Mayhem in Egypt

August 11-16, 2023

Hi friends and family,

Apologies in advance; this post is going to be long but lacking in photos. The most eventful part of my time in Egypt was getting from Aqaba in Jordan to Cairo in Egypt, with a longer than anticipated stop in Taba, Egypt. It was a nightmarish journey with few highlights along the way and sadly not many moments that called for photos. We had other stories from Egypt, but this particular travel was by far the most eventful part of the trip and ended up taking a couple days. We realized at some point how comical our situation was with everything going wrong that we decided to write down all the details of the day, so I’ve included things that are pretty minor on their own but add to the hilarity and tragedy of our travels to Cairo.

Kip, Michael (who we’d met traveling in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem), and I said our goodbyes to Alex on our last night in Aqaba since we had to get up early and she was going her own way to Cambodia. Things had been so smooth sailing in Jordan that we were not mentally and emotionally prepared for the travel trauma of getting to Cairo the next two days.

To start the day, Michael’s laundry hadn’t been done by the hostel as they’d promised. They just left it in the bag he’d given them without washing it at all and left it outside the office.

Our next, and more significant trouble, was figuring out how to get to the ferry from Aqaba, Jordan to Taba, Egypt. For starters, we were worried because we weren’t getting responses from the car rental company about whether or not we could drive the car to the ferry port, of which we didn’t even know the location. I asked the front desk the night before where the port for the ferry to Taba was and, after failing to communicate with the receptionist who spoke limited English, a guy told me over the phone that we needed to go to Tala Bay Resort to catch the ferry. The location was a little odd since it was a resort and there was a port just a few kilometers north of it that seemed more official. We were frustrated because it didn’t say anywhere on our tickets or the site we’d purchased them from where the actual port was, and we erroneously came to the conclusion that it was at the bigger port and that the guy who’d told me Tala Bay didn’t know what we were looking for.

Eventually we heard back from the car rental company and they said they had to pick up the car at the hostel but could give us a ride to the port. They responded too late, though, and we’d already found a taxi. We’d hit an ATM the night before to withdraw exactly enough cash to pay for dinner, thinking we’d be able to Uber to the port if needed, but we hadn’t realized that there weren’t any Ubers in Aqaba, which surprised us because they were easy to find in Amman. So our cab driver took us to an ATM first and we had to withdraw cash and pay the withdrawal fee before going to the port.

After taking us to the big, official-looking port that we’d assumed was where we’d catch the ferry, we learned that the guy I’d talked to on the phone the night before was indeed correct, and that we needed to go farther south to Tala Bay Resort. Our driver charged us more for the ride than we’d agreed upon, which was fair since the resort was farther than our original port destination, but he held onto a hefty tip on top of the newer, higher price without even asking, which rubbed us the wrong way.

At the resort, we waited for the ferry for a long time in the heat and weren’t sure whether we needed to pay an exit fee to leave the country. The guy selling the exit fees was doing so from the coffee stand he was running, which was a bit odd to us. It felt like a scam, but he told us we needed to buy the exit fee even though we’d bought the Jordan Pass, which was a tourist package we thought might exempt us from having to pay the exit fee since we'd stayed more than three nights. When going through security and border control, we scrambled to find our Israeli border exit fees to pass through and get onto the boat. Thankfully we’d held onto the Israeli border exit fees because they ended up being required in the neighboring countries.

The boat ride was fine, although a bit longer than expected and hot. The boat arrived late and at a location called Taba Heights, a 20-minute drive south of Taba where we thought we’d arrived. It was stressful for Michael because he had a bus ride at 12pm to go to Cairo and we still had to make it through border control with a long line that moved slowly. We had to pay $30/person for visas for Egypt but that was all the damage before we made it out.

The port we’d arrived at was in the middle of nowhere and there was nothing but mountainous terrain around us. In the parking lot adjacent to border control, there were a bunch of taxi drivers ready to prey on the fresh meat coming off the boat. One taxi driver offered to drive us to Taba for 40, and I thought he was referring to Egyptian pounds (1 USD = 30 EGP), but once we were in the car he said he’d been referring to British pounds or USD. I was irritated because it felt like he tricked us and I probably wouldn’t have agreed to that price if I’d known it was so steep. Egypt is supposed to be a cheap country, too, so we were not expecting to pay $40 for a 20-minute taxi ride. The driver took us to an ATM to get cash but it didn’t work so we paid him in USD.

The drive to Taba was sketchy; we passed through four police checkpoints on the way where the road was barricaded and the police eyed us before the driver dropped us off in front of some market. It was a bit past noon at this point but Michael was trying to see if the bus he’d booked hadn’t left yet so he asked around to find where it left from. Our original plan was for Michael to go straight to Cairo and Kip and I would go scuba diving in Taba and then meet him the next day.

The bus was tricky to figure out because everyone was giving different answers. The pickup location on his ticket said the Steigenberger hotel, but the hotel had strict security that wouldn’t let us in and didn’t give any help on where the bus would come. Eventually we found a tour guide office and the guide invited us into his office and told us that he could get us a ride to Cairo at 6pm that evening. We thanked him, got his contact info, and went to the Steigenberger resort area, where he’d recommended to kill some time until then.

We were denied entry to the Steigenberger initially because we didn’t have a room or any official business there. There were several security officers and cops in the area and the hotel was very closed off. We told them we were interested in scuba diving and eventually someone from the scuba shop inside the gates fetched us.

After walking through metal detectors and putting our bags through the security scanner, we made it to the shop and had some fun. The diving was amazing with beautiful reef and lots of cool and colorful fish. There was one school of fish near a shipwreck that was one of the biggest schools I’ve ever seen; it was probably similar in size to the massive one I saw at South Point in Big Island. There was also this interesting fish that looked like a block that my instructor went up to and waved his hand at. I did the same and he immediately grabbed my arm and pulled it back. I was confused, but when we surfaced he explained that the fish had enough poison in its fin to kill 30 people. I was surprised he’d let me go so close since he’d been physically attached to me the whole time, which was actually the only downside of the experience. Only Michael’s instructor gave him any autonomy and let him go on his own, even though, funnily enough, Michael was the only one who hadn’t scuba dived before. My guy was attached to me the whole time and sometimes he’d give me pointers about using my fins more to move around but then I’d kick into him since I didn’t have enough space. Still, it was a fun experience and a good way to unwind after all the transportation in the morning.

After diving, we got a nice meal at the fancy poolside restaurant in the Steigenberger and played some cards. After eating, we went in the pool and swam around to kill more time before our ride came. At the end of the day, we were so grateful for these enjoyable distractions because the rest of the day was an increasingly terrible logistics and travel nightmare.

On our way out of the gated hotel area, we had to grab some more cash to pay for the bus ride to Cairo. We tried to go into the hotel to grab cash from an ATM but an employee stopped us and made us go to the luggage scanner again even though we offered to leave our bags outside and explained that we’d already scanned our bags and were just going inside for a minute.

Frustrated, but with cash in hand, we went to our tour guide’s office and he told us that the bus would pick us up around 6:20pm at a trading market on the left side of the road. He hinted that there was fierce competition among local taxis and they wouldn’t be happy with us getting in so we had to meet the driver at this relatively clandestine location. (For context, the driver we’d booked was with a company called WeBus that we found online. When I say “local” taxis, I’m referring to the uniform white taxis loitering around Taba.) The location was a bus station with a tiny, crappy strip mall with shopkeepers idling about, some taxi drivers milling around, and not much else. We walked to the restaurant in the trading market the guide had told us about but our guy wasn’t there at 6:20. We waited until 7 and tried messaging the driver, the tour guide, and the driver’s company called WeBus, but the tour guide just said the driver was still coming and we didn’t get any other response.

While waiting, we’d been dealing with these local taxi drivers that pestered us endlessly. They asked where we wanted to go and we said we already had a bus lined up to go to Cairo and they said that there were no more buses running from the station. We told them dozens of times that we had a ride lined up and weren’t interested but they relentlessly offered their services. We weren’t interested because they were going to charge $100/person instead of $10/person that we got through WeBus.

Because we’d waited for a while and weren’t sure if our driver was still coming, and also to avoid the bothersome local drivers, we got dinner at the one restaurant in the lot. The dinner was decent but expensive and we probably got overcharged, but it was still under $10/person. The annoying thing was that they forgot to charge us for a water bottle initially, so after I’d paid the bill of 800 EGP they asked for another 25 EGP for the water. I only had big bills so I gave the server 100 EGP and he came back with 50 EGP. I asked why there wasn’t 75 EGP in the wad of bills he’d handed me and he explained that he’d included service. I don’t think tipping is too big in the culture, and I was also annoyed because he took it without asking and seemed to be asking for more because he had his hand out gesturing for cash even though I was pretty sure they’d already overcharged us and the service was lousy.

Right after I wrapped up paying, a WeBus branded vehicle came into the parking lot. We still weren’t sure if it was our guy since a couple local taxi drivers had tried to convince us to come into their vehicles even after we’d asked if they were the driver we were looking for. We were on edge since it was close to 8 at this time and the sun was setting and we didn’t know that we could trust our driver even if he was the guy he said. Our driver told us his name was Mohamed, which was what we’d been told by our tour guide.

As Michael was verifying our driver’s identity, a local taxi driver came over and said we should come with him. We didn’t want to because he was going to a city called Dahab and we’d have to take a bus from there to Cairo and he’d charge us ten times more. The local taxi driver was being aggressive and not letting us gather ourselves to decide what to do. We were on edge because of the hostility and aggression from the local taxi driver.

As we were trying to get ourselves sorted, a police officer intervened and told us we couldn’t get in the WeBus. He didn’t speak much English but he physically obstructed our entrance to the WeBus and pointed to the local driver and told us to go with him. We asked him why but he didn’t answer, possibly because he didn’t understand, and gestured towards the local taxi again.

The situation had become very tense at this point and we needed to figure out what was going on so we backed away from all the commotion and told them we needed a minute to think. The local driver tried to keep pestering us until I basically yelled at him to give us space to talk amongst ourselves. To our dismay, at this point our WeBus driver drove away because it was clear the cop wasn’t going to let us get in the vehicle with him.

We didn’t feel safe going with the local taxi and didn’t want to pay his exorbitant price, so we told him we didn’t need a ride and decided to walk to the nearby fancy hotels to try to get a room there. As we were walking out of the parking lot, we walked to cross the road so the taxi couldn’t follow us and the cop came over and questioned us about where we were going. We told him the hotel and he pointed in the direction of it, wanting to make sure we were actually going that way and not somewhere else to meet up with the WeBus driver. We had to walk along the main road and were pestered by more taxi drivers that we had to aggressively tell no before they left us alone.

Eventually we made it to the Movenpick hotel, a fancy resort, and we had to check our bags through security again because everything was barred off in Taba. At this point I was starting to become a bit more understanding of the security checks because it felt like a dangerous area. The security guard made me hand over my speaker because apparently they aren’t allowed inside the complex and I was nervous about that, not sure if I could even trust the hotel security guard to keep an item secure. Once we’d given our passports to security and went through the metal detectors, we took a golf cart ride to the hotel entrance.

We finally felt safe being in the lobby of this extravagant hotel with families and kids after being harassed out on the street as darkness settled in. We inquired about how much a room cost and the receptionist told us it would be about $87/person for the night. We sat down to think about it and look at other options for 20 minutes. We were close to booking the room but I wanted to hold off for a few more minutes to see if we could find cheaper deals for the room online. After another five minutes of searching and failing to find something cheaper, we went to book the room only to discover that the hotel was now fully booked.

Devastated, but not that shocked because it just seemed to be that kind of day, we walked to the nearby Steigenberger to see if they had any rooms. After being heckled by more taxis on that short walk, including the jerk that had scared off our WeBus driver, we were told that they were also fully booked. Unfortunately, so were the other couple hotels within walking distance. Thankfully Kip had data and was able to book us a hotel 20 minutes down the road in the direction of the port we’d arrived at.

We needed a taxi to get there so we flagged down the first guy we saw. After catching our breaths and feeling comfortable in the Movenpick for a brief half hour, we felt brave enough to try a taxi again. I was feeling better after having escaped the situation with the cop and more confident that we’d get a smooth ride to our eco camp without anything escalating and becoming violent or getting kidnapped and murdered. The guy charged us a preposterous price of 1000 EGP, but we’d already paid it once to get up to Taba and it was late and we were exhausted and exasperated so we agreed to it.

At the first checkpoint right outside Taba, the police stopped us and the driver reversed to where he’d picked us up and got out of the car. He spoke little English and didn’t explain what was going on. While he was gone we joked about what would happen if we stole the car. We decided there was about a 10% chance of us dying within the year if we did that, with the most likely deaths being in a dangerous pursuit by the police while we were in the car, but a not too slim chance of us getting arrested and dying in Egyptian prison within the year.

After five minutes our driver came back and had us write down our names and passport numbers on a piece of paper. He drove back to the police and handed that to them before they let us go. The police at the next checkpoint, just a few hundred meters later, asked for our passports and payment receipt since they thought we’d come from Israel. They didn’t understand that we’d come from Jordan and had Egyptian visas. Luckily the tour guide from earlier had told me we didn’t need to pay anything else since we’d come from Jordan so we knew what to tell them. Eventually the officers realized the situation and let us through. In the next few minutes we passed through a couple more checkpoints, with our driver getting out at one of them. Finally, we were through all the checkpoints and heading towards the eco camp.

After driving for another few minutes the driver pulled over to a random hotel and asked if it was our hotel. We told him no and he kept driving for 30 seconds before pulling over and trying to flag down another taxi. We were pulled over on the side of the road and it was dark out so we were starting to get worried. We told him to keep going and asked him why he was stopped and he said we would go with his friend. We thought transferring taxis sounded sketchy so we told him to keep going. He pulled over once more and waved down a different taxi van to tell them to pick up other passengers at a different hotel. After that we were sketched out and Kip called the hotel to tell them we were arriving soon because we didn’t want to get abducted by this taxi driver.

Thankfully he kept going after this and got us to our eco camp on the water. It was dark and we were in the middle of nowhere so we needed to make sure we were in the right area before leaving the taxi. Luckily, we were in the right place and were greeted by a lovely Egyptian girl, her boyfriend, and an elderly Egyptian woman.

The atmosphere instantly changed and we felt so much safer and more comfortable to be in the presence of these sweet people at the camp. The camp was almost all open-air structures with the exceptions of the bungalows for sleeping. The common area by the kitchen was really cozy and we instantly felt so much better being in a safe place and having someone that spoke reliable English. We were so relived to sit our bags down in this safe haven.

They brought us tea and told us to get comfy and that we could take our blankets and pillows down to the beach and sleep under the stars, which we ended up doing. The day was horrific with missed buses, taxi fights, and scary rides, but our worries melted away once we got to the eco camp. We were thinking that the hotel in Movenpick would’ve been nice and safe, but it would’ve cost significantly more and we would’ve had to share one room between the three of us. The eco camp, by contrast, was homey and comforting, and we were really glad to have ended up there.

The next day I woke up around sunrise at 6:30am and went from the beach to the bungalow since I was getting attacked by flies. The camp was a great spot to chill in the morning and I ate breakfast with Kip and Michael and did some swimming and reading on my own.

The bus we’d arranged with our gracious eco camp hosts was supposed to come sometime between 12 and 1 so we got ready around 11:45 but it didn’t end up coming until 2:30pm. With the drama of the previous day, we weren’t even sure if the bus would end up coming so we were really happy once it finally showed up and felt like we were in good hands since our hosts had arranged it.

Unfortunately our woes didn’t end there. The drive, if we’d gone straight, should’ve taken about four or five hours, but it took us ten. We picked up five other people along the way, including one couple who was taking their time and getting last minute pictures with their friends before saying goodbye and getting in the van. We were already so behind schedule that their lackadaisical attitude was more comical than irritating.

Apparently, there are two roads from Taba to Cairo but the fast one is for Egyptians or Muslims only and there’s another longer, windier road that’s for everyone else which we had to take. The ride was already long as it was, and we had to stop at police checkpoints no less frequently than once every 30 minutes.

We also stopped at a few gas stations along the way, which was nice for refueling on food and drinks, but terrible for the amount of time we had to spend. At the first gas station, we had to wait there for an hour. I asked the driver why and he said something about police that I didn’t fully understand because his English wasn’t great.

I used the restroom at the first gas station and some kid tried to get me to pay him $1 after I’d already paid $5 for food there. I kept pointing at my purchased food and telling him no but he followed me for a minute or two before leaving me alone. We were so fed up with everything at that point that none of us wanted to deal with the hustle culture.

While we were killing time in the parking lot, Kip went to sit in a plastic chair by one of the pumps. As soon as he sat down, one of the employees came over and told him he wasn’t allowed to sit there and then simply moved the plastic chair to a corner of the parking lot where it sat unused. We were cracking up at how everything was going against us and there was no winning for us in Egypt.

The landscape on the drive was also really depressing with nothing but mountains and checkpoints everywhere, with the gas stations feeling like they were in the middle of nowhere. Around 10 we finally made it to the Suez Canal, which is the boundary between the Sinai Peninsula in the Middle East and the African part of Egypt. There was a huge checkpoint there and we waited for more than 30 minutes and inched along until we made it to a police checkpoint where they made us remove all our luggage to search through it.

Once we got past the Suez Canal, the country became much less militarized and there seemed to be more order. We arrived in Cairo at 12:30am and took an Uber to our hostel to get there at 1. We learned after the fact that the Sinai Peninsula is dangerous and the US Embassy recommends avoiding travel there because it’s heavily militarized and they can’t do much to help US citizens there. We laughed at how dangerous of a situation we’d unknowingly put ourselves in and were relieved to have made it out unscathed. It was a pretty rough intro for us into Egypt, but we were happy to be through the worst of it and into Cairo.

Our hostel was in a building that seemed mostly abandoned and we got weird vibes from it. Luckily we had a room for just the three of us and got breakfast together the next morning. It was a short stay in that hostel as we took our bags after breakfast to a new hostel which was also in a mostly abandoned building so we assumed that was just the style of most accommodations, or at least hostels, in Cairo.

From there, we walked to the Egyptian Museum which had some interesting displays but was uncomfortable because it didn’t have AC. After walking around, we were hungry and got lunch in the trendy neighborhood of Zamalek on a fancy docked boat that had restaurants inside. It was a more bourgeoisie area with Starbucks and other Western chains inside.

After our nice lunch, we went to a marketplace that couldn’t have been more opposite; it was in a rundown part of town with people crowding the narrow alleys that were littered with trash. Vendors aggressively tried to sell us jewelry, clothing, souvenirs, and more.

We were tired of all the heat and commotion so we went back to the hostel to chill in our quiet, air-conditioned room. I bought some beers for us at a nearby store and we drank and played cards in the late afternoon before grabbing dinner at a cheap local place nearby. The place was seriously cheap with pitas costing 10 EGP (about $0.33). We’d been paying easily 5x that for our meals, often 25x to eat at fancy places. We talked with one of the employees about life in Cairo for a bit before heading back to our place and calling it a night.

The next day we got up early to do a tour of the historical sites in and around Cairo. After breakfast, our driver picked us up and started driving us towards the pyramids. We’d booked the tour with the hostel with the intention of having a guide so we wouldn’t get approached by scammers at the various sites, but early into our drive we learned that the driver was only a driver, and he wouldn’t accompany us at the locations he drove us to. Actually, he was kind of a scammer himself.

En route to the pyramids, he pulled over and took us the “Official” Papyrus Museum. Some lady showed us how papyrus was made for five minutes and then tried to sell us papyrus with designs on it. It was clearly more of a commercial stop than an educational one, but the designs were actually pretty cool so we each bought a piece for $10 each, which was probably too much but felt reasonable, despite knowing that it was a scam and not asking to go there.

Afterwards, we went to the pyramids, where the driver took us to a guy who tried to rent us horses or camels to ride around the area. We weren’t interested at all, but the driver told us to come in just to take a look at the map, which was a laughable diagram of the area, and then his business partner pitched to us anyway.

We walked around the pyramids and Sphinx for a while and took in the sights. The pyramids were impressive and awesome to see both up close and from afar. The downsides were that scammers everywhere were trying to get us to rent horses and camels or buy overpriced goods and it was brutally hot without shade.

We were feeling exhausted after walking around so it was nice to chill in the car as the driver brought us to a couple more sights. Oddly, he recommended viewing some more pyramids and gardens from outside the entry gates because admission was expensive and he didn’t think they were worth it. I was slightly puzzled that he would advocate for us like that after roping us into scams earlier in the day. After seeing some mediocre sights from afar, he dropped us off at the Egyptian Civilization Museum.

This museum was solid; the highlights were the mummies and their coffins from thousands of years ago. They still looked like humans, although shriveled down significantly, and their coffins were ornate and fascinating, too. The main section of the museum was also interesting and had information on Egyptian civilization accompanied by relevant artifacts. We were feeling beat after the pyramids and museum so we went back to the hostel to regroup.

We rallied in the evening, though, and went on a river cruise along the Nile. It was $35 and had an all-you-can-eat buffet which was nice, but the drinks (including non-alcoholic ones) were pricy. There was also entertainment on the boat, but it was mostly annoying and gaudy. The first singer that performed was alright, although we were right next to the speakers and the music was too loud.

Next, a belly dancer came out and performed to crappy and deafeningly loud music. After eating, we took some desserts with us to the upstairs, outdoors area and enjoyed the breeze, view of the city, and relative quiet. It was much calmer and better than being downstairs.

Back at the place we said our goodbyes since Michael had an early flight the next morning. It was sad saying goodbye, but we were really glad to have met Michael. It felt like we got to know each other really well after traveling together for a couple weeks. Traveling with three people makes a big difference from traveling with two. There are still moments of downtime where everyone is low energy, but they’re less common and there’s also less pressure to maintain one-on-one conversations. We talked about hosting him if he ever came to Hawai’i and I’d definitely visit him if I find myself in England.

The next day Michael caught his flight early in the morning and it was down to just Kip and me. We had an insanely lazy day, not leaving the hostel until 3pm. We’re both active vacation people so it ran against our nature to do nothing for so much of the day but we were pretty fed up with Cairo and there wasn’t much more we wanted to explore.

We eventually went to the market to grab some food and immediately got scammed into an expensive lunch. As soon as we got out of the taxi, this friendly Egyptian guy that spoke good English started chatting us up and asking what our plans were. We were initially hesitant but he assuaged our fears by saying he wasn’t a guide looking for any money and he just liked to practice his English. We had a lunch spot picked out already, but I’d chosen it somewhat arbitrarily so we weren’t wed to it. He told us there was a famous restaurant nearby where all the locals ate and suggested we check it out. Eating at a local spot sounded cool so we followed him there. I was a little puzzled when he sat down with us because we’d just met him and didn’t invite him to eat, but he was friendly and a good conversationalist so we didn’t mind. I saw the prices on the wall were kind of expensive but not outrageous; it was about $8 for a plate, which is what we’d been paying at fancy places, but the restaurant I’d been looking at in the area had dishes for under $1. I didn’t want to be rude and say that we didn’t want to eat there because of the prices so we stayed there and he ordered for us. I wasn’t even sure how much it was going to cost because he ordered in Arabic and I didn’t know which items off the menu we’d gotten. After we’d finished eating, the guide said he was getting up to wash his hands and came back to the table saying he’d paid for the food. In retrospect, Kip and I were saying that we should’ve thanked him for paying but also pushed back on why he paid for us when we didn’t ask him to. He told us the amount he paid and we had no way of knowing how much he really gave, although I’m sure it was less than what he told us. He made it seem like no big deal at first and said we could pay him back later, but at this point we were sure we were being scammed so we decided to pay him back right away so we could ditch him without any trouble. After giving him the money, it was still hard to get rid of him because no matter what we said we wanted to do, he said he could lead the way and told us to follow him. Eventually, we had to explicitly tell him that we were going to do our own thing and he let us go.

We were annoyed that we’d fallen for the scam because he seemed like such a nice guy. I also felt weird because we’d paid $8+ for lunch at fancy places meant for tourists in the previous couple days. The amount is insignificant to us, but probably means a lot to many of the people living in Cairo. We willingly spend that much money at a ritzy, touristy restaurant but expect to pay a fraction of the cost in the poorer neighborhoods. Regardless, it wasn't a good feeling to get scammed.

I, perhaps naively, tested my luck in the market after lunch and bought a necklace for 50 EGP after the seller had asked for 250 EGP initially, so I felt good about that deal even though I, again, probably paid too much. The market was hectic as usual and we got tired after another hour and took an Uber home. We chilled back at the hostel until night when we went to a fancy hotel with a rooftop nearby and had some drinks. The food was pricy so we went to McDonald’s after, which might have been even more expensive.

The next day, August 16, was my last in Egypt. It was another lazy day and we didn’t leave the hostel until 1. We went to the Citadel, which was a fortress with a grand mosque and a couple museums inside. The mosque was gorgeous, but the museums were below average and I didn’t feel like I got my $10 worth.

After eating in the hostel, I said goodbye to Kip and took an Uber to the airport. I’m so happy Kip let me crash his travels. I’ve definitely got to know him better through traveling together in New Zealand, Greece, the Middle East, and Egypt this year. He’s a constant source of entertainment and great at breaking the ice with people in hostels quickly, which I think is a large part of why we met so many incredible people on our travels. We mostly had a group the whole time since we met Michael and Alex in Tel Aviv, but I appreciated the times when it was just Kip and me, too. He’s a good friend and traveling with him felt very easy. Overall, it was a fantastic experience and I appreciated bonding with him and traveling together.

If you made it all the way through this long-winded post, thanks for reading! To summarize, I would not recommend visiting Egypt, and I’d definitely avoid the Sinai Peninsula. Sending lots of love from Hawai’i.