It's Veterans Day today, and it's also 11.11.11 as the date goes. Naturally tourist sites have been preparing for both, but with the major difference that Veterans Day takes place in the US and focuses on looking at history and remembering while 11.11.11 happens around the world, with a focus on the future.

For some however, it's actually a lack thereof (the future) with the belief that the world will end today. Well it hasn't yet, and Egypt's Great Pyramid can attest to this. Fearing negative attention and spiritual ceremonies, the Great Pyramid was closed to tourists. The AP notes that only the pyramid was on lock-down: ]]> JetSetCD 2011-11-11T10:35:33-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/2/28/03916/4848

Cairo's Tahrir Square is clear of the makeshift dwellings of the protestors who were in it for the long-haul before Mubarak stepped down, and now, as the site of another event in the country's history, Cairo is looking to capitalize on the Square's popularity...and fast. So fast indeed, that they've invited lovely little Oprah Winfrey (and other famous faces) to come and do shows in the Square.

The brainstormer behind this is Egypt's freshly appointed Minister of Tourism, Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, and he's got designs on more than just the queen of media. Nour is anxious to dip into social media as well, as Egyptian paper Al-Masry Al-Youm reports: ]]> JetSetCD 2011-02-28T09:06:34-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/2/22/103216/976

Woo—who wants to go to Egypt now that the revolution's most violent days are behind us? No one? Yea, we didn't think the traveling public would be so eager to jump back into Cairo when they've barely cleared the makeshift protestor shacks from Tahrir Square. Still, the portion of the country that earns their income from tourism still needs to eat, and thus the pyramids have reopened to visitors.

This Voice of America article that interviewed some of the locals who work at the pyramids is quite eye-opening, especially with excerpts like this: ]]> JetSetCD 2011-02-22T11:55:16-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/2/20/234115/154

This week's episode of An Idiot Abroad landed Karl Pilkington right in the middle of the one world destination most people will be avoiding for the next few months: Cairo.

Obviously, the episode was filmed long before the recent turmoil in Egypt, not that it would have mattered much to the show's producer Ricky Gervais, who purposely tries to make each journey as uncomfortable as possible for his sidekick Pilkington. ]]> cmb 2011-02-21T08:35:09-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/2/3/105348/2847

This may be a long shot, but for those whom it touches, it could be a lifesaver:

The maker of one of our favorite favorite iPhone Travel Apps (Tokyo Teleport), is offering their newest app, Cairo Taxi Guide, for FREE right now in order to aid any foreigners in Egypt who are perhaps not so well-versed in Arabic.

The premise is simple; search a glossary of landmarks, museums, and really everything else in Cairo in order to discover how to say that you'd like to go there, in Arabic. The app provides clear taxi cards to show to your driver, so that you aren't literally just taken for a ride. They've also released similar Taxi Guide apps, priced between $5.99 and $9.99 each, for Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. ]]> JetSetCD 2011-02-03T10:53:48-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/2/1/152342/1657
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It's located right at the Sadat metro station in the center

Conflicting reports from major news outlets today tell us that anywhere from 200,000 to 2 million protesters have converged upon Tahrir Square in Cairo, where the anti-Mubarak chanting and demonstrating has reached a fever pitch on this, the ninth day of protests in Cairo. And, in the news, it's all Tahrir Square, Tahrir Square, Tahrir Square...but what is the significance of this spot, where exactly is it, in relation to the rest of Cairo, and why are the protesters coming here?

The answer is simple: protesters are gathering at Tahrir Square because, in a bustling and crowded city like Cairo, Tahrir is one of the biggest open expanses in the city. Plus, it's located at a major traffic nexus, for subway and other transportation. But most importantly, Tahrir is the historical site of past protests, including that against the War in Iraq. If you want to know even more, Tahrir is very important to the modern Cairo, as within the vicinity of it are many western 4- and 5-star hotels (like the Hilton, Intercontinental, Kempinski and Four Seasons), the Egyptian Museum, the American University, and essentially, the heart of tourism.

If you, like us, are curious about exactly how many people are in Tahrir Square today, check out WIRED's great article that works out approximating it.]]> JetSetCD 2011-02-01T15:58:33-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/1/31/101211/784

Where are you right now? Since it's Monday, you're likely back to work and daydreaming of somewhere else. Well, take a moment today to be thankful for the fact that you are not one of the desperate thousands trapped in the humanity of Cairo International Airport as the place has broken down into chaos. MSNBC noted one particularly crazed moment at the airport: "By midday, an announcement filtered through the crowd instructing groups of Danish, German, Chinese, British and Canadian passengers that their governments had sent planes to evacuate them, prompting a nervous stampede toward the gates."

With many airlines temporarily cutting off their Cairo routes "until further notice" and a large percentage of both airport and airline employees unable to even make it to the airport to carry out their jobs of getting people out, CAI more than qualifies as a complete sh*tshow. Let it also be known that with the internet down, for those travelers still in Egypt rearranging travel plans is no small feat. ]]> JetSetCD 2011-01-31T10:35:43-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/