Living in Egypt

How much does it cost for two to live well in Egypt?

  • 300€ or less per month

    Votes: 12 21.4%
  • 400€ per month

    Votes: 10 17.9%
  • 500€ per month

    Votes: 14 25.0%
  • 600€ or more per month

    Votes: 20 35.7%

  • Total voters
    56
queenie40something

queenie40something

Senior Member
I have heard that the Egyptian postal service is a bit dodgy.

Is it possible to get a poste restante/PO Box/maildrop service at the post offices there?

Are they easy to set up, or do they want visas, etc.?

Any idea how much they cost?
Hi see below

You can only do this at the Post Office El Hurghada Far'e in El Dahar (Downtown). You need a car to get there, otherwise its near impossible. It is about 200m north of the big MISR Petrol Station on the left hand side of the Inner Ring Road, beside the Police Station.

Go into the actual Post Office first (the Post Office Box room is round the corner of the building). They do speak quite good English there (since they are dealing with a lot of foreigners). You need 3 copies of your passport and 7LE to pay for the stamp fee and setting up the Post Office Box.

The actual fee for 1 year rental is 40LE. You can pay for 2 years in advance if you like. They will give you an official looking document with a lot of stamps on it (this is what you paid the 7LE for). On this document you will find your new Post Office Box number.

But you are not quite finished yet. With this paper you go out of the Post Office and go round the side of the same building. There you find the actual Post Office Box room. Currently Mr. Allah presides over it and he speaks no English (but is very nice nonetheless). You present your stamped paper and 10L. The 10LE is for a new lock for your box. Under normal circumstances they will fit it right away and you are on the way to receiving your mail.

Please note that even though the Post Offices are open from 8.30AM (8.30) to 3PM (15.00) and 5.30PM (17.50) to 11PM (23.00) , you can only open a Post Office Box during the morning shift.

See National Postal Authority - Home
 
P

propertastic

New Member
Thank you for the very comprehensive info on getting a PO Box.

Seems like it will be a bit of a challenge, but I expect that dealing with anything official is going to be like that.
 
queenie40something

queenie40something

Senior Member
Your welcome. If anyone does get round to doing this maybe they could report back.
 
J

J4hurghada

Banned
When I bought my apartment I was given a postal address which is a PO box. This postal box is for the whole of our block and the developers pick up the mail and we pick up from them, while we are out of the country they sort out the bills for us. We signed for them to do this for us. Any mail that they get they inform us by email.
 
A

awahee123

Banned
That is good customer service j4.
I think it is the way forward if one person or organisation can keep track of everything whilst you are away from your property it would make life a lot easier.
It must be good to know your bills are paid until your next visit.
 
J

J4hurghada

Banned
That is good customer service j4.
I think it is the way forward if one person or organisation can keep track of everything whilst you are away from your property it would make life a lot easier.
It must be good to know your bills are paid until your next visit.
I never worry about my apartment while out of the country, there is 24 hour security and you have to sign in any visitors while you are there even. The maintanece team are on hand too in the block. And yes my water and electric bills are paid for me. Anything else that need my attention the company will email me (but up to press they have not emailed) so everything is ok.
They also offer transfers to and from airport and send a cleaner in before we land in Hurghada.

I feel its these little things that give you peice of mind.

Jayne
 
P

propertastic

New Member
I use disposable contact lenses.

Am I going to be able to get them in Hurghada, does anyone know?

They're Johnson & Johnson Acuvue, the biggest selling brand in the world and I've found them everywhere else.
 
L

Lsab

New Member
lenses/aramex

I just posted, on the television thread, some info about a company called aramex. I would think that if you're unable to buy your lenses in Hurghada, you could have them delivered to you from the UK. Would your UK optician mail them to you?


I use disposable contact lenses.

Am I going to be able to get them in Hurghada, does anyone know?

They're Johnson & Johnson Acuvue, the biggest selling brand in the world and I've found them everywhere else.
 
P

propertastic

New Member
I just posted, on the television thread, some info about a company called aramex. I would think that if you're unable to buy your lenses in Hurghada, you could have them delivered to you from the UK. Would your UK optician mail them to you?
Mailing them is one option for sure, but I am still not 100% sure that anything I order by post is going to arrive in Egypt.

It would be a lot easier just to walk into an optician in Hurghada and buy them over the counter if such a place exists.
 
Peter Mitry

Peter Mitry

<B>Egypt Forum Founder Member</B>
You seem to be able to buy most things medical in Egypt at a fraction of their cost in the West. I am sure that you will soon find where to buy them from...
 
propertywatch1

propertywatch1

<b>Official Photographer</b>
next time i pass a pharmacy i will ask.
but im sure ive seen the adverts for them here.
we can every kind of prescribed drug her..without prescription.
including ventolin etc.
As a matter of interest karen lost half her tooth so went to the dentist here.
It cost 400 le to repair the tooth with the white filling(note most of her tooth had gone)
A porcelaine crown will cost 800 le.
A check up would have cost 50 le and a normal amalgum(silver) filling costs 100 le
 
P

propertastic

New Member
Yes, my girfriend fell over and smacked her head while we were there (watch those kerbstones, everyone!) and she went to one of the little private foriegner hospitals. Although it was really nothing serious, she had a doctor, nurse and orderly looking after her in a private room for a whole day.

It only cost EUR50 (and we had insurance in any case).

Finally I will be someplace where I can afford to get ill!
 
P

propertyborders

New Member
Yes, my girfriend fell over and smacked her head while we were there (watch those kerbstones, everyone!) and she went to one of the little private foriegner hospitals. Although it was really nothing serious, she had a doctor, nurse and orderly looking after her in a private room for a whole day.

It only cost EUR50 (and we had insurance in any case).

Finally I will be someplace where I can afford to get ill!
Hopefully you will not need the hospital. Your more likely to get ill with tansillitis, a nice sun TAN LOL lucky you.
 
P

propertastic

New Member
Hopefully you will not need the hospital. Your more likely to get ill with tansillitis, a nice sun TAN LOL lucky you.
Ironically, I'm not a sea, sun and sand person at all. Bores me silly.

I feel very guilty about this as I know that there are thousands of people who would move to Hurghada in an instant if they could only find a way of making a living there so they can enjoy all of the advantages of 365 days a year of summer.

And here's me that will be happily sitting inside all day with the curtains drawn and aircon set on max bashing away on the keyboard like I've been doing everywhere else.

Pearls before swine!
 
Peter Mitry

Peter Mitry

<B>Egypt Forum Founder Member</B>
I'm really looking forward to moving over! At these prices I can afford a whole new mouthful of pearly whites!!
 
A

awahee123

Banned
Egypt certainlt ticks most of the boxes for living,I wouldn't imagine there would be a massive problem for anybody to get work at the moment as long as they weren't thinking of earning a mass working for somebody.
To be honest other then that it's looking good.
 
P

propertastic

New Member
Egypt certainlt ticks most of the boxes for living,I wouldn't imagine there would be a massive problem for anybody to get work at the moment as long as they weren't thinking of earning a mass working for somebody.
To be honest other then that it's looking good.
I agree totally.

Anyone looking for a well-paid 9 to 5 in Egypt is going to do well to get a salary much better than an Egyptian would unless they have some very special skills that are needed.

Hurghada is a small town though, so I don't see any great demand there for B2B type skills.

However, I was taught that the key to making money is to "find a need and fill it"

Everywhere I look in Hurghada I see unfulfilled needs. We've already discussed the need for a good rental agency, the need for more excursion type activities, a good English/Irish pub, somewhere that sells English type groceries (including bacon!). I could add to that a free English-language newspaper/What's On Guide (the Russians have theirs already).

I could go on - everywhere I looked I saw another opportunity - but there are only so many hours in a day to explore them all.

The English-speaking expat population is still tiny at the moment, but you can see from this forum alone that more and more people are thinking of going over there. As it expands, so more opportunities present themselves.

Can someone open an English-language bookstore please? That's the one thing that I know I'm going to miss.

Anyone with a little capital and entrepreneurial spirit should do OK in Hurghada if they do a bit of homework, work hard and take precautions against getting ripped off.
 
A

awahee123

Banned
Hi Nick,

I totallly agree, mass opportunity here without trying too hard to be honest.
some common sense and you could be on your way to a good living,the door is wide open,lets hope all our developemnts get finished soon so we can all start to enjoy.
 
queenie40something

queenie40something

Senior Member
We got it in Sharm!!

Hi - this is where Sharm, in my opinion, is a little more advanced. We already have a pork butchers that is doing very well. It has started to supply pork products to Papa's outlets who now have full english breakfast and ham,egg and chips on their menus. There is a new bookstore that has opened which is on a bring and buy basis. Take in your books that you have read whilst on holiday sell them to the owner and then buy others cheaply. How many of us leave our read books in our hotel rooms or in the hotel lobby??

We also have Sharm women website that has sections for jobs, wanted, for sale and a forum and whats on guide.

On arrival at the airport tourists are given free info packs which contain a fab little book called Hello Red Sea. This is also distributed in Dahab and Nuweiba. It is full of useful info such as know it, do it, speak, it, taste it, etc etc. There is also a small section on ' own it ' that gives some advise and there is only 1 advert for holiday homes from Delta Sharm. There are no Real Estates advertising in this great little book that is given out to thousands of tourists.

There is another free book called the Mix which has monthly issues and can be picked up from restaurants, bars, supermarkets etc. There are 7000 copies distributed monthly. Again a great read but has more info on buying. It also has a directory of names, addresses and phone numbers for shops, restaurants, real estate etc ( they run your news and listings FREE of charge )

Queenie
 
Peter Mitry

Peter Mitry

<B>Egypt Forum Founder Member</B>
Anyone who has visited Spain or Portugal regularly will know that in every area where the British are living there is a network of British owned businesses which have been set up to supply the (dare I say it!) lazy British ex pats who can't or won't learn the language. In Egypt learning arabic is even harder so there is a great opportunity for an ex pat 'safety net' of businesses that speak our language and understand our needs.
 
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