Thankfully, I haven’t had many truly frightening experiences during my travels so far. But if I had to name one, it would definitely be what happened to me at a hostel in Egypt.
Left Alone at the Hostel
That day was the last day with my Japanese friends, who had joined part of my journey during their vacation. They left the hostel around 11:30 p.m. to catch a late-night flight, and I was left alone in our three-person room.
Or so I thought.
A few minutes later, one of my friends — who I thought was already on the way to the airport — suddenly came back with a hotel staff member. According to my friend, the staff member had suddenly said he wanted to replace my pillow and bedsheets. Since it was already late at night, my friend felt uncomfortable about a male staff member entering my room alone, so she decided to come with him.
The staff member already felt a little suspicious. He asked to take a photo together and casually kept trying to touch me. Then he asked for a hug. I was so surprised that I immediately said no.
He backed off quickly, saying “OK, OK!” so at the time I thought maybe he was just overly friendly. I even wondered if that was simply normal in Egypt.
After that, I watched my friends leave for the airport.
The Midnight Knock
Around midnight, someone knocked on my door.
It was him again, this time alone.
He said that apparently the pillow and sheets were needed after all, so he had come to bring them back. At that moment, I felt a strong sense of distrust. Midnight is when people are usually asleep. There was no reason for a hotel staff member to come to my room at that hour.
Then he suggested that we dance together.
I clearly showed my discomfort and said no. Finally, irritated and honestly a bit scared, I firmly told him to leave my room. He repeatedly apologized and eventually left.
“Something Is Wrong”
When I checked my phone afterward, I saw several missed calls from my friends. When I called them back, they told me they had become worried about me.
Apparently, the same staff member had also been acting inappropriately toward them. He kept touching them excessively and had even tried to lift one of them up. That was when they realized something was seriously wrong and tried to warn me.
Since the hotel had review scores above 9, I initially thought I would be safe as long as I locked the door properly. But then I realized that hotel staff could easily have spare keys.
Asking an Egyptian Friend for Help
After thinking about what to do, I decided to contact Manal, the owner of a guesthouse where I had stayed before my friends arrived in Egypt. I explained the situation on WhatsApp and asked if she could speak to the hotel manager in Arabic and tell them not to send that staff member to my room again.
The hotel manager actually spoke English, but my friends advised me that it would be better if the hotel knew I had local connections.
It was already past 12:30 a.m., but Egypt is a country where people stay up late, and she replied almost immediately.
What shocked me most was her response.
“Are you okay? It’s dangerous for you to stay there alone. Come back to our guesthouse right now. I’ll send my husband Ahmed to pick you up.”
I never expected her to go that far for me.
I felt a little guilty for causing trouble so late at night, but I knew my safety had to come first, so I accepted her offer.
Leaving the Hotel at 1 A.M.
Not long after, Ahmed arrived. He explained the situation to the hotel staff in Arabic. The hotel owner kept insisting that everything was fine and that I should stay, but after what had happened, there was no way I could spend the rest of the night there alone.
At around 1 a.m., I thanked Ahmed deeply for coming all the way to get me, and together we walked through the streets of Giza back to their guesthouse.
“We Are Your Egyptian Family”
When we arrived, Manal welcomed me warmly.
I apologized repeatedly for bothering them so late at night, but she just smiled and said,
“What are you talking about? Think of us as family. We are your Egyptian family.”
That sentence nearly made me cry.
Since I arrived unexpectedly without a reservation, all the guest rooms were already full. I kept insisting that I was more than grateful just to sleep on the sofa, but they refused. Instead, they gave me their own room.
They even cleaned the room for me and brought in a fan to make sure I would be comfortable.
A Late-Night Egyptian Dinner
But their kindness didn’t stop there.
They told me they were about to have dinner together as a family and invited me to join them.
At that point, it was already around 1:30 in the morning. Egyptians really do stay up late.
I had already eaten dinner earlier, but I felt bad refusing such kindness, so I joined them. Together with their children, I drank Coke, ate Kofta sandwiches, and watched a Jackie Chan movie.
Even now, I think every time I hear Jackie Chan’s name, I’ll remember that night and that family.
Their hospitality honestly made me emotional.
The Kindness I’ll Never Forget
The next day, before checking out, I wanted to give them something more personal than money, so I drew a portrait of them by hand and wrote them a letter.
They were so happy.
Before I left, they told me:
“Next time you come to Egypt, you must come back here. You are part of our family.”
A local person made me feel unsafe. But local people also protected me.
That experience reminded me that every country has bad people, but every country also has incredibly kind people too.
