Any suggestions on how to get from Cairo to Hurghada by land?

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Buses in Egypt are *very* hit and miss. Unfortunately I've had more misses than hits. The drive isn't terribly interesting, and the roads aren't terribly good. The best buses are OK, but the worst buses are absolutely awful. Unless you are seriously constricted on your budget, I'd suggest flying. EgyptAir Express have a fleet of really nice, modern planes and the fares are reasonable.

I am not really budget constrained, but the way I've set up the trip, I don't have much to do on Saturday other than get from Cairo to Hurghada, and then to board the liveaboard around 6 pm. I don't know what I would be doing in Hurghada to kill time if I got there early, so I don't see much point to spending the extra money to fly if a bus will do the trick.

Just curious, did you use GoBus, or another bus company? It looks like GoBus has several different levels of buses (at different price points), the most expensive costing around $20. Was your hit-or-miss experience correlated with the price point of the bus?
 
The buses are fairly inexpensive. I had no issue regarding hit and miss. They are fairly comfortable.

I found a cheaper way, take a mini-shuttle that the locals use. It is really cheap. From Cairo to Alexandria my fare was less than $20. I knew some Arabic so that helped in negotiating. I also learned a cuss word while in the van - anta hamar (أنت حمار). Translation is you donkey, meaning you idiot. There was an argument between the driver and a local which upset the driver. After calling the local an idiot he kicked him out of the van.

The catch to using the vans is you need to know where to find them. In Cairo there is a center not too far from the bus station where all the vans meet. The drivers stand by their vehicles yelling out, in Arabic of course, where they are driving to.
 
I also learned a cuss word while in the van - anta hamar (أنت حمار). Translation is you donkey, meaning you idiot. There was an argument between the driver and a local which upset the driver. After calling the local an idiot he kicked him out of the van.

The things I learn on Scubaboard....Thank you for this. :D
 
I found a cheaper way, take a mini-shuttle that the locals use. It is really cheap. From Cairo to Alexandria my fare was less than $20. I knew some Arabic so that helped in negotiating. I also learned a cuss word while in the van - anta hamar (أنت حمار). Translation is you donkey, meaning you idiot. There was an argument between the driver and a local which upset the driver. After calling the local an idiot he kicked him out of the van.

So I just need to learn some Arabic, find the van depot while lugging my dive gear, haggle a price, and stay in the good graces of the driver lest he call me a donkey and kick me out in the middle of nowhere?
 
So I just need to learn some Arabic, find the van depot while lugging my dive gear, haggle a price, and stay in the good graces of the driver lest he call me a donkey and kick me out in the middle of nowhere?

Very much like that. A couple of people were kicked out during the drive to Alexandria. There was nothing around where they got the boot and the words anta hamar.

Just kidding. Lugging my two large luggage bags wasn't too bad. Thank goodness for roller bags. I did pay double because of my luggage. The fare was still cheap. In my experience I found the people often liked talking to foreigners. When leaving Cairo the driver went down several side streets barely wide enough for the van. I kept thinking, if this is where they want to nab be this is it. We stopped at a couple of drive up windows in narrow allies to get food and snacks. When ever I tried to pay for mine several people in the van refused and covered for me.

I lived in Alexandria for the summer. I felt safer there than I did living in Dallas, TX or Missoula, MT.
 
Ramadan is now, so no issues in September.

Back in the 90s on my first visit to Egypt (from Saudi) we flew from Cairo to Sharm but took the bus back to Cairo.

If you do take the bus avoid the rear seats next to the toilet.
 
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