Egypt with a guide trip report

Egypt Trip Report with Guide (long)

We just got back from an incredible journey through Egypt. I have been teaching about Egyptian history in my high school world history class for twenty years, and I finally got to view the wonders of Egypt for myself. My wife and I took a twelve night trip that included two stays in Cairo, one in Luxor and four nights on a Nile cruise. We are experienced travelers and don’t care much for joining tours, but we thought we needed some help with our first trip to Egypt, so our trip was arranged and guided by Ahmed Hamed Yousif. We found Ahmed through reports and searches on various travel forums, and we were very happy with his services on the trip that he organized for us. We were completely pampered the entire time we were there. Every transfer we were met with a driver and guide with signs, every tour was private, every hotel was five-star, and our cruise ship was the newest and nicest on the Nile (Sonesta St. George).

THE MENA HOUSE AND GIZA: We arrived at night at this beautiful old palace built by the king for dignitaries attending the 1869 opening of the Suez Canal (but stay on the lovely grounds – outside the gates isn’t so nice). They took us to a “pyramid view” room, but it was too dark to see, and we were dead tired so we turned in. In the morning we woke up and realized our pyramid view was mostly a view of palm trees. Never fear; Ahmed is here. We met our guide Ahmed Hamed Yousif that morning (one of his associates had helped us the night before – note that everyone we worked with was nice and professional), and he immediately asked if everything was ok. When I mentioned I wasn’t too happy with the view, Ahmed talked with the hotel, and a few minutes later we had the most picture perfect incredible view of the pyramids that you could imagine (room 442). It was then I began to realize that we had made a very good decision. Ahmed told us he was the “king of the guides” and I believe him. Throughout the trip he thought of everything, anticipating our every need and making sure we always had the best.
That day we did the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, which is a great introduction to Egyptian history and mythology. Ahmed was a knowledgeable and fun guide who maneuvered us around the big groups with the hard to understand guides. The museum held wonder after wonder, and we liked it so much that we went back again later on in the trip. Later that day we took a sunset felucca ride which we loved. It was peaceful, beautiful and relaxing. (The felucca we were supposed to take was late, and we were afraid that we might miss the sunset, so Rafiq, our guide for the evening, immediately arranged a different one – the advantages of having a guide with you are too numerous to list.) BTW, Cairo at night is beautiful (though the traffic and driving are scary). We finished with one of the many gifts and surprises supplied by Ahmed – dinner at a great Egyptian restaurant overlooking the city and a park brimming with activity.
The next day, after years of dreaming, we saw the pyramids and the Sphinx. It is a thrill of a lifetime. Ahmed took us, told us stories and history, took our pictures there and arranged our camel rides. We loved the camel rides, and our Bedouin camel guide took the picture that is now our screen saver (my wife and I kissing while on two different camels with the three pyramids as a backdrop). I ventured into one of the pyramids and though there wasn’t much to see I was glad I had the experience. (I stood up too fast coming out of the tunnel and cut my back. Later Ahmed took us to a pharmacy to get the bandages, etc – again it was good to have a guide.) Also, I wanted to say that I was more impressed with the Sphinx than I thought I would be. It was a hot but amazing day (advice – bring an insulated bag to carry water in; we were glad we did). Later that day we saw the step pyramid, and while there I asked if I could see a special particular tomb called the tomb of Ti. Ahmed, in typical fashion said, if you want it then I will make it happen. We traipsed through the desert and had to wake up a guard asleep in the tomb entrance but then saw what was one of my favorite sites on the entire trip. The reliefs were a spectacular glimpse into the daily lives of the ancient Egyptians.
Day three we did Islamic Cairo and Coptic Cairo. It was interesting but hard to compare to the pyramids. The Bazaar had a great atmosphere, and, of course, we had to try a sheesha (waterpipe) at Fishawis.

CRUISING THE NILE: We had booked a train ride to Luxor to save money. We got a wonderful surprise when Ahmed told us (just before we left) that he upgraded us to a flight and nice hotel instead. We got a few hours sleep at the Nile Palace in Luxor and then on to our beautiful top of the line cruise ship. The Sonesta St. George was gorgeous, our cabin was great, and we really loved our time watching Egypt slide by (binoculars were very helpful), stopping at incredible temples and generally being pampered by an attentive crew. Our guide during this time was a likeable young man named Mohammed. Mohammed took us on tours of temples and tombs that included the awe inspiring Karnak and Luxor and the fantastic Valley of the Kings. We loved everything, but one of our favorite memories had to be when Mohammed took us to a café in Aswan, and we just sat and talked about life in Egypt and life in general. Later we shopped at the souq in Aswan. On the last day we flew from Aswan to Abu Simbel which was a trip highlight. Again, our guide came to the rescue – the first plane we were on had mechanical problems, and they cancelled the flight for that day so he booked us on the next flight with a new airline (Egyptair – now we know why they call it Egypt Scare).

BACK IN CAIRO: We ended our stay with three nights at the beautiful Cairo Marriott. This time we had a view of the Nile. We had debated going to Alexandria, but the heat and the pace left us longing for a relaxed day which we took and enjoyed very much. We took full advantage of the hotel amenities (I did the health club and casino – even managed to make a little money at blackjack), rested, explored the area near our hotel and had a fantastic Egyptian lunch at Abu El Sid near the hotel. Ahmed said it was Egyptian food like his mother used to make. The food was great, and the atmosphere was perfect. One other find we enjoyed near the Marriott was the museum of Islamic ceramics. I know it may not sound that interesting, but the house that housed the collection is incredible, and it is located right behind the Marriott. I would recommend a visit. That night we went on a cruise boat in the Nile to see a belly dancing show (very touristy but we wanted to see a show before we left Cairo). The next day we didn’t have anything scheduled but told Ahmed we wanted to go back to the Museum and also visit a couple more mosques. He set us up with a driver and guide free of charge (one of the many extras he provided). The mosque we wanted to see was the one featured on the Egyptian one pound note – it is located within a poor district called the city of the dead. Finding it, even with a guide, was an adventure that I would not have missed. It was so fun just driving through the streets of Cairo seeing fascinating street scenes. Our persistent guide found the obscure mosque which had seen its better days but must have been one of the most beautiful in the world when it was built in the 1400’s. We waited a few minutes for the men to finish their prayers and then took off our shoes and explored this faded beauty. Outside the mosque we went to a small and very much not touristy glass shop where we picked up some Egyptian glass at a good price from a very friendly family who do the glass blowing on site.

TO SUM UP: I’ve left out tons of information but would be glad to answer any questions. Egypt is an amazing place full of some of the world’s greatest treasures. The people are friendly and helpful (but, yes, the salespeople and taxi drivers can be aggressive), and we felt very safe our entire trip. It would not have been nearly as good a trip without our friend and guide Ahmed Hamed Yousif. If you want to be pampered and spoiled and not have to worry about a thing while still having the flexibility to do and see whatever you want, I highly recommend booking your trip through this intelligent, informative, friendly and professional man. He truly is king of the guides. I will, however, include these slight caveats to give you as complete a picture as possible. This was a first rate trip, and to get that you have to pay for it. (Was it worth it? For us, yes.) Also, be prepared for the expense of tipping (it probably added about 10% to the total cost of our trip), and my final caveat is buy carefully. We were taken to big touristy shops to buy jewelry and papyrus, and we paid for it. We actually found much better prices at the shops in the Marriott. We especially liked Abo Auf (a shop that sells jewelry, statues and more). We bought quite a bit there and wished we had bought my cartouche from them. We very much enjoyed talking with them over tea. We also bought several gifts at reasonable prices at Nomad, which advertises “original jewelry, clothing, textiles and homeware inspired by tradition, made by hand.” Many places accept (some actually prefer) US dollars, so we wish we had brought more to avoid the foreign transaction fees of ATM’s and credit cards.
We luckily did not get sick on the trip, as I have read many other travelers do. We avoided all uncooked foods and non-bottled water (including ice). As an additional preventive measure, we began taking prescription-only antibiotic Cipro the day of our arrival and took one 500 mg. tablet per day throughout the trip and the first two days at home, followed by several weeks of probiotics. It was a great trip and I hope yours is just as good.
JWH