Egypt was on Mrs. BD's bucket list. Not so much on mine, but I have always enjoyed learning more about civilizations. I'm studying the Mongols now...
When you visit Egypt as a tourist, you go thru Cairo. It's an intensely smoggy city of 20 million. You would not want to drive in Egypt - a driver is required. The driving is nuts. We had a driver and a guide everywhere we went.
Re the driving, their are no lanes, no signs, no rules. Many cars and motorcycles lack lights, including brakes lights. Tuk tuks all over the place and donkey carts on the highways.
For me, the craziest thing is the pedestrians. Since there are few sidewalks, people walk in the street, and cross streets - even highways, wherever they want. Traffic dodges them. Little kids play on the medians.
We stayed in two hotels in Cairo, the (Marriot) Mena house on arrival, and the Nile Ritz Carlton on our return. This is the view from our Mena House balcony - Christmas tree plus the ancient rock pile. Yes, the pyramids are in town.
The Christmas stuff in Egypt is for Coptic Christmas mainly, which is in January. Not so much for European or American tourists. Most tourists in Egypt are Asian.
We experienced a lot in Cairo. The tourist traps like the Pyramids and Sphinx. We quickly learned how to fend off the hustlers.
Egyptian lunch with cool view. Stella is a popular Egyptian beer. There is no such thing as Egyptian "cuisine".
