River of the Pharaohs 10 Day Tour
Written: Jul 07 '05
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Pros: Our own guide and minibuses throughout the tour.
Cons: Pressure to buy from salesman at rug factory.
The Bottom Line: Highly recommended - great accommodations, transportation, itinerary and guide.
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| lyndahausman's Full Review: General Tours |
A terrific experience, General Tours provided us with excellent hotels and accommodation on the Nile.
There were only 5 of us: 3 Canadians (myself, my husband and daughter) and two wonderful American ladies. This was a nice surprise as I expected there to be as many as 20 people with us. The small number allowed us to get in and out quickly without having to wait for stragglers.
Our tour coordinator was Rafaat Shoukry, and he did an excellent job of getting it right. We were met promptly throughout the trip at airports, ports, and tour sites by minibuses with knowledgeable drivers. Believe me, Cairo is not a place for an inexperienced driver!! General Tours staff handled all our baggage and got us through the airports quickly and efficiently.
The General Tours program is pretty similar to others I checked out. It does include a couple of optional parts, I would recommend the optional tour of the Nubian village, but skip the Pyramid Sound and Light Show.
Our tour guide, Mahmoud Allam, was with us the whole way. On the Nile, other tour groups were combined by language spoken and given different guides each day. Our group was able to stay together, with our own guide and buses. Apparently, General Tours policy is to provide your own guide and vehicle if there are 4 or more people on the trip. Mahmoud was great, very knowledgeable and patient with us, and had a terrific sense of humour.
For safety reasons, the government assigned a security guard to our group while we were in Cairo - it felt a bit odd having our own bodyguard, but with the terrorist situation, it's a way for the government to protect the tourist industry.
The sights were wonderful, and there was down time each day to read and/or relax by the pool. We did start early each morning, however! The tour included visits to local artisans for such things as papyrus, rugs, perfume and alabaster. A bit of pressure to buy, but not too bad except at the rug factory, where we felt really guilty not buying anything since the rugs were being made by local kids. Mahmoud took us to his favourite spice store in Aswan so we could get some fresh spices to take home. He even helped us bargain with the merchants when we wanted to buy something since some of us weren't comfortable with the concept. He also advised us to pool our money for tipping (tipping is a big thing with everyone from drivers to ticket takers) and we saved bigtime that way. He also told us how much each person should get so as not to overtip, but not insult them either!
All in all, a great vacation and I highly recommend General Tours.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
Tour type: Group
Tour format: Various
Tour length: Over a Week
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Epinions.com ID:
lyndahausman
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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