I’ve just returned from several weeks of travel in the Greater Middle East region; Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Egypt. The trip was a combination of cruising, and traditional land touring. When traveling anywhere, it’s best to be aware of what’s happening at your destinations, but in the Middle East, where the situation can change hour by hour, we must be acutely aware of the latest news and trends affecting our destinations and the countries through which we transit.
Last week, as Egypt’s parliamentary elections neared, life there seemed routine and was quiet. As we drove past Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the center of the “Egyptian Spring” uprising, it was a peaceful last Monday morning, even with the burnt out hulk of a National Democratic Party building looking on.
Judging from the news coming out of Cairo the last few days, I’m happy to have left there earlier this past week. These disruptive days display the importance of the State Department’s STEP program that I detail at the end of this article.
After our ship left Israel, as we transited the 120 mile long Suez Canal, all seemed peaceful in Egypt. The towns along the Canal were quiet. Military, police and those traveling along the canal waved to us all along it. Even so, a report from Cairo was concerning. The Great Pyramid of Khufu, also known as Cheops, and its grounds, would be closed to visitors for three days for “necessary maintenance.”
The closure was really to prevent unidentified groups which would supposedly try to hold “Jewish” or “Masonic” rites at Giza, to take advantage of “mysterious powers” coming from the pyramid on the rare numeric date of November 11, 2011 (11/11/11). No one attempted such rites at the closed Pyramid.
Tourism in Egypt is way off, down 40% as of July, and many in the industry are barely scratching out a living, but when we arrived at Luxor, the feeling was much like any tourist location.
The Egyptian people are warm and friendly to visitors. At our Luxor hotel, the personnel couldn’t have worked harder to please us. A big problem at Luxor is vendors, mostly bedouins who wait for each tourist group to get out of their vehicle, and make travelers walk their gauntlet. One after another, these vendors, many who don’t take “No” for an answer, are in your face selling their post cards, photos, books, and other souvenirs. A constant yammer of “only $1, $5, $10” could be heard. Sometimes the vendors would be very aggressive, even touching tourists.
At the Valley of the Kings, one bedouin really scared a woman on our tram. He jumped on the tram (It’s forbidden.) and continued to harass her until our guide took action, even after all of us repeatedly said “NO!” to him.
Cairo had a different, more charged atmosphere than Luxor. Our guide warned us to not leave the hotel after dark. When we boarded our bus for touring, a plain clothes tourism policeman greeted us, complete with automatic weapon under his coat, with muzzle clearly seen. He stayed with us for all touring, and even at lunch.
Arriving at Giza, just a few days after it reopened, all was relatively quiet. Travelers were scurrying around taking thousands of photographs, riding horses, and camels, with the uniformed tourism police taking group photos. The tourism police were delightful, even pointing out the best locations for great pyramid photos. Even while all seemed happy, one bedouin was so aggressive he was literally pulled away by a uniformed officer and thrown out of the Giza site.
The vendors in Cairo were considerably more aggressive than those at Luxor.
At the Sphinx, a couple became separated from our group. Immediately our guide and a tourism police officer went to find them, while another armed officer stayed with our group. They were quickly found, but despite the calm demeanor of our guide, the urgency displayed was disquieting.
The calm in Egypt is now gone.
More than 1,000 have been injured in sometimes violent protests since we left Cairo for home. At least 12 have been killed. Police have fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the protesters. As in the spring protests, the scene at Cairo’s Tahrir Square is bedlam.
Events like those occurring in Egypt can greatly impact travel plans and make travel unsafe. News reports are often conflicting and getting critical information about what travelers should do while away can be difficult.
There are steps travelers can take to help ensure their safety, beyond merely watching CNN, the BBC, or other TV news channels.
The US Department of State, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, and the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, for example, provide timely information about breaking news situations throughout the world, which affect travelers, and offer travel advice for their citizens.
On the UK Foreign Office site, as I write this column, they highlight their home page with the article “Clashes in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez.” The article contains a link to a lengthy article offering traveler advice for Egypt.
All three provide detailed information on the countries to which their citizens might travel, plus travel warnings and alerts. All three allow travelers to subscribe to email alerts about the countries in which they will or are already traveling. I receive travel alerts from the US State Department via this system regularly.
The US State Department also has an unsurpassed travel registration tool; Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP).
I never travel internationally without first entering the details of my trip at STEP, so the State Department knows where and when I’m traveling, and how to contact me at each location while traveling.
If the situation in a country becomes dangerous, by registering my trips in STEP, the State Department can contact me in the event of a disaster, emergency or other crisis, and give me instructions, including for evacuation, if necessary.
I strongly suggest every person traveling internationally take advantage of the travel safety services offered by their government.
After many years working in corporate America as a chemical engineer, executive and eventually CFO of a multinational manufacturer, Ned founded a tech consulting company and later restarted NSL Photography, his photography business. Before entering the corporate world, Ned worked as a Public Health Engineer for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. As a well known corporate, travel and wildlife photographer, Ned travels the world writing about travel and photography, as well as running photography workshops, seminars and photowalks. Visit Ned’s Photography Blog and Galleries.
