Is it safe in Cairo?

>>1202062
I was there all of 2015. It was pretty safe and stable. If you're white everyone will try to rip you off. Try to make friends with some locals that you can trust.

Any specific questions?

>>1202067
The situation has evolved lately, with ISIS in the Sinai and the libyan border. When you say "If you're white everyone will try to rip you off" what do you mean?

>>1202068
There was an issue with Sinai when I was there where they killed some terrorists and it wasn't too bad but the government does keep on eye on things so don't talk about politics with people. Also there was a bomb scare where I bought my eggs so yeah but still, it wasn't too bad.

Well if they know you're American or if you're white they'll raise the price on you usually by a factor of 10 (still super cheap though). If you know prices and are willing to stand up for yourself you'll mostly be fine. I am Mexican and look it so I just told people I was Mexican or Malaysian and was treated okay. Taxis, corner stores, "tour guides" will try to raise prices on you but things like larger grocery stores with set prices are usually fine but it's more expensive usually. Where in Cairo will you stay? I lived in Mokkatom which has less pollution and is quieter.

Recently their currency tanked so it has lost half it's value and their economy is kind of suffering so there's another issue.

>>1202071
Thank you for these good informations!

I will be housed in my university in El-obour city. Is it safe over there?

>>1202074
Never been, seems kind of out of the way though.

If you go sight seeing, they'll try to charge you for entry into historical mosques and such. If you pretend to be Muslim and go at prayer times, it shouldn't be a problem. I'm Muslim myself so it wasn't a problem. But stand up for yourself when necessary. A friend's parents visited from America and someone tried charging them 70 pounds to take a picture of a the Muhammad Ali mosque even though you pay an entrance fee to get in there. Entrance into the pyramids is like 100 pounds (less than 15 dollars) but 2 pounds for Egyptians.

Egypt was interesting. I was enthralled the first month, hated it the next three months, and then just found it hilarious for the rest of the year. Try koshari, molokhiya, pigeon, etc. I ate fava beans every morning for breakfast and it was a somewhat acquired taste. I miss it now but when I got back, I was glad to leave.

Food is really cheap too

>>1202078
I think you convinced me ! I can't wait to go there

>>1202074
Try visiting Alexandria too. I never got a chance to go but I hear it's nice and there are good beaches and Alexander the Great's grave plus other stuff from the Hellenistic/Christian era.

There are some tourist areas on the red sea that are kind of expensive and more free with alcohol and foreigners and what not. Never been either but that's an option.

I recommend visiting the Christian neighbor hood at the base of the Mokattam mountains. They're poor but there's a beautiful church carved into a cave there and you can see priests walking around in their black robes with long white beards and humongous crosses. Their hats are funny too.

But yeah if you take nothing away, try to make a native friend that you can trust. It'll help with getting good prices and such. I made a friend that helped me go to the eye doctor's and answered all of my miscellanious questions.

People might stop you to take pictures with you. It's just Egyptians. They're funny, a little stupid but usually really nice and hospitable. Although sexual harrassment of women is kind of bad there

>>1202084
>nothing away
nothing else away from what I say

>>1202084
Thank you, make sure that i will visit all these areas

>Street scams
>Street harassment of their own women
>Foreigner prices
>Pollution
>Terrorism

My experiences exactly.

Other anons are right: FIND LOCALS WHICH YOU CAN TRUST.

I'm sure that this will make or break your experience.

I would go back with the knowledge about prices, etc.

>>1202094
>Terrorism
The terrorism bit seemed overblown though. Sure they had some people in Sinai they should take care of and the brotherhood does a few bombs and not very well (somewhat on purpose I hear so that they scare people more than anything) but it seemed to me they were a little repressive. I heard a lot of stories from foreign religious students of being watched by the government ane informants and such.

Once a central Asian man asked it I was part of the brotherhood and I just ignored that line of questioning completely. Two of my friends were stopped for wearing turbans in a nice neighborhood which was really idiotic of them. The flipside is Sissi's government has been surprisingly stable.

The harassment is worse if you're a white girl. They love them there. The pretty female natives literally do wear niqab to avoid harassment.

Are you male or female? If female 100% don't go. The men have zero respect for women.

For guys the place has a kind of old world freedom about it. It's a place where a man can be a man. A place for the brash, restless and adventurous

>>1202196

" I heard a lot of stories from foreign religious students of being watched by the government ane informants and such." can you tell me more about this?

>>1202308
a male

>>1202328
Well there are certain neighborhoods where foreign students live more commonly. One area close to me had many Malaysians which was cool because they had their own restaurants and they walk in packs like most Asians.

Once a few western students, Muslims in religious schools mostly Azhar, were talking about their run in with informants and the government. Some students are paid or threatened by the government to spy on people and inform them of any possible political stuff or terrorist stuff. Some of these people are from other countries and some native. The police might question you and someone told me of being taken into a random car by some officials who questioned him. My understanding is this is mostly a problem for Muslims especially foreign religious students because the government is suspicious of them having ties with the Muslim brotherhood. The government has been kind of tough on certain religious scholars like Muhammad Jibreel, a famous Quran reciter (I recommend him and Mishary if you care for Quran recitation). They also have some control over Azhar, the most prestigious Islamic university, since they have some influence in society and around the Muslim world especially as a competitor for influence against the Saudi more Wahhabi, Hanbali scholars. All of this is somewhat common in Muslim countries. The state usually infringes on the religious although the opposite happens too

Shouldn't be too bad for non Muslims though I think

>>1202976
Middle eastern breakfasts are wonderful, when you learn to just ignore the "beef bacon."

>>1202976
>beef bacon
Never experienced this before, although I do love some turkey bacon

Apparently Cairo has the third cheapest cost of living in the world.

Bottom 20

454. Indore, India: 24.38
455. Lviv, Ukraine: 24.32
456. Hyderabad, India: 24.05
457. Kochi, India: 23.58
458. Visakhapatnam, India: 23.54
459. Nagpur, India: 23.47
460. Coimbatore, India: 23.36
461. Bhubaneswar, India: 23.25
462. Cairo, Egypt: 22.29
463. Mangalore, India: 21.89
464. Thiruvananthapuram, India: 19.83

>>1203818
*10

>>1202062
>is it safe in Cairo?
In a word: no.

Oh, so you're French....
Non.

>>1202084
Alexanderia is so far from Cairo that it would almost require two separate trips.

I think the best way to enjoy Alexanderia would be to visit by boat after a trip to Greece.

>>1203830
There are trains that go from Cairo to Alexandria. It's doable.You have to bring your visa or passport or something so make sure your paper work is nice and legal. That's why I couldn't go. My visa was out for six months when I left but they didn't notice at the airport

>>1202067
>locals that you can trust

>>1202062

I'm planning to go Cairo in either May or June before flying to Ethiopia and staying two months in Tanzania. I was recently in India and there were a whole lot of Egyptian students staying in my hostel. I think they were working with an NGO called AIESEC.

Most of them made Egypt sound fine aside outside of the Sinai and certain impoverished areas. They said that now is the perfect time to visit, since the military has done a decent job of keeping order in the big cities. Apparently the Egyptian Pound's value is plummeting rapidly, which is great for folks from the Eurozone, US, UK, etc.

>>1202062
Where is the best red light district in Egypt? Also orange light.