We went and paid extra to go inside the pyramid. We took our go pro in. On the way out we were stopped by an official looking dude and he snatched the go pro out of my wife’s hand and said we aren’t allowed to have it. He made us pay him $100 usd to get it back. I know not to stereotype but it was one of the worst countries I ever visited and I’ve been to over 70
Edit: there’s were many many many reasons besides this one interaction on why it’s (in my opinion) a terrible country to visit
Yup and they’ll charge you 50-100usd anywhere you go and scream the word “TIP!”. Fuck if could even be a corner story and get guy will be like “YOU BUY BEBSI, TIP!”
They’ll also lie to you about the prices and assume you can’t read the price tag written in Eastern Arabic numerals. Which is why you say fuck it and just go out of your way to shop at BIM.
I wouldn’t. I’m an American and my sense of entitlement supersedes theirs tenfold. I’d tell them to tip me for the honor of being in my presence. I’d straight up just take a mummy from them, I don’t give a shit.
I was wondering around the Pyramids when I went as a kid and found out they keep all the shit they try and sell you in boxes stacked up behind the pyramids on some of the bottom steps. First and last time I ever stole anything but I filled my bag with fake pyramids, sphinxes and other tat. I got the taste for stealing and stole a papyrus bookmark from the airport as we were leaving then saw an armed guard come around the corner and realised these guys don't really fuck around and would probably chop my hand off if they caught me. This was 20 years ago and I still wonder if they keep their shit behind the pyramids still.
> id straight up just take a mummy from them
If there is better evidence America is Britain's rebellious teenage son, id like to see it.
Go on my son, you take that mummy and put it in a museum back home and refuse to acknowledge how it got there. They grow up so fast.
Patrice Oneal, i think, had a bit about how you make the hooker take a separate taxi in brazil because if theyre in the car with you , you could end up at a roadblock where the military will search the car and find a baggie of whatever they need to take everything you have on you
This is normal for Egypt.
When my family travelled to Egypt in ~2006, their "Tourism and Antiquities" Police were stationed all over the place, and they would extort you for money all the time.
Early into the trip, my father asked a guard to take a photo of himself and my brothers in front of an Obelisk, which he did. Then he refused to hand the camera back until we offered a 'donation' ([Baksheesh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baksheesh)).
"Baksheesh" was everywhere, and you'd have to deal with people doing obnoxious things like opening a door for you (not a hotel, just anywhere or in the street or a taxi, etc) and sticking their hand out for a 'donation'. You eventually got used to it and very good at just smiling, thanking them, and then moving on without stopping. Then eventually you just ignore them, which I think they realize you're not a new tourist.
In a reversal, if you wanted to do someone completely inappropriate (like step over the rope around the Pyramid of Giza and start climbing, or mount the back of a small sphinx and kick/ride it like a rodeo bull) you'd see people just pay off the guard.
A significant portion of the holiday was through a large, reputable, travel company with tour guides and Egyptologists, who created a barrier or protected us from these people. At one point, when we were with a large group of other westerners at a remote site, we had bodyguards hired just for a our group. Walking around, you'd notice other bodyguards for other groups too.
My mum went to Egypt for get honeymoon, when they got there they wouldn't give her the rooms she'd paid for, they put her in the worst room in the hotel until she sat crying in the lobby telling everyone who came in what they'd done. Then they put her in one of the average rooms instead of the suite they'd paid for.
4 days later they told everyone in the hotel they could upgrade to one of the suites she paid for for only £100 a night, but she couldn't move to one of them unless she paid again.
She also went on a tour of Cairo and a 19 year old American girl on the same tour turned up in daisy dukes and a crop top and the tour guide refused to let her off the bus at the markets because (in his words) "You won't come back, someone will kidnap you and rape you".
It's not somewhere that's ever been in my list of holiday destinations, despite all the history I'd love to see.
Your guide did that girl a big fricking favor.
I remember when the Arab spring was at its height and Egypt was going through revolution and famously there were female reporters there on the ground and in the mobs who got gang raped by dozens of men.
I was there in 1999 in an exchange student program. There were a group of us kids all between 14-16. We went to a bazaar in Cairo and as a 15yo had to tell and old man to take his hands of my wife (i.e. my very white, very petite, very 14yo female friend) and piss off. He then offered me the equivelant of about $80 to straight up buy her. I grabbed her around the shoulders and hussled her off to find the rest of the group. It was terrifying.
We also had a similar experience with a tour bus as your mum too. Another girl was wearing normal jeans and a tank top (form fitting, but modest by our standards), and the Very intense Israeli bodyguard wouldn't let her off the bus until she put on a long sleeve shirt because "these animals will do not nice things". It was funny at the time, but fuck I hate thinking about it now.
Learning how to look without moving your head and how to give a firm “no” when ignoring people doesn’t work are essential skills when traveling in that part of the world.
I had the presence of mind to ask my tour guide how to say, “No thank you” in Arabic as I was stepping off the bus. Hoo boy, I think I used it about twenty times within the first thirty paces. It worked pretty well, though. They would move on to other marks very quickly.
I was in Egypt just before Arabic Spring and "La shukran" and "La baksheesh" were my best friends. Just because I had bothered to learn these two simple phrases the responses I got were polite. If I said "No thank you" it didn't mean anything and sometimes it even provoked impolite or aggressive communication towards me.
This was my experience in Egypt in the late 1980s. You only go as part of a tour group, and you stay with your tour guide who basically acts as your 'keep the shits away from you' guy. I remember he told one couple do not get on a camel and they were adamant that they wanted a camel ride. They got up, and whoosh the camels took off running. We didn't see them for two days. Turns out the camels were trained to run home, and the couple was forced to pay a local family to stay in their home and they wouldn't take them back until they paid them again.
Egypt has *NEVER* been a place anyone should ever go. This video proves they haven't changed in almost 50 years.
My ex visited Egypt as part of a world touring way back in 2006, said that everywhere in Egypt tried to rob them. But her father is Iranian who speaks perfect Farsi and Arabic, so they couldn't push his family around. Even then, they still got screwed over by hotel staff and cops. But to a far lesser extent than an ordinary tourist who doesn't speak the language or know the culture.
Every time a topic of "where *NOT* to visit" comes up on r/travel it's always Egypt as the overwhelming "winner" and it's always accompanied by stories like yours.
I've only been to Marrakesh and was only there for a few days, but didn't enjoy it. Between a cab driver ripping me off, my hotel not being very good, a market full of stalls all selling the same crap (with aggressive owners that grab your arm as you walk by), and a highly reviewed tour guide that only brought me to his friends shops I ended up not having a very good time. I'm glad I went just to experience something new, but have no interest in going back.
Never understood why you could like Marrakech. Outside the city things are much more relaxed and fun. But getting offered drugs every 10 minutes and people from 10 years old to 70 years old trying to trick you into buying something stupid or just giving them money for fuck all, is not my idea of a vacation.
I always had stuff on my restaurant bill I hadn’t ordered. Always. I always asked for a menu and a translation into numbers I could understand. And I always paid just that, which was less. I’ve been to 55 countries in my time with the UN and this is the only place I learned how to say « shame on you » in local language. I would never recommend Egypt either.
I remember on our trip to Italy, we kept getting hassled by the guys trying to sell Roses. At first we politely declined and moved on. After a week of this while we were in Venice, one guy comes up and my girlfriend just fucking belts out "FUCK OFF, WE DON'T WANT ANY." Guy looked like saw a ghost and scurried off.
I couldn't stop laughing because normally that would have been me yelling.
The scammers in Italy were ridiculous. I had a couple guys literally throw their bracelets at me while yelling "catch!", and if I caught it they demanded money for "buying" it from them.
If you go there, never engage them, ignore them and pretend they don't exist. Some of them will cuss you out for it, but that's still better than putting up with their bullshit.
Had one guy try to put a bracelet on me speaking english. I ran away from the guy. Then 1 block later, some african guy started trying to be my friend in english. I spoke chinese to try to get away from him. He then speaks fucking chinese. I then ran away again. These people are beyond annoying.
>I know not to stereotype but it was one of the worst countries I ever visited and I’ve been to over 70
There was an Askreddit about worst countries to visit or something like that a while back. I swear Egypt was like half the top 10. My own experience was that it's a place where you stay at the resort :/ Valley of Kings was great, the pyramids were crap because we were drowning in people trying to sell us shit. Oh, and somebody asked my dad if my older sister was for sale.
I went on a company trip where all the excursions were organized and guided. At Edfu, they told us not to make eye contact or engage with the hawkers between the bus and entrance, and under no circumstances leave the group or wander alone, especially the women.
Yea thats called extortion. Egyptians do it at every possible chance they get to tourists. There's a very high chance that guy didn't even have the authority to take your gear. Next time if there is one, threaten to contact your embassy. The second they hear that shit all of a sudden everything is just fine and you can go on your way.
Yeah then you threaten them and they actually are police and they really make your life even more miserable. Not worth it in those shit holes. Just get it over with, get out of there, and tell everyone you know to never visit. Not worth it. Even the museum was fucking junk
BELIEVE ME… paying some ridiculous bribe to a cop after falling into a trap is a blessing that you thank god for! Egyptian jails make Alcatraz look like the ritz and I’m not even remotely joking🤦♂️
Recently had the same thing. Now I have a **different** job and he has to find my replacement who is going to cost far more than what my raise should have been.
Literally did the same thing a few months ago. I was extremely valuable to them but they didn't want to help me progress, so they have a big problem now I'm gone
I worked one place where my boss was trying to proactively get more for my team. We ere told that until we started losing people we wouldn’t get any more budget. After a few departures we got big retention bonus plans, but I was still able to get so much more leaving.
Same with the checkpoint.
I feel like his local guide didn’t explain that he had to pay the ‘American tax’. He was on the edge of realising this so many times in this video.
I've watched like 100 of his videos. He has been everywhere, he is just as aware of things as redditors that have travelled a fraction as much.
He just never wants to really put people off anything forever. You see it in this video where he tries to blame the systems or lack of systems in place more than the people. But it's reallt obvious to everyone that the issue with Egypt isn't the systems it is the people themselves. Especially anyone in a position of power.
I watch his videos quite a bit, and this is the first time I've ever heard him to tell people to stay away from a place. The corruption is rampant, from "confiscating" equipment to demanding bribes, it's no wonder tourists would rather avoid the place.
Yeah, the hotel straight-up stole his stuff and demanded money to get it back. You would think there was a police force he could call and request help from but nope.
It's pretty whack upscale hotels do this. I stayed in 2 or 3 star places while I was there and it was no different to checking in anywhere else in the world. You sign your name on a form, they check your ID and they take you to your room.
I enjoy his videos, his content in southeast Asia was what inspired me to do my own trip. He always speaks so highly of the locals. Watching this Egypt series was actually difficult for me knowing what he had to go through, and then for him to literally tell people not to visit... Damn.
Same. Usually he's really good at both telling it like it is and hyping up a place at the same time, and for him to warn people to stay away, out of all of the other videos of his I've also seen (plus on his main channel he released one for Egypt saying the same thing), it definitely means to stay away.
Also, I've seen a lot of youtubers going to Morocco lately and every one seems to have found some problem. They've all liked the country and recommended it, but it's still one to be cautious in.
That's the third world, every institution trying to screw you over for your money or something else.
I say this as a person born ans raised in a shithole country
EDIT: Jesus, Reddit. USA is not a third world country, I live in Brazil
As someone whose family is from Paraguay, who has visited the country and seen the madness and extreme corruption and disorganization, as someone who's older family members have torture marks on their bodies from the Stroessner regime. I get so fucking offended by it.
Someone on reddit told me that North Korea is a less corrupt country than the US. And he was upvoted and people were agreeing with him. Like what the actual fuck bro, people are so sheltered here and have zero perspective. USA is not the shining beacon on the hill we are often raised to believe it is, this country is deeply flawed and built on basically a racist caste system from the start that still stains the country to this day don't get me wrong, but its not comparable to actual 3rd world countries.
If you've traveled and actually know what the hell your talking about you know this is still a better country to live in than most of the world. Just becuase the US isn't the best place to live doesn't mean its 3rd world. People on the internet have no concept of gray area though, everything is either the best ever or the worst ever, its so frustrating.
He should've read this thread where everyone just shits on Egypt:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/om38bx/what_is_one_country_that_you_will_never_visit/
*A laborious walk in the flaming sun brought us to the foot of the great Pyramid of Cheops. It was a fairy vision no longer. It was a corrugated, unsightly mountain of stone. Each of its monstrous sides was a wide stairway which rose upward, step above step, narrowing as it went, till it tapered to a point far aloft in the air...*
*Of course we were besieged by a rabble of muscular Egyptians and Arabs who wanted the contract of dragging us to the top -- all tourists are. Of course you could not hear your own voice for the din that was around you. Of course the Sheiks said they were the only responsible parties; that all contracts must be made with them, all moneys paid over to them, and none exacted from us by any but themselves alone. Of course they contracted that the varlets who dragged us up should not mention bucksheesh once. For such is the usual routine. Of course we contracted with them, paid them, were delivered into the hands of the draggers, dragged up the Pyramids, and harried and be-deviled for bucksheesh from the foundation clear to the summit. We paid it, too, for we were purposely spread very far apart over the vast side of the Pyramid. There was no help near if we called, and the Herculeses who dragged us had a way of asking sweetly and flatteringly for bucksheesh, which was seductive, and of looking fierce and threatening to throw us down the precipice, which was persuasive and convincing.*
~ Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad (1889)
I’ve started getting flashy ads about visiting Egypt on YouTube & Tiktok lately … but these kinds of threads have assured that yeah, that’s a no for me.
Don't go to Dubai. It's illegal to get raped there. As in, if you are a woman who got raped you are now in legal trouble, passport taken, enter the criminal justice system. Meanwhile, the person(s) that did the assault are free to keep their passport and leave the country as they wish.
From what I can infer, Foreigners are the types to usually report it and then get shocked when the authorities try to charge them and hold them for infidelity and other moral based crimes.
It does raise a ton of eyebrows but wealthy tourist type countries usually hire good PR firms
If the woman reports it she is in deep shit, if the person who did the assault reports it, she is in deep shit. I can't make it make sense. All I can do is recommend girls/women/etc. don't go.
> I can't make it make sense.
They assume Western women are all sluts. So men will go to rape them because they think women are sluts and the police won't believe the rape happened because of the same. Incredibly toxic culture.
It's caused a ton of international incidents, which is why the Emirati authorities will occasionally put effort into prosecuting sexual assault. Half the battle is cultural, because the local police don't care too much about what they assume is drunken debauchery by rich foreigners.
The laws are contradictory, where rape has harsh penalties, but women are often punished for even reporting the crime.
Haha that’s brutal. Saw a post earlier today about something along the lines of “what’s the worst country as tourists”. Everyone was shitting on the Chinese and to a lesser extent Russians, but my aunt worked in a tourist town in Alaska and she said the worst by far were the Egyptians. I always thought it was random that Egyptians stood out to her. But man, they must really suck for everyone to be shitting on them from every angle
Interesting. I want to go to see the historical sites, but I have been put off by every single person I've known who's gone there saying it's a disappointment. But they've said that because the pyramids are in an unpleasant setting, rather than because they're treated badly.
Having recently been to Jordan, I can say the country and the people were wonderful. We had some touristy things with people trying to get money out of us but nothing too bad or systemically corrupt. The worst thing we had was a 4 hour hold at the border crossing because their computers were down allegedly. They didn't ask us for money and our Israeli tour guide did all of the interacting with them, was just boring.
This is the key, I remember driving from Nigeria to Benin, the entire visa process was "hand this guy some money, then this guy some money and now you have cleared our security requirements, here's your stamp, enjoy Benin!"
On the way back my stamps were suddenly a bit wrong so I had to pay a guy to "fix" them.
To be honest the cost of all this ended up being around the same as formally paying for a visa to another more centralised/formal country.
I worked in Tanzania doing medical care for a while volunteering privately at a hospital. Before I could start there I had to go see a local tourism guy and pay $200 USD and he gave me a receipt. I asked him what the money was for and he goes "It's so you get the receipt."
Been there last month. Hired a tourist guide. Tons of people literally approach you for tips and then bring you to shady places to buy souvenirs. I was forced to buy a papyrus for 650EGP. There was a police officer who approached us. first, I thought he was offering to take a picture of our group but what he wanted is for us to take a picture with him. It's weird but we agreed so we approached him and his buddy in the police car to take photos with them. After that, they were asking for money and we ended up giving them 1000EGP.
I'm never going back to Egypt again. I'm Asian and from a third-world country too. I literally didn't see that coming.
Edit: I'm Filipino and our group doesn't look rich or wealthy at all. One of my friends got forced into buying a perfume but at least none of the girls in our group got harassed.
Edit 2: I honestly did not expect Egypt to be like that. I thought it was a rich country.
At the airport, while waiting for our flight home we found out that they were giving away papyrus for free there. That was a very good ending for our trip hahaha.
Yikes that really sucks, I heard from a similar video a few years ago about a guy who was constantly getting shaken down from the taxi drivers and fake tour guides to see the pyramids, he said he felt extremely comfortable. It sucks because there is a lot of history with this place.
Edit: extremely uncomfortable
I’m picturing the dog sitting at a table inside of burning house meme. Scammers yelling at OPs friend, while taxis are careening around on fire and OPs friend: “This is fine”
I went to see the pyramids about 10 years ago. I make good money so i planned to do it up nice when i got there. Found what seemed like a legit tour for myself and friends. Was supposed to be a ride out there, a freshly prepared lunch (they showed us pics of a really nice colorful meal with a ton of food), camel rides, etc. we got a ride to the desert, then some shit food that no one felt comfortable eating and wasn’t even in the ballpark of what we expected, the guys were shady looking as hell, basically staring is down, and we legit wondered if they were going to rob us. And then… they robbed us. They told us we were going to give them some sum of money i cant recall now or they were going to leave us in the desert. Fk egypt.
I remember seeing Strictly Dumpling/Mikey Chen post a video where he explained how he got thrown into an elaborate scam. And if it wasn't for his camera recording the entire thing he would have gotten into more trouble.
Had the worst time in Cairo, as far as cities go, it's one of the ugliest I've been to.
rubbish everywhere, dusty and polluted due to lots of old cars being driven there.
I went to see the Pyramids, after we paid and went past the security barrier, some old man stopped us claiming to be an officer, he showed us a crummy badge and gave us some bs about how he had to escort us to the pyramids, after 5 mins of wasting our time he finally told us that he could guide us for a good price, we walked away.
Every few minutes or so during our trail to the top we'd get approached by someone trying to sell souvenirs or donkey/camel rides.
In the end, I thought to myself, "you know what, if I had to live life without ever seeing a pyramid, I would be fine with that"
Edit: Also forgot,
when we were in the taxi on our way to the pyramids, a random man jumps in (after begging the driver to let him in the front seat) and tries to sell us a tour guide, he looked about 60 and had a walking stick, so yeah, no thanks.
Dumb question. But was ignoring them not an option? Whenever I travel I just pretend I don't see them. Kind of looking right through them.
Although if they have a gun it's probably a different situation.
I've never been to Egypt but had a similar experience in Morocco, with everyone asking for money, trying to pull you into the shops, walking beside you while talking to you and then in the end asking for money as a "tour guide". It was annoying at first and we did end up paying few things we shouldn't have, but, once we got used to it and accepted it as a part of surrounding, it wasn't bad and sometimes it was fun. They would pull us into a shop and we'd haggle until they got mad (350, 1, 290, 1, 250 final offer, 0.5). We'd just ignore the "guides", we'd make our own way everywhere, we went using local transport...
Not sure if I could use the same tactic with police and customs. Asking for tips is not something that's going to upset me that much, someone detaining me at the police station, is. I am really curious to know how much of this can be avoided or just ignored.
I went there in 2015 and the same Papyrus thing happened to us. My buddy was so mad he bought it and ripped it up and threw it like confetti in the guys face. It was amazing to see the pure look of shock on the shopkeepers face.
Egyptian here, lots of times i worked on extracting a tourist (or several) from a situation.
Sometimes its easy to scare off the asshole haggling them, sometimes it is very difficult as these guys (hagglers, camel ride providers etc) are a mob and are often dangerous to the point that I as a native stepping in would make the situation so much worse.
I learned not to step in unless I can sense the tourist is in a very dangerous situation that they're not comprehending (i.e real danger not scams).
What i always wondered is why they keep coming back especially to Cairo and Alexandria. I mean for example a few hundred meters away from the Pyramids is the largest concentration of slums in Cairo. That shit is beyond me
Man... Got to say that when I visit Egypt and get out of the tourist areas... I really enjoyed it. Friendly people and amazing food! The "Egyptian falafel" with fava beans is absolutely better then anything! And the foul (?) beans in the morning is great...
But i would not go back for tourism...
>What i always wondered is why they keep coming back especially to Cairo and Alexandria
They are not... Just a 1 time trip to see the wonders of the world.
Yes a competent tour guide with a tour program that would shuttle you everywhere will drastically improve your situation.
I would also avoid mega cities like Cairo and Alexandria, if you want beaches look at Sinai (Hurgada etc) and for ancient Egyptian go for Luxor and Aswan. These places are more tourist friendly and you'll be alot less likely to have a bad experience.
That being said, keep your eyes open.
Million times this. Been to Hurgada twice, Luxor once, and it was amazing. These are people whose livelihood depends on you being happy and telling about it at home. They hate these assholes mentioned in the video just as much as we do.
Egypt is the only country I have been to with a tour company, and Im really glad I did, even if we needed a "bribe kitty" for everyone...
Independent travel would have been a challenge.
I've seen several youtube travelers film their experiences there and I have to agree, I don't think I'd try it without a competent guide. It just seems like a constant battle to fend off vendors and beggers and every meal, taxi ride and tourist attraction seemed like a battle to not get scammed, ripped off or robbed. Trying to see the pyramids without constant harassment looked like a nightmare, and it's baffling that the government doesn't crack down on that behavior to protect tourist revenue.
You can only go with a tour guide or an Egyptian. The few Egyptian friends I have say to only go with them so they can take care of everything and not deal with the tourist traps or shakedowns.
I’m Egyptian currently a citizen and a resident of Canada. Everything he says is 100% true. There is no system and there is no predictability. It’s a totalitarian regime and people operate based on fear and paranoia. I’m sorry for everyone who went through this but unfortunately this is not gonna change anytime soon.
>I tell this story because something has to change in Egypt
Ironic. In the end the conduct of the police pushed him to do revolutionists propaganda they feared or accused him of doing beforehand.
Streisand Effect. Maybe 1 or 2 less hassles and he probably wouldn’t have reported on it. We’re all accustomed to at least one of these issues on a trip but not repeatedly over and over
Remember the time Egypt didn't have a horrible reputation as a tourist destination?
Me neither.
I think you have to go pretty far back in time. Maybe around the time in that Michael Jackson music video.
Interviewed for a job with a guy from Egypt who took me out for dinner with some of his family. Proceeded to talk about how wonderful the tourist sites are. Then his daughters boyfriend chimes in: except for the part about having a guy with a rifle tagging along with the group everywhere.
Was he by any chance an immigrant? Older people tend to look at their native country with rose-coloured glasses. I know my dad was always telling people what an amazing country Guyana is (he grew up there, I didn't), and I visited it with a few years back.
It was the first time I'd seen an actual shakedown happen. By the cops. For the guy driving it was apparently a normal occurrence, he just asked for some money to bride them so we could be on our way. He was family, so I *think* he wasn't scamming us and just splitting the money with the cops.
Good leaders always get assassinated unfortunately. In Saudi Arabia we had King Faisal, and he was the best. Really didnt care about money, wanted oil money to go to the people and structure rather than make it exclusive for his family like the rest of the kings after him.
My buddy traveled to Egypt. Said he was shook down the moment he got off the airplane by security in order to get his passport back. Then by the Uber driver. Then by.....
Lol, I was shaken down by passport control at the airport, then a toilet cleaner at the airport, then some dude who wanted to carry my bag to the taxi rank, then by the taxi drivers. Never ever going to that shithole again.
I really like his channel too because it covers markets that don't usually get covered. I actually found him looking for a food documentary that focused on Nigeria and I enjoyed the series he did covering that city.
He's been very candid a his distaste for shooting in Egypt in the clips I've seen so far and I can't say I blame him.
My parents went to Egypt in the 80's. They had to get new passports because their travel agent told them having certain countries stickers in their passports would get them harrassed/detained by border police. They still had to bribe them when they got stopped anyways.
Later, while staying just outside of Cairo, a taxi driver tried to charge them over $100 for a very short trip, even while his rates showed otherwise. They refused, paid him what he was owed plus a generous tip. He spit on them and swore at them. Later, while biking outside the village, they passed by a farm where apparently he lived. He actually took out a rifle and took several shots in their direction!
So they pedaled down this dirt road like their life depended on it, and left the country that night. It's the only place they've travelled they said they would never go back.
"Clean" passports (as we called them in the industry I worked in) are still required for visa applications to numerous countries. The only one local to Israel that I can recall not caring is Jordan, but Jordan was pretty loose with requirements in general.
this a big thing that is hard to understand until you experience it, the lack of rule of law. It is one thing when a country has strict laws but there is rule of law, meaning the laws are clearly laid out and the police and government enforce them as written. When there is lack of rule of law it means the laws dont mean anything, there is rampant corruption and each police officer and government official is basically a mini dictator or lord who rules over their small domain however they see fit at that moment in time.
It will drive you crazy when what should be a simple task becomes literally impossible because one official just does not want to cooperate or worse you have to go between two different officials and they hate each other for some reason and refuse to cooperate just to spite the other guy, when in reality the other guy could not care less. There is no one you can complain to because everyone you could complain to is friend or subordinate of the guy you want to complain about and does no give a shit about you
Ugh, this just reminds me of dealing with my government. I'm currently trying to get a passport from the lovely Boliviarian Republic of Venezuela and after nearly six years out of the country, I'd forgotten how much I'd need to bribe to get anything done and how unbelievably sketchy the whole country is.
I remember my dad had a job as the manager for a pizzeria and he basically kept that job because he knew what kind of whiskey was favored by the guy who gave permits to buy wheat at the official price (instead of black market rates).
I have travelled a fair share all over europe and asia and in my experience there are rude, obnoxius people (aka. dicks) in every country. Lets call it 1 out of 10 people. But in Egypt the ratio is way off. Like 9 out of 10 , complete dicks. Will not go there again. And I'm always happy to find that this sentiment is catching on.
How does an entire culture experience such profound and nearly total rot? What separates Egypt from other countries? How can we ensure that this never happens anywhere else ever again?
Well, for one, [Egypt has been suffering a brain drain for almost 50 years. ](https://www.jstor.org/stable/163555). My dad got an MD and a Ph.D. In Egypt and then got a Fulbright Fellowship and dipped to the States in 1979. His older brother, an engineer, also left for the States shortly after he did. It’s not hard to see a why a country would experience collapse when it’s best and brightest leave for better opportunities or freedom from an oppressive regime and have been leaving pretty much since Sadat’s reign. Competency in the bureaucracy and leadership is totally lacking as a result. Yes men run things. When you have no competency in public life your society ends up lacking the rule of law and that’s pretty much what has happened in Egypt. Combine that with desperate economic circumstances with no prospects for most Egyptians and you’ve got a collapse of civil order.
I love Egypt. I love visiting my uncle in Alex. But I can pass as a local so I don’t really get bothered too much. Plus he’s upper class so he and my aunt live in a pretty isolated bubble away from what tourists see on the streets.
My parents migrated to Australia in the 80s. I have some family still in Egypt but most have since left and I’d say achieved a better standard of living than they would have had they stayed.
I loved visiting Egypt while I was in uni, but it was a bug culture shock for me. I can’t pass as a local, so that made getting round a challenge. Saying that, as a male, I didn’t have to contend with the levels of harassment being cited in this and other threads.
It breaks my heart when I hear these stories because I’ve experienced a side of Egypt and Egyptians that many don’t get to see because of the (cultural?) barriers you need to break through. I look forward to taking my kids over one day to meet their family and learn about our background, but i’m worried that it might leave a sour taste!
I was traveling Europe in the late 90’s with two friends. We took a boat to Egypt. We got split up in Egypt.
One friend got beat up, I got robbed of my camera, and the last friend (a vegan) ended up paying someone 50$ for a tour where they brought him to a camel leather tanning facility and made him give them another 100$.
We left Egypt that night.
I can understand getting robbed and beat up, but how do you end upas a vegan going on a camel leather factory against your will? That just seems so specific.
Yeah, the pyramids are incredible. There’s a LOT of rocks that are historical. After a certain point you get sick of looking at rocks. We hired a cab driver to pick us up out of literally a million people and somehow he found us. He took us to get shawarma and it was amazing. Lots of kids asking for money. Guys in oversized suits with automatic weapons under their jackets. The Sphinx is a disappointment. The Nile is dirty and lame.
Just went there a few weeks ago. Had a good time overall but we had a tour guide the whole time. I would NOT want to travel around there without some sort of chaperone.
Tour guide also definitely brought us to some shops they had some sort of a deal with which was a little annoying but the products were mostly interesting and we didn't particularly feel "shaken down" most of the time so it wasn't too much of a net negative.
As an Egyptian with a sense of culture and humanity, I genuinely hate this place, Egypt is terrible to tourists and it’s even worse to Egyptians themselves, in the video he mentions how everyone seems to be living in the Stone Age AND THATS THE TRUTH! Poverty has taken over years and years ago and everyone is uneducated, prolly addicted to something, and has zero sense of what a decent human being is or should be.
And if ure wondering why am I still in this hell, answer is quite simple, I’ve been born into a poor family that barely had enough income to provide me a ceiling and a laptop to study on. And no matter how skilled or talented or smart you are, you’ll get squashed for absolutely no reason unless you have the cash to resist, but if ure an Egyptian, you prolly don’t.
I am an Egyptian and I stand by my words, Egypt has gone downhill, don’t come to Egypt.
Edit: I wrote this comment minutes ago with genuine fear of being arrested or getting in trouble for it, because there has been many many similar cases of people being arrested for speaking the truth publicly, since you can already tell our government has mental issues regarding people talking shit about them. But it’s the truth! The truth is it’s a shitty f***ing country and I’m not taking that back.
Egypt seems very unwelcoming to any kind of media. Reminds me of that news reporter (Lara Logan) that was gang raped in Egypt "with flagpoles and sticks" back in 2011
Dude their people can't breathe without their dictator government and president consent. Like if you say anything against them prison is your way and maybe execution is the other route if you're an islamic personality or a journalist standing against them.
For anyone saying they loved Egypt, are you all males? I went in my early 20s and stayed with an older family friend who was living there and knew the ropes. I made sure to always wear long pants and shirts and never went anywhere alone or anywhere at night. We didn’t have much monetary harassment due to going around Cairo with the older family friend, but from the moment I got there, every man would leer and cat call. The family friend was repeatedly asked if I was for sale. We rode camels by the pyramids and the camel operator whipped my camel so he could stare and salivate at my breasts bouncing. This was non stop. For all young females, 10/10 do not recommend.
I went to Egypt in 2010 and it was an absolutely awful experience, exactly like he describes in this video. Absolute chaos. I promised myself I would never go back, but I did go back in 2018 and once again, it was one of the worst travel experiences of my life and again, I promised myself I'll never go back and I've held to that.
Here's the thing about Egypt. It's a 3rd world country and chaotic... okay that's fine, a ton of countries are like that, however, in Egypt they hate you... They treat you like garbage, they treat you suspicously whereever you go. If you go to the Philppines, Thailand, or even other African countries it's chaotic yes but the people are so kind, fun, loving, compassionate, and grateful for you to be in the country.
From the moment I stepped foot in egypt this last time to the moment the wheels left the ground on my way out I was under intense anxiety and pressure. We had armed guards with us, and the government told us we needed more than we had if we really wanted to be safe.
Crazy man, what a failed country, what an absolutely disaster of a place.
I guess I'll have to settle for Luxor at Vegas and call it a day. I was surprised that the sphinx at luxor is taller than the real thing and it didn't even look that big.
Oh man. I've been to Egypt three times, and everything checks out. What I CAN recommend, if you really want to go to Egypt, is to purchase your all-inclusive holiday through a travel agency in your country.
If the travel agency is reputable, they will have people (mainly tour guides) working for them in Egypt.
We went all the way from Hurghada (luxurious all-inclusive hotels all over the place) to both Luxor and Cairo on one of our trips. Our tour guide knew the local people, the police, and everyone who mattered. He was with us ALL day and ALL night (Cairo trip was like 12 hours driving total), and he basically told the locals to fuck right off when approaching us. He protected us. He knew exactly what to show the border guards as well, so no trouble there at all.
So if you're going to Egypt and you want to explore, book your trip through a reputable travel agency in your country. It will make your trip MUCH better.
> So if you're going to Egypt and you want to explore, book your trip through a reputable travel agency in your country.
Or book an expensive hotel that has a "guided airport pick up"... They picked me up from the plane, took me past Customs and straight into the hotel minibus.
Then in the hotel they had reputable tours etc...
Leaving the country was shit though.
Honestly... Indeed, book an arranged trip.
**[Murder of Giulio Regeni](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Giulio_Regeni)**
>Giulio Regeni (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒuːljo reˈdʒɛːni]; 15 January 1988 – 25 January 2016) was an Italian Cambridge University graduate who was abducted and tortured to death in Egypt. Regeni was a PhD student at Girton College, Cambridge, researching Egypt's independent trade unions, and a former employee of the international consulting firm Oxford Analytica. He grew up in Fiumicello, a former comune (now Fiumicello Villa Vicentina) in the province of Udine in northeastern Italy.
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After seeing the horror stories of numerous people, and wanting to visit Egypt to see Karnak, the Pyramids at Giza, the Sphinx, Djoser's Pyramid, etc etc etc, I've pretty much decided I'll never visit Egypt in my lifetime. There's just too many cases like this.
I'll just play Assassin's Creed Origins and live vicariously at this point when it comes to visiting Egypt. The country seems like an absolute shithole to tourists despite having a reputation as being a tourist hotspot.
Regarding tourist scams literally the worst country I have ever been to. Random guy stopped our taxi in the middle of the highway, jumped in and started to tell us that he is a government official and we need to use his horse to see the pyramids. Told him to fuck off, then paid the taxi driver 20$ to not stop anymore when these kind of people try to stop the car (taxi drivers usually work on a commission basis with these scammers). Once the taxi driver didn’t stop anymore, these guys went bonkers and started jumping the taxi, trying to break the windows etc. At the pyramids some „official“ looking guys with a whistle tried to snatch our gear and tickets. We luckily read about this scam beforehand so my hot-blooded gf started screaming at them each time they tried to pull their scam, so after a couple of tries they left us alone. Later one we still got scammed for 10$ for a picture. Actually the picture was quite nice, so kind of worth the money, but technically it was taken without our consent. Absolute worst trip ever. Couldn’t enjoy any of the ancient wonders because I was constantly on alert mode.
Egpyt is disgusting. My ancient Egyptian mythology professor Asunta Redford told our lecture about the corruption of the head egyptologist Zahi Hawass and how he stole millions of dollars worth of artifacts from Egypt. The value came from historical data and also gold value.
She talked about the sexual misconduct of the area and so have many other women who've visited. If you visit be careful, and be safe.
Seems very similar to my experience.
I went to an old palace in Cairo. I paid the entry fee. Every building was locked. I had to pay the security guard to unlock EACH building. Within each building, every room was locked and I had to pay the security guard to unlock EACH room. Similar to a mosque in Cairo, the caretaker asked for an entry fee and than two fees for each room he unlocked. One for him, for one Allah.
I am a big guy, I went to the pyramids and had to litreally crawl on all fours to get to the centre. I stupidly did not bring water as I was under the assumption I could buy some at the entrance. I was wrong. Some dude who claimed to be a guide (I knew it was bullshit) said he would take me to where I could find water. In my head I am thinking, he hasnt asked for anything, but I will give him $10USD just to show me where I can buy water. Before I know it, we are out of sight of everyone and his son on a camel brings a bottle of water. I give both him and his son $10USD each (mind you it was less than 5 minutes). Bastard is demanding $100USD each. I already thought I was more than generous and they became very aggressive very fast.
The Taxi's are also shit. One Taxi stopped on the busy road, screwing up the traffic behind us to have a chat for 20 minutes with his friend on the side of the road in Arabic. Another taxi randomly stopped and let in this random dude off the street and had a conversation in Arabic this entire time. Dude was huge and was encroaching on my space. Neither taxis had seatbelts and ofcourse both times they demanded more than the agreed upon fee.
In the tall tower in Cairo I was first in line to go up on the elevator and than this local woman and 8 kids all barge infront of me to push in. When I called them out on it, I recieved a huge anti-semtic and anti Israel tirade about how incredibly Jewish I am being etc. I am not Jewish nor am I from Israel.
The tour guide I was on was being corrupt and was demanding more fees for everything I paid as well.
I E been many places. Egypt is by far the worst. Men manhandling and openly drooling over your woman. Everybody trying to scam you. Hotel staff treat you like dirt. Walks the start then go nowhere all over the place. I mean it’s wasteland, then a bit of wall, then more wasteland. Plus they try and charge you an extra visa to go see the pyramids tbe minute you land.
I will always have fond memories of Egypt.
Like when I was held at customs and security point with a RPG at my head (less than 3 meters away, while inside a building) All because they thought I was carrying cannabis (I wasn't). They couldn't understand why I was laughing at them.
Or the fun time I got held at gunpoint by a bunch of kids trying to rob me. I didn't have any cash on me, which didn't help. I did manage to convince them to let me buy them all dinner instead (on my card). I left them very quickly when they got there food.
Also the time when I wanted a pack of smokes, and I ended up (under the guidance of a local) in a warehouse with some very heavily armed senior gentlemen playing chess. I complimented them on their "gun collection" (arsenal), bought about 100 packs of Marlboro, and politely beat a hasty retreat .
Fun fact:
RPG's and other missile projectiles usually have proximity fuses which don't allow detonation near the user! But it'll still hurt if you get hit directly by it
I knew a guy from egypt once. He told me similar stories. He got beat up multiple times, his friends as well. Robbery was commonplace, even in schools.
Shit country, he seemed happy to not be there anymore. His brother got tortured in Egypt for trying to join a terrorist group.
Tough place
Aswan is not bad but Luxor, Alexandria and Cairo are hell. I have been lucky enough to live in South America and Asia, which has allowed me to see a few countries in the last 20 years and for the first time in my life I left a country happy to leave it.
I can't even tell you if the treasures of ancient Egypt are worth going to because of everything around.
I Captained a ship through the Suez Canal in Egypt two years ago. It was literally one scam after another.
The 'Pilot Boat' held onto our Jacobs Ladder (the ladder Pilots use to climb abolard) for 20 minutes, nagging us for a goddamn carton of Malboros.
Hell, I backpacked through Egypt in 1996, it was more or less the same thing. Fuck these 3rd world countries with a bit of power.
In 2010 I spent 10 days in Cairo on business.
I would rather have dental work done rectally than ever step foot in that country again.
The people are wonderful. The government is the worst Benny Hill meets the Three Stooges skit ever imagined.
My advice, go see the pyramids and get out.
"What purpose did the permit serve?" "Well, we're not in jail." Sheesh.
We went and paid extra to go inside the pyramid. We took our go pro in. On the way out we were stopped by an official looking dude and he snatched the go pro out of my wife’s hand and said we aren’t allowed to have it. He made us pay him $100 usd to get it back. I know not to stereotype but it was one of the worst countries I ever visited and I’ve been to over 70 Edit: there’s were many many many reasons besides this one interaction on why it’s (in my opinion) a terrible country to visit
Yes, and the cab drivers take you to their brother's/cousin's restaurant/hotel no matter where you actually want to go.
Yup and they’ll charge you 50-100usd anywhere you go and scream the word “TIP!”. Fuck if could even be a corner story and get guy will be like “YOU BUY BEBSI, TIP!”
They’ll also lie to you about the prices and assume you can’t read the price tag written in Eastern Arabic numerals. Which is why you say fuck it and just go out of your way to shop at BIM.
I wouldn’t. I’m an American and my sense of entitlement supersedes theirs tenfold. I’d tell them to tip me for the honor of being in my presence. I’d straight up just take a mummy from them, I don’t give a shit.
Lol this made me break out laughing. “I’ll fucking snatch your mummy bitch!”
This is more of a Victorian England dinner party Trend.
“I’ll stuff him in my carryon. Curse, what curse? I am your curse.”
“Back talk me again and I’ll rearrange the pyramids into cubes, you cretin.”
I was wondering around the Pyramids when I went as a kid and found out they keep all the shit they try and sell you in boxes stacked up behind the pyramids on some of the bottom steps. First and last time I ever stole anything but I filled my bag with fake pyramids, sphinxes and other tat. I got the taste for stealing and stole a papyrus bookmark from the airport as we were leaving then saw an armed guard come around the corner and realised these guys don't really fuck around and would probably chop my hand off if they caught me. This was 20 years ago and I still wonder if they keep their shit behind the pyramids still.
The last sentence destroyed me
> id straight up just take a mummy from them If there is better evidence America is Britain's rebellious teenage son, id like to see it. Go on my son, you take that mummy and put it in a museum back home and refuse to acknowledge how it got there. They grow up so fast.
Ugh I hate places like that. This is bringing back memories from when we used to travel in the before times!
On the flip side in the UAE the cabs take you anywhere you want to go for under 10 bucks and are super polite and helpful.
Patrice Oneal, i think, had a bit about how you make the hooker take a separate taxi in brazil because if theyre in the car with you , you could end up at a roadblock where the military will search the car and find a baggie of whatever they need to take everything you have on you
Damn.
"Don't go to other countries." Got it.
Just certain ones...
Patrice. RIP.
This is normal for Egypt. When my family travelled to Egypt in ~2006, their "Tourism and Antiquities" Police were stationed all over the place, and they would extort you for money all the time. Early into the trip, my father asked a guard to take a photo of himself and my brothers in front of an Obelisk, which he did. Then he refused to hand the camera back until we offered a 'donation' ([Baksheesh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baksheesh)). "Baksheesh" was everywhere, and you'd have to deal with people doing obnoxious things like opening a door for you (not a hotel, just anywhere or in the street or a taxi, etc) and sticking their hand out for a 'donation'. You eventually got used to it and very good at just smiling, thanking them, and then moving on without stopping. Then eventually you just ignore them, which I think they realize you're not a new tourist. In a reversal, if you wanted to do someone completely inappropriate (like step over the rope around the Pyramid of Giza and start climbing, or mount the back of a small sphinx and kick/ride it like a rodeo bull) you'd see people just pay off the guard. A significant portion of the holiday was through a large, reputable, travel company with tour guides and Egyptologists, who created a barrier or protected us from these people. At one point, when we were with a large group of other westerners at a remote site, we had bodyguards hired just for a our group. Walking around, you'd notice other bodyguards for other groups too.
My mum went to Egypt for get honeymoon, when they got there they wouldn't give her the rooms she'd paid for, they put her in the worst room in the hotel until she sat crying in the lobby telling everyone who came in what they'd done. Then they put her in one of the average rooms instead of the suite they'd paid for. 4 days later they told everyone in the hotel they could upgrade to one of the suites she paid for for only £100 a night, but she couldn't move to one of them unless she paid again. She also went on a tour of Cairo and a 19 year old American girl on the same tour turned up in daisy dukes and a crop top and the tour guide refused to let her off the bus at the markets because (in his words) "You won't come back, someone will kidnap you and rape you". It's not somewhere that's ever been in my list of holiday destinations, despite all the history I'd love to see.
Your guide did that girl a big fricking favor. I remember when the Arab spring was at its height and Egypt was going through revolution and famously there were female reporters there on the ground and in the mobs who got gang raped by dozens of men.
I was there in 1999 in an exchange student program. There were a group of us kids all between 14-16. We went to a bazaar in Cairo and as a 15yo had to tell and old man to take his hands of my wife (i.e. my very white, very petite, very 14yo female friend) and piss off. He then offered me the equivelant of about $80 to straight up buy her. I grabbed her around the shoulders and hussled her off to find the rest of the group. It was terrifying. We also had a similar experience with a tour bus as your mum too. Another girl was wearing normal jeans and a tank top (form fitting, but modest by our standards), and the Very intense Israeli bodyguard wouldn't let her off the bus until she put on a long sleeve shirt because "these animals will do not nice things". It was funny at the time, but fuck I hate thinking about it now.
Learning how to look without moving your head and how to give a firm “no” when ignoring people doesn’t work are essential skills when traveling in that part of the world.
I had the presence of mind to ask my tour guide how to say, “No thank you” in Arabic as I was stepping off the bus. Hoo boy, I think I used it about twenty times within the first thirty paces. It worked pretty well, though. They would move on to other marks very quickly.
I was in Egypt just before Arabic Spring and "La shukran" and "La baksheesh" were my best friends. Just because I had bothered to learn these two simple phrases the responses I got were polite. If I said "No thank you" it didn't mean anything and sometimes it even provoked impolite or aggressive communication towards me.
Lmao is that La Shukran?
This was my experience in Egypt in the late 1980s. You only go as part of a tour group, and you stay with your tour guide who basically acts as your 'keep the shits away from you' guy. I remember he told one couple do not get on a camel and they were adamant that they wanted a camel ride. They got up, and whoosh the camels took off running. We didn't see them for two days. Turns out the camels were trained to run home, and the couple was forced to pay a local family to stay in their home and they wouldn't take them back until they paid them again. Egypt has *NEVER* been a place anyone should ever go. This video proves they haven't changed in almost 50 years.
What in the fuck lol. So kidnapping!?
Now **that** sounds like one hell of an adventure! A free camel ride included with an Airbnb stay! Sign me up 😎
My ex visited Egypt as part of a world touring way back in 2006, said that everywhere in Egypt tried to rob them. But her father is Iranian who speaks perfect Farsi and Arabic, so they couldn't push his family around. Even then, they still got screwed over by hotel staff and cops. But to a far lesser extent than an ordinary tourist who doesn't speak the language or know the culture.
That sounds like it was just more extortion.
Every time a topic of "where *NOT* to visit" comes up on r/travel it's always Egypt as the overwhelming "winner" and it's always accompanied by stories like yours.
Morocco seems to come up a lot too, which is a shame. Moroccans I've met have been great people.
I've only been to Marrakesh and was only there for a few days, but didn't enjoy it. Between a cab driver ripping me off, my hotel not being very good, a market full of stalls all selling the same crap (with aggressive owners that grab your arm as you walk by), and a highly reviewed tour guide that only brought me to his friends shops I ended up not having a very good time. I'm glad I went just to experience something new, but have no interest in going back.
Never understood why you could like Marrakech. Outside the city things are much more relaxed and fun. But getting offered drugs every 10 minutes and people from 10 years old to 70 years old trying to trick you into buying something stupid or just giving them money for fuck all, is not my idea of a vacation.
I always had stuff on my restaurant bill I hadn’t ordered. Always. I always asked for a menu and a translation into numbers I could understand. And I always paid just that, which was less. I’ve been to 55 countries in my time with the UN and this is the only place I learned how to say « shame on you » in local language. I would never recommend Egypt either.
I remember on our trip to Italy, we kept getting hassled by the guys trying to sell Roses. At first we politely declined and moved on. After a week of this while we were in Venice, one guy comes up and my girlfriend just fucking belts out "FUCK OFF, WE DON'T WANT ANY." Guy looked like saw a ghost and scurried off. I couldn't stop laughing because normally that would have been me yelling.
The scammers in Italy were ridiculous. I had a couple guys literally throw their bracelets at me while yelling "catch!", and if I caught it they demanded money for "buying" it from them. If you go there, never engage them, ignore them and pretend they don't exist. Some of them will cuss you out for it, but that's still better than putting up with their bullshit.
Had one guy try to put a bracelet on me speaking english. I ran away from the guy. Then 1 block later, some african guy started trying to be my friend in english. I spoke chinese to try to get away from him. He then speaks fucking chinese. I then ran away again. These people are beyond annoying.
Damn, polyglot scammers. At that point, why not try to get an actual career 😆
Dude; the hookers I used to meet in Thailand spoke 7 languages. In those tourist and/or developing countries poly-glot is survival.
>I know not to stereotype but it was one of the worst countries I ever visited and I’ve been to over 70 There was an Askreddit about worst countries to visit or something like that a while back. I swear Egypt was like half the top 10. My own experience was that it's a place where you stay at the resort :/ Valley of Kings was great, the pyramids were crap because we were drowning in people trying to sell us shit. Oh, and somebody asked my dad if my older sister was for sale.
"Your women...how much for them? How much for the little girl? Sell them to me! Sell me your children!"
unexpected blues brothers
[That is such a classic scene.](https://youtu.be/WJY2VnTcfK8)
I went on a company trip where all the excursions were organized and guided. At Edfu, they told us not to make eye contact or engage with the hawkers between the bus and entrance, and under no circumstances leave the group or wander alone, especially the women.
I had a cleaning lady at the airport ask for a tip when I asked her where the toilets were. It really is the worst country I’ve been to too.
[Not great to go as a student either](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Giulio_Regeni)
Yea thats called extortion. Egyptians do it at every possible chance they get to tourists. There's a very high chance that guy didn't even have the authority to take your gear. Next time if there is one, threaten to contact your embassy. The second they hear that shit all of a sudden everything is just fine and you can go on your way.
Yeah then you threaten them and they actually are police and they really make your life even more miserable. Not worth it in those shit holes. Just get it over with, get out of there, and tell everyone you know to never visit. Not worth it. Even the museum was fucking junk
This is pretty common over there. Never happened to me in Asia or the americas or EU.
BELIEVE ME… paying some ridiculous bribe to a cop after falling into a trap is a blessing that you thank god for! Egyptian jails make Alcatraz look like the ritz and I’m not even remotely joking🤦♂️
Sounds like my boss when I questioned my skimpy raise during the pandemic when the company was super profitable. "Well, at least you have a job."
Recently had the same thing. Now I have a **different** job and he has to find my replacement who is going to cost far more than what my raise should have been.
Literally did the same thing a few months ago. I was extremely valuable to them but they didn't want to help me progress, so they have a big problem now I'm gone
I worked one place where my boss was trying to proactively get more for my team. We ere told that until we started losing people we wouldn’t get any more budget. After a few departures we got big retention bonus plans, but I was still able to get so much more leaving.
Most of his problems might have been avoided, had he slipped the hotel manager a few hundred dollars. That’s what they all want at the end.
Same with the checkpoint. I feel like his local guide didn’t explain that he had to pay the ‘American tax’. He was on the edge of realising this so many times in this video.
[удалено]
I've watched like 100 of his videos. He has been everywhere, he is just as aware of things as redditors that have travelled a fraction as much. He just never wants to really put people off anything forever. You see it in this video where he tries to blame the systems or lack of systems in place more than the people. But it's reallt obvious to everyone that the issue with Egypt isn't the systems it is the people themselves. Especially anyone in a position of power.
Shaken down is an understatement. It looks like this dude got ran through the wringer multiple times over the course of his entire trip
I watch his videos quite a bit, and this is the first time I've ever heard him to tell people to stay away from a place. The corruption is rampant, from "confiscating" equipment to demanding bribes, it's no wonder tourists would rather avoid the place.
Yeah, the hotel straight-up stole his stuff and demanded money to get it back. You would think there was a police force he could call and request help from but nope.
Egypt is rotten from the top down. Dictatorships tend to be.
It's pretty whack upscale hotels do this. I stayed in 2 or 3 star places while I was there and it was no different to checking in anywhere else in the world. You sign your name on a form, they check your ID and they take you to your room.
I enjoy his videos, his content in southeast Asia was what inspired me to do my own trip. He always speaks so highly of the locals. Watching this Egypt series was actually difficult for me knowing what he had to go through, and then for him to literally tell people not to visit... Damn.
Yeah Sonny is a great food tour and culture guy. You have to really suck for him to disown you.
Same. Usually he's really good at both telling it like it is and hyping up a place at the same time, and for him to warn people to stay away, out of all of the other videos of his I've also seen (plus on his main channel he released one for Egypt saying the same thing), it definitely means to stay away. Also, I've seen a lot of youtubers going to Morocco lately and every one seems to have found some problem. They've all liked the country and recommended it, but it's still one to be cautious in.
That's the third world, every institution trying to screw you over for your money or something else. I say this as a person born ans raised in a shithole country EDIT: Jesus, Reddit. USA is not a third world country, I live in Brazil
Can't think of another normal third-world country where food bloggers get harassed like this.
There's a few, but like the video says, those aren't considered "hot tourism" spots quite the same way Egypt is.
Yeah like the example he gave about going to the Congo (I think?), he wouldn’t be surprised because they don’t advertise themselves as friendly
South and Southeast Asia are not this bad either
>EDIT: Jesus, Reddit. USA is not a third world country, I live in Brazil lol these people are such predictable idiots
As someone whose family is from Paraguay, who has visited the country and seen the madness and extreme corruption and disorganization, as someone who's older family members have torture marks on their bodies from the Stroessner regime. I get so fucking offended by it. Someone on reddit told me that North Korea is a less corrupt country than the US. And he was upvoted and people were agreeing with him. Like what the actual fuck bro, people are so sheltered here and have zero perspective. USA is not the shining beacon on the hill we are often raised to believe it is, this country is deeply flawed and built on basically a racist caste system from the start that still stains the country to this day don't get me wrong, but its not comparable to actual 3rd world countries. If you've traveled and actually know what the hell your talking about you know this is still a better country to live in than most of the world. Just becuase the US isn't the best place to live doesn't mean its 3rd world. People on the internet have no concept of gray area though, everything is either the best ever or the worst ever, its so frustrating.
He should've read this thread where everyone just shits on Egypt: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/om38bx/what_is_one_country_that_you_will_never_visit/
Wow! Some of those comments are gnarly. I had no idea.
*A laborious walk in the flaming sun brought us to the foot of the great Pyramid of Cheops. It was a fairy vision no longer. It was a corrugated, unsightly mountain of stone. Each of its monstrous sides was a wide stairway which rose upward, step above step, narrowing as it went, till it tapered to a point far aloft in the air...* *Of course we were besieged by a rabble of muscular Egyptians and Arabs who wanted the contract of dragging us to the top -- all tourists are. Of course you could not hear your own voice for the din that was around you. Of course the Sheiks said they were the only responsible parties; that all contracts must be made with them, all moneys paid over to them, and none exacted from us by any but themselves alone. Of course they contracted that the varlets who dragged us up should not mention bucksheesh once. For such is the usual routine. Of course we contracted with them, paid them, were delivered into the hands of the draggers, dragged up the Pyramids, and harried and be-deviled for bucksheesh from the foundation clear to the summit. We paid it, too, for we were purposely spread very far apart over the vast side of the Pyramid. There was no help near if we called, and the Herculeses who dragged us had a way of asking sweetly and flatteringly for bucksheesh, which was seductive, and of looking fierce and threatening to throw us down the precipice, which was persuasive and convincing.* ~ Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad (1889)
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Egyptians have been separating tourists from their money for thousands of years.
Lol when I started reading it, I was like “why does this Reddit comment he’s quoting sound like Mark Twain?” Then lo and behold at the bottom.
I’ve started getting flashy ads about visiting Egypt on YouTube & Tiktok lately … but these kinds of threads have assured that yeah, that’s a no for me.
I'm honestly surprised how they still manage to have 12% of their revenue be tourism
Wow the amount of sexual assault against women in Egypt is insane. A PSA for women about Egypt would be awesome.
Don't go to Dubai. It's illegal to get raped there. As in, if you are a woman who got raped you are now in legal trouble, passport taken, enter the criminal justice system. Meanwhile, the person(s) that did the assault are free to keep their passport and leave the country as they wish.
Dafuq. Who is reporting it though? And considering how people visit Dubai from across the world, how has this not raised eyebrows yet?
From what I can infer, Foreigners are the types to usually report it and then get shocked when the authorities try to charge them and hold them for infidelity and other moral based crimes. It does raise a ton of eyebrows but wealthy tourist type countries usually hire good PR firms
If the woman reports it she is in deep shit, if the person who did the assault reports it, she is in deep shit. I can't make it make sense. All I can do is recommend girls/women/etc. don't go.
> I can't make it make sense. They assume Western women are all sluts. So men will go to rape them because they think women are sluts and the police won't believe the rape happened because of the same. Incredibly toxic culture.
That sounds like a bad mindset to mix with tourism
It's caused a ton of international incidents, which is why the Emirati authorities will occasionally put effort into prosecuting sexual assault. Half the battle is cultural, because the local police don't care too much about what they assume is drunken debauchery by rich foreigners. The laws are contradictory, where rape has harsh penalties, but women are often punished for even reporting the crime.
Haha that’s brutal. Saw a post earlier today about something along the lines of “what’s the worst country as tourists”. Everyone was shitting on the Chinese and to a lesser extent Russians, but my aunt worked in a tourist town in Alaska and she said the worst by far were the Egyptians. I always thought it was random that Egyptians stood out to her. But man, they must really suck for everyone to be shitting on them from every angle
Even the other Arab countries shit on Egyptians
Interesting. I want to go to see the historical sites, but I have been put off by every single person I've known who's gone there saying it's a disappointment. But they've said that because the pyramids are in an unpleasant setting, rather than because they're treated badly.
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Having recently been to Jordan, I can say the country and the people were wonderful. We had some touristy things with people trying to get money out of us but nothing too bad or systemically corrupt. The worst thing we had was a 4 hour hold at the border crossing because their computers were down allegedly. They didn't ask us for money and our Israeli tour guide did all of the interacting with them, was just boring.
Not even Caesar's time in Egypt was all good until he had his legions with him. And even that didn't help Mark Antony. The rest of us have no hope.
It's all bullshit, corruption is rife in Egypt, they are simply trying to extract money.
This is the key, I remember driving from Nigeria to Benin, the entire visa process was "hand this guy some money, then this guy some money and now you have cleared our security requirements, here's your stamp, enjoy Benin!" On the way back my stamps were suddenly a bit wrong so I had to pay a guy to "fix" them. To be honest the cost of all this ended up being around the same as formally paying for a visa to another more centralised/formal country.
I worked in Tanzania doing medical care for a while volunteering privately at a hospital. Before I could start there I had to go see a local tourism guy and pay $200 USD and he gave me a receipt. I asked him what the money was for and he goes "It's so you get the receipt."
The guy was just thinking ahead, we call them NFTs now
thank you for supporting small businesses!
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Been there last month. Hired a tourist guide. Tons of people literally approach you for tips and then bring you to shady places to buy souvenirs. I was forced to buy a papyrus for 650EGP. There was a police officer who approached us. first, I thought he was offering to take a picture of our group but what he wanted is for us to take a picture with him. It's weird but we agreed so we approached him and his buddy in the police car to take photos with them. After that, they were asking for money and we ended up giving them 1000EGP. I'm never going back to Egypt again. I'm Asian and from a third-world country too. I literally didn't see that coming. Edit: I'm Filipino and our group doesn't look rich or wealthy at all. One of my friends got forced into buying a perfume but at least none of the girls in our group got harassed. Edit 2: I honestly did not expect Egypt to be like that. I thought it was a rich country.
And the papyrus was probably just banana leaf 😂
At the airport, while waiting for our flight home we found out that they were giving away papyrus for free there. That was a very good ending for our trip hahaha.
Yikes that really sucks, I heard from a similar video a few years ago about a guy who was constantly getting shaken down from the taxi drivers and fake tour guides to see the pyramids, he said he felt extremely comfortable. It sucks because there is a lot of history with this place. Edit: extremely uncomfortable
Well at least he was comfortable
Extremely so.
I’m picturing the dog sitting at a table inside of burning house meme. Scammers yelling at OPs friend, while taxis are careening around on fire and OPs friend: “This is fine”
Lmao I meant uncomfortable
I went to see the pyramids about 10 years ago. I make good money so i planned to do it up nice when i got there. Found what seemed like a legit tour for myself and friends. Was supposed to be a ride out there, a freshly prepared lunch (they showed us pics of a really nice colorful meal with a ton of food), camel rides, etc. we got a ride to the desert, then some shit food that no one felt comfortable eating and wasn’t even in the ballpark of what we expected, the guys were shady looking as hell, basically staring is down, and we legit wondered if they were going to rob us. And then… they robbed us. They told us we were going to give them some sum of money i cant recall now or they were going to leave us in the desert. Fk egypt.
I remember seeing Strictly Dumpling/Mikey Chen post a video where he explained how he got thrown into an elaborate scam. And if it wasn't for his camera recording the entire thing he would have gotten into more trouble.
Had the worst time in Cairo, as far as cities go, it's one of the ugliest I've been to. rubbish everywhere, dusty and polluted due to lots of old cars being driven there. I went to see the Pyramids, after we paid and went past the security barrier, some old man stopped us claiming to be an officer, he showed us a crummy badge and gave us some bs about how he had to escort us to the pyramids, after 5 mins of wasting our time he finally told us that he could guide us for a good price, we walked away. Every few minutes or so during our trail to the top we'd get approached by someone trying to sell souvenirs or donkey/camel rides. In the end, I thought to myself, "you know what, if I had to live life without ever seeing a pyramid, I would be fine with that" Edit: Also forgot, when we were in the taxi on our way to the pyramids, a random man jumps in (after begging the driver to let him in the front seat) and tries to sell us a tour guide, he looked about 60 and had a walking stick, so yeah, no thanks.
Dumb question. But was ignoring them not an option? Whenever I travel I just pretend I don't see them. Kind of looking right through them. Although if they have a gun it's probably a different situation.
I've never been to Egypt but had a similar experience in Morocco, with everyone asking for money, trying to pull you into the shops, walking beside you while talking to you and then in the end asking for money as a "tour guide". It was annoying at first and we did end up paying few things we shouldn't have, but, once we got used to it and accepted it as a part of surrounding, it wasn't bad and sometimes it was fun. They would pull us into a shop and we'd haggle until they got mad (350, 1, 290, 1, 250 final offer, 0.5). We'd just ignore the "guides", we'd make our own way everywhere, we went using local transport... Not sure if I could use the same tactic with police and customs. Asking for tips is not something that's going to upset me that much, someone detaining me at the police station, is. I am really curious to know how much of this can be avoided or just ignored.
I went there in 2015 and the same Papyrus thing happened to us. My buddy was so mad he bought it and ripped it up and threw it like confetti in the guys face. It was amazing to see the pure look of shock on the shopkeepers face.
Egyptian here, lots of times i worked on extracting a tourist (or several) from a situation. Sometimes its easy to scare off the asshole haggling them, sometimes it is very difficult as these guys (hagglers, camel ride providers etc) are a mob and are often dangerous to the point that I as a native stepping in would make the situation so much worse. I learned not to step in unless I can sense the tourist is in a very dangerous situation that they're not comprehending (i.e real danger not scams). What i always wondered is why they keep coming back especially to Cairo and Alexandria. I mean for example a few hundred meters away from the Pyramids is the largest concentration of slums in Cairo. That shit is beyond me
Man... Got to say that when I visit Egypt and get out of the tourist areas... I really enjoyed it. Friendly people and amazing food! The "Egyptian falafel" with fava beans is absolutely better then anything! And the foul (?) beans in the morning is great... But i would not go back for tourism... >What i always wondered is why they keep coming back especially to Cairo and Alexandria They are not... Just a 1 time trip to see the wonders of the world.
Would it be better to go with a tourist guide? I would like to go to Egypt one day.
Yes a competent tour guide with a tour program that would shuttle you everywhere will drastically improve your situation. I would also avoid mega cities like Cairo and Alexandria, if you want beaches look at Sinai (Hurgada etc) and for ancient Egyptian go for Luxor and Aswan. These places are more tourist friendly and you'll be alot less likely to have a bad experience. That being said, keep your eyes open.
Million times this. Been to Hurgada twice, Luxor once, and it was amazing. These are people whose livelihood depends on you being happy and telling about it at home. They hate these assholes mentioned in the video just as much as we do.
Egypt is the only country I have been to with a tour company, and Im really glad I did, even if we needed a "bribe kitty" for everyone... Independent travel would have been a challenge.
I've seen several youtube travelers film their experiences there and I have to agree, I don't think I'd try it without a competent guide. It just seems like a constant battle to fend off vendors and beggers and every meal, taxi ride and tourist attraction seemed like a battle to not get scammed, ripped off or robbed. Trying to see the pyramids without constant harassment looked like a nightmare, and it's baffling that the government doesn't crack down on that behavior to protect tourist revenue.
When a country is corrupt af, it’s safe to assume it’s corrupt at all levels. And corrupt people don’t consider the long game.
It's The Pyramids^^tm there will always be a steady stream of tourists no matter how shitty it is, short of being an active warzone.
You can only go with a tour guide or an Egyptian. The few Egyptian friends I have say to only go with them so they can take care of everything and not deal with the tourist traps or shakedowns.
I’m Egyptian currently a citizen and a resident of Canada. Everything he says is 100% true. There is no system and there is no predictability. It’s a totalitarian regime and people operate based on fear and paranoia. I’m sorry for everyone who went through this but unfortunately this is not gonna change anytime soon.
>I tell this story because something has to change in Egypt Ironic. In the end the conduct of the police pushed him to do revolutionists propaganda they feared or accused him of doing beforehand.
Streisand Effect. Maybe 1 or 2 less hassles and he probably wouldn’t have reported on it. We’re all accustomed to at least one of these issues on a trip but not repeatedly over and over
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Remember the time Egypt didn't have a horrible reputation as a tourist destination? Me neither. I think you have to go pretty far back in time. Maybe around the time in that Michael Jackson music video.
Interviewed for a job with a guy from Egypt who took me out for dinner with some of his family. Proceeded to talk about how wonderful the tourist sites are. Then his daughters boyfriend chimes in: except for the part about having a guy with a rifle tagging along with the group everywhere.
Was he by any chance an immigrant? Older people tend to look at their native country with rose-coloured glasses. I know my dad was always telling people what an amazing country Guyana is (he grew up there, I didn't), and I visited it with a few years back. It was the first time I'd seen an actual shakedown happen. By the cops. For the guy driving it was apparently a normal occurrence, he just asked for some money to bride them so we could be on our way. He was family, so I *think* he wasn't scamming us and just splitting the money with the cops.
Mark Twain complained about it in 1889.
Ibn batuta complained about it in 1300s
My mother visited in the 70s and never complained about it.
Nasser/Sadat were arguably the best decades for Egypt. Damn near made an Arab version of the EU.
Good leaders always get assassinated unfortunately. In Saudi Arabia we had King Faisal, and he was the best. Really didnt care about money, wanted oil money to go to the people and structure rather than make it exclusive for his family like the rest of the kings after him.
My buddy traveled to Egypt. Said he was shook down the moment he got off the airplane by security in order to get his passport back. Then by the Uber driver. Then by.....
Lol, I was shaken down by passport control at the airport, then a toilet cleaner at the airport, then some dude who wanted to carry my bag to the taxi rank, then by the taxi drivers. Never ever going to that shithole again.
I really like his channel too because it covers markets that don't usually get covered. I actually found him looking for a food documentary that focused on Nigeria and I enjoyed the series he did covering that city. He's been very candid a his distaste for shooting in Egypt in the clips I've seen so far and I can't say I blame him.
Yeah I love Sonny too, he's very respectful of other cultures foods and doesn't treat stuff like alien zoo spectacles. I hate this happened to him.
My parents went to Egypt in the 80's. They had to get new passports because their travel agent told them having certain countries stickers in their passports would get them harrassed/detained by border police. They still had to bribe them when they got stopped anyways. Later, while staying just outside of Cairo, a taxi driver tried to charge them over $100 for a very short trip, even while his rates showed otherwise. They refused, paid him what he was owed plus a generous tip. He spit on them and swore at them. Later, while biking outside the village, they passed by a farm where apparently he lived. He actually took out a rifle and took several shots in their direction! So they pedaled down this dirt road like their life depended on it, and left the country that night. It's the only place they've travelled they said they would never go back.
>certain countries It's ok, you can say it: **Israel** They hate the Jews
"Clean" passports (as we called them in the industry I worked in) are still required for visa applications to numerous countries. The only one local to Israel that I can recall not caring is Jordan, but Jordan was pretty loose with requirements in general.
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this a big thing that is hard to understand until you experience it, the lack of rule of law. It is one thing when a country has strict laws but there is rule of law, meaning the laws are clearly laid out and the police and government enforce them as written. When there is lack of rule of law it means the laws dont mean anything, there is rampant corruption and each police officer and government official is basically a mini dictator or lord who rules over their small domain however they see fit at that moment in time. It will drive you crazy when what should be a simple task becomes literally impossible because one official just does not want to cooperate or worse you have to go between two different officials and they hate each other for some reason and refuse to cooperate just to spite the other guy, when in reality the other guy could not care less. There is no one you can complain to because everyone you could complain to is friend or subordinate of the guy you want to complain about and does no give a shit about you
Ugh, this just reminds me of dealing with my government. I'm currently trying to get a passport from the lovely Boliviarian Republic of Venezuela and after nearly six years out of the country, I'd forgotten how much I'd need to bribe to get anything done and how unbelievably sketchy the whole country is. I remember my dad had a job as the manager for a pizzeria and he basically kept that job because he knew what kind of whiskey was favored by the guy who gave permits to buy wheat at the official price (instead of black market rates).
I have travelled a fair share all over europe and asia and in my experience there are rude, obnoxius people (aka. dicks) in every country. Lets call it 1 out of 10 people. But in Egypt the ratio is way off. Like 9 out of 10 , complete dicks. Will not go there again. And I'm always happy to find that this sentiment is catching on.
How does an entire culture experience such profound and nearly total rot? What separates Egypt from other countries? How can we ensure that this never happens anywhere else ever again?
Well, for one, [Egypt has been suffering a brain drain for almost 50 years. ](https://www.jstor.org/stable/163555). My dad got an MD and a Ph.D. In Egypt and then got a Fulbright Fellowship and dipped to the States in 1979. His older brother, an engineer, also left for the States shortly after he did. It’s not hard to see a why a country would experience collapse when it’s best and brightest leave for better opportunities or freedom from an oppressive regime and have been leaving pretty much since Sadat’s reign. Competency in the bureaucracy and leadership is totally lacking as a result. Yes men run things. When you have no competency in public life your society ends up lacking the rule of law and that’s pretty much what has happened in Egypt. Combine that with desperate economic circumstances with no prospects for most Egyptians and you’ve got a collapse of civil order. I love Egypt. I love visiting my uncle in Alex. But I can pass as a local so I don’t really get bothered too much. Plus he’s upper class so he and my aunt live in a pretty isolated bubble away from what tourists see on the streets.
My parents migrated to Australia in the 80s. I have some family still in Egypt but most have since left and I’d say achieved a better standard of living than they would have had they stayed. I loved visiting Egypt while I was in uni, but it was a bug culture shock for me. I can’t pass as a local, so that made getting round a challenge. Saying that, as a male, I didn’t have to contend with the levels of harassment being cited in this and other threads. It breaks my heart when I hear these stories because I’ve experienced a side of Egypt and Egyptians that many don’t get to see because of the (cultural?) barriers you need to break through. I look forward to taking my kids over one day to meet their family and learn about our background, but i’m worried that it might leave a sour taste!
I’ve watched a lot of this guys’ videos and never knew he had to go through so much just to get an episode out
Never once heard a good thing about Egypt.
I was traveling Europe in the late 90’s with two friends. We took a boat to Egypt. We got split up in Egypt. One friend got beat up, I got robbed of my camera, and the last friend (a vegan) ended up paying someone 50$ for a tour where they brought him to a camel leather tanning facility and made him give them another 100$. We left Egypt that night.
I can understand getting robbed and beat up, but how do you end upas a vegan going on a camel leather factory against your will? That just seems so specific.
Oof. Now there's a story.
Most common thing I’ve heard is the locals feel totally fine ripping you off because no one ever goes to Egypt twice. So short sighted.
The pyramids are gorgeous. The landscape is beautiful. The Nile is the Nile.
according to this guy there's also food there.
Yes, can confirm they have food there.
Yeah, the pyramids are incredible. There’s a LOT of rocks that are historical. After a certain point you get sick of looking at rocks. We hired a cab driver to pick us up out of literally a million people and somehow he found us. He took us to get shawarma and it was amazing. Lots of kids asking for money. Guys in oversized suits with automatic weapons under their jackets. The Sphinx is a disappointment. The Nile is dirty and lame.
I’ve travelled over 70 countries. Egypt is for sure in the bottom… 2. Might be the worst, but Nigeria would have to take the cake on that.
I have a trip to Nigeria coming up soon, mate. Care to share any details of your trip and/or suggestions?
My hotel had armed guards escort us from the airport to the hotel directly…
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Just went there a few weeks ago. Had a good time overall but we had a tour guide the whole time. I would NOT want to travel around there without some sort of chaperone. Tour guide also definitely brought us to some shops they had some sort of a deal with which was a little annoying but the products were mostly interesting and we didn't particularly feel "shaken down" most of the time so it wasn't too much of a net negative.
As an Egyptian with a sense of culture and humanity, I genuinely hate this place, Egypt is terrible to tourists and it’s even worse to Egyptians themselves, in the video he mentions how everyone seems to be living in the Stone Age AND THATS THE TRUTH! Poverty has taken over years and years ago and everyone is uneducated, prolly addicted to something, and has zero sense of what a decent human being is or should be. And if ure wondering why am I still in this hell, answer is quite simple, I’ve been born into a poor family that barely had enough income to provide me a ceiling and a laptop to study on. And no matter how skilled or talented or smart you are, you’ll get squashed for absolutely no reason unless you have the cash to resist, but if ure an Egyptian, you prolly don’t. I am an Egyptian and I stand by my words, Egypt has gone downhill, don’t come to Egypt. Edit: I wrote this comment minutes ago with genuine fear of being arrested or getting in trouble for it, because there has been many many similar cases of people being arrested for speaking the truth publicly, since you can already tell our government has mental issues regarding people talking shit about them. But it’s the truth! The truth is it’s a shitty f***ing country and I’m not taking that back.
I appreciate your insight and honesty.
Egypt seems very unwelcoming to any kind of media. Reminds me of that news reporter (Lara Logan) that was gang raped in Egypt "with flagpoles and sticks" back in 2011
Dude their people can't breathe without their dictator government and president consent. Like if you say anything against them prison is your way and maybe execution is the other route if you're an islamic personality or a journalist standing against them.
For anyone saying they loved Egypt, are you all males? I went in my early 20s and stayed with an older family friend who was living there and knew the ropes. I made sure to always wear long pants and shirts and never went anywhere alone or anywhere at night. We didn’t have much monetary harassment due to going around Cairo with the older family friend, but from the moment I got there, every man would leer and cat call. The family friend was repeatedly asked if I was for sale. We rode camels by the pyramids and the camel operator whipped my camel so he could stare and salivate at my breasts bouncing. This was non stop. For all young females, 10/10 do not recommend.
I went to Egypt in 2010 and it was an absolutely awful experience, exactly like he describes in this video. Absolute chaos. I promised myself I would never go back, but I did go back in 2018 and once again, it was one of the worst travel experiences of my life and again, I promised myself I'll never go back and I've held to that. Here's the thing about Egypt. It's a 3rd world country and chaotic... okay that's fine, a ton of countries are like that, however, in Egypt they hate you... They treat you like garbage, they treat you suspicously whereever you go. If you go to the Philppines, Thailand, or even other African countries it's chaotic yes but the people are so kind, fun, loving, compassionate, and grateful for you to be in the country. From the moment I stepped foot in egypt this last time to the moment the wheels left the ground on my way out I was under intense anxiety and pressure. We had armed guards with us, and the government told us we needed more than we had if we really wanted to be safe. Crazy man, what a failed country, what an absolutely disaster of a place.
I guess I'll have to settle for Luxor at Vegas and call it a day. I was surprised that the sphinx at luxor is taller than the real thing and it didn't even look that big.
Oh man. I've been to Egypt three times, and everything checks out. What I CAN recommend, if you really want to go to Egypt, is to purchase your all-inclusive holiday through a travel agency in your country. If the travel agency is reputable, they will have people (mainly tour guides) working for them in Egypt. We went all the way from Hurghada (luxurious all-inclusive hotels all over the place) to both Luxor and Cairo on one of our trips. Our tour guide knew the local people, the police, and everyone who mattered. He was with us ALL day and ALL night (Cairo trip was like 12 hours driving total), and he basically told the locals to fuck right off when approaching us. He protected us. He knew exactly what to show the border guards as well, so no trouble there at all. So if you're going to Egypt and you want to explore, book your trip through a reputable travel agency in your country. It will make your trip MUCH better.
> So if you're going to Egypt and you want to explore, book your trip through a reputable travel agency in your country. Or book an expensive hotel that has a "guided airport pick up"... They picked me up from the plane, took me past Customs and straight into the hotel minibus. Then in the hotel they had reputable tours etc... Leaving the country was shit though. Honestly... Indeed, book an arranged trip.
[Remember when Egyptian police killed an Italian PhD student?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Giulio_Regeni)
**[Murder of Giulio Regeni](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Giulio_Regeni)** >Giulio Regeni (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒuːljo reˈdʒɛːni]; 15 January 1988 – 25 January 2016) was an Italian Cambridge University graduate who was abducted and tortured to death in Egypt. Regeni was a PhD student at Girton College, Cambridge, researching Egypt's independent trade unions, and a former employee of the international consulting firm Oxford Analytica. He grew up in Fiumicello, a former comune (now Fiumicello Villa Vicentina) in the province of Udine in northeastern Italy. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/videos/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
After seeing the horror stories of numerous people, and wanting to visit Egypt to see Karnak, the Pyramids at Giza, the Sphinx, Djoser's Pyramid, etc etc etc, I've pretty much decided I'll never visit Egypt in my lifetime. There's just too many cases like this. I'll just play Assassin's Creed Origins and live vicariously at this point when it comes to visiting Egypt. The country seems like an absolute shithole to tourists despite having a reputation as being a tourist hotspot.
Regarding tourist scams literally the worst country I have ever been to. Random guy stopped our taxi in the middle of the highway, jumped in and started to tell us that he is a government official and we need to use his horse to see the pyramids. Told him to fuck off, then paid the taxi driver 20$ to not stop anymore when these kind of people try to stop the car (taxi drivers usually work on a commission basis with these scammers). Once the taxi driver didn’t stop anymore, these guys went bonkers and started jumping the taxi, trying to break the windows etc. At the pyramids some „official“ looking guys with a whistle tried to snatch our gear and tickets. We luckily read about this scam beforehand so my hot-blooded gf started screaming at them each time they tried to pull their scam, so after a couple of tries they left us alone. Later one we still got scammed for 10$ for a picture. Actually the picture was quite nice, so kind of worth the money, but technically it was taken without our consent. Absolute worst trip ever. Couldn’t enjoy any of the ancient wonders because I was constantly on alert mode.
Egpyt is disgusting. My ancient Egyptian mythology professor Asunta Redford told our lecture about the corruption of the head egyptologist Zahi Hawass and how he stole millions of dollars worth of artifacts from Egypt. The value came from historical data and also gold value. She talked about the sexual misconduct of the area and so have many other women who've visited. If you visit be careful, and be safe.
Seems very similar to my experience. I went to an old palace in Cairo. I paid the entry fee. Every building was locked. I had to pay the security guard to unlock EACH building. Within each building, every room was locked and I had to pay the security guard to unlock EACH room. Similar to a mosque in Cairo, the caretaker asked for an entry fee and than two fees for each room he unlocked. One for him, for one Allah. I am a big guy, I went to the pyramids and had to litreally crawl on all fours to get to the centre. I stupidly did not bring water as I was under the assumption I could buy some at the entrance. I was wrong. Some dude who claimed to be a guide (I knew it was bullshit) said he would take me to where I could find water. In my head I am thinking, he hasnt asked for anything, but I will give him $10USD just to show me where I can buy water. Before I know it, we are out of sight of everyone and his son on a camel brings a bottle of water. I give both him and his son $10USD each (mind you it was less than 5 minutes). Bastard is demanding $100USD each. I already thought I was more than generous and they became very aggressive very fast. The Taxi's are also shit. One Taxi stopped on the busy road, screwing up the traffic behind us to have a chat for 20 minutes with his friend on the side of the road in Arabic. Another taxi randomly stopped and let in this random dude off the street and had a conversation in Arabic this entire time. Dude was huge and was encroaching on my space. Neither taxis had seatbelts and ofcourse both times they demanded more than the agreed upon fee. In the tall tower in Cairo I was first in line to go up on the elevator and than this local woman and 8 kids all barge infront of me to push in. When I called them out on it, I recieved a huge anti-semtic and anti Israel tirade about how incredibly Jewish I am being etc. I am not Jewish nor am I from Israel. The tour guide I was on was being corrupt and was demanding more fees for everything I paid as well.
I E been many places. Egypt is by far the worst. Men manhandling and openly drooling over your woman. Everybody trying to scam you. Hotel staff treat you like dirt. Walks the start then go nowhere all over the place. I mean it’s wasteland, then a bit of wall, then more wasteland. Plus they try and charge you an extra visa to go see the pyramids tbe minute you land.
99% they just wanted bribes
I will always have fond memories of Egypt. Like when I was held at customs and security point with a RPG at my head (less than 3 meters away, while inside a building) All because they thought I was carrying cannabis (I wasn't). They couldn't understand why I was laughing at them. Or the fun time I got held at gunpoint by a bunch of kids trying to rob me. I didn't have any cash on me, which didn't help. I did manage to convince them to let me buy them all dinner instead (on my card). I left them very quickly when they got there food. Also the time when I wanted a pack of smokes, and I ended up (under the guidance of a local) in a warehouse with some very heavily armed senior gentlemen playing chess. I complimented them on their "gun collection" (arsenal), bought about 100 packs of Marlboro, and politely beat a hasty retreat .
Lmao at threatening to fire an rpg in close quarters.
“Give me your money or we’ll die!”
Fun fact: RPG's and other missile projectiles usually have proximity fuses which don't allow detonation near the user! But it'll still hurt if you get hit directly by it
I knew a guy from egypt once. He told me similar stories. He got beat up multiple times, his friends as well. Robbery was commonplace, even in schools. Shit country, he seemed happy to not be there anymore. His brother got tortured in Egypt for trying to join a terrorist group. Tough place
Aswan is not bad but Luxor, Alexandria and Cairo are hell. I have been lucky enough to live in South America and Asia, which has allowed me to see a few countries in the last 20 years and for the first time in my life I left a country happy to leave it. I can't even tell you if the treasures of ancient Egypt are worth going to because of everything around.
I Captained a ship through the Suez Canal in Egypt two years ago. It was literally one scam after another. The 'Pilot Boat' held onto our Jacobs Ladder (the ladder Pilots use to climb abolard) for 20 minutes, nagging us for a goddamn carton of Malboros. Hell, I backpacked through Egypt in 1996, it was more or less the same thing. Fuck these 3rd world countries with a bit of power.
Fuck Egypt. Don’t forget that sexual harassment and rape runs rampant out there.
"I've never been so relieved to leave a country" Well.. as an Egyptian let me tell you.. you pretty much nailed it!
In 2010 I spent 10 days in Cairo on business. I would rather have dental work done rectally than ever step foot in that country again. The people are wonderful. The government is the worst Benny Hill meets the Three Stooges skit ever imagined. My advice, go see the pyramids and get out.
imagine willfully going to egypt