Egypt reccomendations

[tinkerbell2 10]

thanks everyone,i suppose everyone has a different opinion, classic rock, ive heard loads of stories like that and is kinda puttin me off, although id love to go i have a gut feeling it may not be wise at this time, it will cost a lot of money and until im 100% convinced of which part to stay etc we will wait,

thanks again everyone

[Tess 10]

To avoid getting stomach bugs always carry antibacterial handwash - the main cause of stomach bugs is the germs circulated on the money there. It's much older, and has been used a lot more and it's easy to forget they carry germs.

 

Like anywhere, don't have ice cubes in your drinks because they will probably be made using tap water - which is not clean. Also, salads/fruit will be washed using tap water so if you eat fruit have things like Oranges, that have a skin on them.

 

If you do the above, and make sure your drinking enough water, you should be able to avoid the worst of it. I did have an upset stomach for a day or so but it was predictable and it didn't stop me going on a buggy ride through the desert!

[Bruno 10]

Just to clarify, Sharm is spotless, the hotels are fantastic, the main reason for stomach upset is the lack of water, you need to be drinking at least 2L a day then you will have no problems.

[ak09 10]

So we finally booked our holiday!!! YAY!!

 

For those who have been, what are the prices like for water activities etc in Sharm/Cairo, just so we make sure we take enough pennies!

 

[Panthera 10]

cairo has two prices, the cheapest one one is by coach my niece went on that they were driving all night to get there in the morning then set off home at 6pm and didnt get back to hotel till 4am, we paid a bit more and flew from sharm airport to cairo airport(30 mins) it is more expensive but time and tiredness factor is worth the extra.

We went all inclusive so food and drink was free, quad rides are about £15 per person and your out for about 4 hours, the cairo tour is ok but our tour guide must have been on commision from the papiyrus shop and the perfume shop cos he wouldnt leave untill a few of us had made purcheses, beware of the beggars/sellers at the pyramids you need to be thick skinned and just say no or they will fleece you of all you cash either through camel rides or they'll give you a gift!! then follow you around untill you either give them money for it or throw it back at them, i must admit my family and i did the latter quite a lot near the end of the hols.

Newspaper sellers on the beaches, be very carefull cos they try and charge you way way over the odds for the papers we worked out that our first paper we bought cost us about £4.75 english for a daily mirror, after that the bloke chased us everywhere daily untill i turned around and told him id faound a cheaper seller who i got the papers for 50p english. like i say grow a thick skin damn fast, if you say no from the start they'll ghet the message after a few days and start to leave you alone.

[ak09 10]

Thanks! What about prices for water activities per person etc? We've done it all inclusive with transferee etc

[Panthera 10]

the only water related thing we did was the underwater submarine thing where you go out to coral reefs and look at all the amazing fish, it cost us about £20 per person, yeah we did all inclusive with transfers, the best way..on the food front dont eat anything thats been washed in thier water I.E salad for one..the bread is nice fresh baked and the omlettes in the morning were good also only eat fruit you can peel, if you do get an upset stomache goto the chemist and ask them for a strip of tablets called antinol they clear you right up within hours

[Bruno 10]

Thanks! What about prices for water activities per person etc? We've done it all inclusive with transferee etc

 

Snorkel trips vary, you will get the best deal on your hotel beach rather than with the rep.

 

Tiran island trip is about £10 each inc lunch, Quad biking or any other trips negociate outside hotel with a trip agency shop as you will save loads for example we were there last October and went to Luxor / Valley of the Kings hotel rep quoted £358 for both, I got it for £204 for both.

 

Ras Mohammed boat trip again cheaper than holiday rep.

 

If you have never been to Sharm before and you like the idea of Snorkeling even just off your hotels jetty you will be absolutely amazed and will love it.... Enjoy

[ak09 10]

thankyou! cant wait ....

[ak09 10]

does anyone know what the weather will be like around october/november time? im worried we wont be able to do certain activities if its too cold.

[DT Ralge 10]

Got back from our 2-week holiday last week.

Had a week on a Nile boat from Luxor and a week in the Maritim Jolie Ville hotel in Luxor.

Boat itself, staff and food wonderful. Hotel was the same. No stomach problems at all really, wash hands after handling Egyptian money and before eating/drinking anything.

Being there in July meant it was very hot but our family of four found it manageable - it's definitely not advisable or comfortable, though, to spend a lot of time out in the sun. We all came back with very good tans merely from walking around the temples and from sitting in the shade. It is the quietest part of the tourist year because of the heat (45 degrees C) but this worked well for us to get to see the sights and move comfortably around the temples without being pushed around football-crowd style.

 

I read on here and elsewhere that the exchange rate is better there than here. Thomas Cook gave me a number of caveats about this, so I took some Egyptian pounds with me (exchange rate £1=£E7.95). I took a Nationwide debit card and used the ATM in our hotel and got £E8.65 to the £.

[Classic Rock 10]

Just an update on my upset stomach story as mentioned in my post above. Although I recovered fairly quickly my husband continued to be ill for 11 months afterwards. Despite trips to the GP they had no idea what was wrong and referred him to the gastro department at the hospital. A few blood tests and a discussion with the doc revealed that he had picked up a parasite which had been living in the top part of his stomach which had caused continual irritation.

 

The doc said that this is a common illness picked up from a trip to Egypt. We did all the things that were recommended - we carried and used antibacterial handwash, we avoided ice, we avoided anything that could have been washed in water, but it still got us. Most people on the Nile boat went down ill with the bug.

 

It had nothing to do with not drinking enough bottled water - we were guzzling the stuff like there was no tomorrow.

 

The doc said she treats many people who have come back from Egypt with this parasite.