August 6, 2025 • 38 mins
You've booked a holiday to Egypt, but the Grand Egyptian Museum's (GEM) opening has been postponed...again! "All is not lost!" says podcast host and Egypt aficionado Belle Jackson, who is just back from Cairo.
Belle shares her top three things to do in Cairo, including the best Egyptian museums and neighbourhoods, essential experiences and answers the age-old question, is Cairo safe right now? For more of Belle's travels, see https://www.instagram.com/global_salsa
And we have a winner of our tropical Thai holiday giveaway of four nights at Avani+ Khao Lak! Thanks to Avani Hotels & Resorts, who generously offered this prize to our listeners to celebrate our 100th episode!
And finally, our tip this week is how to avoid the rainiest places in the world (unless you love a downpour!), and we cover off the craziest things people have left in Ubers.
Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
Welcome to The World Away.
Travel tales to inspire yourwanderlust.
Welcome back to The WorldAwakes.
We hope you've enjoyed ourwinter series where we replayed
some of our best episodes afterthe last six months.
So the reason we do that is sothat we can focus on our own
travel and also bring you backinsights into the places that we
(00:25):
go around the world.
We are walking the talk, people.
And it means we can package upalso some of the best episodes
for you in the winter series,and we do that for the summer
series too.
And don't forget that you canalso always go back and take a
listen to all the other sort ofinspiring and travel interviews
and pluck out the places thatyou want to hear more from,
(00:46):
because there are now 106episodes for you to listen to.
Yeah, amazing.
SPEAKER_01 (00:53):
Yeah, so good.
So as Kirstie, you've justmentioned, we've both been back
on the road.
So Buckle up, because I'm goingto give you an update on Cairo,
where I'm just back from.
But first, I mean, tell us alittle bit about your travels
over the last four weeks,Kirsty.
SPEAKER_00 (01:11):
Yeah, so I went to Siem Reap, where we stayed at
this stunning property called SCCity Angkor Bayavani, which is
about a 10-minute drive fromAngkor Wat, which is just...
I mean, to be that close andstay in this just gorgeous,
luxurious property and be soclose is just...
you know, I was so privileged tobe there.
(01:32):
And then we went to Korong,which is to an all-inclusive
private island resort calledSongsa.
So this is a gorgeous littleprivate island off the coast of
the mainland of Cambodia.
And it was an island, it'sactually an island off an
island.
And this tiny little island wasactually completely covered in
(01:52):
rubbish 20 years ago.
And a woman, an Australiancalled Melita Kulmandis actually
bought the island for€15,000 Andshe's transformed it into
Cambodia's first dedicatedmarine reserve.
And it is like you literally,when you're there, you feel like
you are the only person.
It feels like your privateisland.
It is just remarkable.
So we will talk about that lateron.
SPEAKER_01 (02:14):
I love that story.
It's such a great story.
And you're going to tell us somemore about those places in more
detail in upcoming episodes.
So stay tuned.
But first...
We have some super excitingnews.
We have a winner for our Thaigiveaway, our Thai holiday
giveaway.
So just...
(02:35):
We're so excited.
Just to recap, celebrating our100th episode.
Yes.
And to help us celebrate, AvaniHotels and Resorts generously
gave us a tropical holiday inThailand to give away to one of
our lucky listeners.
Four nights at Avani Plus KhaoLak.
There were transfers from PhuketAirport, breakfast and dinner,
(02:57):
and a Muay Thai boxing class aswell, which just shows, you
know, when in Rome and all ofthat sort of thing.
SPEAKER_00 (03:05):
Yeah, absolutely.
God, I'd love to do that.
And if you are listening onplayback and you're not
listening, you know, as we'regoing to air this week, then
there will obviously be othergiveaways at a later date too.
So make sure that you follow uson Instagram at the World Awakes
podcast.
And we'll also put a link in theshow notes because then you can
make sure that you can, youknow, enter other competitions.
(03:27):
So keep listening to the end ofthis episode to find out who won
that fantastic tropical holiday.
SPEAKER_01 (03:33):
Right.
So, Back into it, kicking off,we have a list of things
Australians are leaving in theback of Ubers on their travels
and at home.
And if you ever felt bad forleaving behind a bag, a
backpack, headphones or a phone,don't because a whopping 5,485
Androids and more than 3,000iPhones have been left in Ubers
(03:57):
in the past 12 months.
SPEAKER_00 (04:00):
The stats also show that Sydney is the most
forgetful city in Australia,followed closely by Melbourne,
or at least those who were inSydney or Melbourne at that
time.
And we're also most forgetful onSaturdays.
I wonder if it's becausealcohol's involved.
But some of the most unusualthings to be left behind
included a Steve Irwin toy andan esky full of crabs and, get
(04:28):
this, a sword.
And$1,200, I don't know how theyknow this amount, but obviously
had it written on the front, but$1,200 worth of meat and a
raffle winning and a vibrator.
They were among the things thatall of them found.
SPEAKER_01 (04:46):
Oh my God, I love that.
Other unforgettable forgottenitems include the keys to
somebody's Lamborghini.
Impressive.
Hair extensions, which is alittle bit eerie.
A kung fu belt and a clown hadmisplaced their nose.
There was also a cooked chicken,a bachelor's handbag.
A bottom denture, which is goingto make eating the cooked
(05:08):
chicken kind of tricky.
A massage table.
How do you get a massage tablebehind?
They're huge.
A cat scratching post and anelectric donut maker.
So I don't know who's carryingaround an electric donut maker,
but...
I need to know, Kirsty, have youever left anything in an Uber?
SPEAKER_00 (05:29):
Look, I don't actually, I don't have no fun
stories about this.
But my hubby did actually leavehis phone behind.
once, which I've hit him upabout all the time because he
never leaves anything behind.
He knows where everything is.
He even knows where everythingof mine is.
So it was really funny when hedid do that.
Well, not funny, haha, but notfor him at the time.
But we didn't see it again.
(05:50):
So when saying that, it wasyears and years ago and it was
sort of quite early in the Uberdays and I can't remember him
trying very hard to get it back.
SPEAKER_01 (05:59):
Oh, my God.
You guys are like not human, areyou?
Because I cannot believe thatyou've never lost anything.
I mean, I am appalling even now.
But my family is like just inshock constantly.
I did leave my phone in an Uberone night.
It had fallen out of my bag.
And this is where I lose a lotof things like this.
Things fall out of your bag.
You don't see it on the floor indim light when you're getting
(06:22):
out.
You know, you've got a blackphone and a black car interior.
I find that really tricky.
I was jumping out of SouthernCross Station.
Amazingly, the driver came backto where he dropped me and
returned it, which was justphenomenal.
I could actually get it back.
But the same thing happened.
happened to me on a flight.
I was going to KL airport andthe next passenger found it.
(06:44):
Again, black phone, black seats.
The guy jumped in and realizedthat it was, you know, sitting
on my phone.
Found it, contacted me, and thenhe never sent it on to me.
This thing was...
I knew who he was.
He was a pilot for a low-costcarrier.
And I stalked him.
Please return my phone.
Please return.
And he just never bothered tosend it back to me.
(07:04):
He said, oh, yeah, totally.
I'll send it back to you or I'llbe flying into Melbourne and
I'll drop it off.
Never dropped it back, themongrel.
But, I mean, actually, if youdo, I think that things have
changed a bit now.
If you do leave somethingbehind, you can call the driver
directly because you've gottheir number.
Otherwise, you can roll the diceand go to Uber's help page and
you tap the activities Selectthe trip and scroll to find lost
(07:27):
item.
Then you can reach the driverthere as well.
Of course, this doesn't actuallywork if you don't have your
phone.
SPEAKER_00 (07:34):
Yes, yes.
And you actually reminded me ofone story, but it's not on an
Uber, but when you were talkingabout on the plane.
So I actually, at the airport, Iactually was on a plane and I
had my ear pods and And theplane was a really bumpy ride
and they flew out of my handbagand they went flying up the
(07:59):
plane ride.
And so I tapped the person infront of me and said, oh, have
you got my AirPods?
Can you see if they're there?
And she was like, no, but I sawa lady up the front, further up,
pick them up.
So I sort of had this trail oftrying to find where they were.
And then at the end, I said tothe woman, can you just tap that
other lady and ask So we hadthis kind of recession of people
(08:22):
tapping people saying, hey,you've got her AirPods.
And this lady's like, no, Idon't.
These are mine.
And she claimed they were hers.
So what I did is I took my phoneup to her and I said, can you
just open them?
And I'll just hold my phone out.
And she opened them and it said,Kirstie's iPod, Kirstie's
AirPods.
So she got busted.
So she had to give them back tome in front of everyone.
(08:44):
And it was rather embarrassingfor her.
But there you go.
So it was that story.
But back to the Ubers.
And moral of the story is ifyou're in Sydney on a Saturday,
double and triple check beforeyou get out of an Uber.
SPEAKER_01 (08:58):
And don't nick Kirsty's earbuds.
SPEAKER_00 (09:12):
This week, I'm interviewing Belle about her
recent trip to Cairo.
Belle's a frequent traveller tothis North African nation
because she's actually marriedto an Egyptian, anyone that
didn't know.
And she always finds a way toexperience something new.
So this trip wasn't anydifferent.
And so kick off, Belle, bytelling us the best way to get
(09:32):
there.
SPEAKER_01 (09:34):
You know, I'm just going to make one point.
I met my husband after I movedto Cairo.
I didn't I didn't go to Cairobecause of him.
I was living in Cairo, learningArabic and working as a
journalist.
And then I met him.
So everyone thinks, oh, you justtook it on because you took on
your husband.
No, no.
All right.
A love affair started with thecountry, not the man.
(09:56):
But look, yeah, so what it doesmean is that I've got family
back there.
So we go back every year andspend varying amounts of time.
Normally, we will fly throughone of the Middle Eastern hubs.
So whoever's got the best pricebetween Qatar, Emirates and
Etihad, and then jumping on fromthere.
But this time, this year, wewere booking late.
We were booking in schoolholidays.
(10:18):
So we had to get a bit creativebecause the cost of the airfares
were absolutely punishing, ofcourse.
So we flew up to KL, up to KualaLumpur with AirAsia.
Then we picked up an Emiratesflight that went up to Dubai and
Cairo and I mean, really,because the point of this is
that the leg, as you get out ofAustralia, that Australian leg
is always phenomenallyexpensive.
(10:40):
Once you're out of Australia,the fares drop.
I mean, the Emirates flight fromDubai and on to Cairo is, you
know, is through the floor.
So it was a little bit of aschlep, but it saved us about
$1,000 on each ticket.
So that is generally how, Imean, best possible scenario is
just flying Melbourne to Dubai,Dubai to Cairo.
Yeah.
(11:00):
Yeah, that's the best way ofdoing
SPEAKER_00 (11:03):
it.
So it's one of the world'slargest cities.
So tell us a bit about, I mean,does it feel that way when
you're there?
Does it feel like really bustlyand busy?
It
SPEAKER_01 (11:11):
is.
Look, Cairo is big.
It is actually mind-blowinglybig.
And I love this stat and Ialways share it.
So Cairo, Australia's entirepopulation is the same size
population.
as Cairo's population, about 26million, which makes Cairo about
(11:31):
the third or fourth largest,sorry, the fourth or fifth
largest city in the world behindTokyo, Delhi and Shanghai.
So what that means is thetraffic is awful, like
notoriously awful.
And as a result, Egyptians areterrible timekeepers.
You'd hate this, Kirsty, but younever know what it's going to be
like.
(11:52):
But it is terrible.
It is vast.
It can easily take a couple ofhours to cross the city.
I've been in traffic jams at oneand two o'clock in the morning.
I have to say we were back insummer and in summer the city
actually empties out becauseit's It's hot.
So everybody nicks off to eitherthe Mediterranean or the Red
(12:12):
Sea.
So one of the benefits of beingthere in summer is that you've
actually got much lesscongestion.
But on an everyday working day,you really feel the size of that
city.
And it ranges from, you know,you've got the pyramids at one
side of it.
You've got medieval Cairo in themiddle.
And then you've got...
(12:34):
New Cairo, which is, you know,because Cairo is a lot like
Delhi in that you have differentlevels, different tiers of
wealth from, you know, extremepoverty to extreme wealth.
So, you know, you do have thosebeautiful new parts of the city
that are being built that Ipersonally actually don't like
(12:54):
spending a lot of time atbecause it's kind of like going
to a shopping mall in Australia.
So just more dancing fountainsand...
And that sort of thing.
But yeah, so it does have all ofthose different layers.
It does have a very upmarketmodern section as well as those
fabulous historical sections.
SPEAKER_00 (13:12):
And besides, you know, obviously sort of having
that juxtaposition and goingamazing experience of seeing
that really extreme variation.
Yeah.
What are some of the otherthings or what are the things as
sort of as an insider, what aresome of the things that you
just, if I was going to gothere, that you would be like,
okay, these are like threethings that you absolutely have
(13:34):
to do?
SPEAKER_01 (13:34):
Three things.
Oh, gosh.
If you're going in summer, youhave to drink all the mango
juice because I am obsessed withfresh mango juice.
That is the essential.
Whatever you do, you've got todrink mango juice while you're
doing it because the mangoes arephenomenal in Egypt, not like
anywhere else in the world.
Right.
Okay.
So fueled up on mango juice.
(13:56):
I mean, the reason why everybodygoes to Cairo is, of course, for
the pyramids, the Great Pyramidsof Giza.
Giza was a separate city andit's now just turning into this
big, gigantic mush of Cairo.
So they sit on the outskirts ofthe city, which is kind of weird
because in the time that I'vebeen traveling there over the
last sort of nearly two decades,you're finding that the city is
(14:20):
encroaching and almostencircling parts of the
pyramids.
So like those new developmentsthat I've mentioned, they'll
have names like pyramids view,you know, like a building estate
or something like that, which islike, yeah, right.
You can go and have a look atthe pyramids out in your
backyard, you know, which isphenomenal.
SPEAKER_00 (14:41):
And do they literally have views of the
pyramids, obviously?
There
SPEAKER_01 (14:45):
are places that look onto the pyramids, like there's
residential areas that look ontothe pyramids.
The older ones around one sidethat are Traditionally, we're
quite a slum area, and that'swhere you'd go to rent your
camels and carriages and horsesas well, because one of the
great things to do is toactually hire a horse and ride
(15:07):
around the pyramids.
And we used to do it at night.
It is not safe.
Can I say, don't gallop throughthe desert at night around the
pyramids because when you do itin daytime, you think, oh my
goodness, I could have killedmyself.
But it is an exhilarating thingto do is to ride around the
pyramids.
That side of it, people are fromsome of the lowest socioeconomic
stratas of Kyrian life and theylook at the pyramids.
(15:31):
Phenomenal.
That is being bulldozed andbeing built out now and you're
seeing a lot more development inthat in that area.
So your three things to go tothe pyramids, to go to Cairo, I
would say pyramids.
I would put Shara el-Waz, whichis medieval Cairo, and I'll come
back to the little later on.
And then the museums, becausethe museums are intrinsically
(15:54):
connected to how you understandand interpret the country.
SPEAKER_00 (15:58):
Amazing.
And so on those museums, let'sjust talk about them.
So the Grand Egyptian Museum,Well, Gem, everyone, I mean,
we've been hearing about thisfor so, so, so long and about
how, you know, when it's goingto be opening and what's going
on in there and what's in there,really.
So what's happening with that?
SPEAKER_01 (16:20):
Well, yes.
I mean, look, 20 years it's beengoing on from the time they
started building planning thesite for the Grand Egyptian
Museum.
So many things have happenedthat it's been delayed.
You know, they've run out ofmoney.
They've had different countries,like Japan has sunk a lot of
money into it.
The first time I did a tour,like I've been there three times
now and the first two times theywere both hard hat sites.
(16:44):
So like, you know, you had toput a hard hat on before you
went in to explore it.
It officially was supposed toopen the first week I was in
Cairo and the fifth of the 5thof July and serendipitously I
thought fantastic I'm going tobe there during the opening and
then it got paused yet againlike there's been so many times
(17:06):
this has happened this time isbecause of course the ongoing
war in Gaza so You know, when itis officially going to be
opened, it's the world's largestcollection of Egyptian
artifacts.
And it is also the world'slargest archaeological museum.
(17:26):
So, of course, the Egyptiangovernment wanted to open it
with all of the pomp and glamourthat you would expect.
They wanted to be able to inviteheads of states from all over
the world because, you know, theancient Egyptian artifacts have
so many connections with thingslike the British Museum, which
has quite a significant holding,and then, of course, in New York
as well.
But who's going to go there atthe moment when there's bombing
(17:49):
happening in the country nextdoor?
So they postponed it until it isanother one of those casualties
of that war between Israel andPalestine.
So it's physically finished.
Everything is up and running.
I did go in and check out whatwas going on.
The two things that are notgoing to be shown and is not
going to happen until it'sofficially opened is the
(18:13):
artefacts of Tutankhamun, whichis, you know, his lavish coffin,
his death mask, his pure golddeath masks, his little finger
covers, you know, all of thephenomenal jewellery in that
cache when it was discovered 100years ago.
Yeah.
And the other thing is the solarboat of Chops, which used to
(18:34):
live beside the Sphinx.
So they haven't opened yet, butthe rest of the museum is all
open.
And it's just beautiful.
Like, it's honestly absolutelybeautiful.
If you have been to Egyptbefore, of course, everybody
always went to the GrandEgyptian Museum.
to the original Egyptian museum,which is a gorgeous old pink
(18:56):
building in the centre of Cairothat everybody's gone there.
What I did notice going back todo a recce for you, Kirsty, was,
oh my God, there's no airconstill.
So it is like phenomenally hotin that museum.
And also it has always had areal problem with being curated
(19:17):
because I've always said it'slike an iceberg, nine tenths of
what the museum, holds is downin the basement and hasn't been
brought out to show the light ofday for, you know, for a hundred
years.
And what is up is often verypoorly explained.
The Grand Egyptian Museum, thenew museum, is beautiful.
The explanation is gorgeous.
(19:37):
It's got loads of interactivestuff, which is great for
engaging kids in there as well.
It's a holy, modern, completelybeautiful building and it's a
delight.
But what it is part of, and thisis what makes it also so
significant, is it is part of apyramids precinct.
So it's only, as the crow flies,two kilometres from the
(20:01):
pyramids.
And eventually, and you can seeit being constructed, there will
be a walkway between the two.
And from what I'd heard fromsome of the architects years
ago, there was going to be anunderground, a subterranean
walkway and shopping malls andstuff, because who are you if
you don't like a shopping mall?
And I've got to say, Egyptiansdo love a good shop.
So eventually what you will haveis you'll have the pyramids,
(20:26):
which themselves are undergoingsignificant change that are
Grand Egyptian Museum, you'll beable to walk or ride between the
two of them.
And all of the services that arebeing built around it, and that
means things like new hotels arecropping up everywhere.
They're clearing out a lot ofthe slums.
(20:46):
Not necessarily a great thing.
It depends on who you ask.
Of course, the people who areliving in those slum areas
pretty much don't want to getcleared out of where they are.
But, you know, that has been oneof the problems that people have
always said, love seeing thepyramids.
hate being chased by the cameltouts because as the old
question goes it's free to geton a camel the question is how
(21:09):
much does it cost to get off soum yeah because nobody wants to
be sitting on the top of a cameland then having to haggle for
the price to get down again soum Yeah.
So when you go into the pyramidsthemselves now, what you will
notice is that there are newgates as well.
The horses and camels are stillthere, but they've been moved
(21:29):
away into another area.
And they're really cracking downon that sort of, you know, that
touting for trade as well.
There are two main newrestaurants.
Well, Nine Pyramids has beenthere for a couple of years.
And the first time I went there,I think about two years ago.
It's low slung.
It's around to the back of thepyramids in an area that you
(21:51):
pretty much wouldn't go tonormally.
What it does have is a view ofthe nine pyramids at the
Pyramids of Giza because you'vegot the three big ones.
You've got the queens.
You've got in total there arenine there, and that's why it's
got that name.
Really beautiful place to go.
In the summer, you would go inthere for breakfast and just
watch the land grow and thechanging color as the sun really
(22:16):
takes off over the pyramids.
And it's an absolutely beautifulplace to sit and eat.
And the other is called Khufu,named after the greatest, the
largest of the pyramids.
And I've eaten lunch therebefore.
I would recommend eatingbreakfast there.
Phenomenal.
Like you are sitting there infront of the Grand Pyramid.
(22:37):
And yes, a lot of tourists go.
Also, a lot of Egyptians go aswell.
You do still need to buy yourticket into the Pyramids
complex.
And then you can jump on ane-bus like this.
Now they're trying to make it agreener possibility.
So they've got electric busesthat run in a new hop-on,
(22:57):
hop-off circuit that goesaround.
So you've got the Sphinx to thedifferent of the pyramid And
yeah, so that's really changinghow we are interacting with the
pyramids as well in preservingit, but also giving a better
experience for travellers.
SPEAKER_00 (23:18):
Okay, so Belle, let's just clarify, what are
your top three things to do inCairo?
SPEAKER_01 (23:25):
Yeah, look, okay, I did want to add a couple of
things to my top three.
So it's not really a top three,but, you know, stay with me,
especially regarding the museumsyou can visit in Cairo because
they're so important.
So we've already covered off theGrand Egyptian Museum and the
original Egyptian Museum, butthe other significant new
opening or newish opening is therather clumsily named National
(23:46):
Museum of Egyptian Civilization.
So if you are looking for thegolden mummies, this is where
you're going to find them.
It's a new build that opened in2022 near the Citadel.
And here you'll find the 20mummies, including Ramses II.
This is the guy that built thecolossi or the giant statues of
himself at Abu Simbel, amongstother places.
(24:07):
And the first female pharaoh,Queen Hatshepsut.
So that is a phenomenal museum.
It's absolutely beautiful andwell worth a couple of hours in
there.
And it's not overwhelming aswell.
And the others on my top threethings to visit would include a
walk through Coptic Cairo.
And this is the birthplace ofChristian Christianity in Egypt,
which still has about a 15% ofthe population is Coptic
(24:29):
Christian.
So here you wander through thesetiny mazes and beneath a tiny,
tiny church is a place where theHoly Family is said to have
sheltered on their flight toEgypt.
So it's just an amazing littlemicrocosm in its own right and
absolutely densely packed.
It's a neighborhood denselypacked with churches and there's
(24:50):
a couple of museums and justthis...
Tiny little labyrinth.
It's really, Coptic Cairo isfabulous.
And the third thing that Imentioned earlier and didn't go
back to, which I put on my list,is an afternoon and an evening
walk in Chara El Moez or El MoezStreet, which is right beside
the Cano Calili market.
(25:11):
So El Moez is the mainthoroughfare of medieval Cairo.
So you're walking between thesethousand-year-old palaces and
hospitals, schools and mansions.
I would go in the afternoon.
as entrance to those mansionsand palaces closes at 4pm.
And then after that, I go up toone of the rooftop mango cafes
for a cold mango juice, becauseessential, and wait, because at
(25:35):
dusk, all those monuments areflooded with coloured lights for
one of the most beautifuldisplays in the city.
So a walk through here isabsolutely unmissable.
SPEAKER_00 (25:47):
Amazing.
And so just on a day-to-daybasis, when you're cruising
around, how are you, are youback to our old Uber friends?
Are you obviously not leavingyour mobile phones and Ubers,
but what are you doing?
Are you getting the Ubers aroundor how are you, what's the mode
of transport given?
I mean, obviously, I don't knowhow, if Uber would be a great
(26:10):
option given the traffic thatyou mentioned before.
SPEAKER_01 (26:13):
I know, yeah.
Well, look, there is a massivemetro scheme you'll see across
Cairo being built, whicheventually will link up with the
airport with key destinations.
There's also a metro stationright opposite the Grand
Egyptian Museum, and that isgoing to be phenomenal because
that's built.
You'll just see these metrotowers.
It's going to be a...
What do you call an above-groundmetro system?
(26:36):
And that is going to be linkingthe whole of Cairo up over the
next few years.
When that happens, it's going tobe great.
There is already a metro trainsystem that runs that is very
heavily used.
So, you know, you can use thatas a tourist.
I was using Ubers.
I don't use the taxis anymore.
They're really not that popular.
(26:58):
safe, I don't think.
I mean, I travel a lot of thetime I'm on my own, like I'm
solo when I do a lot of myexploring.
So I do use Uber in Cairo.
It's also got DD runs there aswell.
So what it means is you cansimply use your regular account.
So there's no mucking aroundwith foreign currency, you know,
using your credit card oranything like that.
(27:19):
You just pay through the applike you normally do at home.
It is phenomenally cheap.
So my trips across the city arewhich might be like 45 minutes
in across never more than a fewdollars and always tipping the
drivers, not in the app, butoutside the app.
So a cash tip is preferredbecause people are really doing
(27:41):
it tough in Cairo, in the wholeof Egypt at the moment.
SPEAKER_00 (27:47):
So lastly, tell us a bit about rating on Smart
Traveller and also, I mean, youknow, outside of Smart
Traveller, how safe it sort offeels to be, you know, to be, I
mean, obviously for you, it's abit of a different experience
because you have family thereand, you know, you know the area
really well.
But for people who are wantingto go right now, is it something
(28:11):
you would suggest and is it anoption?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (28:15):
Yeah, the rating for, the Smart Traveller rating
for Cairo and the Nile all theway down to Loxo, Aswan,
Abusunbel, so the main touristareas, is at level two, which is
excise level.
exercise a high degree ofcaution, which is the same as
France, can I point out?
It actually, the US just droppedtheir travel warnings against
(28:37):
Egypt again just recently aswell.
So there are some areas likeNorth Sinai, which is on the
border of Gaza and Israel, is ofcourse a total red zone, a no-go
zone.
But honestly, you know, it wouldbe rare that you would have
tourists going there anyway.
So you would stay well away fromthose areas.
Look, I had no dramas.
(28:58):
I mean, Egyptians are devastatedby what's happening in the
country next door.
You know, they've been takingPalestinian refugees since 1948.
So they are well aware of what'shappening there.
But Look, the thing that Egyptrelies on for its foreign
income, there's two things.
The first one is the Suez Canal.
(29:19):
Hello, Houthi rebels.
Can I say, you know, this issuch an important revenue raiser
for them.
It's the connector betweenEurope and Asia.
And I'm sure that there arelisteners who have cruised
through the Suez.
So that's not really doing awhole lot for it.
The second highest earner offoreign income in Egypt is
tourism.
And nothing kills tourism fasterthan war.
(29:41):
So it sounds, you know,ridiculous putting tourism and
war into the same sentence.
But tourism is what feeds one in10 Egyptians.
So yeah, it's not great for themat the moment.
And look, I have to say,Egyptians are very aware of
this.
You know, they appreciate thetourism industry.
They genuinely love tourists.
I was walking into Karnakalili,which is the fabulous medieval
(30:04):
souk, 700-year-old market.
It's like a labyrinth.
It's a warren.
I just love going in there anddrinking tea and just seeing
the, you know, the crazyNefertiti people.
heads and, you know, the littlebelly dancers outfits that you
can buy because, you know,there's always going to be some
guy that pulls out the racy,lacy red one and says, Madam,
(30:25):
you need to buy this.
And I'm like, I really, reallydon't.
Thank you, darling.
But yeah, so I was walking intoKana Khalili the other day and
this woman says, oh, welcome toEgypt, she said in Arabic.
Welcome to Egypt.
We missed you.
And I was like, oh, I miss youtoo.
And sometimes you just like youjust have a woman run up to you
(30:45):
and start kissing you on yourcheeks, especially after the
revolution when there was almostno tourists there and the
country was really suffering.
They would just come up and giveyou big smackers on the cheeks
and say, thank you for coming.
And you're just like, oh,gorgeous.
I mean, seriously, the pleasureis all mine.
So, you know, they've had hardtimes, but while it's you know,
(31:05):
while this war continues inIsrael, they're going to
continue having hard times.
But it's really lovely to reallyfeel so welcomed.
And I do feel safe when I'mtraveling there, even, you know,
before I understood it so muchas I did.
Yeah.
I think there is a genuineconcept of Arabian hospitality
that is still existent in Egypt.
SPEAKER_00 (31:25):
Amazing.
I love that story.
Thanks so much for yourinsights, Belle, into Cairo.
And you can see more on Belle'swebsite, which is
globalsalsa.com.
And we'll put a link to herwebsite and Instagram in the
show notes and also on ourwebsite, which is
theworldawaits.au.
If you'd like to help supportour production costs, you can
buy us a coffee at ko-fi.comslash theworldawakes.
(31:49):
That's ko-fi.com slashtheworldawakes so we can
continue to bring youinspirational travel interviews
with the world's best.
SPEAKER_01 (31:59):
And right now to the news you've all been waiting
for, our winner of the Thailandholiday is...
SPEAKER_00 (32:09):
Peter
SPEAKER_01 (32:10):
Hop...
SPEAKER_00 (32:11):
Thank you.
Yay, yay, yay, yay.
And thank you so much to AvaniHotels and Resorts who
generously gave us this tropicalholiday in Thailand to give
away.
How exciting.
What an amazing prize.
Peter wins four nights at Avaniplus Khao Lak with transfers
from Phuket Airport, breakfastand daily dinner and a Mai Tai
(32:31):
boxing class.
SPEAKER_01 (32:34):
Huge congratulations to Peter and a big thank you to
Avani Hotels and Resorts andalso Barking Owl Communications
who've made this fabulousgiveaway possible.
So we'll be contacting you,Peter, as this episode drops.
And for those who are listeningon playback, follow us on
Instagram for our greatgiveaways at the World Awaits
(32:54):
podcast.
UNKNOWN (32:58):
Music
SPEAKER_01 (33:07):
Our tip this week is for those who hate the rain.
So if you're wanting to avoid adrenching well on holiday at
this time of year, then staytuned because casino.org has
analysed 45 cities and giventhem a downpour score based on
the calculated rain odds basedon five different key climate
factors over a 10-year period.
(33:28):
So rainfall volume, they countedthe number of rainy days, the
humidity, the cloud cover andthe likelihood of thunderstorms.
SPEAKER_00 (33:35):
And for the many thousands of Australians who are
heading to Bali between now andthe end of August, when this
downpour score applies, yourchance of getting drenched is
one in five.
While in Siem Reap, it's 97%.
And because we just came backfrom that, I have to say, it did
rain.
But thankfully, like most placesin Southeast Asia, it does sort
(33:57):
of just only rain late in theafternoon.
And I don't mind that becauseit's so humid.
And then you just get a bit of adownpour and then you're back
into it.
And also, we When we were there,the boys went out in quad bikes
and we were cruising around somegorgeous little villages.
And look, not the best way totry and see it when you're
getting completely drenched, butthey absolutely loved it in the
(34:18):
rain.
Oh,
SPEAKER_01 (34:21):
that sounds too good.
Ho Chi Minh City experienced 65rainy days between June and
August, which was the most onthis list.
That is rain two out of everytwo or three days.
You were just there as well,weren't you, Kirsty?
SPEAKER_00 (34:34):
Yeah, I was and we also rained on.
So, yeah, we were only there fortwo days, but yep, got wet.
And again, but it was justreally late in the day and it
wasn't a huge downpour.
So, yeah, it wasn't too bad.
But how about Egypt, Belle?
What was it like when you werethere?
SPEAKER_01 (34:49):
Well, yeah, it is currently high summer in Egypt
and it is hot, hot, hot between35 and 40.
And then it was actually gettinghotter the week that we left, it
was going into a heat wave.
So above 40, but it's a really,really phenomenally dry heat.
It is the desert after all.
It gets even hotter in Augustand it's getting hotter every
(35:10):
year as well.
They tend to get their rain inwinter.
And even then though, it's a fewcentimetres.
So the only umbrella you willneed is a sun parasol.
But in comparison, some otherplaces that you'll get a
drenching are Mumbai with an 87%chance of a soaking and the
Maldives at this time of yearisn't much better at 86%.
(35:31):
Do you really need to worry ifyou are just spending your whole
time underwater?
Does it matter if it's raining?
SPEAKER_00 (35:36):
Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01 (35:37):
Asking for a friend.
Colombo, Phuket, Bangkok andOrlando are also pretty much
guarantees of needing a brawley.
SPEAKER_00 (35:46):
Yeah, and look, I'm surprised Auckland isn't on that
list because you basically needto get around in full wet
weather gear and gumboots atthis time of year.
I mean, seriously, it's justlike not even a short tropical
downpour because it's definitelynot tropical.
It's buckets down all day long.
So I would personally avoidAuckland in wintertime.
SPEAKER_01 (36:03):
Oh my goodness, I lived in Dublin years ago and I
was out hiking most weekends.
And can I say, if you didn't getrained on, it was a surprise.
But on the flip side, try Dubai,Los Angeles, Johannesburg and
Rome if you want to stay dry.
We were basically on theopposite ends of the spectrum
there, weren't we?
You are nearly 13 times lesslikely to get rained on in Dubai
(36:27):
than in Siem Reap.
So choosing your holidayswisely.
And Broome and the Gold Coastare amongst the driest locations
in the entire index and bothwithin Australia.
So in fact, you are more likelyto stay dry there than in Bali
or Fiji.
So there's a reason to holidayat home.
And we will put a link in theshow notes to the full list.
SPEAKER_00 (37:02):
Next week, I'm interviewing Michael Jensen and
Brent Hartinger, who've lived inmore than 30 countries and
travelled to more than 60.
They run travel blog Brent andMichael Are Going Places, which
has amassed an almost cult-likefollowing for those wanting to
know what life is like as a gaydigital nomad.
They chat highs and lows andgive some top tips for those who
(37:24):
want to live a life travellingthe world.
SPEAKER_01 (37:28):
And if you enjoyed this episode, please give us a
rating and a review on ApplePodcasts.
Click on our profiles, scrolldown to the bottom to ratings
and reviews.
And if you're listening onSpotify, go to our main page and
click the three dots underneathour photo or simply drop us a
line at hello attheworldawaits.au.
We love nothing more thanhearing from our listeners.
(37:50):
That's a wrap for The WorldAwaits this week.
Click to subscribe anywhere youlisten to your favourite pods.
Thanks for listening.
See you next week.
Welcome to The World Away.
Travel tales to inspire yourwanderlust.
Welcome back to The WorldAwakes.
We hope you've enjoyed ourwinter series where we replayed
some of our best episodes afterthe last six months.
So the reason we do that is sothat we can focus on our own
travel and also bring you backinsights into the places that we
(00:25):
go around the world.
We are walking the talk, people.
And it means we can package upalso some of the best episodes
for you in the winter series,and we do that for the summer
series too.
And don't forget that you canalso always go back and take a
listen to all the other sort ofinspiring and travel interviews
and pluck out the places thatyou want to hear more from,
(00:46):
because there are now 106episodes for you to listen to.
Yeah, amazing.
SPEAKER_01 (00:53):
Yeah, so good.
So as Kirstie, you've justmentioned, we've both been back
on the road.
So Buckle up, because I'm goingto give you an update on Cairo,
where I'm just back from.
But first, I mean, tell us alittle bit about your travels
over the last four weeks,Kirsty.
SPEAKER_00 (01:11):
Yeah, so I went to Siem Reap, where we stayed at
this stunning property called SCCity Angkor Bayavani, which is
about a 10-minute drive fromAngkor Wat, which is just...
I mean, to be that close andstay in this just gorgeous,
luxurious property and be soclose is just...
you know, I was so privileged tobe there.
(01:32):
And then we went to Korong,which is to an all-inclusive
private island resort calledSongsa.
So this is a gorgeous littleprivate island off the coast of
the mainland of Cambodia.
And it was an island, it'sactually an island off an
island.
And this tiny little island wasactually completely covered in
(01:52):
rubbish 20 years ago.
And a woman, an Australiancalled Melita Kulmandis actually
bought the island for€15,000 Andshe's transformed it into
Cambodia's first dedicatedmarine reserve.
And it is like you literally,when you're there, you feel like
you are the only person.
It feels like your privateisland.
It is just remarkable.
So we will talk about that lateron.
SPEAKER_01 (02:14):
I love that story.
It's such a great story.
And you're going to tell us somemore about those places in more
detail in upcoming episodes.
So stay tuned.
But first...
We have some super excitingnews.
We have a winner for our Thaigiveaway, our Thai holiday
giveaway.
So just...
(02:35):
We're so excited.
Just to recap, celebrating our100th episode.
Yes.
And to help us celebrate, AvaniHotels and Resorts generously
gave us a tropical holiday inThailand to give away to one of
our lucky listeners.
Four nights at Avani Plus KhaoLak.
There were transfers from PhuketAirport, breakfast and dinner,
(02:57):
and a Muay Thai boxing class aswell, which just shows, you
know, when in Rome and all ofthat sort of thing.
SPEAKER_00 (03:05):
Yeah, absolutely.
God, I'd love to do that.
And if you are listening onplayback and you're not
listening, you know, as we'regoing to air this week, then
there will obviously be othergiveaways at a later date too.
So make sure that you follow uson Instagram at the World Awakes
podcast.
And we'll also put a link in theshow notes because then you can
make sure that you can, youknow, enter other competitions.
(03:27):
So keep listening to the end ofthis episode to find out who won
that fantastic tropical holiday.
SPEAKER_01 (03:33):
Right.
So, Back into it, kicking off,we have a list of things
Australians are leaving in theback of Ubers on their travels
and at home.
And if you ever felt bad forleaving behind a bag, a
backpack, headphones or a phone,don't because a whopping 5,485
Androids and more than 3,000iPhones have been left in Ubers
(03:57):
in the past 12 months.
SPEAKER_00 (04:00):
The stats also show that Sydney is the most
forgetful city in Australia,followed closely by Melbourne,
or at least those who were inSydney or Melbourne at that
time.
And we're also most forgetful onSaturdays.
I wonder if it's becausealcohol's involved.
But some of the most unusualthings to be left behind
included a Steve Irwin toy andan esky full of crabs and, get
(04:28):
this, a sword.
And$1,200, I don't know how theyknow this amount, but obviously
had it written on the front, but$1,200 worth of meat and a
raffle winning and a vibrator.
They were among the things thatall of them found.
SPEAKER_01 (04:46):
Oh my God, I love that.
Other unforgettable forgottenitems include the keys to
somebody's Lamborghini.
Impressive.
Hair extensions, which is alittle bit eerie.
A kung fu belt and a clown hadmisplaced their nose.
There was also a cooked chicken,a bachelor's handbag.
A bottom denture, which is goingto make eating the cooked
(05:08):
chicken kind of tricky.
A massage table.
How do you get a massage tablebehind?
They're huge.
A cat scratching post and anelectric donut maker.
So I don't know who's carryingaround an electric donut maker,
but...
I need to know, Kirsty, have youever left anything in an Uber?
SPEAKER_00 (05:29):
Look, I don't actually, I don't have no fun
stories about this.
But my hubby did actually leavehis phone behind.
once, which I've hit him upabout all the time because he
never leaves anything behind.
He knows where everything is.
He even knows where everythingof mine is.
So it was really funny when hedid do that.
Well, not funny, haha, but notfor him at the time.
But we didn't see it again.
(05:50):
So when saying that, it wasyears and years ago and it was
sort of quite early in the Uberdays and I can't remember him
trying very hard to get it back.
SPEAKER_01 (05:59):
Oh, my God.
You guys are like not human, areyou?
Because I cannot believe thatyou've never lost anything.
I mean, I am appalling even now.
But my family is like just inshock constantly.
I did leave my phone in an Uberone night.
It had fallen out of my bag.
And this is where I lose a lotof things like this.
Things fall out of your bag.
You don't see it on the floor indim light when you're getting
(06:22):
out.
You know, you've got a blackphone and a black car interior.
I find that really tricky.
I was jumping out of SouthernCross Station.
Amazingly, the driver came backto where he dropped me and
returned it, which was justphenomenal.
I could actually get it back.
But the same thing happened.
happened to me on a flight.
I was going to KL airport andthe next passenger found it.
(06:44):
Again, black phone, black seats.
The guy jumped in and realizedthat it was, you know, sitting
on my phone.
Found it, contacted me, and thenhe never sent it on to me.
This thing was...
I knew who he was.
He was a pilot for a low-costcarrier.
And I stalked him.
Please return my phone.
Please return.
And he just never bothered tosend it back to me.
(07:04):
He said, oh, yeah, totally.
I'll send it back to you or I'llbe flying into Melbourne and
I'll drop it off.
Never dropped it back, themongrel.
But, I mean, actually, if youdo, I think that things have
changed a bit now.
If you do leave somethingbehind, you can call the driver
directly because you've gottheir number.
Otherwise, you can roll the diceand go to Uber's help page and
you tap the activities Selectthe trip and scroll to find lost
(07:27):
item.
Then you can reach the driverthere as well.
Of course, this doesn't actuallywork if you don't have your
phone.
SPEAKER_00 (07:34):
Yes, yes.
And you actually reminded me ofone story, but it's not on an
Uber, but when you were talkingabout on the plane.
So I actually, at the airport, Iactually was on a plane and I
had my ear pods and And theplane was a really bumpy ride
and they flew out of my handbagand they went flying up the
(07:59):
plane ride.
And so I tapped the person infront of me and said, oh, have
you got my AirPods?
Can you see if they're there?
And she was like, no, but I sawa lady up the front, further up,
pick them up.
So I sort of had this trail oftrying to find where they were.
And then at the end, I said tothe woman, can you just tap that
other lady and ask So we hadthis kind of recession of people
(08:22):
tapping people saying, hey,you've got her AirPods.
And this lady's like, no, Idon't.
These are mine.
And she claimed they were hers.
So what I did is I took my phoneup to her and I said, can you
just open them?
And I'll just hold my phone out.
And she opened them and it said,Kirstie's iPod, Kirstie's
AirPods.
So she got busted.
So she had to give them back tome in front of everyone.
(08:44):
And it was rather embarrassingfor her.
But there you go.
So it was that story.
But back to the Ubers.
And moral of the story is ifyou're in Sydney on a Saturday,
double and triple check beforeyou get out of an Uber.
SPEAKER_01 (08:58):
And don't nick Kirsty's earbuds.
SPEAKER_00 (09:12):
This week, I'm interviewing Belle about her
recent trip to Cairo.
Belle's a frequent traveller tothis North African nation
because she's actually marriedto an Egyptian, anyone that
didn't know.
And she always finds a way toexperience something new.
So this trip wasn't anydifferent.
And so kick off, Belle, bytelling us the best way to get
(09:32):
there.
SPEAKER_01 (09:34):
You know, I'm just going to make one point.
I met my husband after I movedto Cairo.
I didn't I didn't go to Cairobecause of him.
I was living in Cairo, learningArabic and working as a
journalist.
And then I met him.
So everyone thinks, oh, you justtook it on because you took on
your husband.
No, no.
All right.
A love affair started with thecountry, not the man.
(09:56):
But look, yeah, so what it doesmean is that I've got family
back there.
So we go back every year andspend varying amounts of time.
Normally, we will fly throughone of the Middle Eastern hubs.
So whoever's got the best pricebetween Qatar, Emirates and
Etihad, and then jumping on fromthere.
But this time, this year, wewere booking late.
We were booking in schoolholidays.
(10:18):
So we had to get a bit creativebecause the cost of the airfares
were absolutely punishing, ofcourse.
So we flew up to KL, up to KualaLumpur with AirAsia.
Then we picked up an Emiratesflight that went up to Dubai and
Cairo and I mean, really,because the point of this is
that the leg, as you get out ofAustralia, that Australian leg
is always phenomenallyexpensive.
(10:40):
Once you're out of Australia,the fares drop.
I mean, the Emirates flight fromDubai and on to Cairo is, you
know, is through the floor.
So it was a little bit of aschlep, but it saved us about
$1,000 on each ticket.
So that is generally how, Imean, best possible scenario is
just flying Melbourne to Dubai,Dubai to Cairo.
Yeah.
(11:00):
Yeah, that's the best way ofdoing
SPEAKER_00 (11:03):
it.
So it's one of the world'slargest cities.
So tell us a bit about, I mean,does it feel that way when
you're there?
Does it feel like really bustlyand busy?
It
SPEAKER_01 (11:11):
is.
Look, Cairo is big.
It is actually mind-blowinglybig.
And I love this stat and Ialways share it.
So Cairo, Australia's entirepopulation is the same size
population.
as Cairo's population, about 26million, which makes Cairo about
(11:31):
the third or fourth largest,sorry, the fourth or fifth
largest city in the world behindTokyo, Delhi and Shanghai.
So what that means is thetraffic is awful, like
notoriously awful.
And as a result, Egyptians areterrible timekeepers.
You'd hate this, Kirsty, but younever know what it's going to be
like.
(11:52):
But it is terrible.
It is vast.
It can easily take a couple ofhours to cross the city.
I've been in traffic jams at oneand two o'clock in the morning.
I have to say we were back insummer and in summer the city
actually empties out becauseit's It's hot.
So everybody nicks off to eitherthe Mediterranean or the Red
(12:12):
Sea.
So one of the benefits of beingthere in summer is that you've
actually got much lesscongestion.
But on an everyday working day,you really feel the size of that
city.
And it ranges from, you know,you've got the pyramids at one
side of it.
You've got medieval Cairo in themiddle.
And then you've got...
(12:34):
New Cairo, which is, you know,because Cairo is a lot like
Delhi in that you have differentlevels, different tiers of
wealth from, you know, extremepoverty to extreme wealth.
So, you know, you do have thosebeautiful new parts of the city
that are being built that Ipersonally actually don't like
(12:54):
spending a lot of time atbecause it's kind of like going
to a shopping mall in Australia.
So just more dancing fountainsand...
And that sort of thing.
But yeah, so it does have all ofthose different layers.
It does have a very upmarketmodern section as well as those
fabulous historical sections.
SPEAKER_00 (13:12):
And besides, you know, obviously sort of having
that juxtaposition and goingamazing experience of seeing
that really extreme variation.
Yeah.
What are some of the otherthings or what are the things as
sort of as an insider, what aresome of the things that you
just, if I was going to gothere, that you would be like,
okay, these are like threethings that you absolutely have
(13:34):
to do?
SPEAKER_01 (13:34):
Three things.
Oh, gosh.
If you're going in summer, youhave to drink all the mango
juice because I am obsessed withfresh mango juice.
That is the essential.
Whatever you do, you've got todrink mango juice while you're
doing it because the mangoes arephenomenal in Egypt, not like
anywhere else in the world.
Right.
Okay.
So fueled up on mango juice.
(13:56):
I mean, the reason why everybodygoes to Cairo is, of course, for
the pyramids, the Great Pyramidsof Giza.
Giza was a separate city andit's now just turning into this
big, gigantic mush of Cairo.
So they sit on the outskirts ofthe city, which is kind of weird
because in the time that I'vebeen traveling there over the
last sort of nearly two decades,you're finding that the city is
(14:20):
encroaching and almostencircling parts of the
pyramids.
So like those new developmentsthat I've mentioned, they'll
have names like pyramids view,you know, like a building estate
or something like that, which islike, yeah, right.
You can go and have a look atthe pyramids out in your
backyard, you know, which isphenomenal.
SPEAKER_00 (14:41):
And do they literally have views of the
pyramids, obviously?
There
SPEAKER_01 (14:45):
are places that look onto the pyramids, like there's
residential areas that look ontothe pyramids.
The older ones around one sidethat are Traditionally, we're
quite a slum area, and that'swhere you'd go to rent your
camels and carriages and horsesas well, because one of the
great things to do is toactually hire a horse and ride
(15:07):
around the pyramids.
And we used to do it at night.
It is not safe.
Can I say, don't gallop throughthe desert at night around the
pyramids because when you do itin daytime, you think, oh my
goodness, I could have killedmyself.
But it is an exhilarating thingto do is to ride around the
pyramids.
That side of it, people are fromsome of the lowest socioeconomic
stratas of Kyrian life and theylook at the pyramids.
(15:31):
Phenomenal.
That is being bulldozed andbeing built out now and you're
seeing a lot more development inthat in that area.
So your three things to go tothe pyramids, to go to Cairo, I
would say pyramids.
I would put Shara el-Waz, whichis medieval Cairo, and I'll come
back to the little later on.
And then the museums, becausethe museums are intrinsically
(15:54):
connected to how you understandand interpret the country.
SPEAKER_00 (15:58):
Amazing.
And so on those museums, let'sjust talk about them.
So the Grand Egyptian Museum,Well, Gem, everyone, I mean,
we've been hearing about thisfor so, so, so long and about
how, you know, when it's goingto be opening and what's going
on in there and what's in there,really.
So what's happening with that?
SPEAKER_01 (16:20):
Well, yes.
I mean, look, 20 years it's beengoing on from the time they
started building planning thesite for the Grand Egyptian
Museum.
So many things have happenedthat it's been delayed.
You know, they've run out ofmoney.
They've had different countries,like Japan has sunk a lot of
money into it.
The first time I did a tour,like I've been there three times
now and the first two times theywere both hard hat sites.
(16:44):
So like, you know, you had toput a hard hat on before you
went in to explore it.
It officially was supposed toopen the first week I was in
Cairo and the fifth of the 5thof July and serendipitously I
thought fantastic I'm going tobe there during the opening and
then it got paused yet againlike there's been so many times
(17:06):
this has happened this time isbecause of course the ongoing
war in Gaza so You know, when itis officially going to be
opened, it's the world's largestcollection of Egyptian
artifacts.
And it is also the world'slargest archaeological museum.
(17:26):
So, of course, the Egyptiangovernment wanted to open it
with all of the pomp and glamourthat you would expect.
They wanted to be able to inviteheads of states from all over
the world because, you know, theancient Egyptian artifacts have
so many connections with thingslike the British Museum, which
has quite a significant holding,and then, of course, in New York
as well.
But who's going to go there atthe moment when there's bombing
(17:49):
happening in the country nextdoor?
So they postponed it until it isanother one of those casualties
of that war between Israel andPalestine.
So it's physically finished.
Everything is up and running.
I did go in and check out whatwas going on.
The two things that are notgoing to be shown and is not
going to happen until it'sofficially opened is the
(18:13):
artefacts of Tutankhamun, whichis, you know, his lavish coffin,
his death mask, his pure golddeath masks, his little finger
covers, you know, all of thephenomenal jewellery in that
cache when it was discovered 100years ago.
Yeah.
And the other thing is the solarboat of Chops, which used to
(18:34):
live beside the Sphinx.
So they haven't opened yet, butthe rest of the museum is all
open.
And it's just beautiful.
Like, it's honestly absolutelybeautiful.
If you have been to Egyptbefore, of course, everybody
always went to the GrandEgyptian Museum.
to the original Egyptian museum,which is a gorgeous old pink
(18:56):
building in the centre of Cairothat everybody's gone there.
What I did notice going back todo a recce for you, Kirsty, was,
oh my God, there's no airconstill.
So it is like phenomenally hotin that museum.
And also it has always had areal problem with being curated
(19:17):
because I've always said it'slike an iceberg, nine tenths of
what the museum, holds is downin the basement and hasn't been
brought out to show the light ofday for, you know, for a hundred
years.
And what is up is often verypoorly explained.
The Grand Egyptian Museum, thenew museum, is beautiful.
The explanation is gorgeous.
(19:37):
It's got loads of interactivestuff, which is great for
engaging kids in there as well.
It's a holy, modern, completelybeautiful building and it's a
delight.
But what it is part of, and thisis what makes it also so
significant, is it is part of apyramids precinct.
So it's only, as the crow flies,two kilometres from the
(20:01):
pyramids.
And eventually, and you can seeit being constructed, there will
be a walkway between the two.
And from what I'd heard fromsome of the architects years
ago, there was going to be anunderground, a subterranean
walkway and shopping malls andstuff, because who are you if
you don't like a shopping mall?
And I've got to say, Egyptiansdo love a good shop.
So eventually what you will haveis you'll have the pyramids,
(20:26):
which themselves are undergoingsignificant change that are
Grand Egyptian Museum, you'll beable to walk or ride between the
two of them.
And all of the services that arebeing built around it, and that
means things like new hotels arecropping up everywhere.
They're clearing out a lot ofthe slums.
(20:46):
Not necessarily a great thing.
It depends on who you ask.
Of course, the people who areliving in those slum areas
pretty much don't want to getcleared out of where they are.
But, you know, that has been oneof the problems that people have
always said, love seeing thepyramids.
hate being chased by the cameltouts because as the old
question goes it's free to geton a camel the question is how
(21:09):
much does it cost to get off soum yeah because nobody wants to
be sitting on the top of a cameland then having to haggle for
the price to get down again soum Yeah.
So when you go into the pyramidsthemselves now, what you will
notice is that there are newgates as well.
The horses and camels are stillthere, but they've been moved
(21:29):
away into another area.
And they're really cracking downon that sort of, you know, that
touting for trade as well.
There are two main newrestaurants.
Well, Nine Pyramids has beenthere for a couple of years.
And the first time I went there,I think about two years ago.
It's low slung.
It's around to the back of thepyramids in an area that you
(21:51):
pretty much wouldn't go tonormally.
What it does have is a view ofthe nine pyramids at the
Pyramids of Giza because you'vegot the three big ones.
You've got the queens.
You've got in total there arenine there, and that's why it's
got that name.
Really beautiful place to go.
In the summer, you would go inthere for breakfast and just
watch the land grow and thechanging color as the sun really
(22:16):
takes off over the pyramids.
And it's an absolutely beautifulplace to sit and eat.
And the other is called Khufu,named after the greatest, the
largest of the pyramids.
And I've eaten lunch therebefore.
I would recommend eatingbreakfast there.
Phenomenal.
Like you are sitting there infront of the Grand Pyramid.
(22:37):
And yes, a lot of tourists go.
Also, a lot of Egyptians go aswell.
You do still need to buy yourticket into the Pyramids
complex.
And then you can jump on ane-bus like this.
Now they're trying to make it agreener possibility.
So they've got electric busesthat run in a new hop-on,
(22:57):
hop-off circuit that goesaround.
So you've got the Sphinx to thedifferent of the pyramid And
yeah, so that's really changinghow we are interacting with the
pyramids as well in preservingit, but also giving a better
experience for travellers.
SPEAKER_00 (23:18):
Okay, so Belle, let's just clarify, what are
your top three things to do inCairo?
SPEAKER_01 (23:25):
Yeah, look, okay, I did want to add a couple of
things to my top three.
So it's not really a top three,but, you know, stay with me,
especially regarding the museumsyou can visit in Cairo because
they're so important.
So we've already covered off theGrand Egyptian Museum and the
original Egyptian Museum, butthe other significant new
opening or newish opening is therather clumsily named National
(23:46):
Museum of Egyptian Civilization.
So if you are looking for thegolden mummies, this is where
you're going to find them.
It's a new build that opened in2022 near the Citadel.
And here you'll find the 20mummies, including Ramses II.
This is the guy that built thecolossi or the giant statues of
himself at Abu Simbel, amongstother places.
(24:07):
And the first female pharaoh,Queen Hatshepsut.
So that is a phenomenal museum.
It's absolutely beautiful andwell worth a couple of hours in
there.
And it's not overwhelming aswell.
And the others on my top threethings to visit would include a
walk through Coptic Cairo.
And this is the birthplace ofChristian Christianity in Egypt,
which still has about a 15% ofthe population is Coptic
(24:29):
Christian.
So here you wander through thesetiny mazes and beneath a tiny,
tiny church is a place where theHoly Family is said to have
sheltered on their flight toEgypt.
So it's just an amazing littlemicrocosm in its own right and
absolutely densely packed.
It's a neighborhood denselypacked with churches and there's
(24:50):
a couple of museums and justthis...
Tiny little labyrinth.
It's really, Coptic Cairo isfabulous.
And the third thing that Imentioned earlier and didn't go
back to, which I put on my list,is an afternoon and an evening
walk in Chara El Moez or El MoezStreet, which is right beside
the Cano Calili market.
(25:11):
So El Moez is the mainthoroughfare of medieval Cairo.
So you're walking between thesethousand-year-old palaces and
hospitals, schools and mansions.
I would go in the afternoon.
as entrance to those mansionsand palaces closes at 4pm.
And then after that, I go up toone of the rooftop mango cafes
for a cold mango juice, becauseessential, and wait, because at
(25:35):
dusk, all those monuments areflooded with coloured lights for
one of the most beautifuldisplays in the city.
So a walk through here isabsolutely unmissable.
SPEAKER_00 (25:47):
Amazing.
And so just on a day-to-daybasis, when you're cruising
around, how are you, are youback to our old Uber friends?
Are you obviously not leavingyour mobile phones and Ubers,
but what are you doing?
Are you getting the Ubers aroundor how are you, what's the mode
of transport given?
I mean, obviously, I don't knowhow, if Uber would be a great
(26:10):
option given the traffic thatyou mentioned before.
SPEAKER_01 (26:13):
I know, yeah.
Well, look, there is a massivemetro scheme you'll see across
Cairo being built, whicheventually will link up with the
airport with key destinations.
There's also a metro stationright opposite the Grand
Egyptian Museum, and that isgoing to be phenomenal because
that's built.
You'll just see these metrotowers.
It's going to be a...
What do you call an above-groundmetro system?
(26:36):
And that is going to be linkingthe whole of Cairo up over the
next few years.
When that happens, it's going tobe great.
There is already a metro trainsystem that runs that is very
heavily used.
So, you know, you can use thatas a tourist.
I was using Ubers.
I don't use the taxis anymore.
They're really not that popular.
(26:58):
safe, I don't think.
I mean, I travel a lot of thetime I'm on my own, like I'm
solo when I do a lot of myexploring.
So I do use Uber in Cairo.
It's also got DD runs there aswell.
So what it means is you cansimply use your regular account.
So there's no mucking aroundwith foreign currency, you know,
using your credit card oranything like that.
(27:19):
You just pay through the applike you normally do at home.
It is phenomenally cheap.
So my trips across the city arewhich might be like 45 minutes
in across never more than a fewdollars and always tipping the
drivers, not in the app, butoutside the app.
So a cash tip is preferredbecause people are really doing
(27:41):
it tough in Cairo, in the wholeof Egypt at the moment.
SPEAKER_00 (27:47):
So lastly, tell us a bit about rating on Smart
Traveller and also, I mean, youknow, outside of Smart
Traveller, how safe it sort offeels to be, you know, to be, I
mean, obviously for you, it's abit of a different experience
because you have family thereand, you know, you know the area
really well.
But for people who are wantingto go right now, is it something
(28:11):
you would suggest and is it anoption?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (28:15):
Yeah, the rating for, the Smart Traveller rating
for Cairo and the Nile all theway down to Loxo, Aswan,
Abusunbel, so the main touristareas, is at level two, which is
excise level.
exercise a high degree ofcaution, which is the same as
France, can I point out?
It actually, the US just droppedtheir travel warnings against
(28:37):
Egypt again just recently aswell.
So there are some areas likeNorth Sinai, which is on the
border of Gaza and Israel, is ofcourse a total red zone, a no-go
zone.
But honestly, you know, it wouldbe rare that you would have
tourists going there anyway.
So you would stay well away fromthose areas.
Look, I had no dramas.
(28:58):
I mean, Egyptians are devastatedby what's happening in the
country next door.
You know, they've been takingPalestinian refugees since 1948.
So they are well aware of what'shappening there.
But Look, the thing that Egyptrelies on for its foreign
income, there's two things.
The first one is the Suez Canal.
(29:19):
Hello, Houthi rebels.
Can I say, you know, this issuch an important revenue raiser
for them.
It's the connector betweenEurope and Asia.
And I'm sure that there arelisteners who have cruised
through the Suez.
So that's not really doing awhole lot for it.
The second highest earner offoreign income in Egypt is
tourism.
And nothing kills tourism fasterthan war.
(29:41):
So it sounds, you know,ridiculous putting tourism and
war into the same sentence.
But tourism is what feeds one in10 Egyptians.
So yeah, it's not great for themat the moment.
And look, I have to say,Egyptians are very aware of
this.
You know, they appreciate thetourism industry.
They genuinely love tourists.
I was walking into Karnakalili,which is the fabulous medieval
(30:04):
souk, 700-year-old market.
It's like a labyrinth.
It's a warren.
I just love going in there anddrinking tea and just seeing
the, you know, the crazyNefertiti people.
heads and, you know, the littlebelly dancers outfits that you
can buy because, you know,there's always going to be some
guy that pulls out the racy,lacy red one and says, Madam,
(30:25):
you need to buy this.
And I'm like, I really, reallydon't.
Thank you, darling.
But yeah, so I was walking intoKana Khalili the other day and
this woman says, oh, welcome toEgypt, she said in Arabic.
Welcome to Egypt.
We missed you.
And I was like, oh, I miss youtoo.
And sometimes you just like youjust have a woman run up to you
(30:45):
and start kissing you on yourcheeks, especially after the
revolution when there was almostno tourists there and the
country was really suffering.
They would just come up and giveyou big smackers on the cheeks
and say, thank you for coming.
And you're just like, oh,gorgeous.
I mean, seriously, the pleasureis all mine.
So, you know, they've had hardtimes, but while it's you know,
(31:05):
while this war continues inIsrael, they're going to
continue having hard times.
But it's really lovely to reallyfeel so welcomed.
And I do feel safe when I'mtraveling there, even, you know,
before I understood it so muchas I did.
Yeah.
I think there is a genuineconcept of Arabian hospitality
that is still existent in Egypt.
SPEAKER_00 (31:25):
Amazing.
I love that story.
Thanks so much for yourinsights, Belle, into Cairo.
And you can see more on Belle'swebsite, which is
globalsalsa.com.
And we'll put a link to herwebsite and Instagram in the
show notes and also on ourwebsite, which is
theworldawaits.au.
If you'd like to help supportour production costs, you can
buy us a coffee at ko-fi.comslash theworldawakes.
(31:49):
That's ko-fi.com slashtheworldawakes so we can
continue to bring youinspirational travel interviews
with the world's best.
SPEAKER_01 (31:59):
And right now to the news you've all been waiting
for, our winner of the Thailandholiday is...
SPEAKER_00 (32:09):
Peter
SPEAKER_01 (32:10):
Hop...
SPEAKER_00 (32:11):
Thank you.
Yay, yay, yay, yay.
And thank you so much to AvaniHotels and Resorts who
generously gave us this tropicalholiday in Thailand to give
away.
How exciting.
What an amazing prize.
Peter wins four nights at Avaniplus Khao Lak with transfers
from Phuket Airport, breakfastand daily dinner and a Mai Tai
(32:31):
boxing class.
SPEAKER_01 (32:34):
Huge congratulations to Peter and a big thank you to
Avani Hotels and Resorts andalso Barking Owl Communications
who've made this fabulousgiveaway possible.
So we'll be contacting you,Peter, as this episode drops.
And for those who are listeningon playback, follow us on
Instagram for our greatgiveaways at the World Awaits
(32:54):
podcast.
UNKNOWN (32:58):
Music
SPEAKER_01 (33:07):
Our tip this week is for those who hate the rain.
So if you're wanting to avoid adrenching well on holiday at
this time of year, then staytuned because casino.org has
analysed 45 cities and giventhem a downpour score based on
the calculated rain odds basedon five different key climate
factors over a 10-year period.
(33:28):
So rainfall volume, they countedthe number of rainy days, the
humidity, the cloud cover andthe likelihood of thunderstorms.
SPEAKER_00 (33:35):
And for the many thousands of Australians who are
heading to Bali between now andthe end of August, when this
downpour score applies, yourchance of getting drenched is
one in five.
While in Siem Reap, it's 97%.
And because we just came backfrom that, I have to say, it did
rain.
But thankfully, like most placesin Southeast Asia, it does sort
(33:57):
of just only rain late in theafternoon.
And I don't mind that becauseit's so humid.
And then you just get a bit of adownpour and then you're back
into it.
And also, we When we were there,the boys went out in quad bikes
and we were cruising around somegorgeous little villages.
And look, not the best way totry and see it when you're
getting completely drenched, butthey absolutely loved it in the
(34:18):
rain.
Oh,
SPEAKER_01 (34:21):
that sounds too good.
Ho Chi Minh City experienced 65rainy days between June and
August, which was the most onthis list.
That is rain two out of everytwo or three days.
You were just there as well,weren't you, Kirsty?
SPEAKER_00 (34:34):
Yeah, I was and we also rained on.
So, yeah, we were only there fortwo days, but yep, got wet.
And again, but it was justreally late in the day and it
wasn't a huge downpour.
So, yeah, it wasn't too bad.
But how about Egypt, Belle?
What was it like when you werethere?
SPEAKER_01 (34:49):
Well, yeah, it is currently high summer in Egypt
and it is hot, hot, hot between35 and 40.
And then it was actually gettinghotter the week that we left, it
was going into a heat wave.
So above 40, but it's a really,really phenomenally dry heat.
It is the desert after all.
It gets even hotter in Augustand it's getting hotter every
(35:10):
year as well.
They tend to get their rain inwinter.
And even then though, it's a fewcentimetres.
So the only umbrella you willneed is a sun parasol.
But in comparison, some otherplaces that you'll get a
drenching are Mumbai with an 87%chance of a soaking and the
Maldives at this time of yearisn't much better at 86%.
(35:31):
Do you really need to worry ifyou are just spending your whole
time underwater?
Does it matter if it's raining?
SPEAKER_00 (35:36):
Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01 (35:37):
Asking for a friend.
Colombo, Phuket, Bangkok andOrlando are also pretty much
guarantees of needing a brawley.
SPEAKER_00 (35:46):
Yeah, and look, I'm surprised Auckland isn't on that
list because you basically needto get around in full wet
weather gear and gumboots atthis time of year.
I mean, seriously, it's justlike not even a short tropical
downpour because it's definitelynot tropical.
It's buckets down all day long.
So I would personally avoidAuckland in wintertime.
SPEAKER_01 (36:03):
Oh my goodness, I lived in Dublin years ago and I
was out hiking most weekends.
And can I say, if you didn't getrained on, it was a surprise.
But on the flip side, try Dubai,Los Angeles, Johannesburg and
Rome if you want to stay dry.
We were basically on theopposite ends of the spectrum
there, weren't we?
You are nearly 13 times lesslikely to get rained on in Dubai
(36:27):
than in Siem Reap.
So choosing your holidayswisely.
And Broome and the Gold Coastare amongst the driest locations
in the entire index and bothwithin Australia.
So in fact, you are more likelyto stay dry there than in Bali
or Fiji.
So there's a reason to holidayat home.
And we will put a link in theshow notes to the full list.
SPEAKER_00 (37:02):
Next week, I'm interviewing Michael Jensen and
Brent Hartinger, who've lived inmore than 30 countries and
travelled to more than 60.
They run travel blog Brent andMichael Are Going Places, which
has amassed an almost cult-likefollowing for those wanting to
know what life is like as a gaydigital nomad.
They chat highs and lows andgive some top tips for those who
(37:24):
want to live a life travellingthe world.
SPEAKER_01 (37:28):
And if you enjoyed this episode, please give us a
rating and a review on ApplePodcasts.
Click on our profiles, scrolldown to the bottom to ratings
and reviews.
And if you're listening onSpotify, go to our main page and
click the three dots underneathour photo or simply drop us a
line at hello attheworldawaits.au.
We love nothing more thanhearing from our listeners.
(37:50):
That's a wrap for The WorldAwaits this week.
Click to subscribe anywhere youlisten to your favourite pods.
Thanks for listening.
See you next week.
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