Health and Safety

All major hotels and cruise ships will have an emergency doctor and dentist on call at all times, so if you become ill or suffer an accident in your room, call the front desk for help. All senior medical staff will speak English, so you will be able to explain your symptoms or your concerns. Hospitals are generally clean and well kept; however, medical facilities are not comprehensive.

Since the tragic incident in November 1997 at Deir al-Bahri (the Temple of Hatshepsut) near the Valley of the Kings, where terrorists killed 59 foreign tourists and four Egyptians, the presence of security personnel in Upper Egypt has become a fact of life. Security in Aswan is more visible and more insistent than in other parts of the country. Police-escorted convoys are required for all travel between Aswan and Abu Simbel. Police permission—request it at least 24 hours in advance—is required to travel overland anywhere else beyond Aswan. This limits your freedom of movement, but it also provides for your safety.