Dear all,
We just came back from 2 weeks of backpacking in egypt. The taxidriver drove us around tahir square to Giza, there was our hotel. Cairo is a very big city and as long as you stay away from the demonstrations, there is no problem at all. Giza is very safe at the moment and the army is present on the streets. We were there for two days and didn’t see any problems. The pyramids were fine. We were supposed to go to aswan by nighttrain, bu in stead we booked a cheap flight with egyptair. Aswan, Abu simbel, the nile and luxor are very relaxing. We booked a tour gide and spoke to may local people. There were no major problems. They only advised us to stay away from the horse carriage riders, because the “belonged” to Morsi. The Nubian people didn’t have internet because the goverment tried to keep the people calme. The trip to abu simbel was done in a police convoy, but that’s the way it is for many years. No worries. No tourists at all In Egypt, except for the red sea coast. Finally we went to El gouna for some kitesurfing. Overthere we met the first tourists! Of course it was more calme overthere then in the rest of Egypt.
Conclusion:
If you want to visite Egypt, please do. Avoid demonstrations and the tahir square. The luxor museum is also a good option for seeing mummies. The Sinai and suez area is already a problem area for a long time. But sharm and the red sea coast is not a problem. In the south (aswan / luxor) people don’t care about the government and are more interested in tourists.
Good luck
A young backpackers couple from Holland
