turkey to cairo july 4

Re: turkey to cairo july 4

Hi Jaichan...
I just did the Istanbul to Cairo tour and it was fan-freakin'-tastic. Turkey blew my mind...I loved Selcuk, Pammukale and Cappadocia. The underground cities in Cappadocia are fun to run around in. We had the best tour guide, Haluk Barlas...I hope you get him for Turkey because he couldn't be topped with his knowledge and enthusiasm for Turkey. Eastern Anatolia and Syria were a bit of a culture shock...loved it. Not sure if you are a guy or a girl - but if you are a girl, prepare yourself for an enormous amount of overwhelming attention from the men.
In Jordan you will go to a little village of 80 people called Dana...and you will see Nabil's Bedouin house...you may have to sleep in a old stable! But the view from Nabil's back porch is like looking at the Dawn of time....I plan to go back to Dana for a few months - it had that big of an impact on me. Petra will blow your mind - you MUST hike to the top of where the monastery is and then keep going until you get to the cliff...OY! The view will knock you out. Egypt was sooooooo hot...be prepared for lots of sun. I got sick, sick, sick in Egypt...plan on having $100 US or about 80 British Pounds on you if you need the assistance of a doctor to get you well. Couple of shots in the butt and some big time Anti-biotics and I was good to go. Probably in your best interest to take some low grade antibiotics with you anyway. It would also be great if you could get a t-shirt printed up in Arabic that sez, "I don't want to ride your damn camel and don't even ask me if you have a donkey!" I was so impressed by this tour - I was happy every day. Hopefully it will be as great for you...if you have any specific questions - I might be able to help ya... If not - happy travels!

Re: turkey to cairo july 4

Thank you so much, Consuela! I have been planning this trip for about a year now. I am living in Japan and I have a good Turkish friend who used to be a tour guide and he has filled me in about Turkey. Syria and Jordan are what I am really excited about. As for Egypt, EVERYONE I know that has travelled there has gotten ill. I will probably take a batch of Cipro with me... I got knocked sideways with dysentery in Burma two years ago. Thanks for the warning about the overwhelming attention from men. I have long blonde hair and green eyes and have stood out in many Southeast Asian countries.
I do have a few questions. How was the Bedouin style camp? How much driving and traveling time is involved? (a 'five hour' bus trip in vietnam took fifteen hours..) Is a well packed 68 litre backpack enough? Do I need to bring a stack of toiletries?
Thank you. I hope to hear from you soon! Jaichan

Re: turkey to cairo july 4

Hiya Jaichan...
The Bedouin Camp was fantastic. Everyone sleeps in the same tent and it is partitioned in sections. Doesn't matter though - you can hear everyone snore! :-) The food was great...we ate outside around a big bonfire. Our Bedouin camp had 5 star toilets. Seriously - we were all prepared to use the desert like a big litter box but discovered that the Bedouin camp actually rated number one for the best bathrooms on our trip. Small things amused us! You sleep on cots...you will find sand in there...just pretend you are sleeping on a beach.

The driving time is quite reasonable. I was used to 9 and 10 hours in Turkey. I think the longest bus ride in Jordan was 4 or 5 hours. And the buses are quite nice...no toilets on the bus though!

I had a bigger backpack than 68 litres, but then I was on a 2.5 month tour across 3 climates. I think it would be enough - you don't need much. Shorts are pretty well out unless you are wanting the cat calls...capris work well. And we were told not to bare our shoulders...so maybe t-shirts with sleeves. I think I could have go by just great with a smaller backpack if I was on a shorter trip.

As for toiletries - you won't find anything in your hotel rooms. There is occasionally soap - very occasionally a bottle of shampoo - but anything beyond that that you require you should bring. It's easy enough to pick up things in Amman or Cairo...but the little towns don't have much. I found Jordan quite expensive compared to the rest of the trip...so, if you can get away without buying stuff there - that would be good. Don't forget sunscreen.

Hope that helps!

Re: turkey to cairo july 4

Thank you so much, Consuela! I am pretty excited about the trip. I head back to Canada for a few days before the trip to pick up some things and then I'm off to Istanbul. One more question.... how much money should I bring? Should I use travellers cheques or american dollars? Credit cards?
Thanks again,
Jaichan

Re: turkey to cairo july 4

Oy...how much money. Hm? I don't even know how much I was spending! :-) I do know that meals in Turkey ranged from $4-8 CDN. And meals in Syria were about the same...Jordan was more expensive. Meals were about double that...so $16 or so. I found that I ate the breakfast that was included and the evening meal - skipped Lunch most days just because I was doing stuff. Grabbed oranges and bananas and coconut buns in the souks.

It depends on if you want to take in optional excursions...for example...me and three others rented a boat in Antalya for $25 each, hot air ballooning in Cappadocia is somewhere around $200, cruise down the nile was about $40ish. If you expect someone to do your laundry - budget about $20 - $40 for a small bag of about 5 - 10 items. Seriously - I did a lot of hand washing! We never found anywhere that charged a sane price for laundry. I actually got by on about $800 for the whole trip. NOT including souvenirs.

I took currency for each country...so I was actually the only one that was good to go when we hit a new country. Bank machines are everywhere - but hard to find in Syria. Two of our group had their debit cards eaten early on - but I used mine all through the Middle East and never had a problem - I have a CIBC card. Syria also didn't want to take Traveller's cheques, one guy spent most of the day trying to get cheques cashed. It's all about American Dollars over there. So - if you have American Dollars you will be fine - everyone takes them. Some Stores will even take them. Credit cards are accepted in the big cities...I used mine a couple of times.

Hope that helps! :-)