#I can literally always go for a burger... I just rarely can afford a luxury like that

[medicinemane]

American tasked with making an analogy: "Is like highway"

[danetobelieve]

Fangs For Dinner || Miriam and Winston

Well, if she wasn’t sure of it before, she was sure of it now; Miriam hated cellular phones. They were wretched awful things. Why wouldn’t they work properly? All she wanted to do was pull up the Google so that she could get the number to Al’s. She needed Elle to watch the house that night since she planned on being out hunting, and she promised the girl she’d order her take out. Standing on the street near the police office, Miriam had thought that she’d call the restaurant before she headed over to spare a bit of time. Instead, it looked like she was going to have to order at the counter. “Eleanor Sinclair,” she muttered at the phone, partly knowing that her assistant couldn’t hear her but also unsure as to whether or not she’d hung up properly, “I hope you know the trouble I go through for my assistant.”

Winston fucking loved burgers. They couldn’t explain why. But there was a holy tinge to the fact that there was a combination of meat and cheese that they could devour enclosed in a bun. Winston had been eating at Al’s their entire life and they had decided that they were too lazy to cook that night. As they joined the queue behind a blonde lady, they had to admit that the cacophony of noises and smells that enveloped them every time they entered Al’s was always a pleasure. The blonde in front of them seemed to be struggling with their phone, Winston could already tell that they would be able to help them. But they were off duty and they really didn’t want to, so for the moment they kept their mouth shut and watched. Itching to intervene. 

Miriam still hadn’t figured the damn thing out by the time she got to Al’s. At this point, she’d managed to do something, and the screen had just… blanked. It was gone. All she could see was the damned black screen. Oh. That wasn’t good. That wasn’t good at all. Miriam had a good rapport with her assistant, perhaps too good, and she just knew that Elle would laugh at her if she broke another piece of technology. She couldn’t bring back the girl’s burger with a broken phone. Not if she planned to go out hunting tonight without a rather unfortunate sense of embarrassment. Miriam Flemming didn’t do embarrassment. Quickly, she looked behind her. Seeing that there was indeed a person there, Miriam put on her most winning smile. “I’m so sorry to bother you,” she said, “but I’m very new to this… type of cellular phone, and I can’t tell if I’ve killed it or what. Would you possibly be able to help me?”

Sometimes, Winston wondered if their whims could influence the world. It seemed as if they were sometimes able to change the very fabric of things with their wishes. Obviously it wasn’t true and this was just a coincidence, but this was quite the coincidence. “Oh,” Winston looked up and hooked an earbud from their ear, allowing it to hang from the wire around their neck and looking up at Miriam, “I don’t mind helping, do you mind if I take a look at it?” Without waiting for her to agree Winston reached out and gently plucked the phone from her hands before flicking the button on the side and watching it glow to life. “I think your battery died,” they reached into their pocket and pulled out a small portable charger, slipping the lead into the port they watched as the phone glowed to life, “give it a few minutes and that should give you enough juice to get home, then you can charge it up or whatever.” 

Miriam sighed in relief, grateful that the problem wasn’t something unfixable. “Right, of course, charging it. It’s been quite the day, that didn’t even occur to me.” With all of the dark, she’d been able to go into the store every single day, which meant that she actually had to be around people every single day. That wasn’t the problem; Miriam was a people person, and there was nothing she loved more than making people love her (except for, of course, causing pain when the mood hit her). The problem was the fact that all the things she usually put off until the end of the week were done, which meant that new problems arose. She was expected to be in the office more, learning about people and making in person connections, and Miriam was no fool. She knew that the ever present night wasn’t liable to last. She was simply dreading the day that the sun decided to come up, and every day that it didn’t, her dread only grew. Still, here was this kind person that helped her with her phone, so perhaps the day wasn’t completely soured. With luck, she’d even have a good hunt. The line for togo orders moved a bit, and Miriam was next. “Here,” she told the stranger with a smile, “go ahead and order. I’ll pay for your food. If you hadn’t helped me, I would have had to ask my assistant for help, and Elle has a penchant for laughing at me when I don’t understand technology, so you’ve really helped me out.”

Raising an eyebrow Winston shrugged a little. Honestly they didn’t really know how people were able to exist in this day and age without being able to competently use technology. The truth was that in this day and age there was really no excuse to not be aware of the fact that your mobile phone needed charging. “Sure, I mean, you should probably get into the habit of plugging it in when you see this icon get really low,” they pointed out the battery in the top right corner, “you can even switch it on so it gives you information on battery percentage if that would help.” And then there was a completely unexpected moment of kindness and Winston was blown away. “Really? I …” they stammered out of shock because after all people didn’t just offer to pay for things for them, Winston wasn’t someone that people bought drinks for or food for, infact usually it was the other way around so this was a welcome treat, “that’s really kind of you but you know that you don’t have to, besides I was kind of going to pig out and,” they didn’t say smoke a joint with my seal housemate buddy and eat a shit load of meat (weed was decriminalised for recreational use in Maine) but it didn’t really sound that great, “I don’t want to cost you a load of money because you borrowed my phone charger you know… so are you sure? No one likes being laughed at so I was happy to help really.” 

As the stranger pointed out where the battery on the phone was, Miriam felt both perplexed and sheepish that she hadn’t seen it before. Of course, she knew the damn thing needed to be charged, but she rarely used it, so she just learned to plug it in at night. It usually lasted her through the whole day. Of course, she had been using it a lot more. “Well, you’re quite the lifesaver,” she said. As the stranger mentioned the object of money, Miriam had to laugh. Money? She’d been left with more money than she knew what to do with at times. That’s what happened, of course, when you came from a generations old company of expensive luxury goods. She probably could have gone a couple of decades without working, devoted all of her time to hunting witches, but Miriam liked her job, her company. She wasn’t giving that up just because she had a few million dollars to her name. Conspiratorially, she leaned in a bit, a smirk on her face. “Between the two of us, money isn’t really that much of a problem for me. I’m quite certain I can afford to pay for your ‘pigging out’ as it were. Besides,” and Miriam allowed an actual smile, “you’ve done me a great kindness, and kindness should always be rewarded.” 

“I’m sure you’d have managed on your own sooner or later, but I’m glad that I could help avoid the potential humiliation from your assistant,” Winston gave them a slight smile. They got a lot of shit from some of their co-workers. They called them the coffee guy or the kid or whatever and Winston honestly didn’t love it. They didn’t know her but they were always happy to help with a kindred spirit, or a potential kindred spirit. Pausing, Winston shuffled their feet somewhat nervously and swallowed. They never wanted to say no to a free meal. Especially not with the amount that they were planning on spending. “Okay, I really appreciate this and there’s no pressure from me, if you really want to do this then great and if not then please let me know. But I’ll order and then you can tell me if you think it is too much.” They didn’t really give them that much time to reply before smiling. “Hey Cindy,” they said to the girl behind the counter, they were in a few of the same post grad classes together, “please can I have three big boys, can you hold the fries and bun on two of them, then can I get two buckets of chicken, one wings and one popcorn chicken, can I get two beef dripping fried onion rings and can I get some mozarella sticks as well. Thanks.” 

Blinking at the sheer amount of food in the order, Miriam waited a second before she started laughing. “My, it sounds like you’re feeding a pack of ravenous werewolves,” she said, taking the stranger in. Small and kind of lanky, and without that lovely wet dog smell, Miriam couldn’t see the stranger being a werewolf, but appearances could be deceiving. Then again, the kid might just be a stoner. Weed seemed to still be in style in this modern world; plus, Miriam had heard that it was legal to smoke dope, now. Whatever the case, it hardly mattered. She walked up behind them and smiled at the girl at the counter, “And, separately but on the same ticket, I would like a cheeseburger with extra pickles with,” she checked the sticky note where Elle had written her order, “crinkle-cut fries.” The girl rang up the total and Miriam handed over her credit card without a second thought. Knowing it would probably take a while for all of their food to be prepared, Miriam turned to the stranger, still trying to figure out if they were a werewolf or not. Most likely not… Most likely. “So,” she said, “are you throwing a party or simply stocking up on food?”

“Uh, sort of,” Winston was getting food for two but Ricky ate a lot with his weird diet. Being a selkie helped with that. “Obviously not a literal pack of werewolves, because you know, they’re not real.” Winston gave a nervous laugh. “But my roommate is like super into fitness and apparently this is his cheat day so he gave me a big order and asked me to make sure that I got larges of everything. I’ll probably make it through one of the burgers and half of the fries before I fall into the deepest food coma that anyone has ever experienced.” They shrugged. “My roommate will probably clear up most of the rest and if not I’ve got left overs so i don’t have to cook, so I can’t really complain you know.” They smiled gently at their peer before turning to the lady with phone trouble. “I really appreciate you paying for this, if you ever need help with your phone or anything please let me know, I’m actually kinda good with this stuff so if I can’t help I can at least pass you to someone else that can, but any issues let me know, my way of saying thanks.” 

The way that the stranger reacted to werewolves gave Miriam a pause. Interesting. “Oh, no, of course they’re not. A joke, you know.” But the story did make sense. She’d seen how much young men that went to the gym could eat, so, if it really was their roommate’s cheat day, this didn’t seem to be too much of a stretch to get that much food. “Well, your roommate is very lucky to have a friend that will go through all of this trouble to get them something to eat.” At the thought of making another contact in town, someone who actually knew something about technology, Miriam brightened up. “You’re an absolute lifesaver! I’m afraid I just might have to take you up on that offer as well. I’m horribly out of my element with most technology.” She pulled a piece of paper out of her purse. “Could I have your name and phone number? As a way to contact you should things go awry?”

It didn’t take a genius to know that they shouldn’t have made the joke about Werewolves being not real. Winston should’ve known better but they were still somewhat thrown when something like that happened. Trying to walk the fine line between openly discussing the supernatural and not appearing entirely insane was not exactly something that Winston excelled at. “Oh, obviously, I was joking … too.” Winston swallowed. Is that what they really meant? No. But it wasn’t something that they were about to admit to at this point. They just hoped that this wouldn’t be noticed by her. “I mean, we kind of alternate, and I was working and this is on the way home so it makes sense…” they shrugged, they’d never given it much though. Winston raised an eyebrow at the piece of paper and quickly scribbled their details on it. “If you want, you could give me your name and number and I can then call you and then you can just make a contact for me in your phone and if you ever need anything it’s all in one safe place, y’know?” They paused for a moment. “I’m Winston by the way,” they said flipping the paper over and pointing at their name, “Winston Dane.” 

“Well, it’s still very kind of you to pick up food, and that you both alternate. Not all roommates get along so well.” Not that Miriam would know. She’d never exactly done the “roommate” thing. Unless you counted marriage. She pocketed the piece of paper with WInston’s information on it. “It’s lovely to meet you, WInston. Here, my number is xxx-xxx-xxxx.” She said the numbers slowly, glad that she’d memorized the number. Some might not think it necessary, what with technology making it so easy to just look up your number with the click of a button, but Miriam thought it important to always have her personal information locked up in her head. “And my name is Miriam. Miriam Flemming. Though, most people call me Miri or Mim.”

“I guess, my room mate is a really good guy, I get a really sweet deal and Ricky doesn’t have to give me so sweet of a deal, if that makes sense. But I really appreciate it and we’ve become very good friends which is nice.” Winston wasn’t sure why they were being so open about their living situation but there it was. Winston quickly tapped in their number before pressing call, allowing it to ring three times and hanging up before she could accept the call. Swallowing gently, Winston looked up at her and felt sweat bead around their scalp. Giving her a nervous smile, Winston swallowed and reached up to fiddle with their glasses. “It’s lovely to meet you too … Miriam, is there something you prefer? Like Miri or Mim or is it like Miri and Mim because you don’t really care….?” They were sweating. This was her. This was Miriam. This was the person Nell and Morgan was worried about. Did that mean she knew? She couldn’t know. Only four, maybe five people knew what Winston was but if they weren’t careful that could change.

Miriam wasn’t expecting the sudden nervousness for Winston to go through. She watched perspiration collect around their hairline with her head cocked gently. Perhaps Winston had simply just realized how pretty she was. That did tend to happen, on occasion. Miriam had that kind of effect on people. She gave a gentle smile. “Either is fine darling. Miriam is a bit old-fashioned, though, so I rarely even use it in professional circumstances. Those that I work with just call me Miri or Ms. Flemming. Though, most,” her smile widened a bit as she thought of Morgan, of teasing the other woman both in person and over the internet, “call me Mim. Short, sweet, and to the point, don’t you think?” 

Raising an eyebrow gently, Winston wrestled with a combination of anxiety and existential dread that was settling in their chest. But they were determined to make it out of this. Maybe they could use some of this information to help someone come up with some way of stopping Miriam before she killed again. She seemed nice enough, but Winston knew better. They had been warned. “Sure, Mim it is, I think Ms Flemming might be a bit weird, you’re not my teacher or … anything.” They’d been about to make a sex joke and then they’d remembered three things. She could probably hamstring them with their pinky, she was way hotter then she had any right to be and three she killed witches, wizards and mages for fun. Not Winston’s idea of fun. “You can just call me Winston, people sometimes call me Win … but never Stone…” they frowned unsure why they were diverting to their own name, they needed to get their food and get out of here before they accidentally used magic or something.

Winston was a very nervous creature, Miriam decided, but harmless overall, and very sweet. Those were her favorite kinds of people, sweet and harmless. “Yes, Ms. Flemming would be very strange. I rarely feel old enough to be a Ms.” Much less a Mrs., but she’d been one of those, too. “Mim it is. And I’ll stick with calling you WInston for now. Perhaps we can work our way up to Win?” The nickname seemed to make them uncomfortable. Perhaps public interactions were what made them so nervous. How quaint. Just then, an employee came out of the back with their many bags of food. “Wonderful. Well, Winston Dane. It was so very lovely to meet you, but I have to get this back to my house before I go out for the night. If I need technology help, I’ll certainly be in touch. And I promise to pay handsomely, and not just in food next time.” With a wink, Miriam picked up Elle’s take out, giving WInston a pat on the shoulder as she walked by.

“Which is kind of weird because Ms. is just meant to be a term for someone who is a woman right, like doesn’t matter if you’re married or not, so irrespective of your age it shouldn’t make you feel old. But obviously because no one uses honorifics anymore it does.” Winston realised that once again they were motor mouthing and they decided that they were going to shut the hell up again. “We can try if you want, but honestly I’m not really bothered about what you call me as long as I know that it is addressed to me.” There was a moment of relief as Winston heard someone call out their order and hand over some bags of food. “Thank you for this again, and if you get stuck with the tech just text me or call, you don’t have to pay, if you came down to the police station I would be doing this stuff for free anyway so I wouldn’t charge you.” They weren’t sure why they were telling someone who might well kill them that they should contact them if they ever needed help. 

[tamboradventure]

How to Visit Egypt on a Budget

Posted: 2/3/2020 | February 3rd, 2020

One of the countries high up on my “must visit” list is Egypt. As a lover of history, I long to release my inner archaeologist and explore the many ruins of the country. While it might be a long time before I get there, my friend Jeremy Scott Foster from TravelFreak has visited a couple of times. In this guest post, he’ll give you his best tips for saving money on your next visit to Egypt!

I’ve been to Egypt twice. On my first trip four years ago, I solo traveled the Sinai Peninsula along the Gulf of Aqaba, stayed in shared hostels for $5 USD per night and took overnight buses that cost just as little. On my most recent trip last year, I traveled from the very north of Egypt in Alexandria south to Cairo, and then further south along the Nile River to the border with Sudan.

And, throughout it all, I fall deeply in love with this country where foreign perception of violence keeps so many at arm’s length.

The tourism industry in Egypt is still feeling pain as a result of the political upheaval, civil unrest, and terrorism-related activities that have marred its recent history. As tourist numbers have dwindled and competition for the tourist dollar has become fiercer, travel deals have proliferated.

But what most visitors miss is what you can gain — free of crowds and for little money too.

From the chaos of Cairo to the more laid-back vibe of Luxor, Egypt is an ideal destination for budget travelers.  

1. How to Save Money on Accommodation

Generally speaking, accommodation in Egypt is relatively affordable. However, there are a few helpful tricks that can cut down your expenses.

Stay in hostels instead of hotels – Typically, you can expect to find a bed in a shared dorm room (with 4+ beds) for between $5-8 USD per night, or a comfortable private single room for about $15 USD per night. You will likely have to share a bathroom, but at least you have your privacy.

Use Hostelworld to look for the best prices. I recommend Dahab Hostel in Cairo and Al Salam Camp in Luxor.

Use Booking.com to compare prices for hotels – If you’re looking for cheap hotels or guesthouses in Egypt, I recommend checking Booking.com. A private room in a guesthouse or hotel goes for about $40 USD per night.

Prices are generally listed per room, not per person. So, if you are traveling with a friend, you can save even more money by splitting the cost.

Look for accommodations that add offer a little extra – I also found that, coupled with accommodation, it was pretty common for hosts in guesthouses to offer extras such as breakfast and local tours at very reasonable prices. One of my incredible hosts cooked a traditional hot breakfast with tea and coffee for just $1 USD. Best of all, he was more than happy to recommend some inexpensive local places to eat and buy food.

Look beyond the standard hotel rooms for accommodation options – Vrbo and HomeAway are great Airbnb alternatives, as they’ve been connecting budget travelers and homeowners since the ’90s. HomeAway is geared towards people wanting a proper vacation rental, so you can expect a fully furnished home to live in which is great for longer stays.

Vrbo lets you stay in a local’s house, but at a slightly increased cost. You can usually find some pretty luxurious apartments starting from $50 USD per night.

The upside is that you’ll have full access to your own kitchen, which means you can further cut your costs by cooking at home.  

2. How to Save Money on Food

Stick to the local eats and street food – If you want to save money on food while traveling in Egypt, do yourself a favor and steer clear of the Western chain food joints. While a cheeseburger is about half the price of what you pay at home, it’s still more expensive, less tasty, and far less adventurous than experiencing the local cuisine.

Why bother with a burger when you can eat the most delicious falafel in the world for $1 USD?

Navigate the narrow alleyways of any bustling Cairo market (like Khan El Khalili or Mohammed Ali Street) to seek out the best shawarma ($2 USD). Or grab a stuffed falafel sandwich from a street vendor on your way from one ancient relic to another ($2 USD). You can literally find Arabic bread for 5 cents. It’s all cheap and very filling.

And, the hummus. It’s so. Darn. Good.

If you’re staying at a guesthouse, it’s common practice for them to offer full dinners for about $10 USD. The truth is that they’re actually just sourcing the food from restaurants in the neighborhood and taking a cut, so by seeking out your own food options, expect to spend about ¼ of the price.

With that said, don’t be afraid of street food or street vendors, especially if the food is cooked in front of you. And if there is a crowd of locals waiting, then chances are you’re onto a good thing.

Eat at a kosheri – A kosheri is a small, local restaurant that serves up generous portions of pasta, chickpeas, lentils, etc. often for less than $1 USD! There’s no menu, you just select the size of your portion and then you’re served this mishmash of deliciousness.

Cook your own meals �� As mentioned, preparing your own meals while traveling is also a great money saver. If you have access to a kitchen, just ask your host to point you in the direction of the nearest market. They also have the lowdown on where to eat for cheap, so take advantage of their local knowledge!  

3. How to Save Money on Transportation

Bargain with your taxi driver – In most Egyptian cities, taxis are an inexpensive and convenient way to get around.

Now, when I say convenient, I mean they’ll get you to where you need to go relatively quickly. But I would be remiss if I didn’t add a few disclaimers.

Taxi drivers can be aggressive on the road, leaving you white-knuckled from hanging on for dear life. I’ve never experienced a more heart-stopping journey than a Cairo taxi ride.

Furthermore, while Cairo does have metered taxis, don’t be lulled into a false sense of security. Meters are notoriously unreliable or rigged, and drivers frequently “forget” to turn them on. It’s one of the oldest travel scams in the book.

The best practice is to use an unmetered taxi and agree on a price with the driver before getting in. (Outside Cairo, most taxis are unmetered, so no matter what, always agree on a price upfront.)

If you’re not sure how much is an acceptable price, ask someone at your hostel or guesthouse for a pricing recommendation, and then start your bargaining at about ½ that price. Oftentimes even they will give you a higher estimate than is normal (it’s locals helping locals), but the real price should be about ¾ of what you’ve been recommended.

For longer-distance trips, hiring a car with a driver is the most cost-effective option. The price will be the same whether you’re traveling by yourself or with a group of four, so round up some travel buddies and split the cost.

But of course, be prepared for some aggressive haggling to get the best price. Be clear about where you want to go and for how long you will need the driver. Don’t worry if negotiations break down, though. When it comes to haggling over price, never be afraid to walk away. There are plenty of drivers available, so just move on to the next one.

Take the local train – Taking the train between Alexandria, Cairo, Luxor, and Aswan is the most popular mode of transport for this route.

If time or budget is a concern, you can take an overnight train. By taking the sleeper train from Cairo to Luxor or Aswan, you’ll save a night’s worth of accommodation in a hotel. A deluxe sleeper cabin for one is about $110 USD, while a two-berth cabin is $80 USD per person. Cabins are secure, and fares include an airline-style dinner and breakfast. The food is basic, but it’s edible.

But for a real bargain, you can book the day train between Cairo and Luxor or Aswan for as little as $10 USD. However, there’s one caveat: for safety reasons, the Egyptian government prohibits foreigners from purchasing day train tickets for this route. Officials say this is because only the night trains have armed guards in case of a terrorist attack, but this is an incredibly rare occurrence.

It’s easy to get around this, though. You’ll need to book tickets online at enr.gov.eg (you’ll have to register an account but it’s easy to do) or ask your guide, host, or driver to book the tickets for you. They will likely oblige for a small fee.

There are no reports of ticket attendants kicking any foreigners off the day train, so you’ll be fine. And if not, you’re only out $10 USD.

Get the Flight Pass – The fastest way to travel around Egypt is by plane. Egypt Air is the national carrier and Star Alliance Member serving most major domestic destinations. Its Flight Pass is a cost-effective option that allows you to lock in low fares for domestic flights even if you haven’t determined your travel dates.

All you have to do is purchase a minimum of four flights (or credits) and choose a time when you’d like to travel in the next 12 months. You can then book your flight up to seven days before departure.

On the downside, you’ll have to always fly back to your original departure point. That is, instead of flying from Cairo to Luxor and Alexandria, you’ll need to fly Cairo to Luxor and back to Cairo before going to Alexandria. That said, the Flight Pass is still about 30% cheaper than booking the same multi-destination flights with other airlines.

The Flight Pass is super customizable. You can select the number of flights (e.g. four, which is two round-trip flights) for a period of time (e.g. within one month), and also how early you can book your flights (e.g. one week before travel). This means that if you pick Cairo as your origin, you can select two round-trip flights to Aswan, Luxor, Alexandria, Sharm E Sheikh, or Hurghada. Each flight is $73 USD one-way.

But if I were to book a flight from Cairo to Luxor for one week from now, that same leg would cost at least $142 USD!

You can play around with this pass. For example, if you purchase a similar pass to the one above but select “one month” for how early you can book, the flights become $66 USD each per one-way.

If that’s too much of an inconvenience for you, there are plenty of other airlines offering affordable flights. When it comes to finding cheap flights on other airlines, I use Skyscanner. By being flexible with your dates, you can save up to 50%. Keep in mind, though, that you might be traveling at inconvenient times, like the middle of the night.

In the Skyscanner search bar, instead of entering specific dates, select the “Entire Month” option. This will show you a calendar with fare prices for departing and returning flights for every day of the month. This also works for one-way flights. However, it does not work for multicity flights.  

4. How to Save Money on Tours and Guides

The best money-saving tip I can offer here is to avoid booking online before you arrive in Egypt.

If you’re a Type A traveler who needs a plan in hand before you even arrive, you’re not going to like this. But online agencies charge massively inflated prices, and you will end up paying a lot less if you deal directly with the tour company or guide locally on the ground.

Add in the feel-good factor of your money going directly to your guide, their family, and community (and not to some middle person, agency, or large corporation) and you’ve got yourself a win-win situation.

You may need to be a little more flexible with your dates. But you will have the added advantage of being able to negotiate (haggle, in reality), which translates to overall savings.

Tours, private drivers, and the quintessential cruise down the Nile can all be booked locally at significantly lower prices than booking in advance. So, if you can stomach it, wait until you get your boots on the ground before booking your tours.

Guides, in my experience, are an invaluable source of local knowledge and information. They have the inside scoop on the best vantage points for photos at all the epic landmarks. In addition, they’re great at dealing with those persistent and sometimes aggressive street vendors.

The best guides can be found by asking for recommendations from other travelers who have used their services, but I always recommend my Egyptian brother, Rami.

Back in 2015, on my first trip to Egypt, Rami and I connected by way of a mutual friend. We hit it off, and ever since then, I’ve helped him to grow the little tour business he and his family-run. It feels good to be able to help a local family in such a positive way.

He’s honest, affordable, reliable, incredibly communicative, well connected, and did I mention honest? That’s one of the difficult parts about traveling in places like Egypt: when people are selling you things, it’s hard to know who you can trust.

But Rami is my man. Send him an email at ramielshaer2@gmail.com and let him know Jeremy sent you (there are no commissions here — this is just a helpful referral to a well-deserving friend). He will sort you out or put you in touch with someone else in your preferred destination.  

5. How to Save Money on Entrance and Admission Fees

Get the International Student Identity Card – Entrance and admission prices for almost all monuments and attractions in Egypt are set as advertised. However, you can get discounted tickets with an International Student Identity Card, including 50% off some of Egypt’s best museums (including the Luxor).

Get a travel pass – You can get a Cairo Pass or a Luxor Pass (multi-entrance discount passes) from the Ministry of Antiquities, the Egyptian Museum, or the Giza Plateau for about $80 USD. You’ll save about 50% off entries to over 30 attractions in Cairo and Giza. You’ll find very little information about these passes online, however, so your best bet is to just show up at one of those locations and inquire there.  

Suggested Budgets for Traveling in Egypt

While you can spend money on luxury resorts or private tours, it’s entirely possible to travel through Egypt on the cheap. In fact, you can easily spend as little as $30-$35 USD a day.

The biggest way to reduce costs is to stay in dorm rooms or hostels. If you opt for a private room or mid-range hotel, you can expect to spend $30-40 USD more per night.

Where and what you eat also adds to your daily budget. For example, street food is an affordable and filling option for dining in Egypt. You can eat everything from falafel and sandwiches to shawarma and koshari noodles for as little as $1 USD.

Eating in a restaurant is more expensive, but still relatively cheap compared to Western countries. Meals in a mid-range restaurant start at $4 USD, while international dishes can be around $10 USD.

Transportation is another added cost. Train travel can be cheap but may not be the most efficient option if your time is limited. So, if you plan to fly between your destinations, expect to add $50-$100 USD to your budget for each flight.

Of course, your daily budget will also increase if you book private guides or splurge on souvenirs and gifts.

And remember, haggling is one of the most important skills if you’re looking to save money in Egypt. Taxis, excursions, and other services can usually be bargained down to a lower rate than what is initially quoted. So, if you have a high tolerance for haggling, your daily budget could easily be less.

Regardless, it’s always better to go slightly over budget, especially somewhere with as many must-see sights and experiences as Egypt!

***

The key to budget travel in Egypt is to be generally well informed and to have a good sense of humor (the latter goes a long way when dealing with vendors). Haggling and scammers are all part of everyday travel life in Egypt. There are very few goods and services that can’t be bargained for.

Most importantly, always, ALWAYS ask for and agree on a price first before accepting any goods or services. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to politely say no and walk away.

Now it’s time to start planning your trip to Egypt for maximum adventures at minimum cost in the land of Pharaohs, pyramids, and wonders of the ancient world. Get to it!

Jeremy is the adventurous traveler behind TravelFreak, a website dedicated to helping people create lives they are passionate about. You can check out his blog to learn more or find him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines because they search websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is left unturned.

Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld as they have the largest inventory. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels. I use them all the time. Some suggested hostels to stay at are:

Dahab Hostel (Cairo) – The rooms are basic but the owner is friendly and helfpful and the hostel is in a great location.

Al Salam Camp (Luxor) – Great location and incredible staff. it’s away from the noise of the city and a great place to relax and meet other travelers.

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

World Nomads (for everyone below 70)

Insure My Trip (for those over 70)

Looking for the best companies to save money with? Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel! I list all the ones I use to save money when I travel – and that will save you time and money too!

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