June 2009

Hi Carson,
I just wanted to thank you for helping me select The Royal Lily. The boat was beautiful, modern and extremely well kept. The staff was lovely as were the guests. There were 32 guests on board. We were put in a group of 11. 9 of us sat together for our meals as we really hit it off. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and fantastic. My kids really enjoyed it too. The tour schedule was perfect. We would not have been able to do more as it was so hot (115).
Anyway, thank you for your help. It was wonderful!
Amie

Terry,
We have just returned from our trip to Egypt and we had a fabulous time. Your staff is very professional, thorough and suited our small group travel style. The quality of the hotels, Nile cruiser and trip overall exceeded my expectations. Since you don't know me, you don't know how monumental that is!

A big part of what made our trip so memorable is Manal. She is very knowledgeable, has a passion for what she does, has a great sense of humor, keeps everything under control with seamless effort and makes everything fun.

We typically travel independently but I think that would have been challenging in Egypt. So thank you for making our trip such a pleasant experience.

Vickie V.

May 2009

The much awaited day has arrived -- you are so excited to start your 4-day Nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor on board the Royal Lotus! But what's this? Travel Egypt changed our ship to the Royal Lily? At first a bit anxious but then you are elated - this is an upgrade to the best and newest ship in the line and it is a beauty!
NOTE: While there is no way to ever guarantee free upgrades we are always trying for our clients at hotels and cruises.

Nile cruise ships are not the sleek mega cruise ships but rather specifically designed boxy smaller ships that buddy up in port to each other, lining up their doors such that you may have to walk through three ships to get to yours! But you think the Royal Lily is the best one of them all! It is beautifully decorated in an Asian style with browns and lavendar. Your stateroom is spacious compared to regular cruise ship cabins, and the bathroom with full tub and ceramic bowl sink is closed by a shoji door! But the best is yet to come. As you enter the small but elegant dining room, an international buffet awaits with pasta chef front and center wearing his tall pristine white chef hat. Your table is #12 and it is black wood with beige runners with fresh flowers. You meet Salah the dining room manager who welcomes you and then you join your companions gleefully filling your plate from the artistically displayed salads, breads, main dishes and desserts. We gratefully give thanks to God for his gift "exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we could ask or think!"

The four days go quickly but are so full that you feel like it is at least a week. The excursions are all included and you visit the famous pink granite quarries of Aswan where all the material came from for the ancient 3000 year old Egyptian statues, temples and obelisks (incredibly tall four sided tapering column topped with a pyramid shape carved from one piece of granite, the top originally covered in gold and silver). You visit the temples of Kom Ombo, Karnak and Luxor where every inch of the temples, built from the Holy of Holies outward, are covered in carving and hierglyphs and originally fully and colorfully painted. But you think the best excursions were the two to Hepshepsut's temple (one of only three women pharoahs) a huge white three tiered temple with hundreds of columns and a great central ramp, and the excursion to the Valley of the Kings and Queens where you got to visit King Tut's tomb and others even more elaborately decorated!

Then there was Egyptian night on board ship. You put on the long sleeved full length outfit you had purchased earlier on one of your bargaining adventures at the souk (market). It is a lovely cranberry color with gold braided trim. Jeff has a matching color traditional robe with a white turban. Tom wears a rakish bedouin white scarf ala Yasser Arafat. Cheryl is bedecked in turquoise splendor. Off to the Egyptian buffet feast you go followed by silly fun games (Picture full grown macho men tied with a rope around the waist that dangles between the legs at the end of which is a foil wrapped potato. They then swing their hips in such a rhythm as to hopefully cause the swinging potato to contact a foil wrapped potato on the floor and propel it across to the other side!) and conga line dancing. Other nights you enjoy the belly dancing and colorful whirling dervish dancing by a man twirling round and round, swirling colorful skirts up high like a top so that you do not even see him.

It ends all too soon, this wonderful Egyptian journey and now you are recovering from a cold and sore ribs at the home of your daughter in California but with lasting memories of a friendly land where everyone says, "Where are you from? Welcome to Egypt!", where you quibble over 3 Egyptian pounds and then realize it is only 60 cents, where the food is so flavorful that you understand the passage in the Bible where the people of Israel are complaining about the honey flavored manna that God supplies them in the desert and say, "We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic..." (Numbers 11:5).

Shokran (thank you) for your prayers.

With love and aloha,
Linda (and Jeff)

April 2009

Dear Travel Egypt,
We are back in the States after a GREAT trip through your Company that began on April 20th. We were the only two on tour through the entire trip and have nothing to say but great things about our trip; from the time we arrived in Cairo till the morning we departed for Paris. Your staff in Egypt is exceptional in every possible way--meet and great, prompt, very friendly, very knowledgeable and always seeking to please their clients. We've been on several tours in Europe and the Orient but yours is the best we've experienced. Please pass this on to Afifi El Shimy. Everyone was outstanding but we'd like to mention our tour guide from Aswan to Luxor named Emile. He was with us for almost 4 days and the best guide we've ever had on any trip or tour.
Thanks again.
Frank and Norva

Hi. I just wanted to drop you a note to tell you what a fantastic trip we had. We hadn't realized that our tour would be private, but now we see how we misread the description (your literature states groups of 2-16, but now we realize that this was our choice!). On the flight home we discussed how could we have made such a good choice in tour groups! We were very pleased and felt quite fortunate to have been so well cared for.

Having "handlers" keep track of us left us worry free to enjoy the days. Mohammed took care of everything in Cairo and Menal was a fabulous guide. We were very fortunate to run into Zahi Hawwas, Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, at the Imhoptep Museum! He was so kind to take a moment to chat with us and pose for a picture with our daughter. The rest of the week was busy and wonderful. The Guide for our Southern (Upper) Egypt was George and he was warm and informing.

The only suggestion for improvement that we could offer would be regarding accommodations. The Basma Hotel was beautifully located, but sorely outdated. Perhaps an option there might be the Ms. Basma - right next door and it appeared to be more up to date. You were totally right about the condition of the trains...my husband wished we had missed that "opportunity," but it was a must-do for my daughter and I. We survived it anyway :)

HUGE success and thank you for your services.
Kathy P. and Family

March 2009

I would like to express my thanks for a wonderful trip. Renita, Angela, Thommi, and I had a fabulous time. We would like to specifically thank our guides, Hassan and George, and our transporters, Mohammad and Mohammad. They did an excellent job!

Thanks again! We will definitely refer you to our friends and family who would like to visit Egypt.
Donna N.

February 2009

I returned last week from a most perfect trip to Jordan and Egypt, thanks to the sterling planning and support of Travel Egypt. I am so grateful that a friend of my brother, recommended the company so enthusiastically, and that I chose the company to put together my trip.
Every aspect of the company’s activity was excellently done. I never once felt concerned that I was not in capable and dependable hands. Every commitment the company made to have someone meet me, drive me, guide me, etc. was carried out to the letter. This outstanding service made the trip so much more enjoyable and with so much less anxiety than might have otherwise been the case.
Most important, each coordinator, guide, driver and other person associated with Travel Egypt I met were not only exceptionally professional in their work, but were also among the nicest, most enthusiastic and knowledgeable people I could have hoped to meet. Whether I had a little or a lot of time with them, each one was incredibly helpful, informative, reliable and genuinely fine people. I brought home with me all of their smiles, as well as their and love of Egypt or Jordan and their delight at sharing their countries with visitors like me. Those smiles and personal relationships will stay with me always. They, and their owners, are now like friends – and I’m so very grateful for their friendship. I know you know all of this, because you had the wisdom to employ them. But I figure it’s always nice to have one’s wisdom confirmed about the people one has hired!
Because of the particular time I was able to spend with them, I would like to extend particular thanks and acknowledgement to a few individuals:
In Cairo –
· Mr. Mohammed Gamal, for his heroic performance (and incredibly long hours) waiting for me at the airport and sitting with me at the Giza station waiting for my train to Aswan. (Also for his patience and understanding when I got off at the wrong train station coming back from Luxor.) But especially, my thanks for sharing his philosophy about taking care of the company’s clients, and his enthusiasm for the company and the opportunities it gives to introduce people like me to the wonders of Egypt, both ancient and modern.
· Manal (I apologize for not having her last name), for her deep knowledge of all the sites we visited in Cairo, for her humor, for pointing out the best places for me to take photos, and especially for her stories and insights into ancient and modern Egyptian culture.
In Aswan and Luxor –
· Mr. George Hanna, for showing me the sites from Aswan to Luxor, for all our conversations which were so educational to me, and for his extensive knowledge of the history and characteristics of the sites we visited. He was an outstanding guide and an excellent travelling companion.
· Bessel in Aswan, Mahmoud in Luxor, and the support in Abu Simbel – They all took perfect care of me, getting me everywhere I needed to be when I needed to be there. Particular thanks to Bessel for finding me bandages at the pharmacy and interpreting the Arabic at the Arab-African Bank ATM when I desperately needed cash!
To all the Egyptian drivers - I can’t imagine the skill, patience, alertness and endurance it takes to navigate Egyptian traffic, particularly in Cairo. I quickly realized that Travel Egypt uses only the best drivers, and that, thanks to them, I would survive the traffic and come home to tell the tales.
In Jordan –
· Mr. Mohammed Assaf, who was the driver provided by Green Arrow Travel, was outstanding. Despite the very short time I had in Jordan, I came away with a great deal of knowledge, respect and admiration for the country, its history and people, thanks to Mohammed. I felt at all times safe, and confident that he is an extremely mature, experienced and capable person who could have handled anything, even a big emergency. He was my first introduction to the quality of people Travel Egypt would deliver. That introduction couldn’t have been better. It made me totally confident of the quality of the support I would get from the company for the rest of the trip.
· Mr. Saleh Farajat – Thanks to Mohammed, I also was privileged to have Saleh as my guide in Petra. It is clear why he is recognized as one of the very top Petra guides. His knowledge of the area, and his ability to inform with stories, humor, wisdom and solid facts, made my much too short visit to Petra as complete, satisfying and enjoyable as I could possibly have hoped.
Again, my sincere thanks to you and all of your staff for a perfect trip. I am hugely impressed by the quality of the people and service provided by Travel Egypt. I am praising the company to friends, encouraging them all to visit Egypt and Jordan in Travel Egypt’s very capable hands.
Sincerely,
Kit A.

Dear Carson,
My wife wanted me to write you this e-mail to let you know how much we appreciated the quality of service we received. Our entire trip to Egypt was excellent. The three night cruise you provided couldn't have been better.
The people who picked us up and delivered us to and from the hotel and boat were punctual, polite and helpful. Its great to have such service when as a tourist you have no idea in a new country whose language you don't speak. The meet and assist people and their drivers were great.
EgyptAir was on time and as good or better than most of our airlines.
The Ramadis II was an excellent riverboat as you had said and also as you had said Movenpick, the Owner certainly provides excellent food in variety, selection and quality.
The Egyptologists who escorted us on tours spoke excellent English. They were very knowledgeable and added a great deal to the quality of our experience.
Thanks again and please feel free to use us for references. I can assure you we will recommend you to any of our friends who ask.
Charlie Weidner

January 2009

Wanted to let you know the trip was fantastic! We got to see everything as noted except the boat museum which slipped by each of us. We had as nice weather as one could want. Overall the Egyptian guides were very good but spoke English with strong accents and a bit fast. The guide in Jordan was great, very good English, and most helpful to the wife with horse and donkey rides.
The coordinator in Cairo (Mohammed) was one of the best we have encountered in our many trips abroad. And, he is now considered part of the family.
What a difference in the way the Egyptians and Jordanians live. It is like stepping from the 1500s to the 21st century. Extreme contrasts in everything.
Our favorite stay was at the Mena House. The original room was nice and overlooked the pyramids and gardens. The manager upgraded us to a suite as our first room was going to be too close to a party and they did want us to be disturbed. The suite was fabulous and the view as well.
The St. George is a great boat. In fact, once the guides learned we going on it, they believed it to be the number one boat on the Nile. The only problem was the food. Several people got sick from eating greens, etc. We did not have any problems as we learned the old adage to not eat anything washed in local water or could not be peeled.
Overall (for the entire trip), the food was good but rather bland for us.
The other highlight hotel was the Marriott in Cairo. What a beautiful place. And the food was the best we had in Egypt.
Getting up at 3:30 am to visit Abu Simbal was not fun but it was worth it. The angle of the sun was great and the setting is beautiful. It is difficult to grasp moving the temple from it's original location.
Petra was more than expected. Photos do not do the "city" justice. We spent the whole day there and enjoyed it immensely. On our last day, we decided to leave early and spend some time at the Dead Sea. The guide made the arrangements and the additional cost was nominal. Now we can say we were in the lowest location on land.
We could go on and on about how great the trip was but these are once in a lifetime memories and we appreciate Travel Egypt putting together a wonderful trip.
We certainly would recommend Travel Egypt as a great representative.
Thanks ever so much,
John and Earlene S

When we arrived in Cairo Jan 2009 - an experience of a lifetime began. Mohamed met us as we entered the Airport, we immediately felt welcomed. Everything in Cairo was professional and spectacularly done - we had no worries. Manal was the best guide as Mohamed had said; our trip will long be remembered and certainly we hope more Americans can experience this with Travel Egypt.
Eric F. and Judith L.