Has visiting Egypt and the pyramids been on your bucket list for quite some time? After all, it is a country rich in beautiful ancient history. However, there is a harsh reality that nobody tells you about visiting this glorified country. In this post, we’ll go over some reasons why you should not travel to Egypt – or at the very least reconsider it.
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It may surprise you to learn that Egypt is not the magical and glorified place that everyone makes it out to be. Of course, the ancient historical sites are magnificent but there’s another side that nobody talks about.
Egypt becomes a very challenging place to enjoy as a tourist when one is constantly harassed for money and aggressively bothered by vendors in almost every location they visit. While you might be thinking, this is common when traveling – Egypt takes it to a whole new level.
Whether you’ve heard a little bit about some of these hard truths or nothing at all about the negativities of traveling to Egypt, I’ve got you covered. In this post, I’ll be giving you 5 harsh but realistic things you should know before you decide to travel to Egypt.
Preface
First and foremost, I just want to say that this post is based on my personal experience visiting Egypt. It is not my intention to judge, harm, or badmouth any culture or country. I just don’t think it’s something that gets talked about or written about enough.
I am also aware that I come from a privileged country and even being able to travel is a privilege on its own. Furthermore, although I was not raised in Bolivia, I visit frequently enough and the culture is embedded deep enough in who I am that I believe I have a different perspective than most Americans.
Because of this, I have seen and experienced how “third-world countries” live firsthand. Therefore this post is not coming from a place of misunderstanding or disassociation.
The Purpose of This Blog Post
One of the reasons I love to travel is because getting to see and know different cultures can have such a profound effect on one’s perspective and widen their view of the world. I believe this is critical to feeling connected with humanity.
I also believe I went to Egypt with an open mind and I have also visited India and China in the past, so I had a feeling of what to expect. Unfortunately, nothing I read or researched could have prepared me for the experiences I had.
That is why I am writing this post – to give my honest and raw experience and opinion in the hopes it’ll reach someone who is looking for the reality of what it’s like to travel to Egypt.
I think hardly anybody talks about the negative parts but instead focuses on the magnificent beauty of the ancient structures and sites; which yes, is magnificent. However, I believe this does a disservice to fellow travelers who go completely unprepared and with rose-colored glasses.
This serves as a warning about the realities that nobody informed me about. Despite this post’s title, I do not intend to dissuade you from traveling to Egypt. I just want to make sure you are aware of the cons because we all know the pros.
Okay, let’s get into it!
5 Strong Reasons You Should Not Travel to Egypt (What Nobody Tells You About Visiting Egypt)
1 Constant and Non-Stop Hasseling & Harressing
The main downside of visiting Egypt for me was the CONSTANT pestering from vendors and touts. A tout is someone attempting to sell aggressively or boldly. This perfectly describes most vendors in Egypt.
I do want to quickly mention that I am only speaking of vendors and touts. Most of the Egyptians I met organically were some of the friendliest and kindest people I have ever met – especially the women. This is why it’s so sad because I believe the aggression is just part of their sales culture.
I am not exaggerating when I say that we would be bombarded by a tout every twenty steps we took. Either they were trying to sell us a tour/guide, a small trinket or scarf, or offering us camel rides.
The issue lies in how often they approach you and the persistence of the vendors. Despite polite refusals, they do not stop or walk away. It’s extreme and it ends up making it incredibly difficult to even enjoy what you’re doing.
As a tourist, you start to feel like a walking ATM to these people. They are relentless and just won’t quit until you give them money.
My tip for you is to put your headphones in and ignore them. Because it seems like engaging with them at all, even just to say “No, thank you” gives them ammunition to keep bothering you.
I know reading this, you may be thinking “Oh, how bad can it really be”? I’m not lying when I say it’s terrible. I understand this is how they make their money and of course, you’ll experience this in every country.
But not to this degree. In Egypt, they will follow you for blocks taunting you and they won’t stop yelling at you until you buy something. In some instances, they will touch you and try to take the money they feel entitled to.
2 Tourist Scams & Exploitation
To build upon the first point, it is evident that tourists are completely exploited in Egypt. Despite it being a popular tourist destination, one would expect tourists to be treated more favorably. Not to mention numerous scams exist.
If it’s not your taxi driver agreeing on one price to demand more before they drop you off, then it’s people taking your phone from you, taking a picture of you, and then demanding a ‘tip’ for doing so.
Everyone from the police to baggage control, to random people making you think they helped you out, expect a tip from you. Once you tip them, they even demand that it’s not enough. It’s quite ridiculous.
I only took one tour the entire time I was in Egypt and that was for the pyramids. Although the pestering was a little bit less with a guide, it was still very much there.
What was worse is that instead of focusing on the main sites during the tour, they take you to different shops along the way. Always to sell you something. They offer you tea and tell you “No buy, no problem”.
Of course, when you begin to refuse, they get aggressive or tell you some sob story about how they haven’t sold anything in weeks. I’m all for wanting to buy souvenirs here and there and helping out the local economy but on my own accord.
Nobody appreciates paying for a full-day tour just to be taken to places they did not ask to go with the intention of spending even more money.
Not to mention that these souvenir shops like a papyrus store will charge you a ton of money on the premise that their ‘papyrus is real unlike all the other papyrus stores in Cairo’. How are you supposed to know who to trust or what to pay?
3 Cairo is Extremely Chaotic & Trashed
Another part that nobody talks about is how chaotic, messy, loud, and trashed Cairo is. I understand that cities in foreign countries are sometimes like this but Cairo was bad.
The driving and traffic are not only chaotic but kind of dangerous. There is so much trash everywhere. Seeing so much plastic pollution being dumped into the river banks broke my heart.
Like I’ve already said, I think the main issue here is how underreported and not talked about these issues are. For example, I would say New Delhi was a pretty chaotic and unclean city. But people already know that about India.
When I told people I was going to Egypt, nobody had anything bad to say. They only raised concerns about the safety of going as a female. On that note, I felt safe traveling there as a woman but if the media can portray Egypt as dangerous, why can’t they also portray some of the realities?
4 The Cruelty and Abuse the Camels Endure
I have always been an immense animal lover and advocate. Not every human feels the same way I do for animals, but even by most human standards, they terribly mistreat the animals here.
People narrate visiting the Pyramids of Giza as incomplete without riding and getting a picture with a camel. But what they don’t show is how the camels are treated.
The owners beat and pull the camels around, instructing them to sit down and stand back up despite their unmistakable sounds of anguish. They look skinny and malnourished and nobody truly knows what they go through.
In one of the many scams that occur in Egypt, someone told me that I had to ride a camel to enter the complex, which is absolutely not true. I should have fought harder, but I didn’t want to disappoint my family who were with me. Instead, I found myself crying in the back streets of Giza while riding this poor animal.
They use the animals as a means to an end. It’s all about money for these camel owners. They don’t care about the animals. Just look at how they treat tourists visiting their home country – do you think they treat their animals any better?
This for me is the main reason I would not go back and urge you not to travel to Egypt. Of course, if you do decide to visit, I urge you to strongly consider boycotting the riding of camels. You can read more about this topic in my other post here.
5 Intense Corruption & Poverty
To bring things into a full circle, this all falls into the corruption that Egypt faces. Whether it’s from the government or the people, it’s still a glaring issue that cannot be avoided.
The police, tour guides, and any officials all accept bribes. Generally, the government tries to protect important archeological sites so that they remain in a condition that will last generations.
However, at the pyramids, everyone is cutting corners. They let you touch the pyramid which technically isn’t supposed to be allowed. They accept bribes to show you into tombs that are technically supposed to be closed.
The hardest part for me to understand is how can a country that brings in so many tourists a year, still be living in such poverty. Where does the money go? Does the government not use it for its people?
A significant portion of Egypt remains unexplored or unexcavated, reportedly due to insufficient funding. Over 14 million people visit the Pyramids of Giza a year. Again, where is all that money going?
In Conclusion
I hope this post serves as a formal warning and provides you with the reality of travel to Egypt. Egypt is indeed a marvelous country with a wealth of rich history, provided one can overcome the negative aspects.
In my opinion, people should discuss the issue of harassment and aggressive behavior toward tourists more often. I intend to bring more attention to these problems so that people can have a better understanding of what to expect before they visit.
You may be thinking that these reasons are not pressing enough to skip visiting the entirety of Egypt or the famous tombs and pyramids. If you go in with the right mindset and can brush off negative interactions then I believe you will be just fine.
However, if you find yourself easily disturbed or anxious, I strongly urge you to reconsider and not travel to Egypt. This may seem extreme, but trust me, it’s worth your mental health and sanity.
The choice is yours and it’s possible you might love Egypt. I think had I known some of this before I went, I would have had fewer surprises and could have expected certain things. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more.
Although I am happy to have visited and been able to see the wonderful sites and tombs of ancient Egypt, I will not return for the reasons listed above. It’s just not worth all of the discomfort and hassle I endured to travel to Egypt, in my honest opinion.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the disadvantages of going to Egypt?
Constant and non-stop harassment from touts, numerous amounts of scams and exploitations, price gouging for tourists, camel cruelty, intense corruption, and poverty are all disadvantages of traveling to Egypt.
Why Should I Never Visit Egypt?
It’s quite difficult to enjoy your time in Egypt when you are constantly being haggled by aggressive vendors to buy things. It occurs so frequently that it can often be aggravating and annoying for tourists to deal with. Scams are also rampant and most everyone feels entitled to a tip for absolutely nothing. For these reasons and more, it’s urged to avoid travel to Egypt.
For more Egypt information, you may also like:
- Fantastic 17-Day Itinerary For Remarkable Egypt And Jordan Trip
- How To Visit The Giza Pyramids Without a Guide & Still Have a Good Time (2023)
- Strange Egyptian Dish: Koshary From Famous Abou Tarek Diner
