Topic Wiki

List of TR's:
D93
MosheD


Kosher Food/ Restaurants:

Synagogue:

Things to Do:

Hotels:

Getting Around:

Notes:


Author Topic: Egypt Master Thread  (Read 28258 times)

Offline Emkay

  • Dansdeals Lifetime 10K Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Dec 2012
  • Posts: 14295
  • Total likes: 376
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 35
    • View Profile
  • Location: Where I ought to be
Re: Egypt Master Thread
« Reply #80 on: December 30, 2016, 07:19:07 AM »



However, TLV to Cairo route alone is no bargain, it's expensive. There are buses from Jerusalem,

http://www.mazadatours.com/Home/mazada-bus-line
A bus (If exists) will be expensive, time consuming, full of hassles, uncomfortable,  and a ridiculous option. I recommend trying to swim before attempting the bus.

Offline Saulius

  • Dansdeals Platinum Elite + Lifetime Silver Elite
  • *****
  • Join Date: Dec 2016
  • Posts: 671
  • Total likes: 242
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
  • Location: Liechtenstein
Re: Egypt Master Thread
« Reply #81 on: December 30, 2016, 07:53:00 AM »
Expensive and circuitous...

I flew this route before with BA Avios points. A320 TLV-AMM, and Embraer ERJ-175 to Cairo. Flight arrives in the old terminal in Cairo Airport. The new terminal (3) is very nice though.

Offline Saulius

  • Dansdeals Platinum Elite + Lifetime Silver Elite
  • *****
  • Join Date: Dec 2016
  • Posts: 671
  • Total likes: 242
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
  • Location: Liechtenstein
Re: Egypt Master Thread
« Reply #82 on: December 30, 2016, 08:15:28 AM »
A bus (If exists) will be expensive, time consuming, full of hassles, uncomfortable,  and a ridiculous option. I recommend trying to swim before attempting the bus.

The bus is definitely a hassle. The Mazada Tours bus over a decade ago used to go the direct route, via the border near Gaza into Egypt, and then across the Sinai Desert, but now goes over Eilat/Taba. I heard this bus gets a security escort to Cairo, and goes to the Sheraton in Cairo.

Numerous times I did the trip, taking the Egged bus to Eilat, then a bus or taxi to the Taba border crossing. From there, I took a bus to Turgomen bus station in Cairo, which took 4 hours. I have done the route by private taxi as well, however, these days, the direct Taba to Cairo route is not available to foreigners due to the security issues. One now has to take a bus down the Sinai Peninsula to Dahab, and then another bus to Cairo. It's a long shlep, but the buses are comfortable, and cost peanuts. I used to fly into Sharm El Sheikh from Europe, (I couldn't resist the bargain fares that were as low as 20 Euro with Condor Airlines round trip.

Note, Egypt does not issue visas valid for travel outside the Sinai Peninsula upon entry at Taba from Israel. One would have to get one at the consulate in Eilat. Flying into Sharm El Sheikh or Cairo, one is able to get a visa on arrival at the airport.




Offline readicculus

  • Dansdeals Silver Elite
  • **
  • Join Date: Feb 2014
  • Posts: 52
  • Total likes: 1
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
  • Location: nyc
Re: Egypt Master Thread
« Reply #83 on: January 01, 2017, 05:38:29 PM »
Expensive and circuitous...
played with the dates and got it down to 299 with aegean

https://www.google.com/flights/#search;f=TLV;t=CAI;d=2017-02-28;r=2017-03-20

still a bit concerned about security. this will be my honeymoon trip.

also do any of you foresee a problem getting a rt tlv to cairo for lets say 3 weeks, and then another rt from cai to asia leaving as little time in cai as possible.

Offline readicculus

  • Dansdeals Silver Elite
  • **
  • Join Date: Feb 2014
  • Posts: 52
  • Total likes: 1
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
  • Location: nyc
Re: Egypt Master Thread
« Reply #84 on: January 01, 2017, 05:40:38 PM »
bus is out of the question for me. air sinai sounds promising, however I dont really want to purchase other connecting tickets from cai out before making sure i can actually get to cairo! and that the timing works. not sure i want to be stuck in a muslim country with my wife, while she is still under her maiden name.

Offline Saulius

  • Dansdeals Platinum Elite + Lifetime Silver Elite
  • *****
  • Join Date: Dec 2016
  • Posts: 671
  • Total likes: 242
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
  • Location: Liechtenstein
Re: Egypt Master Thread
« Reply #85 on: January 02, 2017, 02:43:57 AM »
bus is out of the question for me. air sinai sounds promising, however I dont really want to purchase other connecting tickets from cai out before making sure i can actually get to cairo! and that the timing works. not sure i want to be stuck in a muslim country with my wife, while she is still under her maiden name.


Air Sinai is expensive, unless you will have connecting tickets with Egypt Air on the same e-ticket somewhere else. And this would be the best option, as then your luggage would be automatically transferred.

What's the issue of your wife being under her maiden name? Egypt is not Saudi Arabia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Egypt  Millions of tourists from Western countries visit Egypt each year, and many of them are unmarried couples - and they have no issue. 

Offline readicculus

  • Dansdeals Silver Elite
  • **
  • Join Date: Feb 2014
  • Posts: 52
  • Total likes: 1
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
  • Location: nyc
Re: Egypt Master Thread
« Reply #86 on: January 02, 2017, 02:47:58 AM »

Air Sinai is expensive, unless you will have connecting tickets with Egypt Air on the same e-ticket somewhere else. And this would be the best option, as then your luggage would be automatically transferred.

What's the issue of your wife being under her maiden name? Egypt is not Saudi Arabia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Egypt  Millions of tourists from Western countries visit Egypt each year, and many of them are unmarried couples - and they have no issue.
thanks i wasnt sure. just thought maybe it might be an issue.
out of curiosity, what is expensive?

Offline Saulius

  • Dansdeals Platinum Elite + Lifetime Silver Elite
  • *****
  • Join Date: Dec 2016
  • Posts: 671
  • Total likes: 242
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
  • Location: Liechtenstein
Re: Egypt Master Thread
« Reply #87 on: January 02, 2017, 04:06:38 AM »
thanks i wasnt sure. just thought maybe it might be an issue.
out of curiosity, what is expensive?

Last time I enquired with Air Sinai, was back in 2013, and it was $430 round trip for TLV-CAI.
That's expensive, but Egypt Air from Johannesburg to Tel Aviv (with "Air Sinai" operating Cairo - Tel Aviv leg)
was just $600 round trip.

Mazada Tours website probably reflects the current rate: http://tinyurl.com/zua8otg

As far as your wife having a different maiden name, it's definitely no issue. It's only enforced for Egyptian nationals, but for a westerner, they would never ask. (This question was covered many times in the tripadvisor forums, e.g. http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294201-i9404-k1970214-Unmarried_Couple-Cairo_Cairo_Governorate.html )

Also, hotels in Cairo are a bargain. When I am there, I prefer to stay in the district called Zamalek. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamalek
It's the more affluent/upscale residential part of Cairo, popular with expats, and very central.

Offline readicculus

  • Dansdeals Silver Elite
  • **
  • Join Date: Feb 2014
  • Posts: 52
  • Total likes: 1
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
  • Location: nyc
Re: Egypt Master Thread
« Reply #88 on: January 02, 2017, 08:06:37 PM »
Last time I enquired with Air Sinai, was back in 2013, and it was $430 round trip for TLV-CAI.
That's expensive, but Egypt Air from Johannesburg to Tel Aviv (with "Air Sinai" operating Cairo - Tel Aviv leg)
was just $600 round trip.

Mazada Tours website probably reflects the current rate: http://tinyurl.com/zua8otg

As far as your wife having a different maiden name, it's definitely no issue. It's only enforced for Egyptian nationals, but for a westerner, they would never ask. (This question was covered many times in the tripadvisor forums, e.g. http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294201-i9404-k1970214-Unmarried_Couple-Cairo_Cairo_Governorate.html )

Also, hotels in Cairo are a bargain. When I am there, I prefer to stay in the district called Zamalek. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamalek
It's the more affluent/upscale residential part of Cairo, popular with expats, and very central.

thanks for the info saulius!!
when was the last time you were there?

Offline Saulius

  • Dansdeals Platinum Elite + Lifetime Silver Elite
  • *****
  • Join Date: Dec 2016
  • Posts: 671
  • Total likes: 242
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
  • Location: Liechtenstein
Re: Egypt Master Thread
« Reply #89 on: January 03, 2017, 04:00:15 AM »
thanks for the info saulius!!
when was the last time you were there?

Last time I was there, I didn't leave the airport area. I flew in from Tel Aviv on 2 JUL 2013, to catch a 11pm flight to Johannesburg,
and it was during the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Egyptian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat  , when President Morsi was deposed by the Egyptian army. There were major protests going on at Tahrir Square, however the airport was very quiet. I did step out of the airport to go to a nearby pharmacy though.

Prior to that, I was there a few months before for a full day stop-over.

My first time in Egypt, was around in 2003, I flew in from Germany to Sharm El Sheikh  (taking a taxi straight afterwards to Taba/Eilat) dressed in my black suit and borsalino. The Lufthansa lady at check-in was asking me in German, "Are you Jewish?", and telling me it's stupid (blödsinn) and too dangerous for me to go, and telling me I should fly to Tel Aviv instead, but I only paid €19.99 for a round trip ticket. (Back in those days, tickets from Europe to Tel Aviv were over $800 off-season).  I later read up the Lonely Planet Egypt book, and took a friend along who was learning in yeshiva there. (I was thrown out, because I had no money for tuition). To get to Cairo, we took Egged bus to Eilat, went to the Egyptian consulate, where we got a visa on the spot, and then crossed over into Taba, and took a taxi to Suez, and then a bus to Cairo. We toured the shuls, pyramids, museums, markets (Khan al Khalili). In Cairo, we mostly travelled using the underground metro system and by foot. We returned taking the night bus from Cairo to Taba. My friend was extremely paranoid, asking me "Is this safe?" non-stop for the 2 days we were there. He returned back to Jerusalem, telling everybody that he felt more safe in Cairo than in Jerusalem. However, during those years, the atmosphere in Cairo was much different, and there were tourist police on every corner. (They have different uniforms).  These days, there are few tourists at the Pyramids -- the millions of European tourists who do travel to Egypt each year, primarily stick to to their resorts in the Sinai (Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada, Marsa Alam, etc.).

Offline rollingstone

  • Dansdeals Platinum Elite
  • ****
  • Join Date: Nov 2016
  • Posts: 277
  • Total likes: 17
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
Re: Egypt Master Thread
« Reply #90 on: January 03, 2017, 06:22:03 AM »


My friend was extremely paranoid, asking me "Is this safe?" non-stop for the 2 days we were there. He returned back to Jerusalem, telling everybody that he felt more safe in Cairo than in Jerusalem.
You gotta love those guys.

Offline Saulius

  • Dansdeals Platinum Elite + Lifetime Silver Elite
  • *****
  • Join Date: Dec 2016
  • Posts: 671
  • Total likes: 242
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
  • Location: Liechtenstein
Re: Egypt Master Thread
« Reply #91 on: January 03, 2017, 08:38:16 AM »
You gotta love those guys.

Well that was back in 2004, when there were 19 Palestinian terrorist attacks in Israel.

I live in Johannesburg, where statistically almost everybody has been a victim of a crime,
and personally knows somebody who has been murdered. Yet millions of people still visit South Africa.

http://www.reddit.com/r/southafrica/comments/1301bx/are_expats_overstating_the_crime_problem_in_sa/

Offline CZ60

  • Dansdeals Platinum Elite
  • ****
  • Join Date: Jul 2014
  • Posts: 428
  • Total likes: 38
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 1
    • View Profile
  • Location: New York
Re: Egypt Master Thread
« Reply #92 on: January 03, 2017, 11:41:35 AM »
Other enough. There are Jews that live there.
-1 there are a handful of older women that remain but no men. Visitors, plenty. But only a handful of jews live there now.

Offline Emkay

  • Dansdeals Lifetime 10K Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Dec 2012
  • Posts: 14295
  • Total likes: 376
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 35
    • View Profile
  • Location: Where I ought to be
Re: Egypt Master Thread
« Reply #93 on: January 03, 2017, 11:46:57 AM »
-1 there are a handful of older women that remain but no men. Visitors, plenty. But only a handful of jews live there now.
Contrary to popular opinion females are Jews too. Also I know at least one man personally that lives  there.

Offline CZ60

  • Dansdeals Platinum Elite
  • ****
  • Join Date: Jul 2014
  • Posts: 428
  • Total likes: 38
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 1
    • View Profile
  • Location: New York
Re: Egypt Master Thread
« Reply #94 on: January 03, 2017, 12:06:35 PM »
Contrary to popular opinion females are Jews too. Also I know at least one man personally that lives  there.

They are?!?!  :o :'(

Your quote could be misleading. There were (tens of) thousands of Jews that lived there. Now that there are 7 there and move around Cairo safely, doesn't tell you a story of whether its safe to get around. If there were hundreds or thousands living there, then you have proof, but 7? I hope you're not a statistician...  ;)

Offline Emkay

  • Dansdeals Lifetime 10K Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Dec 2012
  • Posts: 14295
  • Total likes: 376
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 35
    • View Profile
  • Location: Where I ought to be
Re: Egypt Master Thread
« Reply #95 on: January 03, 2017, 12:11:45 PM »
They are?!?!  :o :'(

Your quote could be misleading. There were (tens of) thousands of Jews that lived there. Now that there are 7 there and move around Cairo safely, doesn't tell you a story of whether its safe to get around. If there were hundreds or thousands living there, then you have proof, but 7? I hope you're not a statistician...  ;)
Everything gets taken out if context. After all this is DDF.

Offline shwarmabob

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Dec 2014
  • Posts: 1265
  • Total likes: 201
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: Egypt Master Thread
« Reply #96 on: January 04, 2017, 03:38:08 PM »
there were Jews in Kabul during the Taliban
2 of them
and they didn't talk to each other
yet I would not call Kabul safe

Offline readicculus

  • Dansdeals Silver Elite
  • **
  • Join Date: Feb 2014
  • Posts: 52
  • Total likes: 1
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
  • Location: nyc
Re: Egypt Master Thread
« Reply #97 on: January 06, 2017, 03:55:58 AM »
there were Jews in Kabul during the Taliban
2 of them
and they didn't talk to each other
yet I would not call Kabul safe
it wasnt safe because they didnt talk to each other

Offline shwarmabob

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Dec 2014
  • Posts: 1265
  • Total likes: 201
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: Egypt Master Thread
« Reply #98 on: January 06, 2017, 01:40:06 PM »
it wasnt safe because they didnt talk to each other
you can spin it either way. Maybe they were safe because they didnt talk to each other

Offline Emkay

  • Dansdeals Lifetime 10K Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Dec 2012
  • Posts: 14295
  • Total likes: 376
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 35
    • View Profile
  • Location: Where I ought to be
Re: Egypt Master Thread
« Reply #99 on: January 31, 2017, 04:30:45 AM »
Anyone been to Taba recently?