I suspect it’s likely that this thread will sink like a stone, but I have received a few messages from folks requesting I post about my trip and who am I to decline an opportunity to talk about myself? 
Anyway, I spent 10 or so days in Egypt at the end of July and, all in all, it was pretty awesome. We spent a few nights in Cairo (well, Giza), then flew off to Luxor for a Nile cruise. The cruise was supposed to have 150+ people on it. . . but sailed off with 22, dropping down as low as 12 as people ended their cruise at various ports along the journey. We were a group of 4, for reference.
One notable thing is that tourism is way down. In fact, way doesn’t even accurately describe how deserted the whole place is. We never waited in line to do anything, in fact when we went to Memphis and Saqqara, we were literally the only people there. At the pyramids, there were 5 other tourists.
The biggest question I get asked: given the current situation there, were we scared?
The answer? I’ll spoiler box it for length: [spoiler] Before we left, absolutely. I don’t think I’ve ever so obsessively watched the news, refreshed Twitter (#Egypt, naturally), and Googled blogs. I read everything, talked to anyone I could, and ultimately we decided to give the trip a shot because the massive protests were relatively contained and it didn’t appear that anyone was targeting tourists. Was there a definite anti-American air about everything? Sure, but it seemed contained to our government and not us (not that I’m foolish enough to think an angry mob would make that distinction or anything).
Once there, though, I never really felt unsafe. We were smart: we didn’t go out in Cairo without a guide. In fact, apparently the US State Department requires body guards to go with American tourists when they’re doing high way travel there? So, we were fine. Other than anti-Obama graffiti and stuff, I never experienced even a moment of anti-Americanism (ya know, toward us, I mean). In fact, several vendors quite literally thanked God that we were there-- one shouting, “Americans! AMERICANS! It has been so long since we have seen Americans! Please! Please go back to your country and tell people how beautiful my country is!”
Were there protests? Absolutely. On our second day in Giza, when driving back from the pyramids to our hotel (Mena House), we saw a bunch of people starting to gather in the middle of the street with what I assume were pro-Morsi signs. That night, I went to bed early but was woken up at about 9 PM by explosions (which turned out to be fireworks). I sat out on our balcony and could hear VERY loud chanting and shouting not too far from the hotel. I later found out that a security guard at a nearby hotel started threatening the protesters, so they took his gun and then stabbed him :eek:. That said, our hotel had like, 4 levels of very serious security, so we never felt unsafe. Plus, I didn’t find out about that until after. 
It was definitely super surreal watching the protests on Al Jazeera. . . that were happening like, within a mile of me.
Oh, we did go to the Egyptian museum one day in Cairo, which is like, right next to Tahrir Square. We drove by the US Embassy, which was closed and completely covered in. . . well, I don’t read Arabic, but I’m going to assume that was not happy graffiti. Lots of Obama looking like Bin Laden and nooses and such. Anyway, the driver dropped us at the end of the street and the first thing we see is this– the old headquarters of the Mubarak government, completely burned out. Then, we all froze. Why? Because this was in front of us-- the entire street was completely lined with tanks. Now, apparently, this is to protect the museum from any rioters, but it’s still a bit unnerving. That said, all of the soldiers were quietly reading the Qur’an-- some waved, some said, “Welcome to Egypt” with a smile, and some even had flowers wrapped inside of their guns. Kind of cool, actually. [/spoiler]
Oh! I tooka bunch of pictures– in fact, while I’m far from any type of real photographer, I did buy a fancy new lens for my camera before I went, so I think my pictures came out not terribly badly, if I may say so myself. Apologies if I look crazy pants in some of the pictures, but it was really goddamned hot.
Alright, this is getting too long. I’m happy to answer any questions I can, since I know a lot of people are curious about this whole thing.
). This was extremely disconcerting to the staff on the ship and I mean, I get it: it’s their job to make sure the tourists are safe. But I was fine, I was happy, I felt safe, and I always had my cell phone on me (which the ship people all had). Still, I felt like I couldn’t stay out too late or leave too often without everyone being worried about me. Just. . .not my style. While I had a lot of fun, I feel like I would have had way more fun and had some awesome experiences if I was staying at a hotel.
