What to pack for Cairo in January

Wear one, dry one. Cotton stays wet all week here.

UV index of 4.9 bounces off sand and reflects into your eyes all day.

Mosquitoes breed in Cairo's irrigation systems year-round, even in winter.

Check ankles and, if there's a dog, paws and ears every night.

Cuts and scrapes get infected quickly in desert dust and heat.

Tap water isn't safe here. A filter bottle beats buying plastic twice a day.

This country runs on Type C or F. Get one with USB-C so you're not fighting over the single outlet.

One outlet per guesthouse room means your phone dies mid-sightseeing.

Set it up before you land. Signal drops for long stretches outside cities.

Dark by 6:15pm. Every campsite chore after that is a two-hands job.

Overhead bins on regional flights to Luxor are tight and full.

Museum visits and market walks require hands free and water close.

Fits the overhead on every airline that matters. Skip the checked-bag line entirely.

Desert wind at 16 km/h scours exposed skin on the face and neck.

For temples, mosques, and churches that check at the door.

Treat the clothes once and it lasts weeks.

Tap water here causes diarrhea, which dehydrates you in dry air.

Stomach trouble from contaminated water can ruin half your trip.

One brick charges the laptop, phone, and camera.

Hotel and cafe wifi is shared with everyone else in the building. A VPN keeps your banking and email to yourself.

Pickpockets work crowded markets and transit stations constantly.

Cairo's airport and train station crowds make bags easy to lose.

Dust settles on unpacked clothes within hours of opening your bag.

Laundry water quality varies wildly, so hand-washing beats the risk.

Airport announcements and street noise make sleeping on transit nearly impossible.

Ten hours of January sun in open terrain burns the scalp fast.

Touching your face after handling money spreads illness in crowded souks.

Mosquito bites itch so badly you scratch them raw in the sun.

Charging ports wear out fast when you're swapping cables between devices.

A few phrases go a long way. Ten minutes a day before you leave is plenty.

Desert sand gets into everything, including passport pages and covers.

Shared hostel lockers and checked bags need locks in this city.

Humidity at 59 percent and dust mean toiletries need contained storage.

Overnight trains to Aswan have thin pillows or none at all.