RTP Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Hello together, I am having a bit of a thoughtful time here recently, sleeping bad and such. The thing is, I will go in two weeks to Egypt. That by itself would be fine -- but wait, there is one thing not so good, which is riots going on there currently Remember the football game? 70 dead. Then, there were protests in bigger towns, leading to 2500 injured people in Kairo as they were protesting at the ministry of internal affairs. Not to forget that the financial ministry went up in flames not long ago. So is it really safe to go there? We will fly to Kairo, stay one night there (not in the centre and we will also not go to the centre), then go further down to Assuan and Luxor. We will stay for 9 days. I am a bit confused having read the news and talking to people ... some say no. don't go ... some (those that go with me) say definitely yes. The Austrian ministry of external affairs has not issued a "travel warning" (that's when they disapprove going there and you get your money back on flights and hotels when you cancel them). And I'm a bit clueless. Flight is paid - and as there's no "travel warning" at the moment, I would not see any money if I wouldn't go. So I would need some advice from people who know the situation there ... is it safe to go? Or also if you don't know the situation there - if you feel like to tell me what you think about it, please do. So what would you do? All input welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotwang Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I absolutely would not go there right now. I don't have any first-hand experience of the situation there, but it seems like there's worrying news every other day at the moment. This is from yesterday, for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drosophila Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Well, what you hear in the news not always correspond to the actual situation, well truth to be saids it almost never do! Egypt has a population of 80 million and Cairo it self is a big city, so even if there will be some unrest/protest when you are there you are not likely to encounter them except if you try to seek them out. I was in Nepal during their civil war, and in the press/media it seemed to be one big riot, same goes to Bangkok were I lived while some of the huge protest were going on, I did not have any bad or dangerous experiences on those accounts. But that said of course you can be unlucky, but that could also happen any other day in your life, in Egypt at home or elsewhere... I truly believe the most important thing is to be aware of your surroundings and don't be stupid and then you will be fine... I mean it is not and will never be 100% safe to travel, and of course some countries will be more dangerous than others, but if you keep your wits you can go almost anywhere, and I can think of a few much worse places than Egypt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drosophila Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I absolutely would not go there right now. I don't have any first-hand experience of the situation there, but it seems like there's worrying news every other day at the moment. This is from yesterday, for example. Sorry but that example has nothing to with people traveling as tourists in Egypt, even though it really sucks big time, no doubt that military junta is fucked (like the regime has been for the last 30 years and probably more), but media only tend to focus on bad stories, so that is what we get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JISNEGRO Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 I would definetely go to Egypt. I'm from Colombia, one of the most stigmatized countries and among the ones with the worst international image, thanks to narcotraffic,violence, etc. Yes, there are drug cartels in here, there is violence, there are a lot of issues the government has to take care of, most of the population is considered poor, but not all is lost! The aforementioned things are real, but also, the media always tend to aggrandize the things and make them look worse, living here is not that bad as is commonly seen on the news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ermize Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Go for it! Egypt is an amazing country and sure you'll love it... I think you will have no problem traveling there... In this moment the most 'active' city is Cairo..but you are going in the south to Assuan and Luxor... and so it's very difficult to get in trouble for something related to all happened in Egypt in these places of Egypt A part of my family lives in Alexandria (an half of mine is Egyptian ) and they had almost no problem from when the Arab Spring starts...and they live there so don't worry!and have a good travel! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
needle ninja Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Yea, I agree with above. Don't let the news keep you, it is almost always overblown and if you are at all cautious, you shouldn't have a problem. In my experience Egyptians are really nice people who would go out of their way to help you if anything happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veracohr Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 I wouldn't right now, but eventually it should calm down. One hopes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronSun Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 I would go if I were you! I completely agree with everything Drosophilia said, and then some. If your ministry of foreign affairs deems it safe to go, then that really means something. You shouldn't listen to general news broadcasts, except with a very critical ear. They have a way of overstating things... I was in Japan last year, when the big quake and tsunami hit, and the foreign media went completely postal on it, even though Japan as a whole still was safe... Inform yourself, be safe, don't do anything stupid and go for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anoebis Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 My mom (by herself, a rather "old" women alone) was there last week... She did Luxor, Karnak, valley of the kings, Kom Ombo, Asuan, Edfoe,... and she didn't see ANYTHING which was not ok... In the opposite, prices were 50% lower then usual and people more friendly... They do ALL to make you feel happy in their country now! So, go there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemmiwinks Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 it is called fate my friend... you could just as well decide to cancel your trip to Egypt and go to the Alps instead... and have a lethal accident driving there. Who is to know what fate has in store for us? Personally I'm very scared of flying and try to avoid plane travel as much as possible. And one day I was just walking on the street and a huge panel got detached from a house and was 2cm away from falling on my head. These kinds of things really make you think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTP Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 Thanks for the answers, guys ... yeah, I think I'll go for it (unless all hell breaks loose in the next week ... which I don't believe ... but if it is, the ministry of foreign affais will know and issue a warning). It's good to hear from somebody that was there recently and says it seems ok. We certainly won't do any stupid things and will stay out of trouble. No running across Tahrir square in tiger costumes or anything. We will stay out of Kairo anyway. Just being plain tourists that watch some of the amazing cultural heritage and staying nice to people and paying some attention to not run into trouble. If we do that, we'll be fine I guess. I have been asking around today and the day before and the number of people who told me really not to go is quite small indeed. There are even people who told me to do anything, go for Kairo aswell ... but we won't, we already replanned our trip. When I like the country, I'll do Kario some time later when it's calm again. And even in the event of trouble, I guess us foreigners won't be so much endangered because first it would be bad for the whole country when they harm tourists (they live off them after all) and second we are guests there and they value hospitality a lot. Plus we've got absolutely nothing to do with their affairs and will do everything to stay out of them. Also, the fate argument is a valid one. You could get killed (or severely beaten up) in Vienna too if you were going to the wrong places at the wrong time. We'll do our best to stay out of shit. So I think we'll return home safe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veracohr Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 We will stay out of Kairo anyway. Probably a good idea, but a shame anyway. I quite enjoyed it, even while I found it stressful. Does that mean you also won't see Giza? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drosophila Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 I really hope you get a great trip! I have also played with the thought of going there, and now may actually be one of the real good times to go, basically for reasons Anoebis state: My mom (by herself, a rather "old" women alone) was there last week... She did Luxor, Karnak, valley of the kings, Kom Ombo, Asuan, Edfoe,... and she didn't see ANYTHING which was not ok... In the opposite, prices were 50% lower then usual and people more friendly... They do ALL to make you feel happy in their country now! So, go there I had the same experience in Nepal were people loved having tourist because there were so few because of the crisis, making me feel even more welcomed! And even though we tend to focus on the violence during the "Arab spring", something really important happened which should be supported, the country is actually is moving out of the dark age of tyranny and trying to move to a brighter or at least free-er future, I would like to tap into that experience! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemmiwinks Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 And even though we tend to focus on the violence during the "Arab spring", something really important happened which should be supported, the country is actually is moving out of the dark age of tyranny and trying to move to a brighter or at least free-er future, I would like to tap into that experience! ummm not so sure about that... history has MANY examples of "liberators" that actually were worse than the previous regime once they were installed. I hope I'm wrong but I think that the "transition regime" in Egypt will be one of those cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drosophila Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 ummm not so sure about that... history has MANY examples of "liberators" that actually were worse than the previous regime once they were installed. I hope I'm wrong but I think that the "transition regime" in Egypt will be one of those cases. Well one big difference is that there are no specific "liberators" it is actually a true peoples movement (when generalizing on the Arab spring), which in my book gives it a lot more credit, and the process have with no doubt changed the way people think in the region! Power is based on psychology and I think that has changed, which is the main event if you ask me! So you might be right that things could turn out different than we would expect and that worse thing can come, but certainly no good thing can come out of doing nothing!!? Freedom is not free! But I do share your fear that the transition regime will be hard to get rid of, but in the long run I truly believe that they will have to step down to the legitimate government, I don't think they want to throw everything into a fight for a totalitarian regime again, look at Syria, it's not popular! And this is another reason to actually go to Egypt, to support the people so they can see that even though they changed things/ made a revolution tourist still want to come. I think it has been some of the biggest problems for the country (economy-wise) since it started last year and it turn the poorer/less informed country populace against the revolution... so yes I think support now is immensely important! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTP Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 You have drawn my attention to an interesting aspect, Drosophila ... yes, indeed, I think the Arab Spring is good, it's good when people change their way of thinking and I actually feel a little proud now that I have the possibility to support that. Regardless how it turns out, the people should be supported I think and this is my way of doing it ... even though I will not engage in anything and just will go sightseeing. We do pass Kairo, but we want to see Gizeh ... we'll probably take a route around the town. But we definitely want to see it. An interesting coincidence: Banco De Gaia posted a set of tracks on soundcloud 23 days ago (23 is my favourite number) and one of them is Gizeh. Supposedly it contains sounds recorded inside the Great Pyramid. And I definitely like the thought that this could be the universe giving me a hint that I will see it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
needle ninja Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Oh, you HAVE to go inside the great pyramid - it is spooky! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTP Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 I'll surely try my best to do it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drosophila Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 It's gonna be exiting! Find some mummies will you!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penzoline Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Maybe he'll find Ra's new album there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JISNEGRO Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Maybe he'll find Ra's new album there. :lol: I hope so! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTP Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 So it's three weeks that I am back ... about time to post here and say how it was... It was awesome! Seriously, it was. And the riots and safety were a subject, but they never played an overwhelming role that would have influence on the trip except one incident. That was as I was walking to the Souk (market) in Aswan in the evening, separated from the others (they wanted to chill in the hotel). I came near a mosque and there was a hubbub and people screaming and I then saw some guys running out of the mosque beating each other up. At first it was fun and I stayed to watch, but then all of a sudden it turned ugly as the chaos was getting out of hand and people came running from everywhere with large sticks, brooms, iron bars, anything that's a weapon. Egyptians themselves were fleeing already, so I thought it's about time I get my ass out of there and run. But even then people were friendly, they would have helped me onto a motorbike and to get away ... but I didn't need to, the hotel was close so I ran there. Just there I ran into my mate whom the girls have sent to the ATM machine, so we went together to be safe. We saw the chaos raging from afar and stayed away, made our way to the ATM which was in another direction ... and as we came back fifteen minutes later military police had arrived and erected a small checkpoint and the whole thing calmed down. Fortunately. I then was even so hyped by the situation I decided to leave for a walk again because it seemed safe now ... and I promptly witnessed another situation where people beat each other up (but that was not so dangerous, it was near the station). I then called home and said that I'm ok (who knows, maybe chaos broke loose in the country?). But that was the only situation on the trip where I didn't feel fully safe. Other than that there were a few traces of riots, some crashed windows on the station building and on a ministry building. Tahrir square was locked up with military roadblocks. And some tanks were posted at Aswan dam. But that's all else that was. At the monuments and sights, there was nothing. The biggest concern was to keep away from stupid group travel tourists So it was awesome, the sights were mindblowing and generally the people were totally nice (except those asscrawlers that want to sell you stuff at the sights, they go on your nerves). No signs of trouble. If you want to visit Egypt, do it NOW before the elections! Everybody is in happy anticipation and full of hope now, no riots. But once the election has been done and the people will see that they've been betrayed (which they will be ... either the military won't go or some badass wins the manipulated election), then it would be a bad time. So it's best to go now before they vote. I think I have earned to vote for "yes" now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
needle ninja Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 I am glad you enjoyed yourself. I agree that now is probably the best time to visit Egypt. I have known some really nice Egyptians in America and think they are generally really nice people. Unfortunately they never have a good government and have crushing poverty and other social problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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