Ahlan wa sahlan!

This is where the journey begins! 

Okay so you're thinking about visiting Egypt.  Wow EXCELLENT choice.  I first came here in 1993 and I fell in love with the country, it's people and what it has to offer.  If you have never been here before one of the things that I still have trouble with believing is the amount of people that are in Cairo.  The estimated numbers are staggering.  Anywhere on a given day they (the estimates) are from 17 million to 20 million people in this vibrant city.  If you're not used to noise Cairo is NOT the place for you.  If you hate traffic, then Cairo is NOT the place for you (you need to go to Al Rehab for much quieter environment) .

Every time I come to Cairo, Egypt the main city (I live in a gated community name Al Rehab) I see something unique or something that takes my breathe away or brings me back to some distance memory.  When I am in Cairo I am often many times fascinated with what goes on.  It don't think there is ever a time that the city stands still and is quiet.  Horns are blowing ALL the time. There must be more taxis in this city than private cars and the buses are always packed.  You will often find people hanging out the front door of the buses because it is packed to the hilt.  

Don't take this the wrong way but you could be in a taxi or on a bus driving down the street and a donkey or horse with a cart pulls up right next beside you.  Traffic lights do exist.  However, no-one obeys the traffic signals and because of this Cairo still uses traffic guards.  They control the traffic. Egyptians love to speed and speed is what they do (when they can i.e. when there isn't any traffic jams).  However, accidents are few and far in between.  In the last 2 years I've probably seen 4 or 5 accidents and only one serious one.    

The military is used heavy for police and also private jobs.  You will see police walking around with AK47's quite a bit.  Don't worry, in all of my time here I have never seem them use their guns or even see a police office pull their weapons on anyone.  

Here is some information about Cairo which you won't find in the tour books.

• Have someone whom you know and trust meet you at the airport.  If you don't speak Arabic and you aren't familiar with where you are going and you don't have someone meeting you at the airport your trip to your accommodates from the airport is going to be very expensive.  Look at our Services page.  We can take care of this for you.  If you are moving or relocation to Egypt you are going to want this service because getting out of customs without paying a heavy bill can be tricky.
• Speaking on Customs.  The Egyptian Government make their money from taxation.  That means charging visitors and citizens a ton of money for duty items.  If you are moving to Egypt you need to be aware of these pitfalls.  Again this is where our Information packets come in and are so valuable.  When I came to Egypt in 1993 they kept my fax machine in the airport for 2 years.  I had no idea it was illegal to bring a fax machine to Egypt and they wanted a 3 times the value for duty to get it out.  
• If you are American, Canadian, Australian, Singaporean or European.  Or if you possess a passport from one of those countries.   Don't worry about getting a tourist visa from your Egyptian Embassy in your country.  You can get your visa at the airport for $15USD.  If you apply for a visa in your country expect to pay about 4 times that amount.  When you arrive at the airport simply go to the money exchange window and tell the guy there that you want a tourist visa.  Give him the money, lick the stamp and place it inside your passport.  That's it.  
• Never ever settle on the first price. For the most parts outside the major malls bargain, bargain and bargain.   In the malls the prices are fixed.   The rule of the game is bargaining.  If you look like a foreigner, smell like a foreigner be prepare to do some heavy bargaining because the Egyptian are expert in sensing a kill.  
• If you have the means and the capability take a local Egyptian with you when you want to by those precious items.  Egyptians never pay the same prices as foreigner, NEVER. When taking a taxi give the money to your friend or escort and let him/her deal with the taxi driver.  There are meters inside the taxi, but they are rarely ever used.  Again this is where bargaining come in.  Get used to it.  It will be a part of you live for your entire stay in Egypt.  
• Do yourself a favor and buy a transformer if your electrical items run on 110 volts.   Below is a picture on what a typical Egyptian outlet looks like.  If you stay in any of our accommodation we provide the adapters to our clients.  So you don't have to worry about the adapters.  Your laptops will work fine here.  No need to have a transformer for those items.  For more information on electrical items order one of our information packets.