Living in Egypt

[queenie40something]

Originally Posted by propertastic

I have heard that the Egyptian postal service is a bit dodgy.

Is it possible to get a poste restante/PO Box/maildrop service at the post offices there?

Are they easy to set up, or do they want visas, etc.?

Any idea how much they cost?

Hi see below

You can only do this at the Post Office El Hurghada Far'e in El Dahar (Downtown). You need a car to get there, otherwise its near impossible. It is about 200m north of the big MISR Petrol Station on the left hand side of the Inner Ring Road, beside the Police Station.

Go into the actual Post Office first (the Post Office Box room is round the corner of the building). They do speak quite good English there (since they are dealing with a lot of foreigners). You need 3 copies of your passport and 7LE to pay for the stamp fee and setting up the Post Office Box.

The actual fee for 1 year rental is 40LE. You can pay for 2 years in advance if you like. They will give you an official looking document with a lot of stamps on it (this is what you paid the 7LE for). On this document you will find your new Post Office Box number.

But you are not quite finished yet. With this paper you go out of the Post Office and go round the side of the same building. There you find the actual Post Office Box room. Currently Mr. Allah presides over it and he speaks no English (but is very nice nonetheless). You present your stamped paper and 10L. The 10LE is for a new lock for your box. Under normal circumstances they will fit it right away and you are on the way to receiving your mail.

Please note that even though the Post Offices are open from 8.30AM (8.30) to 3PM (15.00) and 5.30PM (17.50) to 11PM (23.00) , you can only open a Post Office Box during the morning shift.

See National Postal Authority - Home

[propertastic]

Thank you for the very comprehensive info on getting a PO Box.

Seems like it will be a bit of a challenge, but I expect that dealing with anything official is going to be like that.

[queenie40something]

Your welcome. If anyone does get round to doing this maybe they could report back.

[J4hurghada]

When I bought my apartment I was given a postal address which is a PO box. This postal box is for the whole of our block and the developers pick up the mail and we pick up from them, while we are out of the country they sort out the bills for us. We signed for them to do this for us. Any mail that they get they inform us by email.

[awahee123]

That is good customer service j4.
I think it is the way forward if one person or organisation can keep track of everything whilst you are away from your property it would make life a lot easier.
It must be good to know your bills are paid until your next visit.

[J4hurghada]

Originally Posted by awahee123

That is good customer service j4.
I think it is the way forward if one person or organisation can keep track of everything whilst you are away from your property it would make life a lot easier.
It must be good to know your bills are paid until your next visit.

I never worry about my apartment while out of the country, there is 24 hour security and you have to sign in any visitors while you are there even. The maintanece team are on hand too in the block. And yes my water and electric bills are paid for me. Anything else that need my attention the company will email me (but up to press they have not emailed) so everything is ok.
They also offer transfers to and from airport and send a cleaner in before we land in Hurghada.

I feel its these little things that give you peice of mind.

Jayne

[propertastic]

I use disposable contact lenses.

Am I going to be able to get them in Hurghada, does anyone know?

They're Johnson & Johnson Acuvue, the biggest selling brand in the world and I've found them everywhere else.

[Lsab]

I just posted, on the television thread, some info about a company called aramex. I would think that if you're unable to buy your lenses in Hurghada, you could have them delivered to you from the UK. Would your UK optician mail them to you?

Originally Posted by propertastic

I use disposable contact lenses.

Am I going to be able to get them in Hurghada, does anyone know?

They're Johnson & Johnson Acuvue, the biggest selling brand in the world and I've found them everywhere else.

[propertastic]

Originally Posted by lsab

I just posted, on the television thread, some info about a company called aramex. I would think that if you're unable to buy your lenses in Hurghada, you could have them delivered to you from the UK. Would your UK optician mail them to you?

Mailing them is one option for sure, but I am still not 100% sure that anything I order by post is going to arrive in Egypt.

It would be a lot easier just to walk into an optician in Hurghada and buy them over the counter if such a place exists.

[Peter Mitry]

You seem to be able to buy most things medical in Egypt at a fraction of their cost in the West. I am sure that you will soon find where to buy them from...