Confused about Cairo...and beyond!!

Re: Confused about Cairo...and beyond!!

Hi ms_bunnypenny

Thanks for your post. Glad to hear that you like the sound of our tours so much, but sorry you're having trouble deciding!

Please see below answers to your questions:

Our cruise boat - MS Melodie - is very comfortable amd each twin cabin is fully air conditioned with ensuite facilities. There is a also a small pool and on deck lounge/bar area to enjoy the views cruising along the Nile.

Feluccas are very simple, and the most traditional and peaceful way of travelling down the Nile. There is a canopy to shade you from the sun, and fresh meals are prepared throughout by the crew. You will sleep on deck at night, and there are no toilet facilities on board!

Most clients on the Beyond the Pyramids tour find the time spent with the Bedouins and trekking in the Sinai is the highlight of this trip. The trekking can be demanding in places, but there is no-one better than the locals to guide you through and fill you in on the stories as you lay beneath the stars....

The Alexandria & Siwa Oasis is a stand alone tour which visit some of the less trodden areas of Egypt. This gives a unique opportinity to visit the Siwa Oasis. If you just wanted to visit Alexandria, you can add the Alexandria extension to any of our Egypt tours.

On the Sailtrek & Sinai tour we spend an extra couple of days relaxing in Dahab, whereas the Beyond the Pyramids does the Sinai trek.

I hope this helps

Re: Confused about Cairo...and beyond!!

I went on BTP and chose it specifically because of the availabilty on the dates I needed to travel and because I wanted the felluca experience over the cruise boat.

The felluca was amazing and the best part of the trip for me, there is no way I would have traded it for being inside a boat. the peaceful feeling of zigzagging down the Nile was beyond amazing.

I was unhappy with the general behaviour of the tour leader on that part of the trip as it seemed to be taken as downtime from looking after us and I didn't feel that the way we handled toilets/clean-up was very 'responsible' or fair to the locals, but that aside, I loved the peacefulness of the experience. the boat crew were amazing and there were real opportunities to chat, share meals and help with the cooking.

I didn't enjoy the 'Bedouin experience' as much at all. It felt a bit 'constructed' and there was no opportunity to mix with the Bedouin hosts other than if we wanted to buy jewellery etc from the 'stall' set up inside the Bedoiun tent.

But to be fair, I chose BTP because of the dates rather than the itinerary and the desert was never the most appealing part for me. I loved just about everything else so much more!

Re: Confused about Cairo...and beyond!!

Hi GinFizzy

Thanks for your post. We're really happy that you loved the tour, that's always great to hear.

We would like to follow up on a couple of your comments about the tour leader and the Bedouin experience, though. Would you mind sending me your booking details (i.e. your name and tour date), so that we can look into these issues? My email address is kelly@imtrav.net.

All feedback is genuinely valued and, while it's brilliant to receive your positive comments, we would also like to investigate the things you were not so happy with, so that we can make our tours even better!

Thanks again,
Regards

Re: Confused about Cairo...and beyond!!

Hi Kelly

I sent in comprehensive feedback following the tour but heard nothing in response. I always give feedback directly in the first instance rather than sharing it publicly.

I'll see if I can dig out the email confirmation of my feedback and forward it onto you.

Thanks

Re: Confused about Cairo...and beyond!!

Hi GinFizzy,

I received your email - thank you. I'll pass this on to Operations and will also investigate why we may not have received your previous feedback.

Thanks again,
Regards

Re: Confused about Cairo...and beyond!!

Hi ms_bunnypenny,

I have done the Alexandria and Siwa Oasis tour and it was great. Siwa is very different from everywhere else in Egypt and hasn't been spoiled by tourism yet. I wish we has spent a bit more time there.

I highly recommed this tour.

Joanne

Re: Confused about Cairo...and beyond!!

Thanks for the insight everyone!

A few more quirky questions:

The felucca sounds awesome...but to be completely blunt--isn't having to ask to pull over everytime you need to use the loo a bit mortifying?!?!?! Or is it sort of a non-issue since everyone is in the same boat (as it were!)??

I'm planning on going on the June 21 departure and since I realize the weather will be extremely hot...are the hotels on BTP airconditioned?

More questions as they come to me!

Re: Confused about Cairo...and beyond!!

On the felluca - toileting experience: Yes it FEELS a bit mortifying at first to have to ask to pull over but my experience was that we got over this pretty quickly. The reality is that the sailing time passes quickly and there are planned stops anyway on most days for lunch, for visiting temples and for re-stocking with supplies. The sailing day ends before sunset and so time passes very quickly and there is much less need that you might imagine to have to 'ask' to pull over. On my boat the bunch of girls very soon got used to signalling to each other of the need to stop and making light of it all.

The biggest mortification for me (a prudish Brit and proud of it! ) was actually 'going' for the first time with the awareness of others dotted around other bushes and the like in fairly close proximity.... but as I say, after the first time it is fine. Something important to note is that the felluca ride comes well into the trip - the likelihood is that by this time you will be well acquainted with the others on a fairly intimate level by having already experienced the odd tummy upset within the group and shared way more information about bodily functions that may be considered normal!

I went on the trip in winter so can't really comment on air conditioning.

I wasn't impressed with the standard of the hotels overall and have passed on feedback to Imtrav about this. I have been reminded on other threads that Egypt is a 3rd world counry and don't want to invite further criticism by sharing my views here, but all I would say is be prepared for the fact that, even where facilities would appear to be installed they may not work at this grade of hotel. It might be a good idea to take a small hand held fan and a good supply of batteries so that you can cope with whatever. At least in Jue you shouldn't be as upset by icy cold showers as we were in December!!

Re: Confused about Cairo...and beyond!!

I did my trip in late May/early June and it was very hot (50 C in Aswan) at that time (except Alexandria), the only time we did not have air conditioning was in the hotel in Baharyia Oasis (I did the Western Desert and Nile trip). One thing to note, though, is that some hotels turn off the power in the night so the air conditioning goes off too.

Most of the hotels were OK, except the one in Siwa, it was full of cockroaches and I am terrified of them - I slept with the lights on all night.

Joanne

Re: Confused about Cairo...and beyond!!

I also originally wanted a felucca tour, but ended up going on the MS Melody. For the tours I looked at, it was 1 night on the Nile (felucca) vs. 4 nights on the Nile (MS Melody). I went with the cruise.