https://www.urbantravelblog.com/guide/cairo/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cairo The independent guide to City Breaks Mon, 25 Jan 2016 19:00:14 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.2 https://www.urbantravelblog.com/guide/cairo/#comment-559145 Mon, 30 Nov 2015 10:49:10 +0000 http://www.urbantravelblog.com/?p=5492#comment-559145 I have been in Cairo several times on business. It is amazing how beautiful is this place. I am so glad that I have the opportunity to visit it. Egypt has some political troubles but this is not a big deal. It is safe for visiting. Best regards!

]]> https://www.urbantravelblog.com/guide/cairo/#comment-539897 Fri, 06 Mar 2015 04:10:33 +0000 http://www.urbantravelblog.com/?p=5492#comment-539897 We just got back from our second trip to Egypt, the first being in 2008, before the 2011 revolution. This most recent tour was with Viking. To us, the security situation seems similar to 2008. Since a 1997 European tourist bus attack in Luxor, the Egyptian government has taken tourist security very seriously, as tourism is 15% of their economy. As in 2008, tour buses have an armed guard riding within the bus, and each bus is followed by a tourist police car containing 4 armed officers. There are numerous armed police check points on all roads, more frequent near and around tourist areas. Tourist sites, such as the Egypt Museum in Cairo, have concrete barriers surrounding building entrances and several layers of scanners, with a large police presence. Larger hotels have this level of security with explosive sniffing dogs and vehicle trunk and undercarriage inspections and limited ability of vehicles to approach the building. The security rivals US embassies. These measures were in place in 2008 and are not new since the revolution. There was essentially a military dictatorship in 2008, as there is today. We felt very secure during our entire trip. I walked for an hour through Aswan and felt very comfortable. I would not recommend independently traveling through Egypt today or in 2008, as only rare signs are written in Latin script and few Egyptian speak any English unless they are involved in the tourist industry. I would advise using a tour group, and our experience with Viking was excellent. Any visitor to Cairo, Paris, New York, or Copenhagen needs to have “situational awareness”. One needs to be aware of their surroundings and who is approaching them. Eyes open and brain turned on. Don’t wait, go to Egypt. See the most ancient of civilizations. Be overwhelmed by the age, size, and grandeur of the temples, tombs, and pyramids. We have been to many interesting places all over the world. Egypt is number one on our list. GO TO EGYPT, NOW!!

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