Lone travellers!

Re: Lone travellers!

I'm also 21 hoping to go to Egypt and perhaps see more of the middle east on my own. I've never done one of these tours before but it seems like quite a few people go on their own - hopefully this will be confirmed by other responses to your message.

Re: Lone travellers!

I'm booked to do my first ImTrav trip next month and will be going as a lone traveller (although I'm a bit more than 21 ) The FAQ says there is usually a good mix of couples and individuals, but I guess it'll vary group to group. Once I'm back I'll respond, let you know what I thought.

njm

Re: Lone travellers!

Hi

I travelled to Egypt alone last year to do the Nubian Sailtrek and even though the airport lost my luggage for the whole week........I had a great time. There were more singles than couples in my group and it was a really good mix.
The choice is your as to how much time you spend in each others company......
I'm sure you'll all have a great time......
Just get out there and enjoy......

Gill

Re: Lone travellers!

Hello Aimee,

I have travelled to Egypt twice, both times with Im Trav & alone.

I have thoroughly enjoyed both trips & highly recommend the Jewels of Egypt tour. It is a nice blend of activities & relaxation. The 3 days on Amy are realy nice, you get to watch the Egyptian terrain pass by as you glide along. You can relax in the sun, or just veg out, in between stops for sightseeing.

While it would be lovely if my husband could travel with me ( he won't fly & has said he won't go to Egypt until they build a bridge from Australia....I have a long wait!!), I will never regret going on my own. I made new friends & have kept in touch with Egyptian friends made on the first trip in March '99.

So don't let travelling alone worry you to much, you will be in good hands. The tour leaders are very competent & bring the groups together well.

Hope you have a wonderful time, if I can help in any way just drop me a line.

All the best.........Debbie.

Re: Lone travellers!

Thanks everyone, you've all been very helpful. It's quite a scary prospect but I really think I would you like to do it. So your advice has been great!

Re: Lone travellers!

Hey Aimee...
I did 5 weeks in the middle east with ImTrav and went by myself. The group I ended up in was about half singles and half couples...and they were awesome -- sooooooo sad to leave them! They ranged in age from 21 to 70...and I bonded with all of them! I hooked up with one of the guys on the tour and we did everything together. When he didn't want to do what I wanted to do - I went out with some of the couples... and, at times, I just wanted to go out on my own and soak up the culture. Some of my best moments were when I was on my own and met the local people. You wouldn't believe how many homes I was invited into and how much tea I ended up consuming - very hospitable people. As for the free days you have - there is so much to explore that it definitely won't be 'lazing around'. I will let you know that the attention you will receive from the men will be quite overwhelming at times. It doesn't matter if you are with people or not - they still say stuff to you. Wear a wedding band...and you will get less attention - they tend to hoot less at married women. You can also make one of the guys on tour your husband...that worked great for me! Once you get used to the attention - it is fine - they are actually being 'appreciative' of what they see. Just know that they can not touch you or harm you without big time consequences...I felt very personally safe in the middle east. Learn to say, "I live here" in Arabic - that freaks them out! I wouldn't worry about going on your own - I have travelled to many destinations in the world on my own and have never felt like the 'odd man out'...happy travels!

Re: Lone travellers!

Travelling alone is what I did. I finished the Western Desert Oasis tour in April 2004 and in that time I met 12 fabulous people in my group. Four couples and four single girls. Combined with the most amazing tour leader, Hatem, the trip was an 'adventure'. Every step of the trip was an adventure. Your group becomes your family, we all looked out for each other. Out tour leader went out of his way to make sure we had an amazing experience. There was always a surprise for us. Nothing was impossible.

For those who wish to see Egypt away from the tourists, the Western Deserts will take you to another world. It was far beyond what I expected. The jeep drivers, they were rebels without a cause. Awesome fun!

To all travellers, try and learn some Arabic while there. Its easy and the locals will love you and its great to see the shocked look on their faces!

Anyone want to know more please email anytime.

Happy travelling. Soak it all in.

Lejla

Re: Lone travellers!

I was 22 when I travelled alone to Egypt last November on the Pharaoh's Tracks tour. It is extremely easy to make friends on the trip as you will find most of the other people on the tour have come for the same experiences that you have. There were 4 other single people, two friends and a family of three on our tour. Half a year later and I am still in contact with all but one person on my tour. It is very hard to get bored in Egypt because when you have free time there are so many things to do or see that are not included on your tour (and are very cheap). Our tour guide even helped our group organise the extra activities we wanted to do on the tour. In the free time on our tour we did a donkey ride to the temple of Medinet Habu, visited the Ramesseum, Temple of Seti I and Deir Al Medina. A few of us in the group also went to Luxor Museum, the Mummy Museum and the Karnak Sound and Light Show (a must do). As for the day you visit the Egyptian Museum in Cairo when you do the tour of museum the guide only takes you to some of the main areas of interest. I recommend you stay on longer in the museum when you have your free afternoon as there is so much to see that the guide doesn't take you too including the Animal Mummy Room, the Treasures of Tanis and the Ancient Jewellery Room. Another extra our tour guide helped us with was a day trip to Alexandria and organised a bus and guide to take us around everywhere. It is well worth visiting as it is so different to the rest of Egypt thanks to the European history of the city. The places we visited were Pompeii's Pillar, the Catacombs, Greco-Roman Museum and the famous library.
I found Egypt a safe place and the people are very friendly everywhere you go. I stayed in Cairo for another five days by myself after the tour ended and had no travel getting around. Just watch out for dodgy taxi drivers. On my extra days I visited the Khan Al Kahili Bazaar, Coptic Cairo, went back to the Egyptian Museum, went back to the Giza Plateau and rode a camel around the Pyramids and went again at night to the Pyramid Sound and Light Show.
I had so much fun in Egypt that I plan to go again next year. If you want to see some of my Egypt photos go to my website: [url=http://www.geocities.com/dontworpybehappy]www.geocities.com/dontworpybehappy[/url]
Hope this helps,
Brendan

Re: Lone travellers!

Hi Aimee.

I'm 22 and am doing the ImTrav Felucca Journey trip in August all on my own. I'm even staying in Cairo on my own for a few days too. After travelling Europe for 3 months on my own (and doing tours) I would never consider travelling any other way. You have the freedom to do what U want and when U want, you make a million friends and don't have the hassel or worry about keeping your travel partner happy!

[quote]Originally posted by :
[b] I am 21 and am interested in seeing so many different places! Is it easy to make friends on these trips? I am interested in the Jewels of Egypt, but Im concerned about the amount of time spent just "lazing around". I don't want to find that I'm just sat on my own bored! Do many people tend to go on their own or is it mostly couples?
Thanks! [/b][/quote]

Re: Lone travellers!

[quote]Originally posted by nickm:
[b]Once I'm back I'll respond, let you know what I thought.[/b][/quote]As promised: I did the Nile Rover trip last week as a lone traveller. My tour had 7 people, one couple, one father and son and two single girls (who shared). the good thing about this was getting my own room for the duration of the tour
I found this worked well, and I did all the trips with one or more of the pairs, apart from Luxor Temple which I did solo.
The only bad point was the hot weather - and before anyone says "[i]well, DUH![/i]", it was a bone fide heatwave. The high 40s may not sound much for some of the Australians on this board, but it's about 20

Re: Lone travellers!

Hello Nick,
Great pics thank you for showing them. Can you tell me about prices for option tours like Abu Simbel and Luxor/Aswan/Cairo. I need to budget so any up to date information is great.
Tina

Re: Lone travellers!

Sorry BrendahH i forgot to say I saw your pictures too on your web site and they too are great.

Re: Lone travellers!

Tina,

If you're going on a Traveller, I think most of the sites are included, whereas with Adventurer tours none are.
I did all of the optional trips on the Nile Rover (Giza, Egyptian Museum, Karnak, Luxor, Valley of The Kings, Deir Al-Medina, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Abu Simbel). The majority of entrance fees were LE20. At least one was LE10 and a couple may have been LE30, but not a lot of difference. The only exception is Abu Simbel which was LE210. This involved getting up at 3am for the police convoy and the 6hr round trip Still, it was well worth it, even if it was too crowded to get any decent photos.

(LE10 = 1 UKP)

Regards,

njm