Egypt


We had a short break & wanted to explore somewhere totally new, we were feeling a lack of creativity & needed some fresh inspiration, I get most motivated and inspired when discovering a new destination that isn’t saturated all over the online world, So we choose to head to Egypt for 8 nights, a mix of relaxing and getting some fresh content!
I’m going to keep this blog pretty raw, I know a lot of people are curious about travelling Egypt, “is it safe” is a question I’ve been asked too many times. So I want to share my experience with you all, this trip wasn’t sponsored at all, and I believe in voicing honest travel experiences, I don’t like when I see bloggers that only have good things to share about every single destination they visit, unless you are truely just lucky enough to not come across any hurdles.. I doubt it.
We flew in from Athens directly to Cairo Egypt,
We were a bit exhausted from a full day of travel, and when arriving in Cairo airport we were pulled up by customs with our gimbal –
Camera stabiliser for video, we explained what it was several times, they eventually took us into another room, where several of the officers all stood around poking and prodding through all our camera gear, after almost an hour of sitting there asking what is the problem, they all pretty much ignored us and told us just to wait, while they all say around, smoking cigarettes & laughing, we felt like they were taking us as a joke, another foreigner stopped by us and said goodluck I’ve been here for hours.. they took off with Jacks passport, and after a few more attempts to get them to hurry up as we became extremely impatient and told them we would just like to get on a flight out of here if they can’t provide any answers on what the problem was, finally we came to the conclusion that they didn’t want us bringing our broken drone into the country so we agreed for them to keep it there until we leave, 2 hours had passed and I hadn’t eaten for several hours so I left jack to go get a sim and some food thinking that he would be coming through any minute now, another hour later no sign of Jack & he wasn’t where I had left, I began to feel concerned being the only tourist around and getting hassled by every passer by for a taxi, a lady even approached me and said you were on my flight why are you still here I’ve been out to my hotel and just came back as we forgot a bag, I explained what was happening and she urged me to get in contact with the British embassy as that’s not a usual process, I asked the same officers who were with us before where jack was and they all shrugged and said don’t know and wouldn’t bother to tell me anything, 3 hours since we arrived jack finally comes through, totally pissed off at the whole situation & process- we made it to our hotel in Cairo finally, exhausted and confused on the entire scenario, but decided to give Egypt another chance as we had been so excited to see this part of the world.
The Great Pyramids of Giza
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First stop was the great Pyramids of Egypt in Giza, just out of Cairo. We drove out in the afternoon hoping to catch sunset by the Pyramids, although the site closes at 4pm so sunset inside isn’t possible, we found a rooftop cafe above a hotel for clear views of the sphinx and pyramid, it’s such a shame you can’t be inside the area for sunset, it would be so magical.
After this we left to try get a closer and different view of the pyramids & they were trying to encourage us to go by camel or horse, we were in the back area where all the horses and camels come back after the day & I became really distressed & concerned at the way these animals were being treated, we went by quad instead & the trip to the side of the pyramids was so traumatic for me, going passed so many horses with carts and camels that just appeared to be in the worst conditions I’ve seen, the way they were whipping the horses was horrific, I had to close my eyes I was soo upset, one horse we passed by was bleeding from the mouth, I’m not overreacting when I say this was fucked up and nothing I would want anyone else to see.
When we got to a sand dune with a lovely view of the pyramids we stopped as it was becoming too late for any nice light & a guy and his camel stopped by for some photos, of course this came at a price..
From there we left and headed back to our hotel, I was soo disappointed by what I seen, & extremely traumatised, I just felt so helpless for these poor animals, I can’t imagine the pain and torture these animals have been put through for the sake of animal tourism.
The following day we came back to the pyramids around 10am to enter the area, as soon as we were in everyone’s hassling us to ride camel, ride horse, I got so exhausted from saying no, the pyramids themselves are so incredible, it’s truely such a surreal feeling to be standing by them and just wondering how and when these were created. It’s a quiet time in Egypt at the moment, being the middle of summer it’s too hot for most tourists, and doesn’t help that most the world is too afraid to visit, bonus for us was walking around with little tourists around, which was kinda the whole reason we came, our friend had recently visited and said there’s like no tourists anywhere it’s so good!
I’m so happy I had the chance to visit the pyramids, its always been a dream of mine, I was a bit sensitive to what I seen, but it shouldn’t stop you from visiting, but hopefully this will encourage you to not ride the animals.
Whilst in Giza we stayed at the Le Meridien Giza, although I would not recommend this hotel, It was expensive and the service was terrible! It’s probably cheaper, easier and better value to stay in Cairo and get a transport to the pyramids.
Our next stop was Luxor, we took a flight from Cairo to Luxor & stayed at the Hilton, which was a really nice hotel, prices were cheap & it was so quiet!
The asian restaurant was real nice & also made a great margarita.
The next morning we had a guide take us around to the spots, first up was Karnak Temple, which was SO incredible, next was Valley of the Kings, to visit the tombs and see a mummy! We headed back to the hotel for lunch and some time by the pool as it was so hot, we later headed back to Karnak right before they closed to get some nicer photos in the sunset light, it was certainly worth it!
Karnak Temple, Luxor
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Next and last stop; Aswan

We were recommended to visit Aswan by a few people, we only had time for one destination and it was between here and a beach town, we picked Aswan due to its unique spots! To get to Aswan was a 4 hour drive from Luxor, which went really quick!
We stayed at Sofitel Legend Old Cataract Aswan, which is a historic and beautiful hotel! the rooms were soo big & spacious! When we arrived we quickly headed to the back of the Hotel to take a boat ride down the Nile river to the colourful Nubian Village, one of the most unique and surprising places I’ve visited along the way!
Filled with markets, hotels and colourful buildings amongst the sand dunes and along the Nile river, there was a real Crocodile thing going on here, which they liked to hang dead ones on their walls and bring tourists in to see their live crocs, I wasn’t too into this, kinda creeped me out..
059A2023059A1988059A1336059A1972059A1975059A1985Last day visit was to Abu Simbel, it is right on the border of Sudan & 300km from Aswan. We hired a private driver to take us out there, we were pretty much the ONLY tourists there, it was probably my highlight! This temple was buried under sand for many years, and a young boy named Abu Simbel discovered it around 1813, the young boy led explorers there and eventually it was named after him.
The temple was entirely relocated in 1968 by Unesco to save the temple from going underwater from the dam on the Nile.
They estimated that it began to be built in 1264 BC.. which is mind blowing, inside the temples was so beautiful, I loved this place! People were far more chill here & not really hassled at all, no animal tourism.. not really any tourism haha, which made it more enjoyable to basically have the place to yourself!

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To end our trip we flew back from Aswan to Cairo & spent the last night there, we tried to head to the famous market in Cairo and ended up spending around 2 hours in a taxi getting lost which was a disappointing way to end the trip!
Most times I leave destinations I’m genuinely pretty sad to be leaving & already start to think about where and what I’d love to see next time, but we both agreed we wouldn’t rush back to Egypt.. But SO SO glad I got the experience to see the sites and learn about some of the history, it truly is such a unique place! I hope they can get through what they are going through, and work on some positive tourism, because they have a lot to offer the world!
All images were edited with presets from our Egypt Collection, now available on www.doyoutravelXgypsealust.com

68 thoughts on “Egypt

  1. Absolutely love the pictures that came out of this trip, they are truly stunning! I’ve been following you and Jack on Instagram and check in on your blog every so often to see more about your experiences. I’m so glad you decided to share some of the negatives that you encountered while on this trip. From just seeing your pics, it seems like you two go on these dream vacations with no troubles at all! Sharing this is really helpful and genuine. Keep up the amazing work!

  2. Thank you for sharing your true experience. Loved the photos👍
    Special thanks for – Abu Simbel place. I am definitely putting that place to my check list.
    Thanks

  3. Hey Lauren,
    Thank you for being so honest about your experience, allowing us to peek into your world, and highlighting the unfortunate realities that sometimes accompany a beautiful travel experience. We all love and are so inspired by your picture perfect instagram – this post is authentic.

  4. Lau!! Ligit the reason why I adore you. Love your honestly babe. I cant handle seeing animals being abused. Makes me feel sad and helpless. I’m with you there about blogger’s painting a perfect picture when it’s not. The reason why my India blog post is still sitting in my draft and I’m not sure if I will ever publish it…… on a more positive note at least you ticked that off the list!!! It’s done and dusted!!!
    Xxx
    Ash
    http://www.missgunner.com

  5. Hey hon 💗
    Amazing Post, Beautiful Pictures as always and thank you so much, for this true words! I’m so with you!! Good job dear 💋
    I have a travel Blog too and you are a authentic inspiration for me 💗 Have a great Time 😘

  6. Glad to see I wasn’t the only one who had problems in Egypt! Ended up leaving the pyramids early to avoid the constant hassling! One guy offered to take a photo for me and I fell for it thinking he was being nice and then he demanded money afterwards! Such a shame because the country has so much to offer!

  7. I’m confused as to why you took photos with the camel if you were that horrified and uncomfortable with the treatment of animals. Frankly, sharing those photos on your widely popular Instagram is irresponsible. You can’t tell people to go to Egypt but not participate in animal tourism when you did exactly that.

  8. Lauren, you and Jack have obviously tried your best to enjoy this destination I can totally see that! But it’s so sad and disappointing that you got this experience. I’m honestly ashamed on behalf of such wonderful country for the people that keep making the damage. Egypt has so many wonders to explore however it’s the society that is not aware of the treasures they’re holding. I’ve been living in Egypt for years even tho I’m not Egyptian and reading your stories – oh boy, I can totally relate to you sometimes 🙂 the sad bit is, you definitely do need a local while staying in Egypt and at that point you’d have an absolute blast. That’s why when I saw you and Jack I was dying to take you the best places that I know for a fact you’d enjoy. Anyways, I hope that you’ll remember this place in a good way and can’t wait to see more of your adventures! Best wishes to both of you xx

    1. Thanks so much for this message, I’m glad you see it the same way, it really is a special place with such incredible history & it’s just disappointing that it isn’t as visitor friendly as it should be! I will certainly be linking up with someone like you if I go again! Haha I’m sure it would have been a totally different experience! Thanks so the message again 🙂 xx

  9. Hey! We had some very similar experiences when we visited earlier this year in April. The sites are amazing and so worth seeing, but both Hannah and I agreed like you that we wouldn’t rush back!

  10. Interesting read.I found uber a reliable transport option in cairo. Travelled to markets, recommended food spots and more with no issues. A must see for anyone traveling to Egypt – dahab on the Red Sea.

  11. It’s absolutely incredible that you’re sharing your truth to this part of the world. Although it can be daunting for people to visit Egypt at the moment, it’s so important not to be discouraged by the constant negativity that we see in the media. The most valuable thing we can do as tourists is take the terrible, negative things we see around the world and fuel them to create good. Keep spreading the message of positive animal tourism, and also the beauty of diversity. I can’t get enough of your travels XXX

  12. I love you Lauren and appreciate the honesty, but let’s be realistic; animal abuse like this is almost in every single country in the world, especially within tourism. It’s an entirely different culture and you have to respect this.
    I am living in the Philippines right now, and as an american, it’s different for me to see dogs locked in tiny cages the entire day and beaten with sticks when they misbehave. But this is what the culture considers normal. It doesn’t mean it’s right or wrong, just different. All of our cultures do questionable things as well, that might be very shocking to foreigners.
    You will get haggled everywhere in the world. You NEED to be considerate. It’s extremely probable that these people have less money than you, and it is their job to act like that. They are yelling at you because maybe you choosing to ride in their taxi will help feed their family tonight. In their culture, everybody, not just tourists, gets haggled like this for taxis and or other services.
    Finally, you are posting pictures and glorifying the very animals you said got abused. I don’t think it is a good representation of what you’re saying.
    Don’t take this wrong, I really do love your posts and pictures. But this is typical tourist behavior. This is what these Egyptians have grown up around, or their only way to make money. It’s not great, but don’t frame Egyptians as these awful dismissive people like this because they’re not like YOU. You have to be more culturally considerate, especially if you have the privilege to travel the world and get paid for it.

    1. Can I also add I just spent 10days in Egypt altogether and by the run of it we were so over the haggling but I just kept reminding myself that this is how they make money that this is how they live. Some of them make less than 1200 Egyptian pound a month that’s less than 80 aus dollars for us. So in my opinion yes some can be over the line rude and painful but I’m see their side,

  13. I’ really glade that you liked Egypt,but really sorry to hear such bad experience you had, I’m Egyptian and live in giza, it is always very disappointing how people complaints about the airport experience and inside the pyramids, I invite you yo visit Egypt again,and to see lots of charming and different places that you haven’t been to like hurghada, gouna, marsa alam, ras sudr, Dahab,newaba and fayoum.

    1. Yes so many amazing places to visit still!! :)) thanks! And I’m sorry too I had bad experience:( maybe I’ll give it another go next time and have a much better time :))

  14. I really appreciate your sharing these experiences. I think it is so important to share the hardships behind each photo and warn people about things like the camels so we can avoid it as well. I look forward to seeing some of these less known places some day! Thanks

  15. As an egyptian i feel so hurt not of course by your honesty which is actually why i follow you but by how not you but many tourists see us which is due to the shit they do here. Im sorry even if anyone’s culture is ok with hurting animals, any HUMANE person isnt. I do not visit my own country’s places due to the shit i have to condone and tolerate seeing. Taxis who get u lost most likely want more money. Pro tip: uber everywhere or gps everywhere.
    Ive noticed that you’ve enjoyed everywhere but cairo which is a bummer because even tho it has little exhibits and museums it has a lot of other things to offer. You know we sign these petitions and tell them dont fucking hurt animals it’s repulsive to every human and affects tourism deeply and they turn the other way. The only thing i can actually protect is the people in these sites who try to make money out of everything. These people used to make tons of money and i mean they can make a fresh grads salary in a company in one day and now they dont even have 1% of that and they can’t afford to eat. Its annoying and most of the time i avoid them but if you dont wanna get stuck in a whirpool with someone trying to make money from you in any way to feed their family since the fucking government wont help just avoid them say thanks and run. Again i feel awful about how cairo has treated you. Any airport trouble just call the embassy these officers in the airport are just free and trying to do something in their day and if they heard you’re going to make a problem and that you’ve already called the embassy they’ll leave u alone. My advice is just no cairo dont do it. As sad as i say this, cairo is not tourist friendly one bit. However, hurghada, gouna, sharm el sheikh, dahab, ras shitan, marsa allam, ras sedr. All these places will welcome u with open arms

    1. Thank you so so much for taking the time to write this to me! I’m glad you agree and it’s really amazing to hear more about this from someone who is Egyptian. I don’t want to at all offend Egyptians because we met some really lovely ones, and yes it was just Cairo where we had all the issues, and I guess sadly because it was the start of the trip it put us in a negative mindset for the rest of the stay, but it truely is an incredible country with so many amazing sites to see, & the history is incredible. I’m sure someday soon they will learn how to go about tourism in a much better way and Egypt will regain its reputation! I hope so anyway! I could certainly sense the desperation in some of the tour operators & I do feel so bad for them, I can’t imagine what the country is going through with the lack of tourism! Thanks for your advice, I’ll certainly listen to that for the future!! 🙂 xx

  16. These are really beautiful pictures! But as some others have already questioned – if you are so concerned for the animal welfare why are you posing with them? Using an animal as tourist entertainment can in some instances lead to animal abuse. As you were already upset about witnessing that I don’t know why you would use a camel or these tiny baby crocs at props. Why??

  17. Beautiful photos & I’m sad to hear of the animal abuse and the difficulties at the airport.
    I’ve traveled a good bit around the Middle East and I’ve always tried to dress conservatively in respect of the culture, but it seems like that’s not something you were concerned with here. Did you feel like that wasn’t an issue in Egypt? I haven’t been, but it seems pretty bold to bare full legs, stomach and shoulders in Muslim country. In a lot of places in that part of the world that can be seen as extremely disrespectful, so I’m just curious to know how you felt while there.

    1. Yeah I don’t think they have any regard for this ever. They travel for promotions and tourism, not to be immersed in culture.
      Though I also like to dress like her, I can’t because I don’t have a male traveling with me. That probably allieviates some of the problems.

  18. Lovely pictures but am very confused about your viewpoint on the animal abuse you saw, yet several of your images have the very animals you spoke of being so distressed about seeing?? Would love to hear your response on this as you have seemed to ignore these comments!!

  19. You are being asked to login because glittertherose@gmail.com is used by an account you are not logged into now.
    By logging in you’ll post the following comment to Egypt𓁹:
    I am really confused by this post, it seems like you are going out of your way to find faults, since let’s be honest you are also one of those bloggers who only writes the good side of your trips.
    As for being held in customs, try being someone of colour and travelling to the majority of the worlds countries and constantly getting stopped like that.
    You were horrified by the treatment of camels?? Having visited scant of the countries you have where animal treatment is the same why not make the comment then? You think the elephants you ride in other countries are treated like kings?
    But what does the treatment of an animal matter as long as you get your instagram picture.
    You were concerned being the only tourist around? Isn’t that something you love in other parts of the world, and if you are the only tourist around why is that a negative, should Egypt apologise to you for that. Sorry we only had our locals who live here day in day out.
    This post was the most condicending piece I have ever read, I am sorry your privilege didn’t work for you here, or it wasn’t all roses but you clearly had an opinion beforehand and are trying to do the whole, let’s be the controversial blogger to get some attention. It’s ok just fake another instagram couple following you and you will get in the daily mail again.

  20. As an egyptian, i was extremely sad reading your thoughts about the country. I know the country has many problems when it comes to tourism but it’s just sad knowing that it has many to offer. Please keep in mind that all places can have it’s pros and cons. Cairo specially, is not tourism friendly. My advice next time that you should take an egyptian with you that knows exactly where to take you and what to show you, to avoid any problems, it’ll make a great difference. You should go to other places other than cairo, i’m sure you’ll definitly change the picture you have for the country.
    Check out this video maybe you’re going to consider it again sometime 🙂 :
    http://youtu.be/mfxQy5A_tHs

  21. Real and raw and humbling and human. Thank you for all of the above. As I’m sure you know, this is why you have such a following – don’t ever lose these traits, and keep up the amazing work 💕

  22. As an Egyptian I am very sorry to hear that you faced some negative experiences during your visit to Egypt, that is truly unfortunate that things like that could partially ruin the great experience Egypt stands to offer. I hope you do get a chance to come back hopefully next time with local guide planned which I am sure will give you a totally different experience and BTW beach destinations are a MUST for your next trip dive sites all over the Red Sea are out of this world. We were all hyped when we heard you both were visiting Egypt because it sends out a great message to the world about Egypt, so thank you for being honest as I hope your experience can make others’ visits more positive and I wish you both a lot of great trips to come!

  23. It’s actually so disappointing when this happens. When I went to Thailand I experienced something similar, it was over-touristy, some horrible treatment of animals that absolutely broke my heart and some places had terrible service. Some parts were gorgeous, but it’s hard not to be put off by it all. I love that you’ve given a really honest review of Egypt though and especially that you still managed to find some beautiful places and fun experiences regardless. It’s not often that you get to read the story behind the stunning photos, its so refreshing, I love it! I really enjoy following yours and Jack’s stories. Thank you lovely!

  24. Thank you soo much for sharing this, that is so traumatic about the animals and has educated me for future travels I hope to take and I’ll be more aware of this. It looks insanely beautiful, I would love to experience these amazing historical places someday, and give me a chance to use my Egypt presets from you! xx

  25. Hello lauren, Im an Egyptian who lives in Alexandria, and as an Egyptian I know by heart that every word you’ve said is true and I hate that this is how egypt treats tourist. I am egyptian who worked for 2 years somewhere just a 5 mins walk from the pyramids and i’ve only been there once and it was a very hard experience for me, everyone trying to just get money out of you and forcing you to ride abused animals and it’s really heartbreaking. What i want you to know is that most of us Egyptians dont aprove of any of this and we sign petitions and we fight for animal rights and human rights. Cairo is one of the most corrupt cities in the world, and Egypt is a very bureaucratic country due to our military rule and I’m really sorry for your suffering in the airport. But please allow me to give you a piece of advice for the next time/times (hopefully) you visit egypt. First of all, you saw Egypt through tourist eyes and as a tourist egypt’s journey can be so frustrating, what i recommend you do next time is to try and see Egypt through a local egyptian’s eyes, try to contact anyone to be your tour guide for the whole legnth of your trip, alot of us locals would do it gladly for free cause we work and have our jobs at reputable companies and we would just do it for the sake of having fun, helping our country and giving the tourists the best experience ever, being with a well educated local who has seen the world will help you overcome most of your problems easily and will save you alot of time and will make your experience great. Try To find an ex aisecer or any good local who follows your account. Iv done that before and all of my friends have done that with many tourists. So believe me we will give you the best experience, save you ALOT of money and we will save you alot of time. Second, never come with your drone, we have a retarded government that thinks any tourist who arrives with a drone is a spy, like hello government did you hear about freakin satellites. Third, always use uber in egypt ( cairo and alexandria only ). And finally, next time you have to visit sinai( Dahab, Taba, Ras Shetan), it is breathtaking, bedouins are the best people, they are not corrupt and filthy like the rest of us egyptians, they wont try to hassle, no one will ever harass you and you will have the time of your life there and enjoy the best shores and the best diving sites ever. Again im sorry for whatever you’ve been through and please visit again but next time please contact me or any other respectable Egyptian you might know and believe me we will make you journey awesome, even if we are not availabe ( cause im an engineer for example) we will recommend someone else.

    1. Hi Mohy, I am planning a trip to Egypt in January. How would I organize a local guide? Is this something that can be arranged before or so I need to do it once I am there? Any advice you have would be helpful. Thank you! 🙂

    2. Hi grace, its Mohy, you were asking about how to organise a local guide. Look to be brief, Its not a company or any other NGO, some people like me just offer to help tourists and travel with them as guides so they wont get ripped off, hassled and harrased. We just try to make tourists life easier. And we do it just for fun because we like to travel and meet new people.
      So you can just tell me when are you coming, for how long will you stay in egypt, how many are you and your friends and if you already know what cities you would like to visit. And ill check with my friends who is available in january and wants to travel and make new friends 😄. And. I’ll get back to you.

  26. Hey Lauren,
    So I am going to Egypt in November. What’s the best way to avoid the hassling? I’m asking as another blonde. I’ve been in other countries where blonde hair really sticks out and is basically a “tourist flag”. Did you feel like you needed to cover up with clothes more than normal? What kind of clothes do you recommend?

  27. Next time make sure to come to Israel when you’re in the area, I guarantee you s better experience than Egypt. Beautiful Photos!

  28. I am a big fan of your work, but as a person who went to Egypt months before you did and was there for longer, I can understand why you saw and thought the things you did, first of all Egypt is a big country that cannot be rushed through, I was there for 2 weeks and still wasn’t enough! You should’ve stay in Cairo, although very polluted, much more economical and nicer than Giza. If you are not used to third world countries this can come quite a shock to the system, egyptians by nature are VERY pushy but after a while you get the hang of saying LA! (no in egyptian arabic) in a stern voice (keep in mind that they may still follow), following the animal cruelty, yes it is true many animals are not kept in great conditions, but if you think that is bad you haven’t seen much… Another thing that would have made your trip more enjoyable is if you were shown around by a local, that way you could have had someone to show you the ropes and really get a good sense of the REAL Egypt. I also cannot believe you went in summer! It must have been boiling, you have my respect for that lol. All around as much as I love your work i think it would be best if you stuck to second world countries instead of third world countries. Thank you for your honesty and all the best, a fan. Xxoo
    P.S. Wish you would have gotten some pics in the Valley of the Kings!

  29. That whole airport situation sounds super annoying!! I went to Egypt this summer, and our experience was totally different. We only spent one day in Egypt, because we were headed to Greece, but I would have loved to have spent more days there!! We had a tour guide for our day in egypt and he was amazing. He took us to a couple museums, and then he took us to the pyramids. There were many people asking to buy
    Stuff and ride their camels which was super frustrating. Our tour guide new people who treated there animals well, and were super kind. They were by the pyramids but away from where all of the people that were begging were. We had a 15 minute camel ride. We felt really good about the whole situation, and didn’t feel like they were being harmed in any way. They people that had the camels were laughing with us and telling us jokes, and were very kind. We also went inside of a pyramid, which was super cool! So If you go back, you must go inside, it was crazy!! I bummed to hear about your experiences at the airport, but that is totally the crappy thing about airports

  30. Wow this is eye opening. I’m cabin crew and have been bidding for the Cairo layover for months because I’ve been desperate to visit this place. I’d heard from some crew about some shady stuff but you’ve really given a great insight into how shocking it actually is. I can’t stand animal tourism and the cruelty that goes on 🙁
    Thanks so much for this post. Ive bookmarked this post for when I do finally get the Cairo trip 🙂
    Now off to look at those Egypt presets on your Lightroom shop because these edits are stunning <3
    Jess
    X

  31. Why exactly are you posing with these abused animals for the sake of instagramming then? So extremely irresponsible!

  32. I’m so disappointed that you both thought using the camel as the perfect instagram prop is more important than its wellbeing, especially after what you’ve witnessed which upset you so much that you had to close your eyes. Why? 🙁 I would never support a business that mistreats animals like that.

  33. Hi Lauren,
    Nice post and as always your photos are incredible. I went to Cairo for 7 days back in 2008 and it was just the same. Lots of hassle, men following me around etc. I didn’t see any animal cruelty (fortunately) but it doesn’t surprise me. However, the hassle I experienced in Cairo wasn’t any worse than my experiences in India or Mozambique. I just kind of expect it in certain parts of the world, I guess. Sad but true! Best wishes from London to you and Jack 🙂
    Deb @katetravelsalot

  34. Thanks for sharing your honest experience.. unfortunately it’s true.. Egypt is not tourist friendly. Which is ironic because tourism is our main income..
    Although I’m an Egyptian, last time I visited the pyramids I was also very disappointed from the continuous nagging and hassling from the people who insist on you riding the horses and the camels, for a very high unreasonable fee.
    When we travel to Europe or other destination we usually just plan our trip and go solo.. Unfortunately in Egypt you need a professional tour guide or a friend to show you around.. that even includes someone waiting for you at the airport and sometimes helping you with the customs..
    I know this isn’t your style and you wouldn’t ever go through an agency to visit a country.. but just for the people out there interested in seeing the sights and avoiding all the negatives my advice is to go through an agent.. they’ll take you to the pyramids and fence off all the people who try to force you to ride the camels..they ll pick a hotel with a good service.. and for an extra fee they can arrange for someone to help with the border control at the airport.. they ll plan your visit and guarantee a hassle free experience. It’s true ull be seeing a filtered version of Egypt but unless your an adventurous traveller, then that’s the only way to do it.
    When any foreigners visit me and ask to see the musumes, sights or pyramids I always arrange a professional tour guide for them through a professional company even if I plan on joining them.. simple things like getting the entrey tickets.. where to park, best time of the day to visit, how to avoid long waiting times and so on can be very challenging even for the locals..

  35. Iam so sorry for that .iam egyptian totally agree with u but not all places like u saw and ppl as well we r around 100.millions so its to hard to aware these ppl
    Iam so upset for ur experince

  36. I want to apologize to you on behalf of all Egyptians, we sure have our bad days I know. And because of a lot of security issues the drowns are a bit of risk. I know whats in your mind now and how silly what i just said might ve to you, but believe me they r risk (although like yourself i dont like it).
    As for airport officers i give you this, theya re not trained to handle those situations in a proper way (specially the lower ranking officers)…
    After all I want to thank you for being in Egypt, and I urge you to come and visit back next time as my guests. I would also like to apologize for any discomfort you might have felt here in Egypt, hoping for a better one next time soon…

  37. Hello dear, I’m an Egyptian who used to live around the pyramids. I’m so sorry for your bad experience in here. Wish you had talked to a local before you visited . If you were to ask, I would totally recommend you to visit anywhere but cairo because unfortunately it’s not prepared anymore to welcome a tourist. Especially the pyramids area. If you were to visit again, you should try the beachy part. ElGouna, Sahl Hashish and Makady Bay are all just to die for. Also, Dahab, Taba , Ras Shitan and Saint Catherine you would love.
    Luxor and Aswan are more than amazing too.
    This is actually where we go nowadays. We just stop hanging out in the city as it’s become too crowded and so messed up.
    Hope you would give it another shot 😊
    Much love

  38. As many have mentioned above, saying you don’t agree or support the abuse that the animals had to endure, you still chose to use it as a prop and post it to millions of followers which was incredibly irresponsible. I love a good photo and the camel sure is aesthetically pleasing, but to put atheistic above your suggested moral code is a bit absurd. If you don’t agree with animal abuse then you don’t support it. Thousands of people would have looked at that photo and thought “god damn i now want to ride/pose with a camel when I go to Egypt”.

  39. Thank you for shedding some light on Egypt. I’ve been there twice in the last several years, and hit the same destinations, plus some around the Mediterranean.
    It’s a whirlwind experience to say the least, and truthfully, I’d say you had it pretty easy in comparison to a few of my trip moments.
    However, I do appreciate that you were so honest and raw, and that you didn’t forget to reflect on how amazing the culture and history is there.
    Egypt is certainly going through a hard time with everything that has happened in the last decade, but I would say it’s a place worth experiencing regardless, and that it is Generally pretty safe. I’m so stoked you got to experience Aswan! I know a few of the town officials there, and they were incredibly hospital and welcoming during my visit.
    Best,
    Paige

  40. Thank you for sharing your experience in Egypt ! I wish I could visit this amazing country 🙂 Btw, I always follow you and @doyoutravel your pictures are such inspirational and dreamy !!! Good job

  41. Nice photos, the file size is a bit big I would use Photoshop and export for the web. Your website is running very slow, and you photos are downloading very slow as well. You can right click on one of you images and select properties from the drop down menu to view the pictures file size. I would try to keep each photo at around 600kb or less.

  42. Hi! Looooove the photos! Can you remember the name of the rooftop cafe or hotel where you saw the pyramids at sunset?

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