Egypt is anarchic.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the best way to describe it to a Westerner, especially an American.\u00a0 Things you take for granted like fixed prices, schedules, satisfaction guarantees, clear signage, experts, do not exist.\u00a0 Travelling through Egypt will challenge your assumption that the world is dictatorships or democracies.<\/p>\n
So whatever I write here could be null and void in a matter of months.<\/p>\n
To give you an idea just how anarchic it is, even Google and Apple are not aware of some basics.\u00a0 Apple thinks Egypt is at GMT +2.\u00a0 But Egypt recently ditched daylight savings time, and is currently only GMT +1.\u00a0 Simply travelling to Egypt will set your mobile phone ahead by an hour unless you set it to manual time settings.<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the Rowaysat bus station in Sharm El Sheikh.\u00a0 Google Maps will tell you it\u2019s at one spot, but it turns out it\u2019s a couple miles down the road.\u00a0 Only the taxi driver knew this.\u00a0 And that\u2019s just the beginning.<\/p>\n
Okay, so now are you ready to understand how travel in Egypt works?\u00a0 Good.<\/p>\n
My travel was\u00a0from September 7-10, 2016, from the Taba border crossing South of Eilat to Sharm El Sheikh, on the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula.\u00a0 It\u2019s basically the only part of Sinai left accessible to tourists while the Egyptian military deals with ISIS in the rest of the peninsula.\u00a0 The first thing to understand that it is safe, and you\u2019ll be fine.\u00a0 Sharm El Sheikh is a HUGE tourist destination, and Egypt has every incentive to make sure it stays that way.<\/p>\n
The recent plane crash to Sharm damaged the industry enough, and they are not about to let it get damaged anymore.\u00a0 Air traffic is already back with increased security.\u00a0 And the road from Taba to Sharm is on lockdown \u2013 you\u2019ll cross about a dozen checkpoints on this 140 mile road, about 3-4 which can ask for your passport.\u00a0 Furthermore, you can cross the Taba border without a visa.\u00a0 But your stamp will only allow you along this coastal road.\u00a0 The border guard emphatically told me \u201cno Cairo.\u00a0 Only Taba Sharm.\u201d<\/p>\n
With this in mind, remember these people know what\u2019s up.\u00a0 They are telling you these things for your protection.\u00a0 They are not the Man trying to bring you down.\u00a0 Listen to them.<\/p>\n
Now, how to actually make it there.\u00a0 There\u2019s two options.\u00a0 One is a bus that goes from Sharm to Taba and back every day.\u00a0 It leaves the Rowaysat bus station in Sharm at 9am every morning, and arrives in Taba about 1-1:30 pm.\u00a0 It then leaves Taba back for Sharm at 3pm.\u00a0 It makes two stops, at Nuweiba and Dahab.\u00a0 As well as maybe one or two other stops where the bus driver knows someone.\u00a0 But that\u2019s neither here nor there.<\/p>\n
The other way is by private taxi.\u00a0 Now, forget everything you know about taxis and Uber.\u00a0 A \u201ctaxi\u201d is just a guy with his own car who sees you walking down the road and guesses you\u2019re a tourist needing a ride.\u00a0 He will then haggle you for a ride.\u00a0 I paid $60 to get from Taba to Sharm via taxi, when he originally asked for $100.\u00a0 I consider the trip worth the expense because he knows the roads and the checkpoints.\u00a0 He introduced me to a couple of his favorite stops along the way, and the checkpoints tend to be a bit more lenient with him.\u00a0 As he said \u201cif you show your passport before he asks for it, he won\u2019t ask for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now let\u2019s talk a bit about haggling.\u00a0 First off remember.\u00a0 You\u2019re a tourist.\u00a0 They know this, and you know it.\u00a0 So you will pay more than the natives \u2013 if the natives even get something like a taxi.\u00a0 But keep a couple things in mind to help you haggle.\u00a0 I knew the bus was only 50EGP which is about $6.\u00a0 But he found me walking around Taba at 10:30am, and we both knew I didn\u2019t feel like waiting till 3pm when the bus showed up.\u00a0 And I also knew the hotel wanted $130 for their own transportation to take me.<\/p>\n
So when you have alternatives in mind, it helps you set a price in your own mind and not be subjected to their tactics.\u00a0 Which, frankly, I respect.\u00a0 Because for these guys life is a hustle.\u00a0 It\u2019s not easy living in these parts.<\/p>\n
And speaking of hotel transportation.\u00a0 I spent the night at the Taba Hilton, figuring I\u2019d get an early start on the day.\u00a0 I tried searching the net for bus schedules, but the one site I found said the bus left Taba at 7am.\u00a0 It\u2019s a good thing I talked to the hotel clerk\/concierge (there wasn\u2019t a dedicated concierge).\u00a0 He didn\u2019t even know, he just knew the bus phone number and was able to find out that way they left at 3pm.<\/p>\n
If you do decide to take the bus from Taba to Sharm, it\u2019s about a half mile walk down the road from the border, on the beach side of the street, in this dusty strip mall.\u00a0 Keep in mind Taba is a ghost town.\u00a0 Good luck finding the guy who\u2019ll sell you a ticket for the bus.\u00a0 Remember, I took a \u201ctaxi\u201d so I can\u2019t help you there.<\/p>\n
140 miles down some very \u201cinteresting\u201d yet picturesque road found me in Sharm El-Sheikh.\u00a0 And let me tell you, I was not expecting what I saw.\u00a0 I thought it would be a few dusty hovels.\u00a0 Sharm is a resort town that gives Las Vegas a run for its money (so to speak).\u00a0 Like Vegas, gambling is legal in Sharm (as well as the rest of Egypt), it\u2019s strewn with HUGE resorts and hotels, there\u2019s the greenest grass you saw all over the place, massive malls.\u00a0 But unlike Vegas you\u2019ll have access to some of the nicest water and the best snorkeling and diving the world has to offer.\u00a0 All at rock bottom prices.<\/p>\n
If gambling is your thing, you\u2019ll have a fun time.\u00a0 They inherit all the machines Vegas throws away.\u00a0 From my limited sampling the slot machines only take dollars.\u00a0 But unless you win over $100, they spit out your winning in coins\/tokens.\u00a0 Which is so much more satisfying than those sterile strips.\u00a0 And they still have the levers you can pull \u2013 though they don\u2019t actually mechanically pull the slots.<\/p>\n
Also remember they have different cultural ideas of comfort.\u00a0 I stayed at the Domina Resort which was granted five stars by Egypts Ministry of Tourism.\u00a0 But the beds were small twin size – \u00a0I felt like they were from a children\u2019s summer camp.\u00a0 Apparently they have yet to catch up on flat screens \u2013 both the Domina and the Hilton had CRTs in my room.<\/p>\n
Beyond that, expect all the amenities like a fully appointed bathroom, AC, and wifi \u2013 something that will help you cut out the roaming costs.\u00a0 On that note, have you downloaded WhatsApp to your phone yet?\u00a0 Good.<\/p>\n
For transportation, I was lucky enough to have a friend in the MFO, which is an international force to keep the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.\u00a0 So we tended to use one of their cars to get around town.\u00a0 I think if I didn\u2019t have that luxury I would be tempted to rent a car \u2013 Sharm is pretty spread out (remember those HUGE resorts).\u00a0 It was about five miles from our resort to the city\u2019s central attractions.<\/p>\n
Of course, you don\u2019t really ever need to leave your resort.\u00a0 There\u2019s plenty to do, and plenty of nothing to do.\u00a0 Just hang out on the beach all day and forget the world.\u00a0 Or check out some boat trips.\u00a0 Get your SCUBA certification and you\u2019ll have a lot more options.<\/p>\n
If you do want to get around town, and you don\u2019t want to rent a car, it\u2019s about 50EGP per trip around town.\u00a0 Of course, it\u2019ll be a haggle every time.\u00a0 Which will get annoying.\u00a0\u00a0 But there\u2019s not too many places to go.\u00a0 There\u2019s Old Town, and Na\u2019ama Bay, which are both worth visiting for dining and shopping.<\/p>\n
Dining tends to be fixed prices.\u00a0 Shopping tends to not be.\u00a0 Shopping is also a hustle.\u00a0 I\u2019ve learned the art of admiring from afar \u2013 as soon as you show the slightest bit of interest, some will just light up and start hustling you. \u00a0Not all of them are like that, and the ones who weren\u2019t were the ones I tended to browse the most.\u00a0 The biggest hustles are the tours.\u00a0 All I can say about tours is, get them from Eilat, or someone you know.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t trust a random guy offering me a tour.\u00a0 Mostly because it\u2019s probably a ripoff and not what you thought it would be.<\/p>\n
BTW keep a lot of dollars handy.\u00a0 Egyptians tend to prefer dollars.\u00a0 Some will even give you a preferred exchange rate – this includes both shopkeepers and cab drivers.\u00a0 And if you didn\u2019t know already, money is really good at getting you out of a jam.<\/p>\n
Now, I took the bas back to Taba from Sharm.\u00a0 There are two ways to get to the Rowaysat bus station to get you back to Taba \u2013 by taxi or by Bedouin caravan.\u00a0 Assuming you\u2019re not interested in waiting for a passing caravan, take the taxi.\u00a0\u00a0 Trust me.\u00a0 I pinned it on a map and even the map is worthless.\u00a0 It\u2019s on a patch of dirt in the middle of nowhere.\u00a0 The taxi driver should know, he should charge you about 50EGP.\u00a0 Make sure he understands your bus leaves at 9am.<\/p>\n
The bus station is a trip, and is well worth the experience.\u00a0 The bus itself is reminiscent of a Bedouin caravan.\u00a0 The windows are covered with heavy curtains to block out the harsh sun, with a few frills to boot.\u00a0 The AC is sufficient.\u00a0 The only thing is the seats are assigned, and at least my bus driver made us hold our seats even after half the bus emptied out.\u00a0 And keep in mind he\u2019s not personally catering to you like a taxi driver.\u00a0 Pray for cooperative bowels, though you will stop for a few minutes at Dahab and Nuweiba.\u00a0 Your best bet to fight discomfort is headphones and a good playlist.<\/p>\n
The bus will also stop a number of times for government officials, who will board and inspect everyone\u2019s passports.\u00a0 So make sure you keep it handy.\u00a0 Cargo shorts with buttoning pockets are great.<\/p>\n
Now, last but not least (should also be first?), the border station.\u00a0 There\u2019s four basic steps to get out (in is in reverse): go through departure processing and get your passport stamped.\u00a0 Show your stamped passport to the Egyptian guard and leave Egypt.\u00a0 Show your passport to the Israeli guard and enter Israel.\u00a0 And go through arrivals processing in Israel.<\/p>\n
Now this is where Egyptian anarchy really reared its ugly head.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know where some random guard got the idea that I should go around the departure station.\u00a0 But he was insistent I should do that and go straight to the border guard.\u00a0 Needless to say that was a bad idea.\u00a0 I\u2019ll spare you the details but it helps to know what you\u2019re doing and where you\u2019re going.\u00a0 Relying on or trusting the kindness of strangers is not a good idea.<\/p>\n
If that discourages you, good.\u00a0 Egypt is not for the meek.\u00a0 Real travel is not.\u00a0 If you\u2019re interested in just having fun when you travel, stick with the safe spots.\u00a0 But if you\u2019re ready to challenge yourself, and take a few risks, you will see new dimensions of people you never thought existed.\u00a0 That\u2019s what makes travel, travel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Egypt is anarchic. That\u2019s the best way to describe it to a Westerner, especially an American.\u00a0 Things you take for granted like fixed prices, schedules, satisfaction guarantees, clear signage, experts, do not exist.\u00a0 Travelling through Egypt will challenge your assumption that the world is dictatorships or democracies. So whatever I write here could be null […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[338],"tags":[345,346,82,344,342,340,341,343,339,347],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/mrbiggs.net\/ron\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/mrbiggs.net\/ron\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/mrbiggs.net\/ron\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mrbiggs.net\/ron\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mrbiggs.net\/ron\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=573"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/mrbiggs.net\/ron\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":574,"href":"http:\/\/mrbiggs.net\/ron\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573\/revisions\/574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/mrbiggs.net\/ron\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mrbiggs.net\/ron\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mrbiggs.net\/ron\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}