I have a couple of weeks off and found dirt cheap flights and am thinking about going to Egypt for 5 nights with my girlfriend. We could use Hilton points and stay "for free" at this hotel so that the whole trip would just cost us maybe about 200 dollars per person for a trip that is probably worth 1000 dollars per person. http://www.hiltonworldresorts.com/Resorts/full/SharmWaterfalls.html#jump Weather in Munich is currently totally crappy: http://de.weather.com/weather/local/GMXX1002 Weather in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt is great: http://de.weather.com/weather/local/EGXX0018 On the other hand, just half a year or so ago, another Hilton was blown up by terrorists in that area... http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-10-07-egypt-explosion_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA I called the hotel and they said they have special security measures in place and that the Hilton Taba thing was something between the Palestinians and the Israelis and that they are "the safest place on earth" at the resort. Question: Would you go or not?
That Globe Trekker Girl just made the trip. Check her out gor good spots. I dunno what channel that is, but she has a high definition channel so it shouldn't be hard to find.
I would say yes for sure, but then, I live in Tel Aviv Seriously, though, Sinai is where all the Israelis go on vacation. It's like Mexico is to Americans. Israelis go here specifically because they do feel safe, and appreciated as tourists as opposed to say Jordan or in Cairo proper. In Sharm El-Sheikh, I'm told, there are really super cheap places to stay and the costs are dirt cheap (and there is gambling). The locals in Sinai are Bedouin, and like the Bedouin generally anywhere in the Middle East, are apolitical and Western-friendly. They also are very liberal when it comes to the sale and consumption of a certain leafy substance that is not tobacco, so this should give you some idea of the local disposition. Egypt takes really good care of the whole Red Sea coastline as it draws in big tourist bucks for all the divers and tourists that come to get in the pretty blue water. I tried to go once a few years ago when i was visiting Israel, but one of my Israeli companions had an expired passport, so we were forced to stay on the Israeli side in Eilat, which has the same clear water, but is a much cheesier touristy experience (as well as being way more expensive). No one would have ever thought Taba would have been attacked, and I would feel pretty safe goig there now as Egypt is pretty keen to protect its image and friends tell me the resort in Taba has beefed up security. If you opt to go bungalow-style and save your money, you will also avoid the swarm of rich Western tourists and pretty much diminish any possibility of a terror threat (thatched huts on a beach make a pretty weak terror target). But I wouldn't worry. I would go now if I could afford it, and I would chose it over other regional alternatives: Aquaba, Turkey, Cypress, whatever. Oh yeah, and you are a day trip away from St. Catherine's. So if you want to go visit Mt. Sinai, that's close by too. Say hi to the big guy for me if you go.
Check that they carry the NBA playoffs... ..then get on that plane. If you wait for everlasting peace before going to the middle east, you'll be waiting a loooong looooong time.
I went a couple weeks ago and left the day before a bomb in Cairo exploded, but my vacation was awesome awesome awesome. Go.
Thanks for your votes and advice. Since I always listen to what the majority here has to say, flights and hotel are booked and we will be leaving in 8 hours. Hope everything will be ok and I will be able to watch game 3 and 4.
Well, thanks for your concern, guys... http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05123/498025.stm German travel companies suspend trips to Cairo following violence Similar warning issued in Poland Tuesday, May 03, 2005 By The Associated Press BERLIN -- Germany's main tour operators said yesterday they had temporarily suspended day trips to Cairo in the wake of recent violence against foreigners. Rewe, TUI and Thomas Cook said they were taking the precaution after two veiled women opened fire on a tour bus Saturday in the Egyptian capital and then shot themselves, while earlier that day a suspect in an April 7 attack died when the bomb he was carrying went off during a police chase. In the April 7 attack, a man detonated a homemade bomb near the Khan al-Khalili market, killing two French citizens and an American while injuring 18 others. Rewe was suspending day trips to Cairo for its Egypt vacationers through Saturday, while Thomas Cook was doing so through Sunday. TUI canceled day trips to the capital until Tuesday. Egypt is an increasingly popular destination for Germans, with some 693,000 visiting the country in 2003 and more than 1 million in 2004. But vacationers should not expect the action to be expanded to allow all trips to Egypt to be changed or canceled without a fee, said Sibylle Zeuch, spokeswoman for the German Travel Agency Association. She noted that the German Foreign Ministry had only cautioned tourists in Egypt, but had not issued a formal travel warning. Poland's Foreign Ministry also issued a travel warning yesterday, telling Polish citizens traveling to Egypt to be cautious and remain with tour groups while in the Arab country. "As a result of the terrorist attacks in Egypt, which are aimed at foreign tourists, the Polish Foreign Ministry advises Polish citizens who are traveling to this country to be especially careful," ministry spokesman Aleksander Checko said in a statement. Egyptian Tourism Ministry spokeswoman Hala al-Khatib said the German tour company cancellations were a "normal reaction" to the violence, and emphasized they were only short term. "Everybody has seen how security is tight everywhere ... but of course the suspension is temporary," al-Khatib said. ----------- http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2005/05/03/2003252968 Attack on tourists in Egypt attributed to `martyrs' AP AND NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE , CAIRO Tuesday, May 03, 2005,Page 6 Advertising Egyptian authorities swept through villages on the outskirts of Cairo on Sunday, detaining more than 200 people after attacks on Saturday that left seven people wounded and three attackers dead. Yassin, who was a suspect in a deadly bombing on April 7 at Cairo's main bazaar, had been spotted by security officers and chased into a central tourist area Saturday afternoon. He then leaped from a bridge behind the popular Egyptian Museum and blew himself up, wounding three Egyptians, an Israeli couple, a Swedish man and an Italian woman. Two hours later, two veiled women, later identified as Yassin and Khamis, attacked a bus packed with Israeli tourists near Cairo's Citadel, firing several shots at the bus but not hitting anyone. Yassin then shot and killed Khamis and herself,ending what was believed to be the first instance of a terrorist attack by a woman in Egypt. Egyptian officials sought to allay fears that the violence was part of a new wave of terrorism aimed at the country's tourism industry. In the mid-1990s, a wave of attacks against tourists by militant Islamic groups resulted in a harsh crackdown throughout the country. In 1997, militants opened fire on tourists in Luxor, killing 58 foreigners and four Egyptians. Unlike those attacks, officials said, the latest incidents were committed by a small militant cell of only eight people, seven of whom have either been captured or are dead. Two suspects in the April 7 bombing, Asharaf Saeed Youssif and Gamal Ahmed Abdul Aal, were detained Saturday, and officers were closing in on Yassin before he fled and detonated his bomb. Two militant groups, the Mujahedeen of Egypt and the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, claimed responsibility in the attacks on Saturday, but it was unclear whether the attackers had any links to the groups. Some analysts say the incident reflects a growing trend away from attacks by large and politically-oriented groups. "Before, we had political organizations that had a military arm. Now we seem to have groups of just martyrs" without a clear agenda, said Abdel Monem Said, director of the Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. "This is a new kind of terrorism by small groups, committed in a primitive way." While the attacks may threaten Egypt's tourist season, they also might have a notable effect on the opposition's campaign to lift the country's state of emergency laws, Said said. "There has been pressure to lift emergency laws, which were meant to fight terrorism, but now there is terrorism again," he said. -------------- I made it back safely. Sunburn, tan and moskito bites, but no bombs for me, thank you very much .
Egypt is one of the top 2 places I want to visit in the world, but there isn't enough money to make me visit that country with the religious and political nutcases running around there now. "Hey, I saw the Pyramids and also watched a family of four get blown to bits!" or "Damn, I had great fun, and all I lost was 1 leg!"
wow if we all used your mentality, everyone would stay at home india "Taj mahal was awesome, but those hindu muslim riots sure sucked" America "ooh mount rushmore was awesome, but getting SARS would suck ass" Africa "aww look at that nice little elephant, and damn look at that tiger eating the humans head off" etc etc etc you can look at all the negatives, which usually are blown out of proportion by the media anyways, or enjoy the good...
Of course, the count is 16-8 that you SHOULD go, so apparently the majority of clutchfans posters don't care if you die...
And when those African Tigers actually start hunting down foreign tourists in the marketplaces then I'd stay away from there also.
Hmm... other than the obvious errors in your examples, no, I don't plan to visit areas in the Middle East anytime soon. Parts of Africa perhaps, but sorry... too much crap happening in the Middle East. I'll take my chances with SARS in America or Tigers in the African wilds... The point is terrorists try to hit foreigners or areas of population. Tigers don't usually go on rampages and attack cities, killing hundreds (of course I could be wrong) and well, I really didn't want to go to China when SARS was there, either. Regarding the "enjoy the good" comment - I can't do that easily when the "bad" is stopping me. If I can avoid it, I try to not put myself in danger. I know - I'm strange that way.
