Driving in Egypt

[Georgina]

Had another blood group test done at Nile Hospital in Hurghada and that test came out the same as El Gouna hospital. She also did the test three times! So the Blood Donar people in the UK have me down with the wrong blood group!

A response from the Blood Donor Group doctor:


Thank you for your e-mail and your interesting query.

You will be someone who is typed as a weak D. D (known as the Rhesus type)
is usually strongly typed as positive or negative. However, some people like
yourself possess a weak D and, in these cases, as a patient they will be
grouped as Rhesus negative as they must receive RhD negative blood and
components. However, as a donor, that person must be considered as a RhD
positive group because their weak D has the same potential to create
antibodies in a recipient as a strong RhD.

I am sorry if this sounds complicated but please be reassured that there is
no reason to be worried. For blood donation purposes you will appear as A
RhD positive as this is safe for patients. However, when you are a patient,
you will appear as RhD negative - just as you did in Egypt who were quite
correct.

Many thanks for your interest in blood donation

With very best wishes

Dr Elizabeth Anne Page
Associate Specialist
Donor Services

That makes me feel better Will be in Hurghada on Saturday to try and do the next step towards getting my license!

 

[SuziQ2708]

A response from the Blood Donor Group doctor:


Thank you for your e-mail and your interesting query.

You will be someone who is typed as a weak D. D (known as the Rhesus type)
is usually strongly typed as positive or negative. However, some people like
yourself possess a weak D and, in these cases, as a patient they will be
grouped as Rhesus negative as they must receive RhD negative blood and
components. However, as a donor, that person must be considered as a RhD
positive group because their weak D has the same potential to create
antibodies in a recipient as a strong RhD.

I am sorry if this sounds complicated but please be reassured that there is
no reason to be worried. For blood donation purposes you will appear as A
RhD positive as this is safe for patients. However, when you are a patient,
you will appear as RhD negative - just as you did in Egypt who were quite
correct.

Many thanks for your interest in blood donation

With very best wishes

Dr Elizabeth Anne Page
Associate Specialist
Donor Services

That makes me feel better Will be in Hurghada on Saturday to try and do the next step towards getting my license!

mmm sounds very confusing to me Georgina, trust you to have odd blood I thought there were only A's, B's and O's as rhesus factor. You learn something every day

 

[Georgina]

Will be in Hurghada on Saturday to try and do the next step towards getting my license!

Went on Saturday and was just sent round in circles and told come back on Monday for sure you will get your license then. Went today even though it is a holiday here and the office was closed. Off on our trip tomorrow. Also heard that after the kidnapping in Egypt they are not selling bus tickets to Cairo or Luxor from Hurghada to foreigners. Lets hope all the security check points allow Diana and I to drive all the way to Siwa in her car alone on our annual tourist visas!

 

[M Butler]

Went on Saturday and was just sent round in circles and told come back on Monday for sure you will get your license then. Went today even though it is a holiday here and the office was closed. Off on our trip tomorrow. Also heard that after the kidnapping in Egypt they are not selling bus tickets to Cairo or Luxor from Hurghada to foreigners. Lets hope all the security check points allow Diana and I to drive all the way to Siwa in her car alone on our annual tourist visas!

Good luck Georgina. We are driving to Cairo tomorrow so I will now expect a few stoppages on the way!!!

Have a good trip.

Margaret

 

[lyndsay552]

I hired a car last week for 2 days and I didn't think that the roads where too bad. Although it was Ramadan and the roads where pretty quiet during the day.

I think I'll hire one again next week when I move apartments. It was great for shopping and being able to stop any where, jump out of the car and go exploring all the wee back street shops.

 

[dave99]

Good luck with Cairo

Good luck Georgina. We are driving to Cairo tomorrow so I will now expect a few stoppages on the way!!!

Have a good trip.

Margaret

Never driven there but been driven around it - what an experience

I suppose you can get used to it but I'd never take MY car into such a place.

.
.

 

[Georgina]

Two British Ladies driving alone around Egypt

My friend Diana and I have just got back from our Siwan adventure trip. We left a week ago in Diana's car from El Gouna. It was the first day after the holidays and feast. El Gouna had been full to bursting with people from Cairo but luckily they had all left the day before. The road to Cairo was so quiet and no-one took any notice of us at any of the security check points. We stopped at the new development of Porto Sockhna for two very expensive cups of coffee.

Driving in Cairo is horrendous as I have experienced many times and road signs are very confusing. I did use Web browser and Live Maps are incompatible to get a route to our hotel on the Cairo/Alex desert road but the website uses road numbers on their maps and the signs never show a number and keep referring to local road without a name.

It certainly helps to have an understanding of Arabic to read the signs that are not in English. Distance El Gouna to Oasis Hotel was 469km.

Leaving Cairo the next day towards Alexandria is busy but many lanes and then we turned off after Wadi Natrun to take the very quiet road to El Alamein. This is easy driving but the landscape is very flat and boring. We arrived at the main road that runs all along the north coast. Again very little traffic and a good, straight road and no-one interested to stop us at the security check points. The amazing thing is the amount of construction all along this stretch to El Alamein. The road is lined with real estate advertising boards and villa and apartment construction. The coast road is quite a way from the coast but you can see in the distance the beautiful turquoise sea and white chalky sand. The rest of the scenery is still flat and boring.

After a total of 930km we arrived at the town of Marsa Matrouh. We had to stop and ask directions to the hotel on the cornish as there were very few signs and mainly in Arabic.

The next day we headed south through the desert 300km to Siwa. Again the landscape is very flat with sand and just a few dry shrubs for the camels to eat. The road started with new tarmac and is quite narrow and the height of the new tarmac left a big drop either side onto the rough and rocky desert ground. There is very little room for error when you have a big truck coming in the opposite direction. After this we had 10 km of very rough surface and 30km speed limit where the road was waiting for the new tarmac. Following this the road was good, very quite, narrow but fast. There are a couple of tiny cafes in the desert but no petrol stations.

We were looking for a very exclusive Ecolodge whichh does not have any signs directing you so luckily we have been given the GPS marks for all our turns and for the lodge and I had borrowed a hand held GPS. We would never have found it otherwise. The Adrere Amellal Ecolodge is worth the 1,233 km journey from El Gouna and the ridiculously high price of 319 USD per twin room per night! It is absolutely amazing and in the most beautiful location. For exploring the desert and town of Siwa the lodge provided Toyota trucks and guides included in the price.

On the journey back we noticed they had filled in the big drop off either side of the new tarmac with sand. This road is excellent but I would never want to travel on this or any road in Egypt at night. Scattered all along the roads are blown out tires or contents of lorries thrown all over the desert after it has come off the road. There are sudden holes and bumps and because of the high speed we can do along here there is little room for error. Camels are also a hazard. The tour companies offer drivers to take you all the way from Cairo to Siwa without stopping. That is around 750-800 km and the drivers usually just turn straight round and go back after dropping you off. I was so glad I was driving with Diana at our own pace and schedule.

On the way back we stopped at Marsa Matrouh overnight again and then to Porto Marina at El Alamein. Another beautiful marina development selling apartments. The 5* hotel was superb and the marina had gondolas to take you along the canal in the middle of the construction. Beautiful shops too but nearly all of the were shut. The whole development was like a ghost town. When we left Marsa Matrouh we ventured further west to look at all the beautiful beaches but again it was like a ghost town. In the summer all the Cairo residents head for the north coast climate but if it has to remain empty from mid October I have no idea how these developments like Porto Marina survive.

Back to horrendous driving conditions in Cairo to get to Heliopolis and the following day finding the ring road to Ein Sockhna. Again no-one was interested in stopping us or seeing driving licence at the security check points. Maybe because of Diana's Cairo number plates?

So the trip was easy and fantastic and very relaxing not being herded around like goats with a group of tourists ;-) We travelled a total of 2,583 km but thankfully petrol is only 18p a litre in Egypt!

If you would like to see the photos there are three albums here


Georgina Cole's Photos - Georgina and Diana's Siwan Adventure | Facebook

Georgina Cole's Photos - Georgina and Diana's Siwan Adventure Continued | Facebook

Georgina Cole's Photos | Facebook

 

[wellheld]

That trip aounds absolutly fabulous,if exhausting, did you stop for the british war cemetary in El Alamein? Helen

 

[Georgina]

That trip aounds absolutly fabulous,if exhausting, did you stop for the british war cemetary in El Alamein? Helen

Yes, we visited the Italian and German war memorial and the Allied war cemetary. there are photos in the third album. The cemetary was a beautiful place but very moving reading all the inscriptions on the stones.

 

[Flyerman]

Hi Georgina,

very good post.

Petrol: 18p per litre - a good reminder that petrol really is super cheap

thanks

Lance

 

[dave99]

Very expensive for locals

Hi Georgina,

very good post.

Petrol: 18p per litre - a good reminder that petrol really is super cheap

thanks

Lance

Cheap compared to Europe but the increase over last 6 months is EXTREME for the locals - up over 70% in less than a year.
.
.

 

[wellheld]

Yes, we visited the Italian and German war memorial and the Allied war cemetary. there are photos in the third album. The cemetary was a beautiful place but very moving reading all the inscriptions on the stones.

It is moving isn't it, we went frequently when we lived in Alex and always found fresh flowers on one or two of the graves. I particularly like the respect shown to the unknown soldiers of the inscription Known unto God in the British Cemetery.

 

[Peter Mitry]

Petrol in Hurghada

Cheap compared to Europe but the increase over last 6 months is EXTREME for the locals - up over 70% in less than a year.
.
.

When I commented in my local filling station that World oil prices were dropping like a stone and asked why I was still paying 1.75 EGP per litre I got the usual response 'Urhh?') and the price stayed where it has been for the past three months - 18p per litre. British drivers would be barricading the streets!

 

[M Butler]

Who knows the exact meaning of this sign?
Till now I have seen 3 in Hurghada, 2 on Sheraton Road, one on the road to Dahar.

After trying to work out the meaning of this sign for a few weeks, we have decided that it means parallel parking to the kerb is allowed as opposed to nose onto the kerb. We have tried it out yesterday and today and so far so good....

Will keep you posted.

Margaret

See Post No. 80

 

[Huda at pyramids]

Barachtak

Who knows the exact meaning of this sign?
Till now I have seen 3 in Hurghada, 2 on Sheraton Road, one on the road to Dahar.

Well, uhm, I'm going to make a guess, how'bout
Parking only in vertical position
or
Parking only in Zebra disguise
or
just Parking behind the striped line.

I would say, it means what you want it to mean, as you wish (in Arabic, Barachtak)

Take it as it suits you, and if somebody actually says something, tell him you don't understand. And excuse yourself a million time and get your car out of there.

Take it easy, life is easy, don't make it more complicated then it is,
This is not Europe. Search the layed back lifestyle not only on the beach!!

Have a wonderfull day and be safe.

Huda

 

[Georgina]

The Egyptian Driving License Story continued....

Went on Saturday and was just sent round in circles and told come back on Monday for sure you will get your license then. Went today even though it is a holiday here and the office was closed. Off on our trip tomorrow.

So it must be five weeks since I started the process of getting an Egyptian driving license. Went back to the office on Monday and they said they are still waiting for the paper from Cairo but come back tomorrow.....

Went back today and still blank faces. Sat waiting for three hours and the paper was found They then said come Saturday to do some more paperwork in the morning and in the afternoon to take your test as there are 41 people waiting to take their test. Why can't we do some more paperwork now? Managed to complete some more paperwork in another office and smiled nicely at the good looking man with stars on his shoulders. He then started to ask why we were there and my friend Diana replied in Arabic that we had come to take the test. We were immediately taken outside and told I would be first Lots of setting up of traffic cones. Everyone had told me this part is so easy. Wasn't looking so easy to me and especially in Diana's big Honda HRV which seemed to be getting bigger by the second.

Very confusingly told to zig zag through about four sets of cones. Am sure they were set out with a mini cooper in mind! Managed to get through and then told to reverse back through them. Got back through until the last set and realised there is no way I am lined up to get through them. Stopped and smiled sweetly and said is that it? A translator said you have failed and must come back next week. Diana in the meantime talks to the guy in Arabic saying no-one explained to me where I should be going and that I didn't understand! OK you have passed he said

Now I have to go back tomorrow morning to do the photo and get my license inshallah!!!! And it was on our way back that our translator told us that they don't like him in the traffic office. GREAT! Will take someone else bukra.

Wish me luck!!!!

 

[SuziQ2708]

So it must be five weeks since I started the process of getting an Egyptian driving license. Went back to the office on Monday and they said they are still waiting for the paper from Cairo but come back tomorrow.....

Went back today and still blank faces. Sat waiting for three hours and the paper was found They then said come Saturday to do some more paperwork in the morning and in the afternoon to take your test as there are 41 people waiting to take their test. Why can't we do some more paperwork now? Managed to complete some more paperwork in another office and smiled nicely at the good looking man with stars on his shoulders. He then started to ask why we were there and my friend Diana replied in Arabic that we had come to take the test. We were immediately taken outside and told I would be first Lots of setting up of traffic cones. Everyone had told me this part is so easy. Wasn't looking so easy to me and especially in Diana's big Honda HRV which seemed to be getting bigger by the second.

Very confusingly told to zig zag through about four sets of cones. Am sure they were set out with a mini cooper in mind! Managed to get through and then told to reverse back through them. Got back through until the last set and realised there is no way I am lined up to get through them. Stopped and smiled sweetly and said is that it? A translator said you have failed and must come back next week. Diana in the meantime talks to the guy in Arabic saying no-one explained to me where I should be going and that I didn't understand! OK you have passed he said

Now I have to go back tomorrow morning to do the photo and get my license inshallah!!!! And it was on our way back that our translator told us that they don't like him in the traffic office. GREAT! Will take someone else bukra.

Wish me luck!!!!

LOL ... rather you than me Georgina, maybe you should have had a couple of gins before you went! Hope you get your licence, I'll be thinking of you

 

[Georgina]

so it must be five weeks since i started the process of getting an egyptian driving license. Went back to the office on monday and they said they are still waiting for the paper from cairo but come back tomorrow.....

Went back today and still blank faces. Sat waiting for three hours and the paper was found they then said come saturday to do some more paperwork in the morning and in the afternoon to take your test as there are 41 people waiting to take their test. Why can't we do some more paperwork now? Managed to complete some more paperwork in another office and smiled nicely at the good looking man with stars on his shoulders. He then started to ask why we were there and my friend diana replied in arabic that we had come to take the test. We were immediately taken outside and told i would be first Lots of setting up of traffic cones. Everyone had told me this part is so easy. Wasn't looking so easy to me and especially in diana's big honda hrv which seemed to be getting bigger by the second.

Very confusingly told to zig zag through about four sets of cones. Am sure they were set out with a mini cooper in mind! Managed to get through and then told to reverse back through them. Got back through until the last set and realised there is no way i am lined up to get through them. Stopped and smiled sweetly and said is that it? A translator said you have failed and must come back next week. Diana in the meantime talks to the guy in arabic saying no-one explained to me where i should be going and that i didn't understand! Ok you have passed he said

now i have to go back tomorrow morning to do the photo and get my license inshallah!!!! And it was on our way back that our translator told us that they don't like him in the traffic office. Great! Will take someone else bukra.

Wish me luck!!!!

i got my egyptian driving license yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

 

[SuziQ2708]

i got my egyptian driving license yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

Yipeeeeeeeeeeee........ Well done Georgina .... Any chance of a lift? LOL

 

[danny]

i got my egyptian driving license yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

Alf Mabrouk