If You Plan on Going to Egypt Take Note

[Br.IanVonTurpie]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/travel/article-12477201/amp/I-visited-Egypt-dream-holiday-turned-worst-trip-Ive-never-felt-uncomfortable.html

A tourist has revealed why visiting Egypt quickly turned into one of the worst travel experiences of her life.

Grace Cheng, better known as @gracietravels, spent a week in northeast Africa visiting the Great Pyramids of Giza and other historical landmarks but felt unsafe the whole time

Her holiday was ruined by 'aggressive' scammers lurking around 'everywhere' in attempt to rid innocent tourists of their money.

'I felt so uncomfortable visiting Egypt... Scamming is a big issue here and I didn't really know how big it was as a first timer,' she said in a TikTok video.

'The hustle culture here is insane. Everywhere we went it was non-stop begging for us to pay for something. If I'm being completely honest, I did not feel safe here.'

Grace shared her experience in attempt to alert other travels about the 'exhausting' dangers she endured.
'Don't let anyone take a picture of you, don't let anyone put anything in your hand, and don't follow anyone if they have something to show you because they will demand money from you,' Grace continued.

She added how she 'didn't even feel safe' even with a tour guide by her side.

'Ours had a lot of friends in the area and they just kept offering us tons and tons of upgrades, like climbing a rock to get a picture with the background,' she said.

Gracie said it felt 'scary' when she refused to pay the scammers and they kept demanding money.

'That being said though, if you have a good tour guide they will know what's real and fake when it comes to scamming. So for that you can trust them,' she added.

Gracie also would not recommend travelling to Egypt alone, especially if you're a woman.

'When it comes to men they do stare at you, and it's not even a normal stare, it's one of those really uncomfortable stares where they'll never take their eyes off of you,' she said.

In addition to feeling anxious around people, she was terrified about losing her luggage.

'We had private drivers wherever we went, but whenever we got dropped off at a site and left out bags in the van I for sure [thought] I was never going to see them again,' she added.

Other travellers who have also visited Egypt before said they too never felt safe during their stay. 

'I agree. I've traveled the world and Egypt has been the only country where I did not feel safe,' one wrote.

'I felt the same way visiting Egypt and Morocco,' another commented.

'I've seen so many videos of people saying Egypt is the worst place to visit. Which makes me sad, cause I want to see it someday,' a third added.

Another said: 'I'd love to go to Egypt but I've honestly not heard a good word about it.

Every Rose has it's thorn! There are some great things to see and experience but it's almost impossible to get away from shonks! They always want tips, hunt you down to take the piss. They snatch stuff, they push in. They trick, trap and scheme! I thought it was like seagulls fighting over a chip!

[Br.IanVonTurpie]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-12610019/Im-female-solo-traveller-never-visit-Egypt-terrifying-incident-Cairo-Bazar.html

One traveller has revealed why she would never visit Egypt alone and why she believes it's unsafe for women to do so.

Tara Katims (@tarkatims), 24, was in Egypt with her best friend when she made the video - she replied to a commenter who wrote 'wait, so it's not safe for solo travelers?'

https://videos.dailymail.co.uk/video/mol/2023/10/11/7520687475610501645/1024x576_MP4_7520687475610501645.mp4

Answering the question along with some footage of her trip, she said 'This is Bazar in Cairo where I went with my best friend and I don't even want to know what would have happened if I went alone

'There were tons of men harassing us, we just kept our sunglasses on, heads down and pretended like we couldn't understand but then we got really lost.

'It was so overwhelming. This elderly looking guy appeared and was like, 'I can tell you guys are really lost' - he spoke good English and was like I'll lead you back to the main part of the bazar'.

She continued 'We thought he was super nice and so we followed him, leading us back to his perfume store and pleaded with us to check it out.

'He took us inside what is the equivalent of a perfume closet and then he locked the door.

'For an hour and a half he was rubbing different essential oils and perfumes on us and we tried to leave multiple times but he wouldn't let us.

'There was no ventilation in here and I thought I was gonna pass out from the fumes.

'We eventually realised he wouldn't let us leave until we bought something and even when we did buy something he tried reaching inside our wallets and grabbing our money and then stalked us down the street.

The TikToker concluded 'We got away but I seriously don't know what I would have done in this situation if I wasn't with my best friend and I really wouldn't recommend for a girl to travel to Egypt alone because we had so many situations like this happen to us and it was hard to navigate at times.

The area the pair were visiting was Kahn El Khalili Bazar, somewhere they thought would be safe as it looked touristy online.

Adding pictures of the area, she explained 'Only one part looked like this, the rest was so dirty and crowded.

'There are tour guides who can take you here and it's so worth it to have a local speaker as it's so easy to get lost. Don't let the baby kittens fool you, the bazar is not safe to do alone.'

Advising 'There are tour guides who can take you here and it's so worth it to have a local speaker as it's so easy to get lost. 

'I really thought I was going to be terminated in that room. We went to get Koshari to heal the trauma afterwards.

'Koshari is a must-try dish, this place is the best (Abou Tarek) safe to go here alone, they will not lock you in a closet.'

Commenters agreed with the TikToker's advice, writing 'I never hear good stories about Egypt' and 'I've done 25+ countries solo. I'm glad I didn't do Egypt solo'.

Another girl wrote that she had a similar experience: 'This exact same thing happened to me! We were lost, an old man told us he would show us, led us to his shop and wouldn't let us leave. Terrifying.'

The original poster replied 'I'm so sorry but I'm also so glad we are talking about this so other girls don't fall for this nonsense

One viewer advised 'It's important to do your research and prepare when you travel abroad especially a country like Egypt. Stern boundaries and dress conservatively'.

However, the TikToker argued that she 'had researched for the past year' and also 'dressed as conservatively' as she could while backpacking.

She told MailOnline that the advice she would give to women who do choose to travel there is to 'always take Ubers, so there is a record of where you are going and who's taking you places'.

Secondly, 'assume your being ripped off as a tourist 100% of the time and bargain prices when shopping on the streets and wear loose clothing and travel with tour guides as much as possible