Hello,
In 2009, my girlfriend will be taking the Istanbul to Cairo tour from May 03-June 07. If at all possible, we would like to go on the Alexandria & Siwa Oasis tour as well which starts on June 06. This brings me to my two questions.
1. Would there be any issues leaving the Istanbul to Cairo tour early to join the Alex/Siwa tour? From what I've read on the itinerary, the only thing which occurs on June 07 is breakfast and we arrive back in Cairo on June 06. The Alex/Siwa tour doesn't leave Cairo until June 07. If we left the Istanbul to Cairo tour early, would it still be possible to participate in the optional activity of the horse/camel ride to watch the sunset on June 06 (Day 35)?
2. How often does the Alex/Siwa tour get cancelled and does it require 6 people like the other tours? I know the "how often does xxx tour get cancelled" question gets asked a lot, however I almost never see this tour mentioned and I would really like to visit Siwa and the western desert.
A major reason for asking question 2 is that both my girlfriend and I are going to have to be putting our vacation plans in writing to work well in excess of 6 months in advance. I would hate to arrange the extra week of vacation and have the tour cancelled. My same concern also applies to the Istanbul to Cairo tour (which I'm assuming isn't going to be an issue as it is a combination tour).
Thank you for any help
~Jonathan
Re: Istanbul to Cairo/Alexandria & Siwa Oasis in 2009
Hi Jonathan
Thanks for your post, in answer to your queries:
It is fine to overlap the two tours. As the Alexandria & Siwa Oasis tour (EAAX) does not actually depart Cairo until 7th June, you would still be able to partipate in the excursion to view the sunset at the Pyramids with your Istanbul to Cairo group.
It is difficult to predict how the EAAX will book up for summer next year. It does visit some more unusual areas of Egypt and so often runs on quite low numbers. We would hope that this will run, but cannot gaurantee any of our tours until they have reached the minimum of 6 people.
I hope this helps.
Sinead