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Tummy upsetsAs elsewhere in Egypt, be careful with what you eat. Raw leafy vegetables, egg-based dressings like mayonnaise and minced meat are particularly risky. Avoid cold salads and puddings from buffets even in the 5* hotels just to be on the safe side.Opinions on tap water vary, but most visitors choose to stick to the bottled stuff. Large bottles of water can be purchased for 2 or 3 LE. Avoid ice in drinks, and only eat fruit with a skin you can wash or peel.You may find that tummy medications you bring from home simply don't work.All visitors would do well to buy from any pharmacy Egyptian brand drugs. The best and most common being Entocid and Antinal. Diarrhea and vomiting can almost always be stopped by taking 2 of these tablets with a glass of water in a few hours.If symptoms persist, it is wise to consult a doctor as dehydration in Summer can come on quickly.
Smog can reach extreme levels, especially in late summer and fall before the rains. This, coupled with the summer heat, can make spending time outdoors in the summer quite unpleasant.
MosquitosMosquitos are a part of life in Egypt so you will have to live with them. They are active from dusk till dawn, and then find a dark sheltered place to sleep during the heat of the day. They love humidity and wet environments where they breed. They also love leafy green gardens, and hedging. Sitting around lakes, pools, or in a garden at night can be suicide.Only the female bites, and one female in a bedroom can cause much discomfort by morning, so it is always wise to kill any before sleeping. A fly swatter is best as they move due to air pressure, swatting with a newspaper will not work. Mosquito repellent sprays are of little value either.Most hotels will have smoke sprays at dusk to quieten them down but they will revive and attack later.The best defense is to kill any in hotel rooms. Wear long sleeves and long trousers when out at night.When out sit in a breeze or in front of a fan as they do not like moving air. The mosquito tablets and burners merely make them sleepy, they do not kill them. It's better to spend a few minutes going round the hotel room killing any you see than suffer days of itching and painful bites.
The main post office (http://www.egyptpost.org/...) of Cairo is on Midan Ataba open 7AM - 7PM Sa - Th, 7AM - 12 noon Fr and holidays. The poste restante office is to be found along the side street to the right of the main entrance to the post office and through the last door open 8AM - 6PM Sat - Th, 10AM - 12 noon Fr and holidays - mail will be held for 3 weeks.
Egypt-Post livery is green and yellow.
There are two kind of mail boxes for international and domestic use. They are typically found on the street in pairs, colored green and yellow. It is said that your mail will be delivered no matter which one you use.Always use the register mail facility to post anything valuable or important. It takes longer but each step of the journey is recorded, as many letters do not arrive at their destinations when using regular mail service.
tourist information
The Egyptian Tourist Authority (http://www.touregypt.net) has offices in Cairo City Center, 5 Adly Street, phone: 3913454, Pyramids, Pyramids Street, phine: 3838823, fax: 3838823, Rameses Railway Station, phone: 5790767, Giza Railway Station, phone: 5702233, El Manial, Manial Palace, phone: 5315587, Airport, phone: 2654760, fax: 4157475, New Airport, phone: 2652223, fax: 4164195 and Cairo International, Airport' phone: 2914255 ext.2223.
internet
The Internet is rapidly growing in Cairo as in many other Egyptian and Middle Eastern cities. There is now a profusion of established internet cafés and venues, with many more opening for business each month. An hour in a downtown net cafe will set you back 3-5LE. A growing number of cafés including Cilantro and Beanos provide wifi for free, and if all else fails, you can always drop into a McDonalds and try their network. Luxury hotels often provide WiFi at a premium. Also, mobile providers offer relatively high speed internet access via a USB dongle. For example, a Mobinil or a Vodafone USB dongle and sim card will cost you 99LE with 50LE of credit.
If you have access to a traditional telephone line in Cairo, then you will be able to access the internet through dial-up connection for 1.25 LE per hour by dialing 0777 XXXX numbers.
mobile phones
In Egypt, cell phone are a way of life. Walking down any street, or on a crowded bus, it seems that most Egyptians are addicted to cell phones similar to what you may find in Japan or Korea. Instead of using your phone from your home country which often tend to carry very high roaming fees, consider obtaining an Egyptian SIM card or cheap unlocked phone. The 2 main carriers in Egypt are Mobinil (http://www.mobinil.com/) and Vodafone Egypt (http://www.vodafone.com.e...), with UAE's Etisalat (http://etisalat.com.eg/po...) a growing 3rd player in the Egyptian market. Mobinil (http://www.mobinil.com/) and Vodafone (http://www.vodafone.com.e...) offer the best coverage, but for tourists Etisalat is the best option because it gives the most bang for your buck with minutes and seems to have the lowest calling rates abroad out of any of the 3 a difference of paying $0.55USD per minute for a call to the States than paying $2.50 USD for using your home GSM provider on roaming.
You can find mobile dealerships in every section of Cairo frankly, you can't avoid them, and getting set up is fairly easy. SIM cards for any of the 3 providers go for about 5-20 LE about 1 to 5 USD. You will need to bring your identification its recommended to bring a copy of your ID, as you may not want someone walking off with your passport in a shady shop to make a copy. If you don't have an unlocked phone, many shops will sell cheap older models usually Nokia phones as secondhand phones. But beware, make sure that the phone is fully functional before purchasing it, and buying a used one is at your own risk as a good percentage of these tend to be stolen ones.