Just returned from Egypt October 2023
My husband and I just returned from the October 2023 Egypt: Jewels of the Nile trip and I wanted to share some thoughts in the hopes this trip will be offered again. As usual, Tauck exceeded our expectations in excursions and lodgings including a wonderful 4-day cruise on the Nile. First I would say the terrain was more difficult than I expected and the first 2 days exploring the Giza pyramids and going to Luxor to visit the Valleys of the Queens and Kings were tough on mobility so if you have any issues, wear stout walking shoes and consider bringing walking sticks or a cane to help with traversing rocky sandy soil. We had one night excursion to a temple where the lighting was not quite enough to see the walkways and I almost fell. Consider bringing a flashlight or using your cell phone flashlight as the site was very crowded. Secondly I would comment on bathrooms or WCs, water closets. We didn’t have trouble finding WCs and our tour director made sure we had “potty breaks.” Inside the WC is always an attendant holding the toilet paper and requesting a 5-10 Egyptian Pound note so be sure you carry a supply of these or $1 US money and consider bringing tissues or wipes as you’re not given a lot of paper! Our tour director often paid the tip so we just said her name when we used the facility and had no issues. The exchange rate was about $1 to $31 Egyptian pounds and Covid was devastating to these folks so as annoying as it is to pay to use the WC, it really costs very little. The food in the hotels and on the river boat was good and the lunches on the excursions were usually Egyptian which is an acquired taste so bringing supplemental snacks like protein bars, etc. is not a bad idea. The heat was fairly oppressive even in October so drink lots of fluids. We brought electrolyte tabs to put in bottled water on days when we were out in the sun for hours. The heat can be very draining so hat/sunscreen are imperative. Our tour buses always had plenty of bottled water…don’t drink anything but bottled water and bring lots of hand sanitizer. One last word about the Cairo airport which was a really bad experience for us. We stood out like sore thumbs among others waiting in line to go with security which was chaotic. We didn’t have boarding passes as the airline wouldn’t provide them until seeing our passports. We were immediately set upon by security people asking to be “taken care of” in order to get through the lines. Once we gave one man some money, the rest descended on us until we ran out of US and Egyptian money. Men and women go through different security lines for the required “pat downs.” The female doing my security check took my passport as I didn’t have a boarding pass….panicked, I remembered I had a confirmation pass from Qatar airlines and I finally remembered to show this while almost freaking out at the thought of being detained. Qatar airlines is terrific, I will say! We had to go through security twice more before getting to our departure gate and there’s no rhyme nor reason to the way they board. We arrived in Doha and had to go through security twice more despite never leaving the airport; they even took away the water we got on the plane. The tour of Egypt was amazing with fabulous sites and passionate guides. I don’t want my memory of this trip to be departing the Cairo airport so I’m hoping these reflections help!
Comments
We have traveled through Doha airport quite a bit, yes, you do go through security again even when you don’t leave airside.
Unless things have changed, you pay in toilets in many countries, but on Tauck tours, the TD has always given us the money before we go in. We even had a TD provide us with a packet of tissues before we went in one toilet he knew didn’t provide it. I always carry a few tissues in my pocket wherever I go, home or abroad. I’m amazed when on tours that women don’t have any tissues when we are in line.
I have no big desire to go to Egypt, but I do know if I change my mind to avoid going in the hotter months and that it will have desert like terrain, know that from elementary school history and the numerous shows I see about Egypt.
We did a tour of Egypt and I really enjoyed it. I'd like to do it again, but my wife was not enamored of Egypt, especially how men treated her - women don't have much status in Egypt.
We didn't have any problems at the Cairo airport when we were leaving the country. One of the tour group tour directors came with us and took us to the airline counter to make sure we were checked in and got our boarding passes. He only left us when we went to security, and they made sure we were in the right line and were essentially next-in-line to clear security. Can’t say enough about how well they handled that – and how much we appreciated it.
You can see our tour at https://www.mikeandjudytravel.com/2018EgyptAndTheNile-01.htm
I think I was shooting a 4/3rds camera on this trip so the pictures are not as good as later tours, but they're not too bad. I really like doing portraits of Arab men and you'll see a number of portraits in the blog.
erocha59. I really enjoyed my Petra to the Pyramids tour. I traveled in December, the weather was absolutely glorious and the crowds were non-existent (of course this was December 2021 when things were barely getting back to pre-COVID normal). I do not recall any hassles at the airport - Cairo or Doha. I understand every experience is different.
MikeHenderson...I plan on returning to Egypt at some point to see the Grand Egyptian Museum...whenever it opens (Inshallah)
Pureluxury: Yes, I'dlove to go back to see the Grand Egyptian Museum. Maybe I can use that as an incentive for my wife to travel there
We will leave for Egypt next week. We are very disappointed that the GEM is still not opened.
I watched them build the ‘new’ Cairo airport for a couple years while working for Saudia. When they finished it looked like it was five thousand years old.