|
Holidaying from Egypt
Egypt has a stunning range of sights and sounds to explore
during the weekend and a lot of places are within driving
distance too. Some places are further afield and may need a
long weekend or short school break to spend quality time
exploring. However for longer school breaks of which there are
plenty at Christmas, Easter and summer, not to mention half
term breaks too, Egypt represents an excellent stepping stone
for travel beyond the country borders. Great examples include
Jordan (a great favourite of mine and well worth a trip),
Cyprus, Turkey, Greece and Croatia. Not to mention the Gulf
region of the Middle East to places like the United Arab
Emirates and Oman, or countries like Kenya (when the political
situation has stabilised) or similar for African safaris. Many
new expatriates tend to head back home for their holidays; I
say while you are over here why deny yourself a perfect
opportunity to see places to where you would not normally
consider? Time flies by when you are working overseas and you
will soon get an opportunity to visit family and friends during
your first summer.
Find out more about Egypt itself from your home country. You
can visit an Egyptian tourist office that tends to be well
stocked with brochures, free maps and booklets and fairly
helpful staff:
- Australia 02 6273 4260 – Press & Information
Bureau of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Canberra
- Canada 514 861 4420 – Egyptian Tourist Authority in
Quebec
- UK 020 7493 5283 – Egyptian Tourist Authority in
London
- USA 212 332 2570 – Egyptian Tourist Authority in
New York
Consulates
Most embassies and consulates are open from around 8am to
around 3pm Sunday to Thursday. The addresses of some of the
foreign embassies and consulates in Egypt are listed below:
- Australia: 02 575 0444 / World Trade Centre, 11th floor,
1191 Corniche el-Nil, Cairo
- Canada: 02 794 3110 / 5 Al-Saraya al-Kubra, Garden City,
Cairo
- Ireland: 02 735 8264 / 7th floor, 3 Abu al-Feda, Zamalek,
Cairo (Consulate in Alexandria 03 485 2672 / 9 Rue al-
Fawatem, Azarita)
- New Zealand: 02 575 5326 / 4th floor, 2 Talaat Harb,
Cairo
- UK: 02 794 0850 / 7 Ahmed Ragheb, Garden City, Cairo
(Consulate in Alexandria 03 546 7001 / 3 Sharia Mena,
Rushdy)
- USA: 02 795 7371 / 5 Sharia Latin America, Garden City,
Cairo (Consulate in Alexandria 03 486 1009 / 3 Sharia
Pharaana
Teachanywhere top tip – your own
embassy
It is important to realise what your own embassy, the
embassy of the country of which you are a citizen, can and
can't do to help you if you get into trouble. Generally
speaking, it won't be much help in emergencies if the trouble
you're in is remotely your own fault. Remember that you are
bound by the laws of the country you are in. Your embassy
will not be sympathetic if you end up in jail after
committing a crime locally, even if such actions are legal in
your own country. In genuine emergencies you might get some
assistance, but only if other channels have been exhausted.
For example, if you need to get home urgently, a free plane
ticket is exceedingly unlikely the embassy would expect you
to have insurance. If you have all your money and documents
stolen, it might assist with getting a new passport, but a
loan for onward travel is out of the question.
|