Worked at the US Embassy in Cairo for 2 years. I had a diplomatic passport (Vienna Convention…”you can’t look in my bags”) and STILL dealt with the same crap. Cairo has a near zero percent repeat tourism rate for a reason.

I just came back from Egypt a month ago and I have been to many countries before and this was by far our worst experience as a tourist. It’s not tourist friendly at all. Everyone tries to take advantage of you. This is the one country I can say I will never go back. Very chaotic, my husband and I couldn’t wait to leave the country. Our final straw was airport employees asking for money in every corner of the airport.

Im a fashion photographer turned documentary filmmaker. I went to Egypt last year to photograph working horses transporting tourists to the pyramids of Giza. Needless to say the treatment of many of these animals. If not most is absolutely abhorrent. I was lucky to escape with all of my footage. Currently preparing my exhibition here in Berlin. Im getting death threats to this day. The government of Egypt does not want my photographs and footage published. One of my guides. An egyptian living in Germany is trying to get me jailed on false accusations. Ever since she found out my work was speaking negatively about Egypt. She accused me of harassing her, trying to poison her, she accused me of physically attacking here in Germany. She is trying to sue the company that payed for my trip to Giza.

Each person I know who visited Egypt said "Never again, my trip was a mess". Now I understand why.

i was just there last month. i didn't believe when youtubers say "don't go to egypt" but after my visit, i fully believe it 200%. Pyramids are nice but honestly, it's really not worth the scams and harrasments.

I have never read comments before in which 100% of the responders agreed wholeheartedly. How sad that the home of one of the world's most ancient and advanced civilizations that has so much to be proud of and to share with the world (and who make so much money from tourists!) is such a mess!

I stayed at the Movenpick Hotel in Taba, Egypt. Guests were using their bare hands to scoop up food from the buffet. I even saw a lady dip her finger in the salad dressings to taste. Very aggressive masseuse by the pool telling me my feet looked bad and needed a massage. Music at full blast all day. Went to a small local shop next door. Employee opened my backpack and rummaged through it. Did not even ask. Definitely do NOT recommend the Novenpick Hotel in Taba, or Egypt for that matter.

"It's a nightmare" Could not summarize my experience in Egypt any better than that. I actually never felt this way after visiting any country before, everybody lies, cheats, manipulates, threatens and rob you in broad day light. If you don't take all these warnings and still want to go there because you THINK you are a traveller.. then be warned, the moment you leave the airport or trainstation, you are going to get robbed, cheated, scammed etc. The taxi drivers will quote you a price and then change the meter half way through the ride and will go crazy if you question it and threaten to drop you off in middle of nowhere (which is worse than it sounds as you are like a steak in a tank of piranhas if you are not with locals you can trust - baring in mind you can not trust ANYBODY). Can't even enjoy the historical places because everybody harasses/threatens you. Worst experience of my life. I should have stayed at home and watched egyptian landmarks on KZfaq, would have been 1 trillion times better, enjoyable, educational (and safer).

As an Arab who's been there i can tell you %80 of those situations are pure power trip. They love to flaunt any little position of power they get, it's not just the system it's the people.

When I went to Egypt I was on a 5 day Aswan Dam river boat. I was with 3 other Americans all in their 50's. The rest of the 300 passengers were from France. One day after a daytime tour, we went back to the boat for lunch. All the food on the buffet was covered with saran wrap. None of the French passengers had arrived yet for lunch. We were refused (by the crew) to allow us to get food from the buffet; instead, they brought us lunch on plates and then they stood around staring at us. I told my fellow Americans something was up, and not to eat the food. They thought I was paranoid, and proceeded to eat their lunch. Ten minutes later, the French tourists arrived and the buffet line was opened. I got in line and ate my buffet lunch. Later that night, all my American friends got violently ill with food poisoning; later on back in U.S., they found they had been infected with worms found most commonly in dog feces. Thank God for my justifed paranoia. Never go to Egypt as a tourist.

This guy is one of the most humble men I have met in my life. I’m truly sorry that you and your team had to face this situation in Egypt.

My friends were there. A young couple with their two little children. Airports staff went through their stuff and stole valuable from them, poor hospitality.

My dad studied in Cairo in the 1960s and swears they were the best of his life. In 2015 he went again and was so disappointed in everything.

Yep, got robbed by a policeman that marched me to an ATM. Told me to get money and paid $150 US to not get arrested. I was with an organised tour group and moved away from the crowd by 4 metres and that's when I got clipped. Just the absolute worst country.

Went to Cairo in 2008 for a Lasik surgery and sworn never to go back. Worst week of my life. They would try to rip you off everywhere including the brand new 5-star hotel I was staying at. If you don't allow them to rip you off, they would turn your experience into hell.

Striking off of my bucket list! Thanks for the message.

I visited Egypt twice about 20 years ago. Never again. They beg for money EVERYWHERE. Guy in a toilet worked as a toilet paper dispenser and asked for tips, a local jumped into a picture I was taking and then demanded tips for his face in my picture, a guy shook my hand on the street and did not release it for a few minutes demanding I go inside and buy something from his shop, at the pyramids young men offered post cards as a “present” and then demanded money, our group was going through souvenir shops as through a flock of attacking birds, children are taught to ask for money, heck at some place we were surrounded by a group of children offering hashish. Bus drivers decided to have fun on a mountain road and were overturning each over. Not to mention the fact that every time I came back with food poisoning. Egypt is a great place, but its population is uncivilized.

My Experience in Egypt: I went there with 2 friends. We are all muslim and 2 male + 1 female When we arrived some airport employee came to us and checked us (none of us spoke arabic). They spoke arabic in a very aggressive way. Eventually they took our Camera and my 2nd mobile phone. They said I couldnt have it back until we leave the country. It was exactly, how our friend here described. I also had to pay like 100€. At the hotel, we were checked AGAIN and had to w8 about 4-5 hours, just to get to our room! Our rooms was not like it was advertised. Toiletts were disgusting, dirty and dusty beehh. In the streets, many people harassed us, trying to sell us anything and tried to scam us. All the products were soo expensive for us, not for the locals. One after another wanted us to go in their shops, some guys even tried to force us in. When my friend went alone down an alley, he went into a shop and didn't buy anything (because of shitty good). Upon reunification, there was all of sudden a child following us, bringing cops and he told that my friend tried to rape him !! From this hearsay he was arrested and we fought 2 days to death to get him out ! We HAD to give money to officers big sums, which they gladly took from us without doing anything !! If it was not for our embassy (of Ger), he would have rotten there !! And the hell trip wasn't over then. People were following us, harassed our feminime friend by the THOUSANDS because they thought she is a woman, she wants to have sex with all the arabs there. They even touched at in uncomfortable spots. It didn't feel safe. And whats worse, there is in restaurants and shops different pricing for tourists and locals. When we ate at an restaurant, we ordered for like 15€ food, and we had to pay like 50€. When we asked for the menu, it was an entirely different one with higher pricing. When he threatened us with police, we just payed and left. After all this, I wasn't interested anymore to get a taxi to see the pyramides, I didn't wanted to check out any more any culture, other cities or what so ever. We were all physically, emotionally and financially exhausted and totally disppointed by everything what was connected to egypt. In the end we spend more than 2000€ in that shitty country for a trip of 8 days !! All kinds of experiences we made were just negative. Harassments, taking our money and assets, lying and cheating us, stealing and so on. You can't imagine just how these people are !! The final 2 days we just stayed at our hotel. This tour made me hate this country, its authorities, its people (majority was unfriendly and sex-obsessed-men), its culture, its cities (overcrowded, dirty and garbage piled up everywere), its landscape, basically EVERYTHING !! They treated us like enemies !! I feel sorry for people who go there and have a bad time there !! Thank god we made it out of there ALIVE

Egypt has changed so much. My parents went there twice in the 1990s and found the place safe and welcoming. Tourists were treated well, and everywhere they went, people were polite and curious. The Egyptian military accompanied the tour groups as protection (and for more nefarious reasons, I'm sure, but they were impeccably courteous). My mother never felt unsafe or disrespected. But these days it's an absolute catastrophe. Chaos, corruption, crime.

I will say it endlessly and I’m so happy to see this video because Egypt was easily the worst place I’ve ever visited in my life.

The other thing about Egypt is I experienced more scams there than in any other country 😅 the “pyramid access is closed but I can show you another entrance” trick, the “do you want to come to a local wedding in a rural town as a guest” trick, every scam in the book, to the point where I no longer wanted to talk to anyone or even make eye contact. Tourists are viewed as cash cows, there’s really no integrity when it comes to interacting with tourists. For anyone visiting Egypt, I recommend a full service tour, so you minimize local interaction and chance of getting scammed.

Saying that I can relate to you is an understatement, if you think your experience was bad you should have seen mine, you really should be thankful you just got harassed, I almost died there, been living in Egypt for years, till 2 years ago when I almost lost my life. got attacked by a group of people who wrecked my car at the time smashing my front and back windows and my front bumper just for the sinful act of taking pictures of the beautiful desert highways, p.s they weren’t cops , but I’ve seen a lot from cops on the other hand, they would stop me or ticket me just for the 2nd sinful act of not being or looking Egyptian, one even made me pay a bribe, his reason? Having a blond hair “literally said that to my face. Just cringes me to think about it mate! I agree with everything you said and I’m glad I moved away from that country 2 years ago!

I always wanted to go to Egypt, but after seeing all these reviews and reports, I think I'm going to stick to all the other countries on my list and just watch documentaries about Egypt. And gosh, I am so glad you got your gear back. What a horrible experience.

I was hesitating to go to Egypt for vacation. After watching this, I'm definitely not going. I'm going to Greece 😅

This might not be that interesting but I've been to Egypt with my friends this summer and after 5th day I started feeling very emotionaly unstable. We were treated as walking ATMs and people inflated prices to us all the time. Nevertheless, we decided to go outside at night on our 6th day (we will be leaving to Serbia on 7th) and we wanted to buy drinks from a local store. The shopkeeper was the first man that showed dignity and honesty towards us and did not buff the prices up. My mind was blown because until that point noone treated us as equal human beings. And don't get me wrong I'm not a stone but that perticual gesture (acting normal) had such impact on me that I started crying. I thanked him so much for being honest and he was also very touched for me explaining why I am crying and even gifted me a small present from his shop. I could not belive how much I could miss the honor and dignity that a man SHOULD posses. If it was me to be asked tommorow - that man saved his country in my eyes. Hurghada - shop right after the new marina fish market.

i just canceld my december family trip to egypt. thanks alot

As an Egyptian I agree with you one hundred percent.

I visited Egypt about 2 months ago and it was the most racist country that I have ever visited. Not just the officials but people too. Kids followed me saying racist stuff and demanding money, shops tried so hard to scam me, restaurants just flat out ignored me when I wanted to order. I have never experienced such racism and I visited over 20 different countries. Sad state of Egypt

Yes, "I once asked a friend from Sudan if he had been to this country. His immediate response was, 'Why do you want to know?' I told him I was interested in visiting there for a holiday. He then said, 'People go to places to enjoy, not to fight with people and systems over there.'" Watching your video reminded me of that conversation and lucky I did not go there.

Yes, I agree 100% because I just came back from Egypt one week ago, I will not go back until it changes for good.

The issue with Egypt that you NEED to know someone from Egypt's authorities. It's corruption and nepotism all over the place. I remember traveled there back in 2011, and we had a guide that had connections with army guys as well, and we were allowed to places that tourists never visiting. That being said, the Egyptian hotel manager offered to bring a girl for me as a s*x service, I politely denied. That was... horrible.

Went to Egypt 2 years back, absolute hell on earth. Same deal, had iPad with charger and a camera was asked what it's for, tried to charge me a fine $400, a horrible horrible country, every person I spoke to wanted cash, going through a checkpoint had to pay an official (yeah right) $250, had a coffee which was awful and the bill was $12 just for coffee. Everything about this country is corrupt and horrible, never going back, I think if more people catch on the tourist trade will dry up.

"They're worried I'm talking crap about their country... They've given me a reason to talk crap about the country" Those sentences perfectly encapsulate how a paranoid government bureaucracy that try to prevent people talking shit just makes people talk more shit. Especially foreigners who have the ability to talk shit about any country they want and one with a huge following. If anything, this experience has convinced tourists to steer clear of Egypt.

It's super important for you to share your experience and get the folks in Egypt to really think about their actions. Change is needed, and if it means some folks gotta find a new job, so be it. Egypt's got this awesome culture, but hey, we all slip up sometimes. With your voice, I know we can make things better for others who might go through the same thing. You've got the power to spark that change.. thanks for the video i subscribed you after this

I used to travel around the Middle East a lot as a musician and I'd been missing the food, people and culture. This video just brought back so many memories of why I didn't want to go back anymore. All of these random people suddenly going on power trips over things they know nothing about. Once I nearly missed a flight back home whilst I could see my gate because my In Ear Monitors were suspicious and I had a pair of suspicious drum sticks so they forced me to go back to the Check-in desks, check in my carry on luggage, go through security again and come back to the gate. Another time, I was interrogated for 2 hours in Lebanon because someone asked me if my pedals were a bomb and I said no. Super suspicious. They had all these confusing questions like "if this isn't a bomb, why did you say 'no' when he asked you before?" or random things they insisted they needed to know like what my father's name and profession was. I think on that same trip another member of the band was also interrogated because they thought he was an Israeli spy. In Jordan and in Lebanon I had to bribe the customs to keep my equipment. In Bahrain, one of our crew was interrogated for ages because he had a DSLR and a gopro so they wanted to know if he was a journalist. In Dubai, I'd constantly get strip searched and have the same "what's this?" "my underwear" "Why is it in this bag and you don't have a suitcase?" "Because I'm a touring musician and don't have a lot of space or baggage allowance" "You do drugs?" "no" "You do drugs. I know. Go talk to my colleague there" and rinse and repeat. I really don't miss the perpetual harassment and hassle now that I'm in Europe. Funnily enough, I had no issues in Egypt apart from the constant harassment from the touts on the streets, but as much as I love that region and have so many amazing memories out there, this is definitely a problem that they need to somehow resolve. I'm not sure how, but goddamn it is a nightmare.

I was there last year. I've never felt so watched in my entire life. I was constantly harassed by the police everywhere I went. I can't tell you how many times I had to show undercover police officers my passport. I lost a whole day because I had to sit in a police station and I finally figured out they just wanted a bribe from me. It's the most corrupt, crazy, and exhausting country I've ever visited and I will not be going back until leadership changes and brings in some reforms. The Egyptian people were nice, a part from the ones who were trying to scam me at the pyramids but I expected that. Note: I followed every law in their book and never did anything I wasn't supposed to.

The fact that you guys still pulled through with this stuff and manage to put out content about food is what makes you guys indeed, the Best Ever Food Review Show. keep them videos coming.

I just visited Cairo. I had a friend with me who is high up in the Egyptian Police chain. So I didn’t have any problems at all. And actually got it in for free everywhere! BUT everything in the video is true. My friend told me the moment they see you as a foreigner they will try every means possible to take your money.

Thanks for sharing your sad experience as a result many people don't need to go through the same experiences.

As Egyptian, I can't agree more! this is the exact reason I had to fled this country. The fear of being thrown any time in jail JUST BECAUSE someone thinks that you should! there's no system, no rules and surviving there is just a matter of luck and/or having some corrupted connections.

I just recently returned from a 5-6 day trip to Egypt, and while my experience wasn't quite a bad as yours, it was only marginally better. While there we visited Cairo, Aswan, and Luxor. The corruption in their systems is almost surreal to behold. I was completely unprepared for it. Our guide was our only saving grace as she helped us avoid as many issues as possible. The trip was full of bribes and "tips" that we had to pay along the way just to move within the country. It wasn't just officials but a portion of the citizenry as well that had extortionary systems in place. After enduring this for several days, and while preparing to leave the country, we almost ended up having to call the US Embassy in Cairo after we, a group of 11 US Citizens, were held for our "protection" for several hours under armed guard at the Cairo Airport until we paid the security chief at the airport to let us go 5 minutes up the road to our hotel to sleep for the 2 hours we had remaining before our flight departed. My summation: Egypt is historically beautiful, but systemically appalling.

Went there a year ago on a Viking Nile cruise trip and I have to admit that i was awed by the sights and felt safe enough given that i was traveling within the 'bubble' of my tour group. Most Egyptians were warm and welcoming people but they clearly must work under a corrupt and chaotic system. I never strayed from my group and I don't expect that I will ever want to go back again.

as an Egyptian i honesty think you described it accurately and i myself hate the fact that i belong to this country

Me and my Wife has been also once to Egypt for a 2 weeks vacation and we will never go back to Egypt for so many reasons. It is honestly one of the worst countries to visit.

I visited Egypt once, and it was the worst trip of my life. The amount of pressure and harassment is honestly unbearable, they think I’m some sort of a Sheikh or a prince once they know I’m from Arabia, which made me wear local clothes and try fitting in to avoid all that shit. I was relieved once I got to the airport, just to be approached by an airport worker who grabbed my luggage and skipped the whole line and checked my bags in, l knew what was coming. So I told him I had no money and I showed him my wallet, after a long argument, I had to get him off my ass and I gave him the last money I had. I genuinely was so close to a nervous breakdown once I boarded my plane and got the hell outta there.

i lived in egypt for 7 years , it was everyday some action , brutal fight , it was a scary country to live

This is so eye opening. Reminds me of the local fanous archeologists Zahi Hawass who won't let anyone besides himself study the pryamids

I wish I’d seen this video sooner. We went to Egypt (Sharm El-Sheikh) in October 2023. All inclusive with the family in what was billed as a 4 star hotel. Worst holiday of our lives, hotel was dirty, no customer service, everyone after money, whole family got sick, and to top it off, we were involved in a massive crash in our holiday transfer on the way back and all the company cared about was us signing something to say we were ok. When you’re presented with police with machine guns in front of your crying young children, you’ll sign anything. You couldn’t pay me to go back there!

As an egyptian, i thank you for this video. I hope this video goes viral and change Egypt for the better.

I am glad you shared that man. Egypt was one of my top visit spots. Now I take it off the list.

If anyone watches sailing zatara, when they went landed in Egypt on their catamaran, they had multiple authorities trying to shake them down for money and then began discussing confiscating their million dollar boat. They made the quick decision they would leave the country. Which the did at night to get outside the country limits. That entire country is corrupt AF and dangerous. It is off of MY bucket list.

I am a 38 years old male Egyptian. and I am just so glad that your videos showed the true side of egyptain government to the whole world. I struggled with this, every single day for 33 years before leaving.

I too had a very similar experience. I went there for a conference and stayed there for three nights. Absolute horror. I must, however, say that some of the people I met there were magnificent and really helpful. But there is "no system" out there for "anything at all". Some observations from my side: 1. You have to tip anyone and everyone. I am an Indian - I am used to this behaviour - but never ever have I paid a tip to a person, every time I had to go to the toilet at the Airport. At Cairo Airport, the cleaners in the toilet keep standing at the doors. When you leave, you are supposed to tip them. I had to wait at the airport for 6 hours. It seemed like a never-ending wait. 2. When you go for security checks, there will be people who would take your bag - even if it is a simple backpack, that you can easily put yourself on the belt - and put it on the belt. You will have to tip them for doing so. I was quite adamant not to give a tip to a guy for just putting my laptop bag on the belt. But he kept insisting. There was some white guy behind me in the line, who whispered to me "give him the tip, or else, they'll FIND SOMETHING in your bag". I got his clue and gave him 20 Egyptian Pounds. 3. To avoid travelling, I had booked a room in the same hotel where my conference was scheduled. At the last moment, the conference organisers changed it to a hotel around 20 km from my hotel. I was so furious I had almost made up my mind to not attend it and go back. Fortunately, I met a kind person from Saudi Arabia there, who helped me out in arranging a cab (by speaking to everyone in Arabic on my part), and also cheered me up. But this "no system" part was so true - the organisers did not even apologise for this abrupt change. I stayed right next to the Nile river, and the great pyramids were only 30-40 mins from there. I did not go there. In my mind, it was a kind of protest - I did not want to spend any more money than required in Cairo.

Just caught your video, couldn’t agree more. I’ve only been once, but that was enough, never again 😂👍

These are the kinds of places people who say “western civilization is horrible” need to be sent.

Sadly, this is the most accurate video I have seen about Egypt in years. Even local people get completely uncomfortable around cameras because they either believe what the regime says about "foreigner spies" or because they're terrified of what might happen to them if the police thought they were "cooperating" with a foreigner with a camera... You can see it clearly a few times during the videos.

I agree that it is a nightmare. We visited the Pyramids, and these tour guides made us sit on a camel, and when we were on the camel, they said. "We will not climb down you from the camel unless you pay 40 US dollars". My friend just leaped from the top of a camel during an argument near the pyramids, where there are big stones. And they made me sit there until I handed over the money. It was frightening for me to start crying. I would never recommend anyone go there.

I stayed in Egypt for only 3 nights and couldn’t wait to leave. I went bc I am fascinated with ancient history, but the museum was heartbreaking, everything was kept in bad condition, the hotel would have us go trough X-ray every time, and the way they treat animals is so sad. I am never going back

Some in tunisia, my mom is an old grandma, she went to visit her grandchildren in tunisia from France, she bought them a talkie-walkie as a gift. She was arrested in the aéroport, and charged with terrorism, we had to contact a high politician to make them drop the charges. It's a banana Republic, and I'm Tunisien...

Thanks for this. Just cancelled my $20,000 honeymoon to Egypt thanks to you!

As someone who grew up as a history nerd, Egypt is literally at the top of my bucket list. But because of such well-documented nightmarish experiences like this that you and other travel filmmakers like Lost Leblanc have had, I sadly won't be going there to film anytime soon

This is a shame. I’ve been obsessed with ancient Egypt since I was a kid and it was on my bucket list to go.

Off my list. I carry a lot of gear and tech devices. So far everywhere ive been has been pretty cool about it but your experience is my nightmare. Thanks dor saving me the money and time.

I'm Egyptian and I'm so sorry you had to go through this but I can vouch that all of this is completely accurate and I stopped being a street photographer due to the massive paranoia, stupidity and lack of clear laws/systems

You successfully described the daily life of an egyptian. Imagine being an egyptian citizen. As an egyptian I am sorry you had to go through this.

I was in Egypt last year. While I had a good time, a great experience, and the people were nice. I must say there were many instances of being harassed, scammed, and put in uncomfortable (sometimes life threatening) situations. I will say though I had a wonderful time in Siwa. It's one of the few places where I can walk around and no one will bother you and if you do talk to a local it's just a nice casual conversation. I also liked Elephantine Island in Aswan. It's a nice 2 days of just chilling and relaxing. And people there were very friendly. But I had no regrets going to Egypt, I am glad I went and it was a good experience but it's a kind of thing where I will have to consider if I want to go back.

Ive been to a coastal resort in Egypt, so avoided the towns and cities. I can agree though the short time between airport and hotel, it was chaotic and scammy. I guess it comes with the culture. The hotel and staff were great though.

They stopped my sister at the airport and searched her luggage in a private room away from her for no apparent reason. When she got back home she found out they took all her gold jewelery out of the boxes and left the boxes empty inside the bags. She had a meltdown. I felt really bad for her cause unlike what those sick bastards think we don't sit on a pile of gold back in Saudi. She really worked her ass off over the years to buy herself nice stuff. Theifs. You got lucky man. EDit: Egyptians are my brothers and sisters. I'm referring to the governmental corrupt and the weak people who dishonred humanity. Also, you would never know if the jewelry is gold or fake unless you examined it, no one would grab and steel something you're wearing unless it's loose and the person is a professional theif lol. Stop normalizing major crimes and blame victims, nothing uglier than someone who does that. FYI, Egyptians wear gold too. It's in our Islamic and Arabi traditions.

I can feel the frustration and anxiety just by listening to your experience. My wife went to Egypt last year and she told me that it was horrible, and some of the people that were with the group she was with, had their cameras taken away and never got them back. Horrible!!!

OMG this is very heart breaking to me as an Egyptian, I wish I could do anything to make these people's experiences any better but I guess I will never be able to, I just wish something would change and people and tourists would be able to enjoy their experiences again!

I went on holiday to Egypt around 12 years ago. I visited Cairo. It was a guided tour and even then it was crazy! The guide took us to different places, each time dropping a handshake and a little cash to the next person looking after us haha it’s was nuts! The people there are just looking out for themselves, but not in a malicious way! The pyramids were full of tourist traps but what do you expect it’s a tourist destination and each person is looking for the next buck to help them live. Egypt is a place for people to visit once, experience the madness and beauty of it, yes you have to look beyond the craziness of it, but as soon as you accept Egypt for what it is and accept their culture it’s impressive. I won’t return to Cairo, but I’m glad I visited!

I remember buying a pack of cigarettes in Cairo. The price the shop keeper quoted was outrageous, so I sent my local Egyptian driver instead to buy it. Expectedly, my driver got the same pack for less than half the price. So I went there again and confronted the shopkeeper along with the driver. He simply said, "for you its 50 pounds and for him its 20 pounds". That's how they treat foreigners and guests in Egypt. Just about everyone wants to rip you off and they feel its their right to do so. Its culturally acceptable in Egypt to cheat foreigners and tourists. Simply shameful. I lived there for six months and had to face these situations on daily basis. On the other hand, in countries like Pakistan and Iran, shopkeepers often don't even charge foreigners and tourists, treat them with so much respect, and are constantly trying to help.

I'm Australian, my wife kids and myself are extremely well travelled. I agree...don't go to Egypt. The hassle, corruption and vulnerability to travellers is very, very scary.

Thank you for the warning. Taking Egypt off my bucket list

Wow. This is a horrible story. Thank you guys for sharing this experience! At least everyone can now avoid the mess Egypt seems to be!

I've been to around 50 countries and lived in 10. Egypt is by far the worst experience I've ever had.

This needs to go viral, so that future tourists who have never visited the country can be alerted.

This was one of most interesting videos I have seen recently. Thanks

Removing from my bucket list, Thank you!

I am Egyptian and I agree with you 100% ! People need to stop visiting there so that things could change after a $$$$ crunch!

My Egyptian horror story, in brief. I had food poisoning on the first day. The first symptoms I noticed was coming out of a coma on Day 5, only to find myself tied to a hospital bed. My family had been told I was unlikely to live. Due to the nature of my family to only people able to travel were women, they were advised by the British Foreign office that as unaccompanied women they would be more at risk than myself. It turns out that 2 days of my coma had been spent lying on the floor of my hotel room, charming. After 2 week in an intensive care, I had to be medically evacuated by a Doctor. The British Consul and the Doctor worked for the best part of 36 hours clearing the paperwork. Despite this every person we had to pass in the airport did his damndest to stop me boarding the flight. The lowest point, among many, was when Egyptian customs insisted the Doctor to put his resuscitation gear in the hold ! When they finally were convinced of the reason , they then tried to stop him taking the batteries for his oxygen generator and it took a twenty minute negotiation so that he could provide enough oxygen for the 5 hour flight. A single battery at a time ! Meanwhile I'm slumped in a rickety wheel chair. The moment I felt the airplane wheels leave the runway I a wave of relief and joy, and swore I would never return to Egypt EVER !

Thanks for showing your experiences

Thank you for this video and information. My wife and I have just changed our plans!!

I’ve lived in Cairo for 9 months now, and I can tell you that Egypt is a very crooked country. You’ll meet some of the most kindest people, but you’ll also encounter some of the most dishonest and unethical human beings who care only about money.

I went to egypt once and ill never return. The place is crazy. No systems and everyone just wants to rip everyone else off.

I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this. Such a shame.

I think maybe this entire video is being blocked. I tried sending this over messenger to someone and the link didn't transmit. Had to email it. Thanks so much for posting this! Tourists should absolutely know this kind of thing before they book a trip there. I won't go to Egypt.

15 of us were planning to have a bachelor party in Egypt ( we are from UK). although they had amazing deals, after watching your video and several others KZfaqrs, we decided to go to Romania instead. Thank you for raising awareness

We lived in Egypt for 3 years and made lots of great lifelong friends and memories BUT anything dealing with government offices is a nightmare and the airport is the absolute worst experience of my life! They took our dogs and we had to pay $500 to get them back . I was bawling in the airport begging them to at least let me see them and make sure they were ok .. nope! This was 3am so it took a whole day of gathering the funds and going from office to office to office to finally get the paper work we needed to pick them up .. also we are very well traveled and we called ahead and did everything they said to bring them in. Like you said their is no system and no 2 people give you the same rules or guidelines. Egypt could be amazing but they really need to clean house!

Visited Cairo with my family two years ago. I booked with the best hotel near the pyramides and ordered the hotel to provide for local security guards for every moment we were not at the hotel. It worked out fine. We got two angry looking armed guys watching out for us for some 50 $ a day (both). It was definitely worth it. We could do our visits and tours without beeing agressed or scammed by anyone, even in some random restaurants, they provided for a good table and good care from service (they did not want to join us on our table, pretending not beeing hungry). So, yes, we very much enjoyed our little family trip to Egypt. And sure, without those local guards, as a tourist, you're a walking wallet for the people. And if your wallet is empty, you're a walking piece of s**t. But we should also understand, that many, many people there are living from tourists only. So, as a tourist, you should give a tip even to the guy who for example, just opens the door for you or sleeps on a chair pretending guarding your car on some very random parking area. It is his work and he has probably to feed a family. It is not his fault, if more decent jobs are not available.

I had a layover there before connecting they took my passport and all and said they want to call Canada to confirm if they were expecting me. I'm like what the hell these are my permits with the Canadian government stamps on them. Was there until final call for boarding on my connecting flight. The absolute worst experience I've ever had

Just got back from hurghada and after being abused at not being in the right queue for security checks, being body checked, and treated awful, then finally made it into duty free...I was so anxious and upset I managed to lose my boarding pass, ( really not surprised when your passport and boarding pass is constantly being ask for, you carry on luggage scrutinised... I felt physically sick with stress, I made it to my boarding gate and handed my passport with my printed out boarding form and explained I'd somehow dropped the carded one, the man on the desk went berserk!! Ripped up my boarding paperwork and shouted at me my flight is cancelled, after standing at the desk and pleading with him..he finally let me on my plane back to the UK... I've never been so pleased to leave the country, I've travelled to so many fantastic countries but I would honestly have to say this was my worst experience and I would never go back... This country wants your money but doesn't respect foreigners....

I’m Chinese, have been in Egypt once in 2017, had experienced nearly losing my passport and finally found in the airport, the taxi driver and police were working together to cheat me for some money for the passport I found by myself, unbelievable country……

Went to Egypt 30-ish years ago, took loads of photos.. Sad to see how badly it's gone downhill since..

I am Egyptian, and I used to live abroad. When I came to Egypt, I think that everything you said is completely true. Here in Egypt, there are many fraudsters, and there is also a lot of discrimination in it.

Every time there is a "what's the worst place to travel" question asked online, the answer is always Egypt. Like, overwhelmingly. Everybody hates going to Egypt. What a shame.

I agree with everything that you said. It's horrible. The worst I've experienced. Been to 30+ countries so far but never experienced anything like this Airport staff - don't let anyone touch, assist, or handle your luggage, they won't do it for free. Even lifting it to the xray scanner. When departing, the guard held my passport (like wtf who the hell are you to prevent me from leaving the country) because I couldn't show a ticket, I insisted to let me in, go with me to the check in counter and the ticket is there. Probably waiting for $ Hotel staff - same with airport, the guard just took my luggage, and brought me to my room, the first thing I wanted to do was relax after a long day, but he said "where's my money?" I just said oh I forgot, I'll give it later when I go down for dinner. Because my wallet is inside my bag and I don't want to open it in front of him. But minutes later he knocked on my door to follow up on the "tip". Gave him $1 and he shut up Sakkara Restaurant - they ask money for washroom, they offered me overpriced juice, which I took because I was thirsty, paid for it the exact amount, then the guy said "where's my tip?" Tourist spots - a lot has been written about this already, so yeah I witnessed all those greedy hustlers. During the camel ride, even if my tour guide already paid him since that was part of my package with him, this camel guy still asked for more. During the 30-min camel ride, instead of sharing stuff about the pyramid and all, he just kept on reminding "Oh I made you happy today, I hope you make me happy too later, maybe a $20 tip is good" In the end I just gave him $10 which I later realized was still high I've met nice people like my hired driver, tour guide especially the food deliver riders (Talabat), but most of the people I encountered were rude and greedy. Still, I do not regret seeing the pyramids and learning a bit about the history during my short visit, but like most people I do not want to return, not unless I hear drastic improvements with the system, which I doubt will happen in this lifetime

well brother .. i understand that it wasn't a pleasant trip for you & we sorry to hear .. but i remember i went to Egypt many times from the 90s until 2019 and it was not like that in airport or hotel .. no body told me don't shoot photos or toke my cam , lap top or battery .. i was directly entered ( they took my zippo lighter though when i was leaving ) no idea why they acted like that with you last year that's something new .. the only thing i hated in Egypt is the scammers not the freedom .. however the freedom in USA has its negatives too .. people are misusing the freedom because its free there's no consequences for it .. people protesting in the street , freely buying guns from public shops , smuggling drugs to the country , disrespecting holy beliefs , arguing with the police even he is doing his job , ungrateful attitude as you admitted 12:29 & walking around videoing strangers against their well .. i wouldn't want some creep taking photos of me , my wife or daughter without my permission just because its " freedom or lawful " .. i prefer banning cams in public & strict rules in that case .. your freedom & fun could be other peoples nightmare & go against their freedom

THIS IS WHAT EXACTLY HAPPEND TO ME! Me and my friends went to Egypt in 2020 and it was a complete HELL!!! From constantly getting scammed, to getting searched for 8 HOURS!! I am happy that i saw the beautiful history but never in my life am i going tot Egypt ever again.