Jackie Danicki

I wanted to write a round-up review of our trip to Egypt, because I keep telling everyone I see since returning that it was superb, and it seems a waste not to say it here. Sorry, it’s rather lengthy.

First of all, we will go back. And we will stay at the same hotel, Le Méridien Pyramids in Giza. Yes, our hotel room really did have a gorgeous view of the pyramids, as promised. This is a five-star (we got a massive discount through hotels.com), with all of the amenities and comfort that one would expect with such a rating - including uniformly excellent service and friendliness from all staff. Everyone we encountered at the hotel seemed truly to enjoy their work, and this was reflected in every experience we had with them. From writing down addresses in Arabic for us to give to taxi drivers, to remembering our names and what we liked to drink, and taking us to secret stairways which led to breathtaking views we would otherwise not have seen, everyone at Le Méridien contributed to make our trip as stress-free and wonderful as possible. (They’ve probably also got their eye on a nice tip for sorting out problems or showing you something extra-special, but there’s nothing wrong with that. We tipped plentifully and happily; within the hotel, every gratuity we gave was well-earned.)

Now, you might think it’s a cop-out to travel to a third world country and stay in a luxury hotel, in which case - please, feel free to go there and stay somewhere less comfortable and less hygienic. For us (well, primarily for me), cleanliness and comfort were a major concern, real make-or-break considerations for the trip. I don’t deal well with roughing it, and I don’t believe I would have had a more ‘rewarding’ trip if I had been staying in filthy conditions. We managed to spend a lot of time with local people and learnt a lot - all of which had nothing to do with where we rested our heads at night or the fact that we had daily hot showers. Additionally, downtown Cairo is very noisy, thanks to the insane amount of horn honking that goes on. We were happier being somewhere out of the way and quiet.

Also, our main aims for this trip were to relax together, see someplace new, and explore some old, cool stuff - in that order. What we wanted is what we got.

I would highly recommend going to Egypt, as we did, during Ramadan. There is a special atmosphere to the place after sundown, when the men are smoking their hookahs (making the air fragrant and spicy) and entire families eat together, enjoy live music, and stay up late into the night. It was also our good luck to be there in October, outside of the times when schoolkids are on their holidays, so there weren’t a lot of children at our hotel or at any of the attractions we visited. This made, no doubt, for a more peaceful trip. (Yes, we want kids, but we don’t necessarily want to holiday with everyone else’s.)

Foodwise, we ate incredibly well - too well, perhaps. The hotel’s Tex-Mex restaurant, Laredo Bar, was a particular favourite (get the turkey enchiladas and nachos Cancun, and ask for Mohamed to look after you). The Mediterranean restaurant was also pretty nice, with really good bread, tapenade, and bruschetta. We usually only ate twice a day - either the breakfast buffet or lunch buffet, then dinner. Food was reasonably priced compared with London rates - about £8.50 per person for the buffets, and a more expensive evening meal coming in at around £20 per person - and the service was a million times better than you’ll get here.

The weather in October is also supposed to be a cooler time, and so we found it. The heat was dry, and not exactly intense - though I wouldn’t have wanted to stand out in it for hours. There were times, in the pool, where I actually felt cold because the sun wasn’t exactly beating down relentlessly. We expected to be somewhat miserably hot at least part of the time, but were pleasantly surprised to find it quite mild.

We were also prepared to deal with lots of annoying mosquitos and other insects, and came equipped with repellent sprays and wipes, plus anti-histamine cream for any bites or stings. I honestly think we would have been fine without these; I saw only two mosquitos the whole time, and quickly stopped wearing any repellent. There were a few flies around the pool, but nothing major.

Like I said, we did a lot of hanging around the hotel, having swims and massages and just chillaxing (sorry, it’s my current favourite annoying word). But when we ventured out for sight-seeing, our experiences were excellent. The hotel arranged a very good guide to take us to Memphis, Sakara, the Giza Pyramids, and interesting stops in between; a driver was also supplied, who took us around in an air-conditioned people carrier (aka mini-van). For a good six hours of information-rich guidance, the driver, entry to all attractions, and very generous tips, it cost us about £80. (We probably could have spent less if we’d arranged things ourselves, but for safety reasons, I was happy to pay more to have the hotel refer us to their trusted guides and drivers.) We also hit Old Cairo one day, grabbing a taxi from outside the hotel; the driver took us to where we wanted to go, waited for us to see everything, and took us back when we were done. I can’t remember how much this cost us, probably because it was so ridiculously reasonable.

While everyone at the hotel was very friendly, this was also our experience outside of the hotel - for the most part. Upon arrival at the airport, random men welcomed us, and most people we encountered were terribly kind. We had one dodgy experience with a police officer who started following us down the street, then took it upon himself to help us cross the street, and then demanded baksheesh. (As our guide said to us, corruption is rife here, and it shows.) There was also a tense moment with a guide who approached us as we walked near the entrance to the pyramids on our first day; he said he’d take us up there the next day with this horse and camel, and I wanted to know how much it would cost. “I give you Egyptian price,” he said, looking at Antoine. “How much will that be?” I pressed. “I SAID I give you Egyptian price!” he sneered at me. I got a definite “Know your place, woman” vibe from him; he then urged us not to talk to any other guides or consult the hotel about guides and prices, so we had no qualms about blowing him off.

As I mentioned, we got a great deal on our hotel, and I also got our flights (on British Airways) at a discount. I don’t think Antoine will mind me admitting that his birthday surprise cost me much less than it should have; in fact, the trip was even better because we knew it was such a steal. I think October is a good time of year for this; I know you can get deals from Travelocity for cheap Cairo flights right now.

Again, we will go back - there’s so much to see that we could probably return several times and not run out of interesting discoveries. We’d like to take Antoine’s parents there, as they’d love it, too. All in all, we couldn’t recommend Cairo enough - you should totally go there.

Filed under: Life