GO TO EGYPT!

Hi to all!
Anyone thinking of going to Egypt should pack the bags and go!

Our small group of travellers on the Beyond the Pyramids tour (Dec 2 - 17) had a fantastic time and Paul our tour guide helped us in so many ways to see the best things (Pyramids are amazing - Sinai is wonderful). Right in the middle of Ramadan, we found the people really friendly and helpful in explaining about Muslim religion and culture. Nubia in the Upper Nile is also a culture and experience of its own, and the sites from the felucca sailboat are from another world and time.

It is an adventure tour, so be prepared for some primitive bathroom facilities and clean but small rooms. Bring warm sleeping bags for the felucca and the desert - it gets cold at night (and when the wind blows in the day) during the winter.

Also, try to preserve the beauty of the Nile (it is the home and farmland of many people) encourage everyone to be CERT Certified (they will tell about the environmental impact and need to preserve the nature) and go beyond that to keep it as clean as possible - hopefully in the future it will be a "pack it in, pack it out" situtation as it is on the Colorado in the states.

There are lots of military and police presence to give a feeling of security - the people need our tourist money and are hurting because of the Sept 11 attacks. All people we met denounced those attacks (the work of extremists, not of good Muslims) and constantly repeated the one phrase that every Egyptian seemed to know, "Welcome to Egypt!"

So enjoy Egypt - Go now - it is uncrowded and full of amazing adventures - and so much easier to see with the tour guide (Paul is great) and in-country guides that Imaginative Traveller uses on the Beyond the Pyramids tour.

Ed