I am planning a TT to Egypt in the first week of March. Have a couple of questions regarding that.

1) I understand that Egypt's power supply is 220V and they use the "C" socket. Can someone please confirm that the power adapters used in Europe will (and does) work there?

2a) There is a 3-day Nile cruise included. How many people/groups are there on that boat?

2b) What are the facilities on the boat as regards laundry?

3) Regarding clothes, conventional wisdom tells me shorts should do fine. But my reasoning is that with shorts, one can get sun burnt or sand blasted. Am I correct? Would it be better if I wore regular trousers?

4) My doctor has suggested I take shots for Yellow Fever and Hepatitis A. Any others ?

5) Alexandria is not included in the TT that I am looking at (Real Egypt). Is it worth spending an extra day in Cairo and make a day-trip to Alexandria? What am I missing if I don't?

Thanks in advance.

Xponent, we have just come back from Egypt this week and it was great. In answer to your questions,

1.the power adaptors for Europe will and do work work in Egypt and are 220V.
2a.There were about 80-90 passengers on our boat (all with Insight). On another boat there were Trafalgar and Insight groups.
2b.You could arrange for laundry to be done at a very reasonable cost although we didn't use this service. There was a laundry bag on the wardrobe shelf.
3.Hubby wore long pants at the pyramids area as it is quite dusty but he wore shorts the rest of the time.
4.We had Hep A but not Yellow Fever - that's all that was recommended to us along with typhoid and tetanus being up to date.
5.We didn't go to Alexandria so can't comment on that.

Thank you very much for the feedback. It really helps when the feedback is from someone who has recently experienced it.

Xponent,

We returned from Egypt and Jordan a little over a week ago. We went with another tour company and they offered Alexandria as an optional. Most of us thought it was not worth doing. There really isn't that much to see in Alexandria. But for some reason I was glad I did it just to see it anyway. I would not spend an extra day to see it.

Thank you very much for your feedback. Guess Alexandria is out of the picture now

As I understand, Alexandria is the place where most Egyptian go for their beach holiday so there is not much to be seen there - if you want to enjoy a beach/resort break - try Sharm Al Sheikh - much nicer than Alexandria - I cannot make the comparison really as I have only been to Sharm.

Good to know. Now I certainly am NOT going to Alexandria, I hate beaches.

One follow-up question: Do you feel that there is some more stuff to see (or more time to spend on something that is covered, briefly as part of the itinerary) in Cairo? Worth a day's stay more in Cairo?

Xponent,
Have you looked at the Eygptian Voyageur Tour with TT. It's new this year in both the Winter Breaks and 2008 Europe & Britain book. It has a similar itinerary except it goes to Alexandria. The costs are similar.

xponent...

Alexandria, Egypt is not about beaches.

It is about history and is well worth visiting. If an optional is offered (end of tour usually), do it!

Have you heard of Alexander the Great?

We visited Alexandria as part of an Insight tour and in all spent about two days there. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Our hotel was set inside a park and we scored a double room with views to the East over several miles of coastline, so it quickly became on of our favourites.

On our first afternoon we had a pleasant walk, despite being pestered by some youngsters. Most seemed to want to practice their English but one young lad seemed set on picking up my wife! He beat a hasty retreat with abject apologies when he discovered that she was married to me.

It was, however, a little disturbing to turn on the TV and discover that there had been three days of religious unrest in Alexandria resulting in three dead.

On our one full day, we were off at 8:00 with our first visit being to the Catacombs of Komash-Shuqqafa. It was quite interesting and not in the least claustrophobic.

Our next stop was at the misnamed Pillar of Pompeii, it was actually erected as a tribute to Diocletian. Excavations are continuing in the area. That was followed by a visit to a Roman theatre, more an Odeon in size, on a site that offered, Greek, Roman and Arabic remains as well as photographs of items recovered from Cleopatra’s sunken palace.

We then visited the Alexandria National Museum, which is small but very good and a challenge for photographers – but nice to be able to take photographs. It also includes a lot of artefacts that have been recovered from the submerged site of Cleopatra’s palace. Include among them are also some objects from the shattered French Fleet, shattered compliments of Horatio Nelson.

The Fortress is newly restored and is not particularly interesting, but does offer some good views of the town. We appeared to have chosen the day that all of the local schools had also chosen.

Our last stop was at a Mosque for photographs. Tony and I, as the only two men, would have been allowed inside but we decided not to worry.

On our final day, we were all assembled and ready to leave by 8:30.

It took a long while to get out of Alexandria and head along the Northern Coast towards El Alamein. There was no possibility of viewing the battle site; it is gone covered by development. However we did visit the War Museum. It is a rather sad little museum, at least to anyone who has read the history of the campaign.

In total contrast, the Commonwealth War Cemetery was in pristine condition, beautifully maintained as in always the case where the Imperial War Graves Commission is involved.
Our final stop for before reaching Cairo was at Wadi Natrun, to visit the Coptic Monastery of Saint Bishoi which claims to be the oldest Monastery in the World tracing its roots back to around 400 AD. The uncorrupted body of Saint Bishoi is kept on the main altar, but suitably packaged so that the claim of preservation cannot be checked. It may not be coincidence that Wadi Natrun was traditionally the area that produced the salts used in mummification.

Unlike Saint Catherine’s, we were taken around by a Monk and permitted to photograph whatever we wished and we all considered it to be an excellent visit. We also learnt something of the Coptic people who have had a disproportionate influence on Egypt compared to their numbers. For example, I discovered that Boutros Ghali was from a Coptic family.

News on King Tut's Tomb in the Valley of the Kings...

In case you want to visit the tomb in the Valley of the Kings on a tour, you may want to know that there are new regulations on visiting the tomb.

Visitors will be limited to 400 per day (200 in the morning and 200 in the afternoon) effective in December 2007 (exact date?).

Effective May 1, 2008 the tomb will be CLOSED for restoration!

It is not the most impressive tomb, but it is King Tut's tomb.

Cat's Inheritance

Cat's

Do you know how long the restoration will take. We are considering Egypt for 2009 probably. Also, what do you consider is the best time to go to Egypt (taking weather and tourist numbers into account)?

For any one who is interested, there is a King tut exhibition in London which runs until 15 Nov 2008. You can get more info at: http://www.kingtut.org/home

quote:

Originally posted by FLYING KIWI:
Cat's

Do you know how long the restoration will take. We are considering Egypt for 2009 probably. Also, what do you consider is the best time to go to Egypt (taking weather and tourist numbers into account)?

As for the tomb restoration, I have not heard how long it will take.

The mummy of king Tutankhamun was removed from its sarcophagus in the tomb on Nov 4th.

As for visiting Egypt, I would avoid June, July and August as it will be very hot! I like March, April, Oct and Nov as first choices.

Sorry for the hiatus and thank you for all your replies and feedback.

Another follow-up question: What kind of shoes should one wear in Egypt? My take is good walking/(not exactly but close to) hiking shoes to prevent the sand from getting in. A second thought is to wear sandals so that its easier to get the sand out.

Thanks in advance.