 | Singapore Hotel - Backpacking all over Egypt is hardly an appealing prospect because let’s face it, Egyptian weather isn’t the most comfortable especially in the summertime. But the same could be said about Texas or Greece or the Australian outback.
Singapore Hotel - The trick to any backpacking trip or to any trip really is know exactly what it is you are getting yourself into, even if you don’t plan things in advance. Things like transportation, shelter, and food places must be researched in advanceespecially if your destination is a country where many do not speak English.
Transportation
As Egypt is a major tourist destination, the country has fairly good public and private transportation systems in place for tourists to get around without burning holes through their pockets.
Cairo, Egypt’s capital and largest city, has a pretty reliable and cheap transportation system. Tourists must take advantage of that, mostly because its affordable and accessible and partly because renting a car in a city where traffic laws are more of suggestions than actually rules that must be obeyed is not a very practical choice.
Cairo has an assortment buses that run on different routes. These buses run on different fares and prices depending on your destination. Right now, the city has luxury, micro, midsize, and London cab buses. Cairo also has trams that run on three different lines, a reliable Metro that usually runs until midnight or 1 am, and a variety of cabs that are also cheap.
To get to the different tourist destinations outside of Cairo, like the Great Pyramids of Giza, tourists may simply take a cab or a bus or connect from the subway to a bus.
Buses and trains that can take you from Cairo to other towns and cities like Alexandria and Aswan run on the clock as well so there’s hardly any reason to rent a car. European National Railways passenger trains can take you to Alexandria or down south in the Nile Delta. If you prefer to save money on hotel accommodations, sleeper trains are available as well.
To get from the smaller cities like Aswan to ancient sites like Abu Simbel or the Tombs of the Nobles, there are buses and ferries that run at intervals.
And if you get bored with those modern modes of travel, you can always pay to ride a donkey, a horse, or a camel and spice things up.
Hotel Accommodations
An important part of the backpacking experience is staying at hostels. It’s a great way to meet new people and make new friends. Hostels that offer beds and private rooms are all over the Egyptian cities and fairly cheap. Many of them even offer free breakfast, free Internet access, free satellite TVs in the common rooms, and free transportation to the airport. Most have on-site laundry access.
Cairo has a number of hostels that range from $4 - $20 per bed. Alexandria has fewer hostels and they are few dollars more ($12 - $16 a bed). Aswan and Luxor hostels are considerably cheaper compared to those in Cairo.
If you would rather be comfortable and have a room of your own, you can find cheap hotel rooms in these cities. Granted they may not be the cleanest accommodations, they are still worth it if you are only staying a night or two. Some hotels offer private rooms for as cheap as $20 a night but the shower and toilet facilities are communal. Hotels in Aswan and Luxor are considerably cheaper than those in Alexandria and Cairo.
Of course, if you would rather splurge, these cities also offer five-star accommodations that could charge up to $500 a night. But where’s the fun in that?
Food
Cairo and Alexandria have wide selections of restaurants, snack stalls, and street vendors that offer Egyptian, Middle Eastern, Italian, Chinese and Japanese cuisines; you just have to be careful to eat in those places that get a good amount of traffic. You wouldn’t want to get bedridden due to food poisoning. These two major cities also have Western food chains like TGI Fridays, McDonalds, KFC, Hardees, and Pizza Hut so tourists have to option to still eat the all-time favorite fast foods.
Smaller cities like Aswan and Luxor only have local restaurants, which will give you a chance to test your food palate. Middle Eastern food is always tasty and flavorful but if you’re not one to experiment, these cities have restaurants that serve Western food as well.
Backpacking can be a pretty stressful experience especially for first-timers and for those people who are used to comfort but if you are armed with vital information, roughing it across Egypt can be a very relaxing and fun experience. |
