Don’t go to Egypt

D O N T G O T O E G Y P T
please share to stop the violence of Agyptian police
I’m currently “cycling” trough Egypt and would definitely warn you to AVOID EGYPT.
After I visited on a bike 75 countries is this the worse experience.
I have been cycling three years ago from Luxor to Khartum but then police car was just following us till Assuan. Recently Me and my friend bought a air ticket to Alexandria and return ticket from Sharm El Sheikh but later I found out that cycling is not allowed around Sinai… so we bought another tickets Luxor Cairo Sharm El Sheikh (130€) because decided to cycle from Beni Suef to Luxor. I checked cycling situation on our (Slovenian) embassy in Cairo and Egyptian Embassy in our capital and enquired also through our Egyptian hosts. Cycling from Alex to Ismailia and to Suez was fine without checkins.
After I checked where I may or not cycle we arrived after 130km, 8h cycling from Suez to the check point at Zaafarana at a Red Sea and police told me (at 4pm) that I have return and cycle back to Suez the same day!They wanted to convince me that this is for my safety… could you imagine?
Then we went trough very unpleasant interrogation and negotiation with a second group of policemen in-front of hotel where I decided to sleep. At the end they said that I may travel with a public bus to Beni Suef and I agreed. They wake me up at 2am asking for my passport, profession… and I, of course, refused to obey. Next morning they told me that I have to go back to Ismailia (250km north) although I told them that I have to fly out of Luxor which is on the South… They also lied that they were in contact with our Embassy from which I got a lot of support. Then they were transferring me and my bike around 8h and we “have to” stop every 5 to 10km for 15-30’ and police cars and staff were changing every time and every new escorting group were interrogating me again and again and they hardly spoken anything else but Arabic. I almost lost my mind and two times protested to their by stopping a traffic on a highways. I’m sure that in this ridicules project was involved more than 40 policeman and more than 30 cars. Could you imagine? And at the end “for my safety”, of course, they left me at the entrance of 14 line highway and told me that I should cycle 7km to the bus station but indeed it was 28km… for my safety already by night.
Today I started in Beni Suef and first 40km was fine without control but than police stoped me and demanded that I continue by train. I did because I got after last day torture tired and lost my voice and traveled around 60km by train with police escort. In a small town where I get off police car waited for me and they just followed me to buy some food and another 20km out of the town. But than a police wan with a new patrol wanted to stoped me cycling and I went for a while cycling on a rural path next to the road. After they said that is cycling here to dangerous and that I have to put my bike in their wan. They drowe me to Minya train station and wanted that I depart but I, of course, refused and told them that I’m going to stay in Minya overnight. They told me that a train ticket would be free for me and I told them that my proud is worth much more than few $. I told them several times that I need to go to the toilet and they always responded “a minute”. So I have to escape them to get to the toilet to the nearest hotel. After they realized that we are not going to move out of the town they told us that we should stay in hotel. I refused because we were invited by a host to his home. I wanted to go to the park nearby to eat my food and a policeman pushed me from the bike so I felt down and my leg was injured because stuck under the bicycle. Than I walked to the park… After a while our host arrived to hotel and new session of negotiations started. Police told to my host that he can not host us and I answered that in this case they have to pay for a hotel. They refused and we said that than we will sleep on the street. Than they persuaded our host that we may stay with him if we promise that we will leave in the morning by train. I refused and told them that I will not allow anyone to violate my human rights and told them that we will tomorrow cycle and that they may only follow us but not obstruct us otherwise they could expect my new rebellions.

Yesterday I meet also an American guy, who was not a cyclist. He left hotel at 3am because of the police harassment and left to Cairo Airport because and said that he don’t want to stay even a day in Egypt.