13Feb2009
AK-47’s, Policemen and Traveler Safety
You know about the terrorist attacks against tourists in Egypt? They pretty much devastated the tourism industry in Egypt. I didn’t think the attacks in the distant past would affect my travels in Egypt at all…
But I was wrong. Traveling between towns in Egypt was like stepping into a cold war spy movie. The roads are blocked with many many checkpoints. At each checkpoint there are a number of policemen with AK-47’s checking the bus. I don’t even remember how many times we had to stop on the 160 miles trip from Hurghada to Luxor. And you are required to have a police escort when driving from town to town. Usually tourists are escorted in a caravan of buses, having one police car leading and another trailing the caravan. If you rent a car on your own, you’re supposed to join such a caravan to drive from a city to another.
The police state feeling continues in the towns. The (heavily) armed tourism police are everywhere: standing on street corners, sitting by the attraction entrances, guarding at the beaches, etc. All hotels have metal detectors at their front door and a number of surveillance cameras.
I don’t feel comfortable seeing so many automatic guns around me. I understand the Egyptian ministry of tourism wants to make travelers feel safe but being stopped multiple times by armed men at shabby road blocks / checkpoints doesn’t quite do the trick for me…
Despite the “protection”, I think the biggest risks for a traveler in Egypt nowadays is to forget to drink enough water on a hot day or having slow feet when crossing a busy street! 
It is definitely worthwhile to visit other towns on your trip, as they are quite different. See for example the tips about Luxor.
You know about the terrorist attacks against tourists in Egypt? They pretty much devastated the tourism industry in Egypt. I didn’t think the attacks in the distant past would affect my travels in Egypt at all…
But I was wrong. Traveling between towns in Egypt was like stepping into a cold war spy movie. The roads are blocked with many many checkpoints. At each checkpoint there are a number of policemen with AK-47’s checking the bus. I don’t even remember how many times we had to stop on the 160 miles trip from Hurghada to Luxor. And you are required to have a police escort when driving from town to town. Usually tourists are escorted in a caravan of buses, having one police car leading and another trailing the caravan. If you rent a car on your own, you’re supposed to join such a caravan to drive from a city to another.
The police state feeling continues in the towns. The (heavily) armed tourism police are everywhere: standing on street corners, sitting by the attraction entrances, guarding at the beaches, etc. All hotels have metal detectors at their front door and a number of surveillance cameras.
I don’t feel comfortable seeing so many automatic guns around me. I understand the Egyptian ministry of tourism wants to make travelers feel safe but being stopped multiple times by armed men at shabby road blocks / checkpoints doesn’t quite do the trick for me…
Despite the “protection”, I think the biggest risks for a traveler in Egypt nowadays is to forget to drink enough water on a hot day or having slow feet when crossing a busy street! It is definitely worthwhile to visit other towns on your trip, as they are quite different. See for example the tips about Luxor.
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