PaoloCast

Following is a report from a wonderful 14 day trip (Jan 10 to 23) arranged by Ahmed Hamed Yousif ([email protected]). First, thanks to all of you who have contributed to this forum, especially Liz, Kris, Antonius, and several others who have written excellent reports, replied to my emails, and provided excellent advice on a whole range of topics.

I’ll report on some of the highlights of our trip, but I’m going to focus more on some practical issues: overall choices about our trip planning (e.g. independent vis-à-vis a tour), options on itineraries, and some specifics about things that helped make the trip work well. Abby’s recent trip report has a lot of detail similar to the one we took. Great report, Abby!

Two major questions we had to answer were: 1) Does Ahmed exist? Yes, indeed. 2) How does this work? Very well, but there were a few things I’ll share that I hope will give you a better idea of what actually happens. While I highly recommend using Ahmed, I hope my comments help in deciding what to choose and how to deal with whomever you choose.

Background and Choosing an Independent Tour/Private Guide vs. Group Tour
We are independent travelers who have done more than 35 trips on our own including Japan, Turkey, and a few other places other than Europe that have some logistical challenges. When we finally decided to take a trip to Egypt, we thought that this might have to be a tour. I researched a number of them, and here are some thoughts about why we chose a private guide.
Sites covered. I hate to say never, but we figured we might not be back in Egypt for awhile so we didn’t want to miss much. Almost every tour didn’t cover all of what we wanted to see. (Several costly ones covered little.) In five days in Luxor, we did Karnak, Luxor, Kings, Queens, Nobles, Workers, Hapshepsut, Ramses III, Ramuseeum, Luxor Museum and a full day trip to Abydos and Dendera at a very comfortable pace. The Tombs of the Nobles and Tombs of the Workers were terrific, very different and themselves worth the extra days. Since Dendera and Edfu are largely duplicates, Kom Obo was about the site covered by cruise tours that we didn’t see (and most guidebooks give it an “okay” at best.)
Flexibility- overall and day-to-day. After reading a lot guides and Fodors and other forums trip reports, we started with a pretty good idea of what we wanted to see. Over several emails with Ahmed we came up with an overall itinerary. Example: we love museums and almost never will go to one on the first day after arrival (too lagged to focus). Ahmed opened with the Egyptian Museum etc. on the first day; we moved it to the second. In Luxor, our guide (more on guides later), always offered the option of spending more or less time at a site or switching a site from one day to the next. We didn’t but it was always a possibility. In Cairo, Aswan, and Luxor, Ahmed and our Upper Egypt guide, Mohammed, politely asked if we wanted to shop. We are not shoppers, so we simply drove by the carpet, papyrus, gold, alabaster, and perfume “museums” [shops] which the tour buses were pulling into. (We enjoyed walking around Khan El Khalily in Cairo and the souk in Aswan, but I purchased my one desk-top tchotche in a shop on the street in Luxor.) At the end of each day, we’d decide on when to meet next morning. Within reason, this was also flexible, but it was usually somewhere between 8 and 9:30 AM. On most days, our sight-seeing finished around 1:30 -2:00 PM – then a full meal “lunch” and back to the hotel for a rest and a late afternoon walk-about.

Accommodations: I really don’t want to start another round of the “cruise or not cruise?” skirmishes I’ve read here. But we like some space; like to walk around the town; hate feeling hemmed in – so we decided to do hotels and flights rather than a cruise boat. We stayed at the Cairo Marriot, Nile Palace in Luxor, and Movenpick in Aswan – all excellent 5 star hotels with pools, lovely grounds, in town, multiple restaurants (more later), bars, coffee shops, ATMs etc. In Italy or France we typically stay in 3 star hotels – sometimes 4 – but I got a sense that in Egypt there aren’t many good hotels in that range and when I checked the websites, the cost (more later) weren’t that different from what I think their cost was in the package we negotiated (more later).
Cost: I’d rather not lay out our specific costs here. Later I’ll indicate how you can contact me directly if you want more information. If you’re on a tight budget, the private guide route is probably not a good option. However, I spent a lot of time checking and comparing the costs of the “upper moderate” cruise/tours, and I don’t think the difference is much if at all and probably in the hundreds not thousands.

So, we finally decided on engaging Ahmed for the private tour and were very happy and satisfied in every respect.

Payment /Ahmed/Agents/Guides/Drivers

Cost/Payment: Once we made the commitment and sent off (we used a credit card) a deposit, we did feel encouraged by the many trip reports coming in. We figured that Ahmed is either real or running the world’s most complex scam. He’s not. But, giving your credit card particulars for a few thousand to someone in Egypt can be a bit anxious-making. Ahmed uses Lady Egypt (a large Egyptian Travel Agency with its own tours etc) as his fiscal agent. We got an immediate email receipt for our payment from Lady Egypt. That was encouraging. We paid the balance by credit card on arrival. Everyone likes cash, but we decided to eat the 3% service charge for peace of mind and a backup with Visa in case of problems. As I wrote earlier, I’ll discuss our costs through another vehicle, but we negotiated a tour that included just about everything: hotels, flights, entrances, etc. etc.

Ahmed/Upper Egypt Guide/Agents: First, Ahmed is the major domo of the entire operation. He is the person with whom you negotiate everything. We traded several emails over the course of a couple of months on the details. And he was our guide for the three days in Cairo. He is an extremely knowledge, personable and accommodating host and guide.

At this point, I’m going to insert the one element/layer I didn’t understand fully before we arrived – the agent. He is a key player in the tour. He meets the plane. I can’t tell you the relief I felt at seeing a smiling fellow holding our name on a placard in the arrival hall in Cairo. The agent handles the logistics. Again, I’m not speaking for Ahmed, but it appears that the agent in every stop was employed by Lady Egypt, so I guess Ahmed contracts with them for this service. The agent accompanied us to the hotel, checked us in; waited until we were satisfied with the room. In Cairo, Ahmed met us the next morning at the hotel and became our guide/agent in Cairo. But in Aswan (even on the one day round-trip to Abu Simbel) and Luxor, the agent checks you into the hotel, gets your boarding passes, arranges transfers, handles any problems, etc. (I felt a bit guilty that our Cairo agent, after Ahmed, showed up at 5:30 AM with the van and driver to take us the ¼ mile from the Novotel to the airport and the right terminal). These fellows give you their cell phone numbers (as does the guide) so you can contact them if any problem arises, or something need fixing. The agent may seem like a superfluous level, but I learned that they were valuable and added an important level of security to an “independent” tour.
Guides: As I said above, Ahmed was our guide for three days in Cairo. He and our guide in Upper Egypt (Mohammed “the younger” not Mohammed “the older” who guided Liz and Rick) are university graduates, speak excellent English, display a passion for the history and art, are engaging conversationalists, and have a keen sense of pace and balance (when to explain and when to slip into the background). Ahmed apparently uses a stable of guides in Upper Egypt, and while we were delighted with Mohammed (the younger), we’ve read nothing but good things about the other guides he uses.
Both my wife and I love history and art, and we organize a lot of our reading during the year around our upcoming trip. Of course, the more you read before you go, the more you get out of the trip. Both Ahmed and Mohammed seemed to enjoy questions and conversations about the context and history of specific sites, relationships to other sites, artistic styles and innumerable other topics that arose during the day at the site or in the van (you know, “more later”). To recap, we had Ahmed for our days in and then Mohammed for the remainder of the trip in Aswan, Abu Simbel, and Luxor. They both added tremendous value to the trip.

In addition to at least one good history and the usual guidebooks, I highly recommend picking up Luxor and the Valley of the Kings by Alessandro Bongioanni. This large book has some excellent history, overviews of the sites, and outstanding pictures of the tombs you can’t photograph. I picked up my “used” (perfect condition) copy for about $18 from one of the book dealers on Amazon. It will give you a great preview and then great pictures when you get home.

Drivers/Vans. We had the same driver every day in each city: Cairo, Aswan, and Luxor. They were excellent drivers, and the vans (white Hundais/Toyotas) – ubiquitous – were new, clean, roomy, and air-conditioned. Moreover, the driver stays with the van all the time so we could leave jackets, bags, or whatever in the van and head out to the site without carrying anything besides water and a camera. And yes, the traffic in Cairo seems chaotic, but it works surprisingly well.

Daily Schedule/Meals: We weren’t sure how we’d handle mid-day meals, so we negotiated “lunches” into our package. We didn’t fully appreciate the fact that our daily sight-seeing would be largely over by 1:30-2:00 and that “lunch” was a full meal – mezzes and/or soup and grilled fish, tagines, chicken or beef kebab etc. With a full international buffet breakfast and a full “lunch, we found ourselves having sandwiches or a simple pasta at the hotel in the evening. While we usually avoid hotel restaurants, each of our hotels had several restaurants with a wide variety of choices. On our last day in Cairo, we did stop for chicken showarmas (thin slices of donar kebab chicken with a nice spicy sauce on soft rolls - terrific) because we had a full dinner before we drove to the airport that evening. I’ll do a quick review of restaurants later.

To recap, Ahmed puts together an “independent” tour, but it’s within a well-defined and stable framework of agents, guides, and drivers. We didn’t get a cell phone, but with the hotels, the guides and agents close at hand, we never felt out of touch.

Independent or Independent?: We did see taxis at the sites in Luxor, so it is done. (One cab driver in Luxor who we used twice, kept urging us to fire our guides and hire him at a greatly reduced price.) From what I can figure out though, is getting seats and good flight times can be a problem on your own. I suppose the big tours get first picks; regular “independents” like Ahmed probably fit in around them; and truly independent travelers hope for the best. When I tried entering dates and time on the Egypt Air website to figure relative costs, I drew a blank. I suspect that getting good rooms at the better hotels might be more of a problem on your own.

ITINEARY (Highlights and Suggestions)

I’m not going to give you a description of everything we did. Rather I’ll try to include either something you might not consider that was good or some other suggestions.

When to go? We traveled from Jan 10 to 23, and our guide in Upper Egypt said that we had one-third to one-half as many people as were there in December – and the weather was very comfortable. With the exception of the one hot day before the big Aswan storm, it was in the high 70s/low 80s F at the warmest part of the day, and sweater/light jacket comfortable in the evening.

CAIRO
Dashur-Saggara-Giza: When we chose to start with the Egyptian Museum on our second day, Ahmed suggested the above sequence for the first day, and it was a great idea. First, it follows the historical sequence, and while Giza is great, you have to put your back to the bustling city, the souvenir stalls, the camel rides, and the crowds.
When you head for Dashur first, you drive out of modern Cairo, through the sprawl of the strange new buildings, out into the delta farms, small villages (some very rustic), and towns, go through a checkpoint and drive a couple of kms into the desert. Step out of the van (one or two other cars in the rough parking area) and there you are in front of the Red pyramid with the Bent pyramid off in the desert behind it. You are finally here – ancient Egypt! The impact is visceral. No crowds, no town, just the seemingly unending stark desert and these oldest pyramids. We simply stood there for minutes staring; every reason you had for coming to Egypt is starts here.

The standard approach of most tours and Ahmed’s opening itinerary started with the Egyptian museum. But I think that starting at Dashur grabbed us conceptually and emotionally. Even if you don’t go down the tomb shaft, you can climb up to its entrance on a non-OSHA or National Park Service path a third of the way up for a good view of the area. We did stoop and clamber down into the Red pyramid – about 150 yards down a steep, low shaft to a large “cantilevered” chamber. We weren’t sorry we did it, but I suggest the shorter, less steep climb down into the Teti pyramid at Saqqara which has some nice hieroglyphics as well. (I understand going into Khufu/Cheops is not worth the hassle.)

Egyptian Museum/Coptic Cairo. We didn’t fully appreciate the unique and mind-boggling artifacts from the King Tut tomb – much, much more than the mask, the coffins and jewelry: the burial rooms, mummification beds, etc. etc. etc. On the advice of Ahmed and several others, we skipped the $20 pp extra charge for the mummy rooms. There are two excellent mummies in the Luxor Museum. On the first floor, you can do a good loop of some highlights. Some gems in Coptic Cairo (Segius Church, Ben Ezra synagogue, the Hanging Church) – a very different and old part of the city

Islamic Cairo/Bazaar. We loved the three mosques we visited: Amr ibn-Al, Ibn Tolan, and Sultan Hassan – each with a distinct “personality” – all beautiful. We were a bit sorry we didn’t stop in more. We wanted to see the Bayat al Shagmi house (Ottoman) in the Khan El Khalily area, so Ahmed figured out where it was (not on his usual route). It was nice (a lot of wooden screens and gardens), but it was especially interesting because it got us into a section away from the main souk. Here we walked along streets where you had the block of the pots and pans, the block of fabrics, the 7-10 side by side shops selling sishka pipes, other shops selling hardware – and no one jumping out in front of us waving a skillet and telling us it was “half price today for you.”
The core of the souk is full of tourist stuff; the outer stalls shoes, clothes, etc. We weren’t put off too much by the aggressive hawking, but I had to laugh out loud when we passed the same guy Liz reported, standing there asking me “How can I take your money?” Now that’s a line guaranteed to make you stop. But we were glad we walked through and stopped for wonderful mint tea at El Fishway before hopping back on the van. We were also sorry we didn’t press further into the streets below the souk.

ASWAN/ABU SIMBEL
We flew to Aswan in the early evening from Cairo.
Aswan Dam & Philae Temple: The Egyptians are proud of the High Dam, but it is not an interesting sight in itself, and it takes about an hour to ride up to it and back. Philae Temple is great, especially since it’s on an island and accessed by boat. Great felucca ride in the afternoon: Aswan’s the place to do it- around Elephantine and Kirchner Islands, huge dunes, beautiful. (At Luxor, the Nile is wide and flat.)
Abu Simbel: It was worth it and then some. The temples behind the iconic statutes are wonderful. Easy flight down and back to Aswan.
Kalabsha Temple/Nubian Museum: A pleasant boat ride to the temple but it’s perhaps the least interesting temple on the trip, although the fact that we and one other couple were the only ones there added a special feel to the place.

Suggestion: I’d take Abby’s advice and skip the Aswan Dam. I think that unless you want to use Aswan as a place to unwind (and the Movenpick is a great place to do that), Aswan can be comfortably done in one day (Philae Temple, Nubian Museum, felucca) other than the one day to Abu Simbel if you fly in the evening before.

LUXOR
Karnak and Luxor Temples: I have nothing to add about these two great sites except you should bring along a “maglite” type flashlight to the sound and light show. The paths are not well lit and a bit rough.
Luxor Museum: One of the best laid out small museums we’ve visited. Everything is choice and exceptionally well-placed. A “don’t miss.”
Valley of the Kings. There are several tombs open, and the basic ticket lets you into three. We did Ramses I, (good but a very steep climb down and up), Ramses III (outstanding), and Ramses IX (ditto). Skip Tut’s tomb and purchase the supplemental ticket for Ramses V/VI (50LE pp). It’s spectacular and empty when we visited. You get weak in the knees looking at the arched “goddess Nut” ceiling in the burial chamber.
Valley of the Queens/ Hapsheput/Ramses III/Ramusseum. I don’t have anything to add to what you can read on this forum or in the guide books. We thoroughly enjoyed all of them, although you could take a pass on the Rammuseum to fit in Nobles and Workers (Deir el-Medina).
Tombs of the Nobles and Tombs of the Workers. These were another set of unexpected pleasures. They are not only beautiful, but the style is very different from the more formal patterns in Kings and Queens. These are a bit more difficult to get to, but they are worth extra time in Luxor (perhaps if you shave a day in Aswan.)
One day trip to Abydos and Dendera. We hoped these two temples were worth the all-day excursion. Absolutely. First, we were in a comfortable van with a great driver, so we really enjoyed looking at and talking about the countryside, small towns, and larger cities (Qena) on the way. This gave us a very different feel from Cairo or Aswan or Luxor. I like to figure out “public” transportation, and the white VW vans in Cairo gave way to small pickups with tall, bright painted striped caps and two facing benches in the countryside; three wheeled “Tatas” in the small cities. Mohammed was such a great guide, we talked, asked questions, and just settled back and enjoyed the ride. And both temples were great; again distinct. Fortunately, the security convoys are gone, but there were checkpoints (more or less serious) every few miles. I don’t know if this is Mohammed’s version of urban legend, but every time a soldier poked his head in the driver’s window, I heard Mohammed say “English” in his Arabic explanation of who we were and where we were going. As we pulled away, he explained that if you say “American” you might have to pick up extra security to accompany you to the sites. I never felt unsafe anywhere we went, but every checkpoint seemed to have at least 5-8 soldiers hanging around without a lot to do.

Suggestion: Spend as much time as you can in Luxor. No amount of reading, even the pictures in the book I mentioned above, does justice to the beauty, the variety, the thrill of experiencing the many sites in Luxor.

HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS
Hotels
We told Ahmed we wanted to stay at five star hotels. As I said earlier, your trip reports and my own checking tilted us to the Cairo Marriot, the Movenpick, and the Nile Palace.
We thought the Cairo Marriot was one of the nicest hotels we used in some time. (You are farther away for the one Dashur, Saqqara, Giza day than the Mena House, but closer on the other days in central Cairo. It takes no less than an hour to get from the Mena House to central Cairo.) The Marriot’s rooms are at the very nice standard for this class of hotel, but the pool, gardens, and many restaurants make it highly desirable. As I indicated above and will flesh out a bit more below, we didn’t fully appreciate the “lunch” routine. So after a very full international buffet breakfast, a full meal lunch around 1:30-2:00, we were happy to come back, have a coffee in the Garden café and eat a lighter meal around 7:00. Both the Garden Café and the café just inside serve a variety of club sandwich, burger, pasta, etc, meals in a pleasantly causal setting and you can order off either menu. So my list of favorite restaurants in Cairo gleaned from guides and your reports didn’t get used.
The Movenpick in Aswan is similar to the Marriot, but the weird tower does give you a great panoramic view of the stunning sunsets over the dunes.
The Nile Palace has a big pool, lots of tables Nile-side, large balconies overlooking the Nile and the cliffs. Lots of folks seem to use this and the Movenpick for a day or so end-of-trip decompression. Like the Marriot (and a bit more than the Movenpick), the Nile Palace has several restaurants. We almost never eat in hotel restaurants, but after the long Abydos/Dendra day we didn’t have the energy to go out, and the Italian restaurant had surprisingly good fish and other dishes at very moderate prices. The courtyard and poolside cafés were also good places for sandwiches etc.

Restaurants
In Cairo, we ate at a very good and interesting roadside country restaurant near Saqqara – best bread (baked in a clay oven fifty feet away) and mezzes of the entire trip. Another “lunch” meal with excellent sea bass at the restaurant across the street from the Mena House (Caviar?), and the last full meal at a small hotel before driving to the airport – all very good but not on any list.
In Aswan, we had a terrific full meal lunch at El Dokka (excellent food, great setting). Egyptian tagines (fish, beef, chicken, vegetarian) are cooked and served in a round clay pot, not the “pointy hat” type Moroccan tagines. One evening we had a very good dinner at Aswan Moon (on/under the corniche near the Movenpick dock.) The next day we had an uneven lunch at Panorama. The two tagines were very good; my pike-perch was way over-done. (That’s three because we asked Mohammed to dine with us, and we had very nice chats over the food. At first, he indicated that it was entirely up to us whether we wanted to eat alone, but it was more fun eating with him.) The drivers disappear at lunch.
In Luxor we had an excellent dinner at El Hussein after the sound and light show. We asked Mohammed to drop us off, and he insisted we take one of his cell phones (the guides all seem to have at least two working all the time) so he could call us to make sure we got back to the hotel okay. The other restaurant out was Jewel of the Nile. It was also very good; not far from the hotel, but since it was dark this time of year we took a taxi. (It’s a good idea to get a taxi and negotiate a two-way price (usually 25-30 LE rt) for a pick-up later. Ours didn’t want to get paid until they picked us up, so there’s no problem with no-show after dinner.

I see I keep writing “excellent” or “very good,” and aside from the one over-cooked fish at Panorama, all were. We were pleasantly surprised by the fish: sea bass lightly fried in a mild-spicy batter; bass or freshwater pike/perch as well; tagines and kebabs; fresh tomato soup chicken tongue soup, and the universal mezzes were uniformly very good to excellent. Subtle differences in the mezzes and main dishes, but you do run out of options after two weeks.

MISCELLANEOUS

One dollar bills/LE 1 coins/ Antinal
On the advice of many Fodor’s forum folks and Ahmed, I carried a lot more cash than I usually do – especially $1 bills. I took a pack of 50, and I could have used another 10 or 20. It seems that $1 is about right for the bag handlers at airports and hotels. Dollar bills can round up a bill at a restaurant; cleaners at hotels; anyone doing a bit extra for you. Not only do Egyptians not seem to mind, but it appears that many prefer the American dollars. I also carried fives, tens, and twenties as well as some larger bills for tips to drivers, agents, and guides. I never had the slightest sense of danger carrying the cash around in an inside pocket.

Egyptian one pound coins are also the coin of the realm. I asked Ahmed if he would bring me some when we first met. He claimed he had to beg some from his mother, ransack his wife’s purse and commit all manner of misdemeanors to come up with 50. The 1LE coin is the bathroom entrance. I told him he should start a hoard so he’d have at least 50 for every client. (I also got a few at the Bank of Egypt office in the Nile Palace in Luxor.) A small change purse is a very good idea for men as well as women.

Ahmed also arrived with a pack of Antinal. My wife and I both had a hint of trouble about three days into the trip and were able to jump on it successfully with a couple of Antinal. Later in the trip, another hint of trouble and I picked up an extra pack in the pharmacy at the Movenpick for the surprising price of $1. A lot of folks say you can pick it up at a pharmacy, but they are few and far between, so I’ve urged Ahmed to stockpile 1 LE coins and packs of Antinal to hand out on arrival.

And while we’re on the subject – bathrooms. Not a problem, but plan ahead. As a man of a certain age, I don’t pass up an opportunity, and the bathrooms at all the sites (even the more remote with the “caravan” types) were clean- although you should carry some tissue packs and hand wipes since the dryers often don’t work and the supply of tp is usually low or missing. Of course it was easier for me, but my wife reported satisfaction with the facilities throughout.

For more information on costs (including tipping) I asked Ahmed to add my name and email address to the list he keeps of recent clients. Email Ahmed, and I’m sure he’ll send you the list and contact information. Ahmed Hamed Yousif Email [email protected]
Mobile Phone Call OR SMS : +20101507268

Once again, I want to give you all my very sincere thanks. I’ve used this forum for years, and on each trip I feel I’ve met new friends who are unfailingly helpful and add a great deal to the experience. I’ll hang around this forum fairly regularly for several weeks before moving on to the next trip.

PaoloCast

BeniciaChris

Paolo-Thank you for your wonderful report-I can't beleive you could write such an extensive report after just getting home a few days ago.
You mentioned you would include your E-mail if anyone had further questions-I didn't see it. We have hires Ahmed for our trip this Sept/October. I have just paid my deposit.
We are staying at Mariott Cairo as you and Movenpick Aswan.
If you would like to E-mailme direct that would be fine
[email protected]
I had a few questions-Thank you so much for your time=Chris

abby97

What a wonderful report!! It sounds like you had a wonderful trip. We were pleasantly surprised by the fish, too -- we had so many great fish dishes. If we had been able to be more flexible in our schedule, we would have gone in January, too -- it sounds like the perfect time to go!

MissGreen

A wonderful report. Loved the detail and suggestions for folks about to head off. 4 months have passed since I made the decision to go to Egypt.... I wish time would fly just as quickly so it was September and I am off! My trip, has now turned into a month long "extravaganza", as opposed to a "nice holiday" when I started!!!! I hope my trip report turns out as fabulous as this!

andonius

Paolo:
What a great report. You give lots of tips and useful data. Exactly the kind of information one needs to prepare a trip.
I completely agree with you in your reasons to use a trip organizer like Ahmed in a country like Egypt. As you, I apreciated very much the flexibility and security it gives you. And his attention to details and to make sure you always do what you want to do in every moment is perfect for me.
Your words about the importance of Agents are also important. They are a very important piece of the trip organisation and their work is really important. It gives you a great relief to see them in the airports waiting for you and they make you confident that everything will go well with hotel reservations,vans and so.
Finally , another vote for Mohamed (the young). He was our guide in Luxor, Aswan and Abydos-Dendera and he was great. Perfect knowledge of sites and history, very friendly and flexible, he was one of the highlights of our trip.
Thank you again for a great report.

fluffnfold

Paolo,

Great report! I leave for Egypt in two weeks, so your tips will come in handy.

You very briefly mentioned the Novotel at the Cairo airport. You didn't specifically mention it as one of the hotels where you stayed, probably because there was nothing to rave about. But I want to know more--was it acceptable? I'm staying there for two nights--the night prior/following a day trip to Abu Simbel (I also fly home the day following my stay there). The hotel's location seemed just right for my purposes. (I'll be staying at the Cairo Marriott in Zamalek earlier in my trip.) Any comments/hints on the Novotel?

Thanks.

sf7307

What a fantastic trip report! I just wanted to comment on one thing. You said <<<(I felt a bit guilty that our Cairo agent, after Ahmed, showed up at 5:30 AM with the van and driver to take us the ¼ mile from the Novotel to the airport and the right terminal). >>> -- our Lady Egypt agent picked up 3 members of our family at Cairo airport and drove them from one <i>terminal</i> to the <i>other terminal</i>!! (so the ride from the Novotel to the airport counts as a <i>long trip</i> )

PaoloCast

fluffnfold,
We arrived at the Novotel around 7:00 PM, had a plate of pasta at the Italian restaurant (the other restaurant is a French buffet) and went to bed for a 4:30 wakeup to make our 7:30 flight. The room was okay (although the bed and pillows were a bit hard): double bed, sofa, desk - airport basic. It was fine for our purposes,and if I read your note correctly, you are staying one night each way. There is a pool, so you have that option if you're there any longer than we were. By the way, the dinnner was good, and their breakfast buffet was very good and ready to go at 5:00 AM so we had a chance to eat before the less than five minute ride to the international terminal (about 7 from the domestic).

dutyfree

Just to let people know that in Egypt and as in other 3rd world countries-giving one US dollar bills os any other US money is a difficulty for people who don't have access to bank accounts,etc.I work for the airlines and I cannot begin to tell you how many times people have asked me to change the American money that they have gotten for tips. It is a MAJOR pain for them and I would advise people to take the time to use the proper currency for the country they are visiting.

PaoloCast

Duty free,
I agree and can tell you that I did feel a bit uncomfortable using $1 bills. However, the choice is often either a US $1 or ..what?? It is that or spending extraordinary amounts of valuable time trying to run down small Egpytian LE bills. They are not only rare, but when you finally get some, they are about to disintegrate and the Egptians won't take them. Your point is well taken, but I think we should try to limit the use of $1 to tourist hotels, restaurants, baggage handlers at airports, drivers, taxis etc. where I'm sure (or hope) the recipients get enough to pool and exchange.

andonius

When i arrived to Cairo, I changed at a bank in our hotel 200 Egiptian pounds in 5 LE bills. I then gave some of then to my wife and kids. They were very useful for tipping.
Also, a few times guides in the tombs or vendors asked us to exchenge then some euro coins they had to euro bills. It seems its easier for them to exchange bills then coins.

Femi

Excellent report. Thanks for the many details.

Elizabeth_S

Paolocast - great trip report and the detail on how/why to book as you did is really great.

Liz (from South Africa!)

sheenaghp

Great trip report, many fine memories of our journey last March organized by Ahmed, upper Egypt guide Mohammed (young) Fun to check back occasionaly.He also organized everything for Petra Jordan.(Guide Bashar)
Sheenahgp.

120aks

This is a serious question : Since Lady Egypt was so involved why wouldn't it be better to just use them ?

patandhank

Thanks for the great report. I went to Egypt years ago on a tour. DH and I have been talking about going (he's never been) independent and your report has some great info.

raelond

120aks that's what I wondered when I first contacted Ahmed and thought his quote was on the high side. I then contacted Lady Egypt and for the exact same itinerary I saved $1,000. per person. Our guides were wonderful and the the entire trip was great.

dutyfree

120aks-we went with Lady Egypt as it was the same tour as Ahmed without the extra expense of him being the middleman.We also saved almost a $1000 a person for the same trip he had planned.

abby97

To me, the main difference is in the level of personal service you receive with Ahmed. Also, I liked the fact that he worked up our entire itinerary and was also our personal guide in Cairo. Undoubtedly, Lady Egypt comes highly recommended, as well, so please don't take anything I say to suggest otherwise. However, I do feel that Ahmed provides a level of service that is different and more personal.

For example, he was constantly calling our local guides in Aswan and Luxor (who were employees of Lady Egypt, I believe) to make sure everything was going okay. Our local guides told us that he gave very specific instructions about not taking us to shops if we didn't want to go, and providing us with more flexibility than we might normally be entitled (when we wanted to go to a restaurant that was different than the one on the itinerary, we were told by the local guide that the switch would not normally be allowed without paying an additional "surcharge" but would be in this instance because we were "Ahmed's customers.")

Ahmed also consistently surprised us with extras and perks that were not included in the itinerary -- a car and driver at our disposal in the evenings and during free time; extra meals; room upgrades; early (9:00 am in Luxor!) check-in. He never rushed us and often spent the entire day (until 5 or 6 pm) with us (and even later the night he insisted on going with us to the whirling dervishes to make sure we made it inside), even when a tour was supposed to be 1/2 day. When our luggage was delayed for 4 days, he took us to a fixed-price/no hassle store to buy clothes (including things like socks and underwear that would have been hard to find on our own).

Also, Ahmed serves as "quality control," making sure that all drivers, local guides, etc . . . are the best available. He also tries to match local guides to his clients' personalities.

In my "real life" I am an attorney in a relatively small field, and the hourly rates of my colleagues are all over the map. We all provide similar services, and sometimes largely the same service, but the price of the services can vary dramatically. Are the more expensive attorneys always better? Of course not. But sometimes, it makes sense to pay a little more for a greater level of experience, or more personal attention, or because you were impressed with the person's responsiveness, or simply because you like the person's personality.

So in the end, I feel like with Ahmed, I got what I paid for.

abby97

One more thing - I just read on another thread that Lady Egypt charges extra for a private guide on the cruise. Ahmed did not charge extra for this.