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Originally Posted by Param
Marco Polo, so how was the rest of the trip?
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Luxor and Cairo was a giant educational trip of history, religion, and culture. Luxor used to average 6000 tourists a day before the revolution; now just 800. Meanwhile you have the same number of "workers" that rely on tourism, the people that sell you the trinkets, water, camel rides, etc, so you have that many people swarming you for things. It's annoying but when you look at it from that perspective, it's a bit easier to put up with.
When we were in Luxor, we were the only Westerners we saw on the entire trip. Everyone we met was extremely kind to us (with the lack of tourists, mostly everyone is wanting to project an image of peace) and the costs of items were ridiculously cheap (my hotel in both cities were around $8 a night and included airport pickup and breakfast). Karnak Temple in Luxor was my favorite part in Egypt, surprisingly.
Cairo is an extremely large and dirty city. We stayed near Tahrir Square and never felt threatened. Unfortunately it seems like their whole tourism industry, which is a large part of their economy, is completely unorganized. In the antiquities museum that holds over 100,000 artifacts, the majority of them are unmarked and no translation. At the Pyramids, we had to ask five people where we need to go to get tickets to go inside the Great Pyramid. There were people riding camels everywhere and it just didn't seem organized and felt they could make a lot more money if there was structure. Lastly, Egypt would not allow you to take pictures inside any museums or tombs. I would've taken hundreds of more pictures. In Greece, they let you take pictures of anything, just no flash.
The good side (if you want to call it that) of the post-revolution tourism is that it enabled me to have a more intimate view of the historical monuments. I was in the nicest tomb at the Valley of the Kings all by myself and the workers allowed me to go back and actually touch parts of the tomb. When I climbed inside the Great Pyramid, my buddy and I were the only ones inside for about 15 minutes. Having that opportunity without a swarm of tourists is a memory that is priceless.
Overall it was a wonderful journey, I never once felt threatened, and if you are ever on the fence on traveling, lean towards the side of living and new adventures!
