Tips for all going to Egypt

[bvbellomo]

I'm exactly half way in age between Mohamed Salah when that article was written and Sean Connery when Red October was filmed.

This is only my 2nd liveaboard. One skill I worked on for my first trip was how to drink coffee without wearing it. By day 7, I was able to spill some into my mouth, not just my shirt. If I take a razor, even a safety razor, to my face I am going to need a blood transfusion. If I don't, I will look like Mohamed Salah when I disembark even if I got on board clean shaven.

I've also worn a beard for 3 years now, so being completely clean shaven in vacation pictures is just weird if I grow it back after, and I've found stubble causes my mask to leak.

 

[Adr1an]

A beard trimmer will do just fine

 

[Sunn]

This is not correct.

Beards are common on all ages of Muslim men in Egypt, regardless of how religious they are. Many non-Muslims wear beards just because they are popular and girls like them.

That's true for Europe or US.... not in Egypt.

I will have to disagree
(...)
I agree that a fellow with a long beard and no mustache clearly belongs to radical Muslim groups, but (at least according to my own experience) no young Egyptian will sport a bushy beard unless he belongs to certain environments.

long beard, djellabah (وجلباب), it's a clear sign of conservative muslims.... and I agree with you when you disagree....

 

[Goldman]

Good morning is usually sabah al khair , sabah al ful or sabah al asal, in about that order of popularity Spelling in English probably isn't correct in Arabic. I lived and worked in Hurghada for 5 years and my grandfather was Egyptian.

 

[Goldman]

No one under 70 in Egypt greets with Salema Alykoum/alykoum salema

This is a religious. formal greeting. It's not wrong to use it, and people will understand you, but... For a young foreigner to use it would be both stuffy and a little presumptuous. If you are older and speaking to someone older than you are, particularly a man with a bear, it might be the right way to go. Otherwise, use either Sabah al kheer (good morning), Messa al Kheer (good afternoon/evening). The proper response is Sabah al fool or Sabah al noor.

If you are addressing someone you know a little, use "eh-zay-ak (m) or eh-zay-ik(f)" It means how's it going, roughly. They will say kolo kwais (everything is good) al hamdulilah (thank god) in response. You then say, hamdulilah (thank god).

For good bye, ma salema is common, but equally common is bye bye.

Ezayak is a greeting used for Christians, to say that "nobody under 70 says "as salam aleykum" is nonsense. In fact there is more nonsense in this thread than facts. I lived and worked in Hurghada for 5 years and can speak Arabic reasonably well.

 

[DiverNick226]

Thanks all! I have truly enjoyed reading the original post and all of your 17pgs of comments!

I’m excited to be heading to Sharm in March to dive with Red Sea College. Staying at Cataract Layalina resort. Anyone thoughts on those outfits?

 

[S****N]

I didn’t read the 17 pages but did somebody already mentioned that it is a real good idea to shut down your roaming and buy an Egyptian SIM card asap after landing? Roaming is super expensive in Egypt. An hour after I landed I reached my provider’s limit of €50 just with some mails and some WhatsApp messages.
For a prepaid Vodafone SIM with 8Gb I paid 230 pound which would be €9-€10.
Euro to pound is 1/24,.. nowadays.

 

[BoltSnap]

I didn’t read the 17 pages but did somebody already mentioned that it is a real good idea to shut down your roaming and buy an Egyptian SIM card asap after landing? Roaming is super expensive in Egypt. An hour after I landed I reached my provider’s limit of €50 just with some mails ad some WhatsApp messages.
For a prepaid Vodafone SIM with 8Gb I paid 230 pound which would be €9-€10.
Euro to pound is 1/24,.. nowadays.

Agree 100%!! Buy Vodafone immediately while in arrival hall at the airport.

 

[JustSurfaceInterval]

[...] Roaming is super expensive in Egypt. [...]
For a prepaid Vodafone SIM with 8Gb I paid 230 pound which would be €9-€10.

Agree 100%!! Buy Vodafone immediately while in arrival hall at the airport.

And ensure you take all the additional codes, the ones with ### and numbers, displayed at the booth. You will need them to fully activate your data volume.

 

[dflaher]

I just learned that a visa is required for US citizens traveling to Egypt. I searched this thread for "visa" but no hits came up. So, I thought his would be a good thread to start a discussion.

Just to confirm...is a visa required for US citizens traveling to Egypt?
What is the best way to obtain one? Upon arrival? I saw this link at the US State Dept.'s website to apply online. Is this helpful to do prior to travel?