Pharaoh's Tracks

Re: Pharaoh's Tracks

Hi Kiwi,
I am going on the Pharoah's Tracks over christmas. It's my first time to Egypt and I am really looking forward to it. My mate at work went with The Imaginative Traveller on a felucca cruise a few years ago and still raves about the trip. Is this your first time in the Middle East? I was travelling through Eastern Europe recently and was treated with suspicion because I have Pakistani origins (even though I have lived in London for most fo my life). I am hoping that I won't have any problems in Egypt!
I am arriving a day early in Cairo because that was the only flight I could get so I would be interested to hear of any reccomendations on places to visit.
See You Soon
Genghis x

Re: Pharaoh's Tracks

Kiwi and Genghis -
I'm booked for Pharaoh's tracks 1st week of Feb. Please let me know all the must sees, don't forgets, as well as the don't bothers. It's my first trip to Eygpt. I'm so glad I didn't rebook.

Re: Pharaoh's Tracks

I was beginning to wonder if I was the only one going! yes, its my first trip to Egypt, so glad I didn

Re: Pharaoh's Tracks

Hi Maycroft,
I have just got back from the 'Pharoah's Tracks' tour and had a fantastic time! The people are very welcoming and friendly and our tour guide, Kashka, went out of her way to make sure we had the best holiday possible.
I loved everything we did on this tour and there are a couple of options I thought you might like to hear about.
Firstly, do go to Abu Simbel - we all went by coach and although it was an early start, believe me its worth it!

In Aswan a few of us went camel riding through the desert up to some ruins and that was a brilliant experience. It cost about 30LE (Egyptian Pounds) + 5LE for a tip to the guide. I think this was more enjoyable than doing a camel ride at the Pyramids.

You may be lucky enough to get an invite to have dinner in a traditional Nubian village. You actually get to eat on the rooftops of one of the village houses under the stars - the food we had was some of the best that we had come across in Egypt! It really was a highlight for me. Please note that this will only be offered to you if the family that entertatins the groups can accomodate people at the time. You pay a set amount for the meal and then separately for the drinks, but it is very inexpensive.

I did the sound and light show at Karnak Temple which cost 30LE. The narrative wasn't very good but it was amazing to see the temple lit up at night - very surreal. The sound and light show at Giza uses Lasers rather than projected lights. I din't go to the Giza one myself but from what I hear I think the commentary was a lot better there.

If you have spare time at Cairo, my recommendations for sight seeing would be:
Coptic Cairo (it's full of narrow alleyways with old churches and a synagogoue and not as busy as the rest of Cairo). You don't need to pay to get in but if you wander into the places of worship you might want to leave a contribution.

The Citadel (I enjoyed going to the military museum here and the mosque is pretty amazing). The entrance fee is 20LE and you have to pay further fees to get into the museums.

The bazaar in Cairo is also great for browsing through and surprsingly we hardly got hassled there (unlike the bazaars in Aswan and Cairo).

You can hire out a taxi from the hotel and get the driver to wait for you while you are at the site. Your guide will advise you how much is should cost to get to a particular place. I made the mistake of not using the hotel's taxi desk and allowed one of the porters to fix me up with a taxi and I did get ripped off. To give you an idea of the costs, to hire out a taxi from our hotel to go to Coptic Cairo and the Citadel with a wait of about 3 hours in total cost between 60 - 70LE.

Hope this is useful and I hope you have a great time!
Cheers
Genghis

Re: Pharaoh's Tracks

Dear Genghis,

Thank you for taking the time to share highlights and tips from your Pharoah

Re: Pharaoh's Tracks

Hi Maycroft,
You must be really excited by now! Only a few weeks to go.....

I personally didn't mind the bus ride to Abu Simbel and most people did get some sleep on the coach. It is a really amazing place to go to and see!

Another thing I forgot to mention is that if you are not claustrophobic, do take the opportunity to clamber inside the pyramids at Dashur and Maidyum - it's an adventure in itself!

Have a great time........

Genghis

Re: Pharaoh's Tracks

Hello everyone,

I also recommend that people take the time & effort to visit Abu Simbel. This is an amazing Temple with the most beautiful wall paintings, it has to be seen to be appreciated. The first time you walk around that bend you will be gobsmacked, with the sheer size of the Temple & it's majesty. If you are flying in, try to sit on the lefthand side of the plane as you may be lucky enough to get an aerial view of Abu Simbel.

I am a little claustrophobic, but I enjoyed the interior of the Red pyramid at Dashur. It is quite a steep climb up to the entrance way & then a very steep climb down a rather narrow passage way. It is situated out in the desert & is quite isolated...very quiet compaired to Cairo.I haven't been to Meidum yet.....next time! I also think that it would be nice to visit Abu Sir on my next trip......Inshallah!

In regard to taxi's in Egypt. It is best if we girls sit in the back of the taxi's, otherwise it seems to be an open invitation for the driver to grope you....this can also happen to male passengers.

Have a great time....I truly wish I could be there with you.

[This message has been edited by Debbie Comini (edited January 08, 2002).]

Re: Pharaoh's Tracks

Tip: if you want to go to Coptic Cairo, which is very interesting, it is much cheaper to take the subway/metro there than a taxi. For Coptic Cairo, take line 1 and get off at station Mar Girgis. You can pick up this line from the square in front of the Egyptian Museum (station Sadat). Price is max. 0.80 Egyptian pounds one way.

And the Cairo subway is, very un-Egyptian, clean and efficient! It's also safe for women, every train has a special carriage for women, although it is certainly not necessary to use it.

For more information on the Cairo subway, visit: http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/1999/449/tr2.htm