Planning
Just like most travellers, one of the places I'm really looking forward to see is Egypt. It was back in November 2012 when I booked my tickets through Qatar Airways. Since then I slowly started planning the trip, I bought the Lonely Planet guide, started looking at a place to stay (even considered trying CouchSurfing) and checked the things to do in Egypt. I am staying for about 9 days.
Visa
For Filipino passport holders, a Visa is required before you may enter Egypt. Because I had a prior travel plan which was in Taiwan, I only managed to apply for a Visa about 3 weeks before my departure. It was a mistake on my part as within that 3 weeks is a few days of Public Holidays because of Chinese New Year. I went to the Egyptian Embassy and submitted the requirements. I was told that the approval is about 2 weeks and then additional 4 days for the processing. I asked the lady in the Embassy about the possibility of not making it as my flight is due exactly 3 weeks from the date I applied. She can't guarantee anything to me, she said it all depends to the people who will approve it. She asked me to contact them again to follow up. I called them about 5 days before my flight and she said it's not approved yet. I requested her to call me immediately as soon as it's approved. Luckily the following day she called saying that I can now bring my passport to them for processing. It was the most stressful week for any visa application I've encountered. 1 day before I left, I collected my passport and breathed a sigh of relief.
Requirements:
1) One recent coloured photo with white background
3) Photocopy of passport & Singapore status (bring along the original)
4) Letter from Company (date joined, position and salary)
5) Flight itinerary
6) Visa fee: S$46.00 (single entry) S$58.00 (multiple entry). Both entries are valid for 3 months from date of ISSUE and maximum stay 1 month from date of ENTRY.
7) processing about 1 - 2 weeks (subject to approval)
Egypt Embassy in Singapore
No. 8 Eu Tong Sen St.
#25-85 The Central
Singapore 059818
Tel No.: 65 6225 5991 Closest MRT Station: Clark Quay in the North East (Purple) Line
The Flight
Because I booked Qatar Airways, that means there is going to be a stopover in Doha. For the inbound flight, the layover is 9 hours. For the outbound flight it is shorter, just 3 hours. I reached the Changi Airport about 2 hours before my flight. I already checked-in online so I just need to drop my baggage to the counter. Flight to Doha was full. We left on time, 9:10 PM Singapore time. We reached Doha about 5 minutes before midnight local time. Went straight to Gate 40 where my Cairo flight will be. Didn't have the chance to sleep as there's no proper sleeping area and there's nothing much to do in the Airport. For the whole 9 hours I was just watching TV Series I have on my iPad.
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| Qatar Airways Flight 643 from Singapore to Doha |
Cairo Bound
At around 9AM, 1 March we left Doha. Flight is about 3 hours to Cairo, we reached Cairo at about 12 PM. It is a pretty old airport, the Immigartion Officer was smoking while checking my passport. It was pretty smooth though. I went straight to collect my baggage. I had to wait in the airport because my cousin will arrive via Gulf Air about an hour later. An hour passed and my cousin has not showed up yet, it turned out that he was asked to go to the Immigration office, not knowing what happened because they don't speak English. I waited for more than 30 minutes more before he was finally allowed to go out. He still didn't know what happened, he has the Visa and all the requirements but he didn't have a clear understanding on why he was held.
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| Doha International Airport |
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| 9 hours layover can be pretty tiring too |
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| Cairo International Airport |
Currency Exchange
Singapore Dollar is not a popular currency in Egypt. I had to borrow some US dollars from my cousin to change money. This is also the case even in Cairo city proper. I found one Money Exhange center but the exchange rate was really low. It's supposed to be 1 SGD = 5.4 EGP but I got it for only 3.5 EGP. I had no choice because I don't have any local money. I ended up withdrawing from my bank's ATM to have a better exchange rate (even if there is a transaction charge)
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| Egyptian Pounds |
Tips:
• When applying for visa, please make sure you do it ATLEAST 5 weeks before your scheduled departure.
• Prior to going to Egypt, when coming from Singapore or the Philippines, try to change your money to US Dollars first. It is widely accepted in Egypt and the exchange rate is pretty good.
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