again, but they were insistent,
so we accepted their offer. They were from Cairo and were
on vacation in Alexandria. Afterwards, I went to live in
Cairo. And they became my best friends in Egypt. They
treat me like one of the family, the brothers and sisters
are about my age or a little younger, and I would spend many
of my Fridays with them. They aren't after money and never
ask me for it, although I bring them gifts of things they
want when I come from the US for things that are either
difficult to get or expensive or not good quality in Egypt.
They've been there for me when I've had problems and I for
them when they have had family crises. I've stayed with
them on ocassion and I leave personal belongings I don't
need while travelling around Egypt or when I come back to
the US with them. I've spent many Egyptian holidays with
them, timing my departure or arrival in Egypt to correspond
with the holidays. I've been there when relatives have died
and gotten married. Now, if I had taken your advice and not
trusted anyone, I would have missed out on such wonderful
experiences. Oh, and the red haired kid, turns out he was
one of the sons, a full-blooded Egyptian named Mohammed,
now an adult. Of course, I'm not the only one who is fooled
by his appearance. Recently he appeared in a television
commercial playing an ancient Roman!
For the two "twenty something" women wanting to travel in
Egypt. Be careful! I am an American living and working in
Cairo. You must take some precautions! I can detail them.
Contact me here via this web page using my handle.
The Egyptian men here have a very short sighted view of
western Women, especially those "percieved" from the USA.
The is a lot of harrasment here aginst ALL women, but
especially western. Actually you will not be aboe to
understand it (unless you understand arabic) but it take
the most perverted form. And rape is not uncommon here! So
beware. I'll do what I can to help out. Contact me soon.
Katcalls-I read your post on another thread about being
with backpackers. Of course if you are travelling with a
huge group of backpackers you are the scammers absolute
favorite target. Safety in numbers, not! They can see you
coming from far off with your dirty clothes that you
obviously picked up in India, bowed over with a giant
backpack on your back, with pierced body parts and long
unkempt dirty hair, and they know you are a group of people
who have no clue about Egyptian culture and that Egypt is
just one stop on a round the world trip, and you'll believe
anything they say. I see backpackers in Egypt all the time,
usually clueless types being led off by someone who is about
to make a commission off of them. Foreigners who dress
nice, actually take some time to learn about the country and
the lanuguage before they go there, and travel alone have it
infinitely easier. My friend and I that I travelled with
the first time in Egypt met backpackers, and we quickly
learned to avoid them. We had nothing in common with them,
being two Egyptologists on our first trip to Egypt
wanting to learn as much as possible about the country and
its people. The backpackers wanted to spend all their time
with one another, and swap stories about who had the worst
experience in what country and swap stories about how awful
they thought Egyptians were, and no interest in Egypt
itself.
AS for perceptions about American women, here is a quote
from an Egyptian man I have known for a long time who works
in tourism: "Why are American women so much more difficult
than European women? If I try to get lucky with European
women, I might have luck with 1 in 100, but if I try with
1000 American women, I would get lucky with only one."
Another guy I met told me, "With a German woman, I only need
to talk to her for half an hour and she will sleep with me."
It's the European women who travel to Egypt, especially the
German and English women, who give all of us the bad
reputation. There are a lot of these women who go to Egypt
specifically to play the image of the western woman.
Okay, NBH, I've tried to be as polite and open and honest
as I could and all you've been is condescending, rude and,
quite honestly, a real jerk. I tried Egypt on my own as a
single woman, and it was a lot of trouble. Obviously you
had a different experience. Even with all the trouble I
had there, I want to go back and encourage others to go and
see it because it's an amazing and wonderful country. This
website is about sharing experiences, all I've done is just
that.
*
And you sit there and knock backpackers, well, have you
looked on the site that you are on yet? You are making a
lot of assumptions about me and my mode of travel without
even knowing really what the situation is. I am not dirty,
or rude or even mildly patronising when I travel, I am
there to experience the people and culture
*
And don't assume that I don't know anything about Egypt,
it's been the one place in the world that I've always
wanted to see, and I probably know just as much about the
place as you and your egyptologist buddy. hey! That's
great that you got off the beaten path and met people you
felt were genuine (and I'm not assuming that they were not)
but you have to concede that the average tourist/backpacker
will NEVER get to those places and have to glean what they
can from the basics that tourists are allowed to see, be it
Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Edfu, Siwa or the Sinai.
*
And lastly, and I've tried to be as polite as I can, don't
tell me where or where not to go, or else I'll tell you
somewhere else to go that won't be as polite! I'm bowing
out of this discussion, your way of 'sharing' offends me
too much. If anyone wants my opinion of my travels there,
and I've never said they were ever anything but my opinion,
feel free to write and I'll be happy to chat.
I never said you were dirty or impolite. I'm sorry if I
gave that impression. I don't know you personally so I
can't judge you as an individual. But backpackers, as a
group, can give this impression. When you were travelling
with a huge group like that it is possible to make such an
impression, whether or not you as an individual are like
that. But I've seen a lot of backpackers in Egypt that are
that way. I never said you were. Egypt is not like America
in terms of diversity. There is a lot more pressure to
conform there, in terms of dress, behavior etc., and
anything you do out of the ordinary is noticed by Egyptians.
Even as a woman if you dress in nice clothes like the kind
that you can get at Banana Republic which would be
completely aceptable in the US, Egyptians will think you
don't have any fashion sense and are dressed like a man. A
woman in Egypt was recently granted a divorce because she
didn't like the fact that her husband wore earrings, and it
is normally near impossible for a woman to get a divorce,
and so you can see how serious wearing earrings was
considered to be. And you are right, most people don't get
off the beaten path, but the fact of the matter is that the
hassle you experienced is due to the behavior of tourists
that came before you. The men working in tourism don't
necessarily get the impression western women are loose by
watching American tv, they have that impression because
they've learned from experience. This was not a problem in
Egypt until ten or fifteen years ago, or so I am told. I
know a lot of Egyptian men in their 40s and older in Luxor
who complain about the behavior of their sons in their 20s
and 30s, with regards to their chasing after foreign women
for their money. The fathers worked long and hard and put
in an honest day's work to get where they are and their sons
want it all right away. But that is because they know they
can get it all right away from some woman. If some women
didn't put out, then they wouldn't see any point to hassling
you. Egyptian men who don't work with tourists won't hassle
you because among Egyptians themselves, such behavior is
unacceptable. I'm not trying to attack you, I just feel you
have judged a whole nation based on some bad experience with
the minority of the people. That I think is unfair. And I
really believe if you get rid of the other backpackers you
can have a lot better experience next time you go to Egypt.
Don't let your past experience color your view of the
Egyptians.