Giza & Cairo – A historic getaway
January 2024 – Alright, hands down to have an amazing local experience of Giza, Saqqara Necropolis and Memphis you have to get a local guide. Egypt is a country full of history, and Giza (an Egyptian city on the west bank of the Nile, near Cairo) is really like an open air museum. To get a chance to enjoy it you have to make sure you are not being hassled by locals trying to sell you things, or take you on tours and trick you. We can definitely validate that as we attempted to visit the Giza pyramids and the Sphinx on our own and it was an exhausting 3 hour adventure. Locals were trying to make us ride camels, take pictures with camels and make us pay, sell us local souvenirs. It is too much to handle. It is understandable as the past 5-7 years Egypt inflation is through the roof and people are trying to make ends meet the best way they can. We gave it another go with a guide and honestly it was an absolute pleasure.
We booked a tour with the company Emo Tours Egypt and were lucky enough to meet Hamdy our egyptologist guide and Ali our driver. They made this experience as smooth as possible. We love knowing historic facts about the places we visit and Hamdy gave it his all in a very visionary and memorable way. He was super flexible and adjusted his approach to our wants.
- We visited the following:
- Giza Pyramids – Cheops, Chephren and Mykerinos
- Sphinx – Legendary guardian with a lion’s body and the head of King Chephren
- Saqqara Necropolis – Step pyramid for King Zoser and explore the inside of Unas pyramid
- Memphis – Ancient Capital of Egypt
- Local crafts store – We requested this to get our own tailored Egyptian Cartouche (read more details below)
- Duration: 8 hours
- Private tour
- Lunch was included at a local restaurant with traditional food
- Entrance fees to the Giza Pyramids, Saqqara Necropolis and Memphis was included
- Tips were excluded along
- You could opt for a camel ride for an extra fee (wasn’t our cup of tea so didn’t go for it)
- Don’t drink water from the tap as it could upset your stomach. Get a bottle of purified water instead. Use purified water for brushing your teeth too. It is not worth the risk of feeling unwell during your holiday.
- Visit Egypt during October to April, that is when the weather is best (i.e. not too hot) and it can make the whole experience more pleasant.
- Uber: it is definitely safe to use Uber in Cairo, however, make sure that you have an e-sim and thus access to the internet at all times. It can get a bit hectic in the city centre during pick hours so a good signal is a must have. If they tell you at the airport that it’s forbidden, not allowed or doesn’t work don’t believe them.
- Cash: You can withdraw Egyptian pounds from the ATM. In general most nice hotels, restaurants, even the Giza tickets can be paid via credit / debit card. It is a good idea to carry some cash for you for the market and other places you want to visit that may not give you that availability.
To many more travels to come.
Yours,
Tati
