Egypt is a pretty special place. It is a bit odd because, unlike most places I have visited, there is a huge income discrepancy that makes the US look like a fair country (spoiler, it isn’t). I would probably describe Egypt as a second world country, but not because it feels like a second world country, but instead because that’s what it evens out to.

When you visit the fancy parts of Cairo, it is absolutely beautiful. The restaurants are great, you can find dance classes and studios easily, and people’s homes are nicer than mine in Brooklyn. As a vegan, it is pretty easy to find vegan options in the nice and touristy parts of Cairo. A lot of Mediterranean food is vegan friendly, and in Cairo you can find most versions of ethnic food. But once you step out of these parts, then you go from first to third world. There is trash everywhere. This might be the first place I have been to that made NYC look clean. I honestly didn’t see any trash cans while I was there. As far as I could tell, the solution was to burn the garbage on the street or just let it pile up.

The rural parts of all countries tend to not be as wealthy, Egypt is no exception.The rural parts reminded me a lot of Latin America – a lot of unfinished homes, stray animals (especially cats!), and wonderful people.

While I was in Egypt, I visited three places, all of which I highly recommend.

Luxor

We started out in Luxor. I’m a bit of a ruins junky; so, I was especially excited for all the history, tombs, and temples that Luxor offers. We did all the classic ones – Luxor Temple, Karnak Temple, Deir el-Bahari, Medinet Habu, Colossi of Memnon, and Valley of the Kings. These were all very interesting, and I can understand why they normally make the highlights lists. However, I also highly recommend the Valley of the Monkeys (go explore the rock formations there as well), the Nobles Tombs, the Workers Tombs/Village, and Dendera Temple of Hathor (a little farther off, but my personal favorite!). These are all not necessarily on most normal tours, but well worth a visit.

Tips for Luxor

1) Don’t do a tour.
Instead, hire a driver to take you to the best places and the cool places off the beaten path. The less people there are, the more magical, but you still need to hit the classics. Hiring a driver will probably be around the same price as a tour, maybe cheaper, and you will be able to go at your own pace, and probably see more. We got our driver from our AirBnB host.

2) Stay on the West side of the Nile.
Most of the major temples are on the west side, so you won’t need to drive as much. That being said, the West side of the Nile is rural. It isn’t touristy at all. Personally, this is a huge bonus for me, but something to think about.

3) Stay with a local.
We stayed at The Golden Palace (go look at it, it is beautiful!) with our wonderful host Walid Kamel. Not only did he know all the best things to do and helped us get to them, but he was incredibly open to our vegan diet. His wife made all of our meals, multiple courses of pure Egyptian vegan bliss. He was so wonderful that he even took us into his home, and we had long conversations learning about each other’s cultures into the night.

4) At the attractions almost EVERYONE is trying to hustle you, and expect to pay a lot more than you think you will at archaeological sites because of expected “tips”.
This is super important, and I’m shocked that I didn’t read about it before going. If you go with a guide full time this probably isn’t so bad, but if you are going solo, WATCH OUT! Remember that income discrepancy? Well, these people are starving to make money off a tourist and they will try at anything. Honestly, it really pissed me off the first day. I love going to temples and tombs and want to experience the magic in solo silence. Well, this was completely ruined by every single person who “worked” there trying to make a buck off me.

You would think that these archaeological sites that you paid to go into would be free of people trying to take your every dime.. Oooh no! Be prepared to accept giving “tips” to every other “worker” at these sites as just being a part of the cost. Once you accept this, you will be a lot less frustrated. It took me a day, but I got there.

When you go to these sites “old men tour guides” will literally grab you and drag you off the beaten path. They want to “share something really special with just you”. You, and anyone else they can drag off. That being said, some of the things they showed us were really cool! We got on top of a tomb, saw art that was roped off, and crawled into an underground tomb with human bones! For these, I was happy to tip. Normally somewhere from $50-$200 Egyptian Pounds.

There were cases, however, where we were dragged off, followed, or shown something super insignificant, and tips were still demanded of us. There were times people were not happy with the amount we gave them and they started demanding more. I was never scared, but I found this very frustrating and damaging to my experience. It got to a point where I started just ignoring everyone who spoke to me, not something I like to do.

So, major take home for this. Expect to pay tips, and accept it going in. You will be much happier. Try to be careful who you get roped in by, but you will get better at it with time.

5) Don’t trust the kids.
This is another sad fact. Many of the kids were taught to hustle. They will be all smiles – “Hi! Where are you from? What is your name?” But once you acknowledge them, they might demand money or ask to take a “selfie”. They are offering to take your picture for a tip, or worse going to steal your phone. Don’t trust the kids.

That being said, half the kids were the sweetest things on Earth! They genuinely want to know where you are from. They will tell you they love you. They will be huge smiles and want to shake your hands. They are the sweetest! The problem is that all the kids start out the same. So, be prepared for both. I tried to stay friendly to each kid who spoke to me, and then continued as such or shut them down really fast. You have to stay on your toes!

6) Travel without a driver/solo when visiting the city of Luxor and temples Luxor and Karnak.
You can take the ferry across the Nile and commute like a local. I really loved this! Also, if you are an introvert and a bit more independent, there is no reason why you can’t walk to Luxor temple from the ferry and then walk to Karnak from there. The walk between the two temples is a bit long, so you can take a cab or a horse drawn carriage, but again they will hustle you; so, be careful to set the price. We decided to walk and we saw an older tourist woman literally try to jump from a horse drawn carriage because they were trying to take her for a ride. Let’s just say I was happy to walk, and the walk is overall nice along the Nile boardwalk (some parts of the boardwalk are more finished than others). For us it was a good excuse for some one-on-one time.

7) Take a boat ride on the Nile to Banana Island.
Just do it. It is beautiful, and how many times can you say you did that?

8) Get your name written on authentic papyrus paper in hieroglyphs.
This is just cool and a great souvenir. Make sure you get nice ones though, there is a range in quality.

9) Drink lots of Hibiscus tea.
It is grown locally, and is really yummy! Much like in Turkey, accepting tea in a shop is very common, and the polite thing to do.

Cairo

Cairo is a big city. I normally avoid big cities when traveling since I live in NYC, but you have to at least pass through Cairo to visit the Pyramids. I also was able to visit a friend in Cairo and dance at a pole studio. So, Cairo was pretty great for me. For a really nice area for food (vegan or not), I recommend the Maadi part of town. It is a bit more upscale and the food reflects that.

Tips for the Pyramids/Giza

1) Giza might have the Pyramids, but that is the only nice part about it.
Giza is dirty and feels grimy. All the buildings are falling apart. We stayed in a place with an amazing view of the Pyramids. The room was fine, but the building looked like it was going to crumble at my touch. We couldn’t find the place right away because it didn’t look like a hotel, it looked abandoned from the outside. It was one of those “what did we get ourselves into” moments, until we went inside the room.

2) Google Maps does not work.
I kept trying, and failing, at finding anything, and ended up down some pretty sketchy dead ends. Your hotel/airBnB will always have someone who will offer to take you everywhere for a “tip”. But I was pretty sick of having strangers around me at all times and being hand held everywhere. I don’t roll like that. I would rather get lost! So, we tried to find a breakfast place (we failed) and then went to the Pyramids (we got lost) from our failed attempt at food. Thankfully, I’m a boy scout and always have snacks. Nevertheless, we were able to ask some nice police officers how to find the Pyramids, and we got there safe and sound, just with a few extra steps to add to our health app.

3) HappyCow does not work.
This was sad for me. HappyCow is my go to vegan guide whenever I travel! However, every time I used it I ended up somewhere sketchy with no sign of the restaurant in sight. One time, I called and the nice lady who answered informed me she had closed up shop three years ago. The app had not been updated.

4) Do a camel tour and go inside one of the Pyramids.
Both are cool, and an experience. The pyramids are empty inside; so, one will do. They will try to hustle you on the price and the tip at the end — just be warned.

5) Watch-out for hustlers, again..
There is more to see of the Pyramids, once you finish with your camel tour, which you will be doing solo. So, again, you will run into “guards” trying to make a buck off you. The man at the Pyramids annoyed me more than most because I flat out told him I didn’t have any money and we didn’t want a tour, yet he promised he didn’t want money and just followed us around even when I tried to avoid him (my partner is too much of a wimp and was too nice, which didn’t help). He showed us things we could have found on our own and we didn’t need him at all, but at the end he was upset when I only gave him $200 Egyptian Pounds. He suggested I give him some US money instead… like a $10 or $20. I just stormed off. So, if you can, if you don’t have a partner who is too nice, try to be really frank with any “guards” at the Pyramids.

6) Vegan food can be found near the Pyramids, you just have to ask.
A lot of the restaurants might not have vegan food listed, but most places make everything from scratch so they are very accommodating to your requests. All you have to do is ask!

7) Ubers don’t like credit cards.
Once they see that you are not paying in cash they might cancel the trip. As a tourist who doesn’t speak Arabic, I would still use this option. Ubers have set prices that they can’t fight you on. It is better to wait for someone who will go for it, than get ripped off.

Faiyum

Faiyum is a beautiful oasis in the desert, just a bit south west of Cairo. This is a local tourist destination, and feels like one. It has a beautiful lake, a waterfall (in the middle of the desert!!), horseback riding, you can go off road on the sand dunes (which is terrifying and amazing at the same time!), and there is the Valley of Whales. The Valley of Whales was the main reason I went there. It is a desert graveyard for prehistoric whales, from when that part of the land was underwater. How cool is that!? You can just walk around the desert and see whale bones about! My only regret is that I didn’t spend more time there.

No extra tips for Faiyum. It is lovely there. People were less pushy and didn’t expect tips (I think Egyptian tourists are more of the market than foreigners), which was a nice way to end our trip. We traveled with my friend who is a local so we took local transport to get there, which was more straightforward than I would have thought, and much much cheaper than any other option, but I’m not sure if I would have tried it without her.

Final Thoughts

Egypt is an incredible country with so much history. I’m blond; so, I was very obviously a tourist there, but I never felt unsafe, just that people wanted to take me for all they could. That’s ok. I understand they have to feed their families, and family is very important there. Everyone needs to go and see the wonders, just go with an open mind, a semi open wallet, and a big heart to accept all that Egypt has to offer. Enjoy!

Photography by Kira Bucca.

Experiencing Egypt - What I Wish I Knew Before Going, Plus Some Tips For My Vegan Friends