Is it a good idea to travel to a country when there’s a travel advisory? Certainly, there’s a large body of opinion that would suggest not. However, on a visit to Egypt a couple of weeks ago, I was forcefully and compellingly persuaded, “well, maybe”. Am I crazy? Am I a daredevil risk-taker by nature? Absolutely not. But when I decided to take my husband and two school-aged children to Egypt, it was not without trepidation. And after my experiences there, would I go back now that political unrest has again been in the international media? Yes, I would, and here’s why.
Go with a guide. Either pre-book a tour from home, or arrange a guide at your hotel. Tourism is the second largest industry in the Egyptian economy and Egyptians working in the business are professionally trained and university-educated. Studying tourism at a post secondary institution, I was told, is akin to studying medicine in western culture. Tourism is a prestigious career path for an Egyptian. So the people who are guiding tourists from place to place are knowledgeable and nowadays very careful that travellers there feel safe. A friendly people with a strong sense of humour, they are hyper-motivated to treat tourists extremely well. When I was there in late March, they certainly did.
All over Egypt, tourism is down 60-75% of normal levels. This is a huge opportunity for travelers to visit sites that normally attract hundreds of thousands of visitors each day (200,000 per day to Cairo’s Egyptian Museum). It’s easy and common to have an Egyptologist accompany you to sites like the pyramids, museums, mosques and markets. Now, instead of being with a group of twenty or more, you will likely be on your own private tour.
You can do this for significantly less than you might normally pay. Hotels and restaurants are empty. Combine that with a consumer culture that is barter and negotiation-driven anyway, and you could find some great deals out there. It’s a great time for the independent traveler to show up and negotiate guides, hotels and other services for a fraction of what they would normally cost because there is no concern about finding space!
It would be easy to paint a picture of a scary and dangerous place based on the information available in the media and on the internet. Before I left for Egypt, I was really afraid, given what had been in the news. So when my family had this amazing two week trip through different parts of Egypt, and were in Cairo during the voting on constitutional changes and a minor protest involving a fire in a government building on Tahir Square, I was so struck with how incredibly different our experience was from how afraid I had been leaving Canada, and how I worried the trip might be. What we ended up with was the trip of a lifetime and perhaps that is waiting out there for you too.
