First impressions
The airport is pretty small and we had to use a little bus to get inside the airport building. Inside it was very empty and it did not take long to get our luggage and the visa.
Egypt – Tip 1: Don’t look or talk to the guys who want to sell you a visa+transfer! When you look right, there are 3-4 small cabins where you can buy the visa for the usual price!
Egypt – Tip 2: When you leave the building – again don’t look or talk to the guys in civil clothes! They are very persistent and will try to grab your luggage and carry it for like 2 minutes and want money in reward.
After 40 minutes we arrived at our hotel.
Egypt – Tip 3: Let the tip-games begin 😀 Now basically everyone who is doing some sort of service is going to ask you for tips! (e.g. the bus driver 😉 ) You don’t have to feel bad if you don’t tip everyone 😉 1-2 $/€ is absolutely sufficient for a tip.
We arrived in the evening and still had enough time to grab something from the buffet – yummy! 😛 
After some drinks at the bar, we decided to get some sleep to get up early and explore the hotel and surroundings 😉
Our Typical Day
The sunrise in Egypt was before 5.am! (Sunset begins before 7.pm) Therefore we had no problems with getting up early and had enough time for breakfast 😛
Our hotel was very well located and the food was delicious! The Egyptian honey with cinnamon tasted particularly good to me 😛 Since we belong to the early risers, we also never had a problem to find a place at the beach!
Egypt – Tip 4: Make sure that you put on enough sunscreen! The sun is very dangerous here. 🌞
Of course, our daily routine also includes a visit to the beach 😀 For Egypt “the occupancy” of the beach was still okay 😉 Compared to our other holidays, however, it was very busy here 😛 If you are in Egypt, I can still absolutely recommend this location, because there are 3 great coral reefs directly on the beach. We also made a day trip to Hurghada and visited the beach there. That only convinced us more of Makadi Bay 🙂
On the positive side, I would like to point out that the vendors on the beach were not so pushy here! So you could completely relax for a whole day 🙂
Egypt – Tip 5: Bring your snorkeling gear! 🐟🐠🐡
After such an exhausting day you have to eat enough in the evening 😀 Besides the delicious buffet you can also go to different specialty restaurants. A big advantage of these restaurants is that you won’t overeat yourself so quickly 😀
You can end the evening with some cocktails at a live show in the hotel 🙂
Daytrip to Hurghada
We also always need a little action, which is why we visited Hurghada.
Egypt – Tip 6: You should ask in your hotel for a cheap transfer to Hurghada. This way you don’t have to book an expensive tour and can explore the city at your own pace!
Compared to Marrakesh, Hurghada is almost a European city 😉 Nevertheless, we were a little bit lost, because this time we really didn’t think about anything in advance 😀 We didn’t even have water with us… But this should turn out to be our greatest luck!
Driven by thirst, we simply went to the next best kiosk to buy some water. There we got to know Hazem. He showed us around the city and told us some interesting things about his life 🙂 He even bought some honey for me (so I didn’t have to pay the tourist prices 😛 ). Really an incredibly nice person 🙂 At the farewell he didn’t even want a tip or something similar. But of course, we gave him something as a thank you because thanks to him we had an unforgettable day 🙂
Most impressive was the Mosque El Mina Masjid! And of course, a visit to the hard rock cafe was also on the agenda for me 😉 It’s located quite a bit outside (in the tourist quarter :D). So we had to take a taxi. Taxi drivers in Egypt try to get as much money from you as possible. Negotiate a price beforehand and pay it in the end without further discussion.
Overall the day was a welcome change 🙂
Egypt – Tip 7: In Hurghada (in the city) you can buy souvenirs a little bit cheaper 😉
Luxor – Valley of the Kings! 👑
The highlight of our Egypt trip! First of all, I would like to thank Ehab! Ehab is an Egyptologist and was our guide on the tour.
Egypt – Tip 8: We booked a private tour, which I highly recommend! By car, we were much faster and arrived everywhere before the full tourist busses.
The first destination was the Karnak temple. Walking between the huge columns was incredibly impressive. The idea that all these decorations were made by tedious handcraft is crazy.
There is also a large scarab on a stone pedestal. A legend says that a wish comes true if you walk around it 7 times clockwise. 😀 And again, the private tour was a very good idea! I was very happy that no people were watching me 😀 Ehab told us some other incredibly interesting stories about certain hieroglyphs and their meaning. A very exciting place!
We continued with a small Nile crossing 😉 The Nile really is a very very dirty river! You can leave your swimwear at home during this trip 😛 We had a little lunch-break in a restaurant on the other side of the river. On the way to the Valley of the Kings, we stopped at the Colossi of Memnon. Ehab took a funny photo of me 😀
Arriving in the Valley of the Kings we first heard some stories about the old pharaohs. The most famous of them is of course Tutankhamun. Although he was not really important as a pharaoh, his grave is the only one in the Valley of Kings where there is actually still a mummy! You can’t visit all the graves during your visit (unless you pay more for it, of course :P)
Egypt – Tip 9: Ask which graves are most worthwhile for your interests (e.g. beautiful decorations or historical background 😉 ).
Egypt – Tip 10: In the graves, you are only allowed to take pictures if you buy a ticket for it before! This is also very strictly controlled. So you better get one if you want to take some pictures 🙂
A great day has come to an end. We got a lot of new impressions and once again we made new connections to amazing people.
Egypt summary
Egypt has a lot to offer! Whether adventure vacation, historical research or relaxation on the beach 😉 Here is really something for everyone. This time we have set the focus on relaxation and the plan has worked out 🙂 By the way, you can also give a weather guarantee here without hesitation 😀 Beautiful vacation, which is not so expensive 🙂
