Egypt Travel Nightmare!! Why I’ll Never Go Back!!

This place there is no system here There is no step-by-step it's pure chaos and Hierarchy layers and layers of people nobody knows what's going on. It's This video was recorded in Egypt two days after arriving if I sound sick It's because I'm exhausted and I barely slept because of the late-night questioning from the Egyptian police Let's talk about Egypt one of the problems with making videos like this is that when I come to a country that doesn't have freedom of speech where There's a lot of authoritarian rule from the government if I speak out freely about my experience Those opinions can be led back to the person within the country who helped us shoot in the first place and they could possibly be Reprimanded punished or killed. I have no idea. It depends on the country Let's talk about Egypt Egypt is confusing because the people here tell me that there's free speech I guess as long as it doesn't piss off the wrong person each of slogans should be leave your camera at home But bring your money. They don't want you to shoot here. That's very obvious one of the things I like about shooting in Africa in general is that it is a bit of a challenge and that I'm not gonna be competing with a lot of other youtubers or people for content because most people aren't willing to go through the pain and Difficulty and challenges to shoot here, but I am I'm willing to go through all that But here it's been a little bit too much. Let me start from the beginning When we got we were greeted with a surprise kovat test that cost $265 for the team and it took an hour and a half. That's fine. We landed at 1 a.m. By 2 30 a.m We got to the baggage claim. One of our bags was missing because Ethiopian Airlines is a pile of garbage They're still working on delivering it days later after that. We went through customs customs here is intense Literally, everyone gets x-rayed and they poke through your stuff. They don't care They asked us if we had a drone I did not want to F around so I said yes And I handed it over voluntarily that itself took probably an hour and a half because the system I mean system There is no system. It's so disorganized I got passed from guy to guy at least ten different people involved somehow they had to take the drone They had to wrap it up. Somehow. They had to get multiple forms of documentation Even as they said I was done I was like I need like a receipt or a number or something But you just hear people yelling at each other in Arabic because no one knows what's going on So finally our items have made it through customs. It's 4 a.m We get to a hotel around 430 something like that hotels here are very different from other countries The hotel is like an airport. The security is super intense and not like you go through metal detector That's the least of it. They had to x-ray all of our bags again to get into a hotel customer service zero They don't treat you nicely. They're just like put your crap in the x-ray So we put our bags in there one of them sees wires and they're alarmed by this We have wires because we have battery chargers as far as I know. There's nothing legal about this We have consumer gear that anybody traveling as a tourist might have we just have a little bit more of it So they demand we open the bag mind you we're at a hotel I open the bag and then what's revealed is a bunch of chargers and sitting on top of them quiet walkie-talkies We travel with walkie-talkies because it helps us as a production team Oftentimes there's bad Wi-Fi or people can't hear their phone ringing But if they have a walkie-talkie here when we're shooting on a busy street We can quickly communicate about what shots are needed or where we need people to be So the person who saw the walkie-talkies was just a hotel manager And I don't know what it is with gear or certain technology here But when some people see it their brains goes back to the Stone Age. They're like, what is this? Why can you possibly want to have a walkie-talkie unless you're planning to overthrow our government literally it felt like that I'm told there have been two revolutions in this country in the last ten years to say there's a bit of paranoia in this country would be an Understatement there is an intense sense of paranoia and control that is wanting to be kept by certain people I want to make a quick aside here to say we've just been here a few days The people largely have been great. The food's been great, and I love the vibe of the city I just want to shoot it. The thing is they're worried about me talking crap about the country We came here to make food videos They've given me a reason to want to talk crap about the country from there a hotel cop came out the hotel has a cop Too and they start one by one going through our stuff. What is this? I got that holds lights. Okay, so this holds lights It's like yeah, I'm is that profound or shocking? Yes, it's a light stand So they went through all of our stuff and they start picking out certain pieces of gear that they deem Suspicious based on their complete lack of knowledge of anything. Everyone's taking pictures of it It's very dehumanizing at this point because they're going through my personal items picking stuff up or telling me to pick stuff up and then saying what is that and I was like This what is this? It's a back roller. Why do you need this? Why do I need this? How about go I go cuz I exercise and I like to roll on my back and the whole time I have to pretend To be nice because I don't know the consequences if I'm not so from around 4 30 a.m. To 10 a.m We were outside the lobby in the cold it gets very cold in Cairo by the way with the police and more more police coming asking us all types of questions treating us like Criminals and suspecting us of something, but I don't know what it's like I can show you Here's a YouTube channel seven and a half million subscribers. I can't make those numbers up. This is a well-founded channel I'm clearly on camera dot and they were asking for us to show proof that we'd been to different countries together So on this trip, it's my channel manager and two camera guys from Vietnam And they're asking show us in your passports times that you've been in other countries together at the same time and the dates should match Up we better match up and in my head. It's like why does this matter even if we're meeting today for the first time? I'm not bringing anything illegal Apparently the walkie-talkies are illegal or banned that I did not know and immediately I said take him throw him away I don't care, but no that would not suffice So they took our gear and they said that they're gonna hold on to it until we can find a permit I know there's people watching this who think we just came to Egypt randomly and we're like, oh, this will be a fun romp We've been preparing for this trip for 10 weeks. Well before we got here we applied for our permits We weren't supposed to be shooting for two more days. The shooting is supposed to start today Guess what? We finally got our permit yesterday, but now we can't get the police to give us our stuff back They gave us a receipt a receipt for the gear that says that we have a weapon. What's the weapon walkie-talkie? That's a weapon This is what I mean by Stone Age thinking it's not everybody but it's certain people in authority when they see that you have a piece Of equipment so evidently that's a weapon So today right now I'm about to head to the airport where they've taken my gear and we need to try to negotiate Show them our permit we have from the press office Permission to shoot in this country and we have to hope that they will actually give us my stuff back And if not, I'm not sure what the solution is. We have to try to rent gear shoot it on a phone I mean, that's the last thing I want to do. We're spending over a hundred thousand dollars on this Africa trip It's the most I've ever invested into any series I knew it was gonna be challenging But I didn't expect to spend this much money and be posed with the option of potentially having to shoot it on a freaking iPhone So that's still the quick version of the story that's not all the little details in between but that's where we're at so far I've stated what is objectively true. What's objectively happened I don't want this to get anyone in trouble and I hope it doesn't from this point the story continues I want to document this because I know this is not the end even if we get our equipment This is not the end This is gonna be one of the most challenging countries we've ever been to and I've been to places like Iran Nigeria Iran was a cakewalk compared to this because they had clear instructions for if you want to shoot These are the hoops you have to jump through you have to pay these permits and we did it all and we got there and No problem. No problem, but here I don't it's unclear if they have systems. It's unclear if they have Regulations, it seems to go up the flagpole a broad hierarchy of individuals and somebody declares an order from somewhere based on what? I don't know gut feeling assumptions paranoia. So I'm headed to the airport right now. I'm gonna bring the phone I cannot bring this mic because we don't have our other mics and I don't want them to take this mic There's some gear they didn't see or didn't see fit to take they already know we can't shoot because we don't have cameras So I don't think they cared about the rest. Hopefully we can get our gear and our shoot isn't ruined too much for sure This is already costing us more money What I was told late last night is that the police want more money. They want money for a import tax or import fee I'm gonna have to show them how much the gear is worth and they'll charge a percentage of that 10 to 30 percent It's gonna be a few thousand dollars sucks, but we have to do what we have to do The last thing I'm gonna do is leave this country with my tail between my legs I came here to shoot we have a right to shoot and not like a right like I'm an American like no We have a right from this government from the press office to shoot videos. So god damn it. That's what we're gonna do Let's go to the airport I'm not supposed to be recording. I'm in the airport in customs We've been here already to two and a half hours just going back and forth with paperwork I needed a permit just to reenter customs tons of stupid stuff. Finally. I'm here I've handed over my receipt for the gear my passport I had a fancy badge made that says that I can enter Customs look that seems like a worthwhile thing to have to do and so now I wait We have no idea what's gonna happen first They have to locate the gear and then will they give it to us or not? No idea. Are they gonna ask for money? No idea. Let's see Time to be a little secretive again after four hours I'm told they cannot give me my equipment because it's been given to a different department and we need to hire some Intermediary business to work with customs to get our ---- back this place So what I'm talking about for people who said oh you have to do your due diligence. There is no system here There is no plan. There is no step-by-step. It's pure chaos Hierarchy layers and layers of people like you have never seen. Nobody knows what's going on. Nothing gets done. It's a nightmare After this moment, it was clear. We were not gonna get our gear back until we left the country So I went to a store and buy an iPhone and I bought some lights the next day production began Let's go After shooting four episodes and finally leaving the country I Recorded the following video in a hotel in Rwanda while we're shooting our local producers making us pretty paranoid He keeps saying we should try to stay inside We shouldn't raise any interest in people around us and I didn't realize why until halfway through the day We're outside and we're shooting a bakery as we were filming that the police stopped us And by the way, it's not like you see them coming It's just some bald guy with a leather jacket and half a cigarette in his mouth and he pulls out some dirty ID card That was the police. So the police start to gather more of them They tell us to get in our van and follow them to the police station We spent probably an hour at that police station first. They talked to all the local people They talked to our local producer and then finally they talked to us after about half an hour The police officer wanted to go through the footage on my phone. So I show him the footage. He goes Delete that delete that delete that one delete that one delete that one shot by shot a police Officer is telling me what to delete based on what on his feelings. Oh, but what law did I break none? Oh, but there must be like a rule. No, no rule This is what it's like to shoot in Egypt And by the way, this is somebody with a permit when we asked our local producer. What purpose did the permit have? He said well, we're not in jail Lovely country This is why I have an obligation and a responsibility to tell you guys to not go to Egypt This country earns 12% of its GDP through tourism and they treat tourists like trash It would be something different if I was going to the Congo does Congo advertise themselves as a tourist friendly destination No, but Egypt does and they're anything but so you might be asking yourself Wow, Sonny. You deleted a whole shoot No, of course not. These guys are very dumb What I did is while we were on our way to the police station We airdropped a bunch of the footage from one phone to a dummy phone. I had the dummy phone I showed them the dummy footage as soon as he said I had to delete it. I didn't go. Okay, cool I said really are you sure? I mean, is there something different we can do for next time? It's just we're just trying to make the show about food in Egypt. He's like, yeah, sorry Got to delete it So I deleted it and we still have all the footage the rest of that shooting day was pretty awful because now I'm not enjoying It and I'm always looking out for police and then our local producer is just making us more paranoid if we try to stick the Phone out the window to get a shot. He's like no police put your phone down We finished the day we get back to the hotel and I'm feeling pretty defeated the next day We left Cairo and we were hoping things would be better. We were heading to a camel market and the camel market was interesting It's a very cool place. You can see footage of it right now. Very fascinating. But I mean even on the way there There's so many checkpoints in Egypt We crossed a checkpoint and then the guy just looked at all of us and was like no you can't use this road There are freedoms in the USA that I've just completely taken for granted my whole life like the freedom to just drive from Minnesota to California if you want to but in Egypt if you cross the checkpoint and they don't want you to go they don't need To tell you why there's no rule. There's no law. You just don't get to go So we had to circle all the way around adding hours to our trip And finally we got to the camel market at the camel market I bought a camel and after interacting with the different local people there and buying the camel and paying a lot of money $1,400 for a camel we tried to leave and then something happened there Which happened a lot in that country the local people tried to stop us from until we gave them money from there We took the camel to an oasis a city far far from Cairo And we luckily didn't have any issues with police for a little while just because we were so far away from the population Epicenter many of our experiences were bad there just because we had a bad local producer I mean he got a terrible lodge for us, which was near freezing and we were all not feeling well anyways So I don't want to get into every little nitpicky terrible thing that happened and maybe I will one day and I'll do a big Long podcast and you can hear about it, but instead of focusing on him I want to focus on the big picture and something that could really have impact and Hopefully create change in Egypt and that is how awful they treat tourists after our shooting we head back to Cairo We shot another video in Cairo without that producer We shot it with a different local tour guide who actually his name was Joe and his company was fantastic and very helpful And so luckily meeting Joe it was just a completely different side of the country I was like, oh wait people like can be organized and can ambush it together and can be clear and communicate something I've not experienced up to that point they exist the last final terrible moment happened when we tried to leave the country We didn't know how to get the gear back and they never clearly explained They just say when you leave you'll get it So we go to the airport we check in and then I have to go through the process of getting all my stuff back The problem is I have a limited amount of time because our plane is gonna take off soon So they have my drone that's in one terminal and then all the stuff they took from me at the hotel is in another terminal And so I am just walking around with a local guy who's really taking his time. No one can clarify. What are the steps? What's happening? And so step by step just like dropping the drone off I have to go through all these steps again to get my stuff back in the end. I paid them roughly $350 for the pleasure of taking my stuff away and holding it in a locker. So finally, I've got all my gear I'm so relieved because I really thought I might have to leave without it and I've got big bags bags full of cameras big lithium Batteries they've tied and sealed every bag shut because their feelings are we do not want you to open this bag at all Until you're on the airplane or in another country because they perceive the items in that bag to be of some sort of threat So we have my bags and they go. Well, you need to check it in I go well, I can't check it because it's full of lithium batteries. I can't check it We go back and forth about eight times in this conversation before someone's like, oh, oh Right lithium batteries. I say just let me open the bag and pull out the batteries. Absolutely not I had to stay with security and my bags up until the time I boarded the flight They walked me to security now the security guy says hey open these bags and I look at the security from the airport I'm like, what am I supposed to do? You guys say I can't open it. He says open it So they look at him and they go. No, he doesn't open it. Awesome. So he scans it. He says, alright, well, it's fine I'm gonna keep your passport you go sit down You're gonna keep my passport who would though from this point? I'm like, I'm am I arrested? Am I a prisoner? Like what is going on? So I'm told to sit near the security guy Well, he finishes checking everybody else in eventually everybody is done going through security. I say hey, can I get my passport back? This guy walks me to the front of the line and then at that point He gives me my passport and I have never been so relieved in my life to leave a country In the end, why am I making this video? I want to tell you my story so that you can avoid the same situation I think a lot of people are naive about Egypt and they think well, it's a tourist country. They have this big massive tourist attraction They would probably treat me like a tourist or at least be neutral, but these people were actively awful I'm telling this story because something needs to change in Egypt. Now, do I have any hope that Egypt is gonna change? No, absolutely not, but we can change we can stop going there. We can stop traveling there We can stop giving them our dollars or whatever currency you have in your country The only pressure most people understand and most countries understand is losing money until things improve. I recommend don't go to Egypt Yeah, you might be one of the lucky ones Maybe you get away with nothing happening and people might say well just don't bring cameras Okay, but don't take pictures with your iPhone either because that's what we did people might say Oh, you should have known the rules. Um, I had a permit given to me by the government What you're thinking of is a society that makes sense that has rules and laws that people understand and play by this place is a Complete mess. Maybe one day they'll improve Maybe one day they'll try to restructure or retrain or find a better way to treat people Maybe implement some actual systems that make sense and work until that date far far away or until they actually Demonstrate some willingness to want to change and improve don't go to eat. I've been a travel host professionally for six years I have filmed in over 25 countries. This is the first time I've ever recommended you not going somewhere That's my story guys that is it for this one right now We are also publishing our Egypt series on the main channel and you can see some of these crazy moments play out in real life Plus see all of the food really interesting food. Anyways, check it out on the main channel. That is it for this one Thank you so much for watching. I will see you next time Peace