abby97

Leslie - we will definitely post pictures at some point. We took over 2,500 pictures, so as soon as we're done with the trip report, our next project is to go through the pictures and create an album to share.

DAY 9 – Luxor

We had to check out of our cabins at 8:00 am (!!!) and were scheduled to have a free day in Luxor. Apparently the rest of the boat had taken off for an early tour somewhere because we were the only people in the dining room, which was fitting since by then we had come to view the boat as our new home and had no desire whatsoever to leave. We had our usual fresh breakfast falafel (a habit which we have sorely missed since leaving Egypt).

We had anticipated that we would need to store our bags at the hotel where we would be staying that night (Steigenberger Nile Palace), but once again, Ahmed came through for us and, with the help of our local “handler,” managed to score us an early check-in (9:00 am!) during one of the busiest times of the year. As if that weren’t enough, Ahmed secured an amazing Nile-view room for us with a HUGE balcony and an amazing view of the west bank (Room 222). We had not asked Ahmed for a Nile View room, nor did we pay for the upgrade as part of our stated itinerary. Also, after we found out (the night before) that we had to be out of the cabins at 8:00 am, we wanted to change our pick-up time from 10:00 am to 9:00 am. We sent an SMS message to Ahmed late in the evening asking if he could change the pick-up time, and he called us immediately to tell us that he had contacted our local “handler” about changing the time. Sure enough, the handler was waiting for us at 9:00 am sharp! Yay! for the “Bat Phones.”

In any event, the room at the Nile Palace was wonderful. So wonderful, in fact, that we didn’t want to leave it. But Luxor beckoned, so off we went. We went back for our second visit at Karnak and just wandered around the hypostyle hall for a couple of hours. At one point, a group of Egyptian school girls (maybe in their early teens) came through. I smiled and waved, and within about a second-and-a-half, the group was mobbing me, giggling and asking if they could take my picture with their cell phones. Mr. Abby kept trying to get them to pose for a picture with me for our camera, but they were much too busy taking pictures of me, or of one or two of them with me, for their own cameras. What fun!!

(A note from Mr. Abby – it can be fun traveling in Egypt with a pretty blonde because the teenage girls mob her and want to take her picture. At the same time, they are not the only ones who notice her. We live in downtown Los Angeles, and in my judgment, we attracted no more attention in Egypt than we do here, the only difference being that in LA I understand the entirety of the cultural context of such attention and know exactly how to respond, but in Egypt I was familiar with neither the culture nor did I have any idea what people were saying unless they spoke in English. At no time did I ever experience a situation that was threatening, and I can unequivocally say that I felt safer walking down dark streets in Cairo than in LA, but there were a handful of times when I was vaguely uncomfortable. In every instance I found that approaching the situation in a calm manner and with a good sense of humor quickly diffused the situation (assuming one even existed). In fact, I found that a good sense of humor resolved all situations, whether it was pushy shopkeepers or guys on dark streets.)

We spent the rest of the morning walking through the Old (non-tourist) Market, and ended up acquiring a 12-year-old “guide” named Mohammad. He was a lot of fun – very precocious and great English skills. Of course he wants to be a guide when he grows up, and we think he’ll be a good one. We made a little misstep by giving him baksheesh in front of his friends, one of whom followed us around for at least another hour (and waited for us while we ate lunch). Mohammad also took us through some of the neighborhoods near the Old Market. We were pretty much the only tourists in the area, and it was a worthwhile (and eye-opening) experience. In addition to vegetables and spices, there were lots of animals (and animal parts) – goats, donkeys, chickens, ducks. Nobody tried to sell us anything; nobody really paid any attention to us at all, actually. In fact, throughout the trip we found that the much talked about “pushiness” of the shopkeepers diminished in direct proportion to the distance we travelled from the tourist areas.

After lunch, we went back to the hotel for a drink and a rest and then back out to Luxor Temple for a sunset visit. It was more crowded than it had been when we visited later in the evening, but the light on the Temple was just beautiful.

After we left the Temple, we walked along the corniche in search of a houseboat that allegedly serves cocktails. We never did find it, but we were enjoying the walk, and we ended up walking all the way to Karnak. We had gone back-and-forth on the idea of the Sound and Light show, but we really wanted to see the temple at night, so we sucked it up and went. It was actually really fun! Yeah, it’s over-the-top, but it’s Karnak! At night! All lit up!

After the Sound and Light show, we caught a cab back to the train station and set out in search of a restaurant we had read about called Sofra. We found it (and were invited to a teenage Egyptian girl’s house along the way – we politely declined). Unfortunately, it had not occurred to us to make reservations, and they happened to be full for the night. The host at the front of the restaurant was very nice, but there was nothing he could do. We left disappointed and we started down the road to find a different place to eat. Minutes later, the host came running down the road after us. It turns out that a couple that had made reservations had failed to show up, so the restaurant cancelled their reservations and gave us the table! We sure did luck out, and Sofra ended up being one of our favorite meals. We sat downstairs, which was lovely, but the upstairs area was even better. We had a bunch of mezza, some koshari (really good), some sort of duck dish, and a chicken tagine. It was all just divine. If you decide to eat at Sofra, make sure to call for reservations, and try to get a seat upstairs, if you can.

We made our way back to the hotel on foot, wanting to savor every bit of Luxor that we could. It was the end of our whirlwind tour of Upper Egypt and all we could think about were all the things we would do when we come back.

abby97

DAY 10 – Back to Cairo

We enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the Nile Palace. Some of the seating is outside so we had breakfast on the patio overlooking the Nile. We then headed north on a very quick flight back to Cairo. If anyone understands the logic of the seating row designations on Egypt Air, we would love to hear it – our plane had four rows: A,C, F,H.

Seeing all the little villages along the Nile made us want to stay in one for a night or two – next visit!

Our “handler” (sorry, we just don’t know what to call them) checked us back into the lovely Marriott, where we asked for and received a room with a beautiful view of the Cairo Tower (Room 833). It was noteworthy that this handler, like the handlers we had in Luxor in Aswan, but unlike the first handler we had at the Marriott, sat us down in the lobby and handled all of the check-in for us. This is a nice perk, and we wish that our first handler had done this (we had just stepped off the plane and were very jet lagged, so we really would have appreciated not having to do the check-in). In any event, after we checked in, we walked across the street to “Drinkies” to stock up on wine (much cheaper than at the hotel), and by now we were pros at crossing the street. Our favorite of the cheap Egyptian wines is Obelisk.

After we got back to the room, we were surprised to find out that Ahmed was at the Marriott finishing the day with other clients. We asked him if he wanted to come up to check out the room and chat for a minute, which he did. It was great to see Ahmed again! Even better, we made plans to meet him the following night at Abu El Sid – what a treat!

We decided to head out “on the town,” so we grabbed a cab (here’s a tip – rather than catching a cab at the hotel, walk a block away from the hotel and grab a cab there instead. The fare will be much cheaper because the cab drivers who park at the hotel have to give baksheesh to the hotel people) and went back to Old/Islamic Cairo. We ended up wandering around the area near the tentmakers’ bazaar (at least we think that’s where we were – we knew we could find a cab home and weren’t really paying attention to where we were). It was Sunday night and was pretty quiet, with few tourists in sight. It was here that we had one of our best meals of the trip, and the absolute best koshari experience. The “restaurant,” if you could even call it that, served koshari and koshari only (we saw several places like this in Cairo and Luxor), and for $2 (you read that right -- $2 USD, including a generous tip), we had two orders of the best koshari ever, complete with a salad that we couldn’t eat (we stayed away from fresh vegetables, unfortunately). It was wonderful.

From there, we caught what had to be the oldest cab in Cairo (seriously, every time we stopped, I thought we were going to have to push-start the thing), and had every intention of heading back to the Marriott . . . until we drove through an area with lots of vegetable stands and people milling about. So we asked the cab driver to stop. The poor guy thought we were crazy and kept trying to tell us that this wasn’t Zamalek! I have no idea where we were, but it was a great little neighborhood. We eventually wandered over to a sheesha café, where all the men (and men only) were playing cards and backgammon. We decided to stop when one of the “regulars” invited us to sit down. I seriously felt like the only woman in Cairo (outside the hotels and tourist areas) smoking a sheesha, but nobody stared too much, and we had a good time. The waiter had to bring over one of the regulars who could speak English in order to settle our bill (by the way, if you’re ready for the bill, hold one hand out palm up, and make a chopping motion across it with the other hand – works every time). What fun! From there, we took a slightly newer cab back to the hotel. Though along the way the cab was stopped by the police and the driver had to bribe them to let us go on our way.

It was our last night in Egypt, and we didn’t want it to end!

Grcxx3

<<our favorite of the cheap Egyptian wines is Obelisk.>>

yikes - I think that's the one that always gave me a horrible headaches!

abby97

Haha -- I guess that just shows just what kind of wine we drink back in the states. Love that smiley you posted, by the way -- LOL!!!

abby97

DAY 11 – Cairo and Bon Voyage

This is it. The end of the trip. We don’t want to leave.

We had another free day in Cairo before having to leave for the airport at 9:00 pm, so we ended up heading back to the Egyptian museum. This was a shock to us, as we had not expected to enjoy the museum as much as we did. We enjoyed our expert ability to cross the street and catch a cheap cab across the bridge. (Ahmed’s little chickens had grown up a little bit!) We strolled casually through the museum, not really looking at anything, just generally enjoying the ambiance. We even talked to Lollie14!

Ahmed had secured a super-late check out for us (3:00 pm – thanks Ahmed!), so we were able to go back to the hotel and spend some time in the room before checking out.

We decided to spend the rest of the day strolling around Zamalek, which is a lovely neighborhood and SO different from other parts of Cairo we had visited. There are a lot of embassies in Zamalek, and it felt very upscale. We went to the Egypt Free Trade Craft Store (not sure if I have the name exactly right), where the prices are fixed and the crafts are lovely – the perfect antidote to the insane tourist bazaar. (Along these same lines, we also enjoyed the store “Nomad,” which has a branch in the Marriott, a larger store down the street, and several other branches in Cairo. The prices here are fixed, too).

We continued our walk through Zamalek and ended the walk with a stop at a sheesha place near the hotel. While we were there, a couple of tourists walked by and asked to take our pictures. We laughed and were surprised that it was pictures of us they wanted. We had accomplished our goal and were now Egyptians (yes, we're just joking)!

We enjoyed one last drink on the Marriott patio and then met Ahmed for dinner at Abu el Sid (we didn’t make the Sofra mistake and had asked the concierge to make reservations earlier that day). We enjoyed a wonderful dinner and then said a sad “goodbye” to our friend. From there, it was back to the airport (with lots of demands for baksheesh from the airport people – once we stepped through security and were out of the protection of our guide, EVERYONE wanted baksheesh for everything. We had to give the check-in people $2 to put our bags on the conveyor belt after they tagged them - unbelievable) and off for the long flight home.

Was it possible that the trip was over so soon? We were just getting started! I guess this is just how it goes.

If you have made it to the end of this lengthy report, you deserve a medal and a huge thank you for allowing us to relive this amazing trip.

I’m sure we left a lot of things out (impossible, you may say, given then length of this novel – I mean – trip report), and before we end our missive, I wanted to jot down a few random thoughts/tips:

* We loved all of our accommodations and would unequivocally recommend all of them. Make sure you do NOT get a “garden view” room at the Marriott, as the street noise is terrible.

* We loved having the Ahmed “Bat Phones” as a means of communication. If you are traveling with a private guide, it’s a great way to stay in touch. It eliminates all complication with meeting times and places, and allows you complete flexibility to change your meeting times and places when you decide you want to do something different than what you agreed to with your guide an hour before. In addition, when we were in Upper Egypt, Ahmed often called or sent SMS messages to check on us, which was really nice. A couple of times, we also used them to contact drivers if we were out on our own and needed the driver to pick us up. Mr. Abby and I also used them to keep in touch with each other when we chose to wander off in different directions. Really – they are cell phones – how often do you go anywhere at home without your cell phone? An added bonus – they have Arabic as well as English numerals, so we think they’re cool souvenirs.

* I know this is going to sound weird, but we actually wish we had bought more stuff -- especially the kitschy stuff sold at the bazaars and museum gift shops. The stuff was cheap and would have made great gifts and also would have been great reminders of the trip.

* We ate pretty much anything we wanted and avoided only unpeeled fruits and uncooked vegetables. We ate lots of dairy, all manner of meat, fish, etc . . . . We ate at several non-touristy places selling “street food” and were fine. We drank tea and hibiscus juice, as well as the “smoothie” at the Marriott, but avoided juices from unknown sources. Mr. Abby had a little “mummy tummy” from some mango juice in Aswan (he thinks), and I had a little “mummy tummy” from some tap water that I drank on the boat (I thought it was bottled – oops). In both cases, we took the ever-popular and readily available antinal and were good-as-new by the next day.

* The weather in late December was perfection. Just the slightest chill in the morning and evening. It was actually foggy in Cairo! Warm during the day, but not what I would call “hot” (except in Valley of the Kings). For those going during this time frame, I would pack a light jacket or sweater, for sure, especially if you’re taking a cruise.

* We found that the Egyptians were friendly and really liked to interact. I am shy by nature and found this a bit of a hurdle to overcome (especially when I was the only woman around), but once I did, it was a real joy to engage. Never once was anyone even remotely rude to us. Quite the opposite, actually. Service people wherever we went were incredibly eager to please. When we treated people with respect and dignity, they returned it in spades. It also seemed to us that the people we encountered generally approached things in a lighthearted way and with a good sense of humor, and we found that it was best for us to take the same approach – we found that we were able to joke around with shopkeepers, for example, in a way that made the experience more fun.

* Engagement is the key in Egypt. From the way traffic is managed, to the way in which every transaction must be negotiated, to the way prayers blast out across town from loudspeakers on green neon covered minarets, engagement is the key. Since returning to the US, we have constantly noticed how US culture encourages us to “turn off” – there is no reason to notice other drivers on the road, and in the supermarket you might as well use the automated checkout. But in Egypt you can’t help but be a part of everything with everyone at all times – so be prepared to jump into that pool with arms open and then to wallow in it with enthusiasm.

* Lunch time is a GREAT time to visit an otherwise crowded temple, as the tour buses take the big groups to their scheduled lunches.

* In the Valley of the Kings/Queens, start at the back of the tomb (if you are not forced to wait in a line), and work your way forward. It is easier to linger that way.

* We thought the Egyptian beer was great and especially liked Sakkara. Also, much to our surprise, we actually liked Egyptian wine! The Omar Khayyam white is really good, and we liked the Obelisk red (we somehow escaped the dreaded hangover -- perhaps because we drink so much cheap wine at home). I don’t recommend the Aida champagne (unless you like paint thinner (of course it depends on context and when drunk on the deck of a cruise boat on the Nile as a blue moon rises . . . it is divine . . . or so says Mr. Abby. I still thought it tasted like paint thinner)).

* In hindsight, we would have stayed another night at the Movenpick in Aswan, and perhaps another night at the Nile Palace in Luxor. In a perfect world, we would have stayed at least another week in Cairo. Or maybe another month. Or two.

* We felt safe everywhere we went and never worried about walking around on our own, even at night in the non-tourist areas.

* The concept of tipping throughout Egypt is ubiquitous. In part this must be because of the severe economic disparity between the locals and the tourists, but my personal feeling is that there is also an element of paying for a service that is (or might be) provided, even if it's not provided directly to you at that particular time.

The quality of your trip can easily be enhanced through baksheesh, and any traveler here should fully embrace the concept of generosity and work that in to the planning of the trip. And carry a large supply of Egyptian pounds, if possible. In terms of your guides, etc . . . Ahmed never pressured us to tip anyone and told us time and again that tipping is always optional, but he was willing to provide us with general guidelines, when asked. I believe that other organizations (like Lady Egypt) will do this, as well.

* One last plug for our guide, Ahmed Hamed Yousif ([email protected]). We felt he was instrumental in terms of making this trip a glowing success. He thought of literally everything, and he planned and executed an amazing itinerary for us. He took great care of us (he called us his “little chickens”) but also taught us how to manage for ourselves. Every single part of the trip exceeded our expectations, and that was due in large part to Ahmed’s hard work and conscientiousness. Also, and perhaps more importantly, we liked spending time with Ahmed and really enjoyed learning from him. We feel that the value of his services far outweighed the cost of the trip. We recommend him wholeheartedly to anyone planning a trip to Egypt.
In terms of the cost, he was not the cheapest quote we received, but nor was he anywhere close to the most expensive (the US-based quotes were OUTRAGEOUS). We ultimately chose Ahmed for the reasons I listed in our first post, including his many years of experience and the personal touch that he offered. Also, he presented us with the most flexibility in terms of last-minute changes (such as deciding not to go to Alexandria the day before we were supposed to go). In terms of his relationship to Lady Egypt (I only address this because it has been discussed on this Board), it is true that he has a relationship with that company insofar as he works with LE handlers (airport meet-and-greet) and guides in Upper Egypt. He also uses LE as the place to wire deposits (which we appreciated – we would have been nervous about wiring our deposit to an individual we had not yet met rather than an established company with a website, etc . . .). However, it is not accurate to say that Ahmed uses LE to “plan his trips.” Ahmed draws up the itineraries himself and makes specific recommendations regarding hotels, guides, etc based on his own experiences guiding for many years and his (very good) intuition about his clients’ needs/desires (and the budget, of course). He also does all of the guiding himself in Cairo. Whenever we weren’t with him, he was available to us by phone or text 24/7, he called or texted daily to check up on us, and he called all of our handlers and our Upper Egypt guide constantly to make sure we were being treated well. In addition, he constantly provided excellent service, unrequested upgrades, and many other surprises/extras that really made our trip special.

We are so lucky that this board provides us with the opportunity to learn about all different types of guides/tours so we can each choose the right match for our trip, and I think there are many excellent choices that are recommended on this board. We believe that Ahmed was the right match for us.

We loved our trip and have loved re-living it through this report. Thanks for reading it. Please feel free to email me at [email protected] if you have questions or want a word version of the report (it might take me a few days to respond, but I will get there eventually).

shelleyk

Great report. I had a wonderful time reading it and reliving our trip to Egypt. It really is a special place to visit and your report made it sound that way for others contemplating a trip there. I am glad you enjoyed your trip. Thanks for posting.

Leslie_S

Yes, great report! Nice to read about people who embrace another culture rather than fearing it or resisting the differences they encounter (which is the whole point of travel, to me).

Thanks a lot for sharing & I'll keep checking back to see if you post a link to pictures.