Egypt
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General info
Country name in arabic is Masr.
Egypt is a country in Africa, its capital is Cairo
Official & spoken languages: Arabic
Ethnic groups 98% Egyptians, 1% Nubians, 1% Greeks
Government Semi-presidential republic: President Hosni Mubarak / Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif
Population: July 2008 estimate 75,360,000
Currency Egyptian pound (EGP)
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Internet TLD .eg
Calling code +20
Important spots
Lower Egypt
Upper Egypt
Sinai
Oases
Deserts
Acommodation
Renting an appartment
- It will be easier for you to find an appartment couse you are a foreigner (as a single girl i mean);
- you have to talk with a samsar, better through an egyptian friend (male or female, doesnt matter);
- i think might be easier to decide if you will take a look on the map and choose what areas are you interested in.
- better have a written contract / arabic & english;
- for agencies is easy: google it / renting an apartment in cairo... renting agencies in cairo, etc;
- for roomshare might be a little bit easy if u can see the announcements from universities;
!!! A wonderful mailing list to find apartments or a place for a short period. To subscribe to Cairo Scholars
General Tips :
- Monthly Budget : Is it strictly set or flexible (+ / - ). Budget will set lot of items: apart. location, standard of living, how many residents in the shared apart...
- Preferred area to live: is it important to be near to ur institute/ downtown culture & activities, apart view (as many are looking for apart. view but mainly guys)...etc (In contrast, girls were emphasizing mainly on the cleanness of kitchen and rooms instead of the whole apart. view outside )
- Your institute's location & transportation : for instance as Ayman mentioned, If you gonna study in New campus of AUC, it'll be highly cost in time AND money to go daily from downtown or Mohandseen area, instead, Nasr City will be the most nearest place regardless to how much u will pay for rent (it's a matter of ur priorities )
- Roommate: separate room or can be shared (compared to gender also)
- Essential utilities required: like A/C, Wi-Fi,..etc
- None of landlords/brokers (simsar) accept to rent an apartment for mixed nationality specially for foreign girls IN JUST ONE CASE that one of them is Egyptian/Arabian Guy as it violate traditions rules and gov. law, however some landlords themselves (Egy. men) renting rooms in their apartments. in such case, you should ensure of safety but not get worry much as many times it works successfully
- Contract should be written in both language (2 copies )and ensure that someone trusted to read the Arabic part. Make sure that the landlord HAS TO ask you for a copy of your passport to send it to police office, IF s/he doesn't, be careful, such a contract MAY be fake or refer to untrusted landlord as s/he's renting her/his apartment illegally !!
- In case of sharing a family, I think it will take much time from you to find such families who can host foreigner then deciding which is preferred regarding to cultural/traditions/way of life diversity among you and this family which I think may lead to instability while u need focusing in ur study.. hmm may be. Although when it exist and so may have much direct exp. with Egy. family, the opposite will also be extreme of unsuccessful situation !!
- Finding an existing ppl to share their apart is not easier than making a group (friends in ur institute ) and then hunting apart for your own for many reasons I saw honestly
- However, in case of hunting apart, you will be asked to pay extra fees ( commission for simsar almost 10% of total pay, prepaid months for renting and insurance...etc.)
Thanks to Ehab Hamed from Cairo, Egypt for these great tips!
Map of Egypt
Transportation
- Transportation Maps
- FERRY can be found on this site between Limassol, Cyprus and Port Said, Egypt
Another link about ferry connections
Airports
Tips
Other admission fees
The Golden Oasis, Hepis Temple, Temple Of Amun - 35 LE
Currency
General ways to find events
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
- You can search on Upcoming CouchSurfing Events
- General ways for events in Egypt
Specific Events
or search in every pub for Croco mini guide!
Free Wifi/internet spots
- Wi-Fi hotspots all over Egypt click here
Luxury hotels often provide WiFi at a premium.
If you have access to a traditional telephone line in Cairo, then you can dial-up an internet
connection with ~1.25 LE / hour by dialing 0777 XXXX numbers.
Most of cafés have wifi for free or not.
An hour in a downtown net cafe will set you back 3-5LE.
examples:
Cilantro and Beanos provide wifi for free.
Also you can always drop into a McDonalds / KFC /Hardees and try their network.
Telecom Providers
!!! Here are tariffs for ALO prepay cards
!!! Here are tariffs for prepay cards
If you are using roaming in Egypt & you can read more about how to visit Egypt
Useful Emergency Numbers
Egypt Ambulance Numbers 123
Cairo Alex. Road: 045-551309
Heliopolis: 634-4327
Giza: 561-5551
Tahrir: 577-0230
Maadi: 525-3873
Ramsis: 577-0406/577-0365/577-0123
Egypt Fire Bridge Numbers 180
Giza: 391-5289/391-0115/391-1727 Ext.: 271
Maadi: 3761-0259/3761-0258/3761-0257
Tahrir: 633-0954
Heliopolis: 525-3873
Tourist Police: 126
Egypt Police StationNumbers 122
Emergency Police: 122
Traffic Police: 128
- Egypt Public Transportation Services Numbers:
Cairo Old Airport Information: 265-5000/265-3333/265-3413/14/15
Cairo New Airport: 265-2029/265-2222/265-2436
Egyptian Company for Navigation: 575-9058/575-9166
Railway Information: 575-3555
Cairo Air Information: 635-0270/635-0260
West Delta Bus Services: 576-5582/414-1318
Limousine Services: 658-0625/685-6726/451-3996/7
Super Jet Services: 579-8181/572-5032
East Delta Bus Services: 574-2814/576-2293
Mid Delta Bus Services: 432-0049
- Public Call Service Numbers:
Telephone Number Assistance: 140/141
Telephone Billing Inquiries: 177I
Trunk Calls: 10
Speaking Clock: 150
Telephone Complaints: 16
Central Operator Information: 142
Telephone Trouble Shooting: 188
Pager Inquiries: 575-1851I
Telegrams To Egyptian Cities & Arab Countries: 124
International Calls Information: 120
International Calls Billing Inquiries: 09002222
International Calls: 144
Some helpful phrases
Medical emergencies
- Visitors are advised to avoid consumption of certain types of food. Though tap water in Egypt is drinkable, foreigners are advised to use bottled water.
- Avoid the temptation of the traditional saying "whoever drinks the Nile water is sure come back again". The Nile is a habitat of a certain parasite named "Bilharzia" or "Shistosoma".
- Certain types of traditional food (especially if invited to a house in the countryside) are of a high fatty component. Over consumption of those might lead to diarrhea.
- Though the amount of tobacco-like material at such places is usually very mild, one has to keep in mind that he is smoking without a filter.
- Drugs are available in pharmacies without the strict need of a prescription, except in hypnotics and narcotics. Pharmacies are abundant everywhere. They are easily spotted by the sign of a red crescent, sometimes with a red cross inside. The generic name of the drug is sometimes required
- All drugs have fixed prices by the government. One only pays what is labeled on the box.
- Consultation fees are variable, with the most expensive being for university staff members. A professor would charge between 100-150 L.E. (1 $US = 3.4 L.E. average) in Cairo. Consultants and specialists (ministry of health physicians) charge less, and prices are less in other cities. Another source to seek consultation are hospitals. A visitor is advised to avoid public ones, and head for the private.
- Embassies usually have contracts with physicians. Contacting the embassy is advised, as its personnel might also review the hospital charges.
