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Egypt.. Cairo, River Nile cruise and Hurgada
I have just completed a 12 day tour of Egoty which included 2 nights in Cairo, 7 nights on a cruise down the Nile and 3 nights in the coastal city of Hurgada on the Red Sea. I have travelled many times with the Travel department. On this occasion I was a single traveller. As usual everything went seamless from the initial booking to departure. I did not use the service offered to get Visa. I did that myself. We flew with Egyptair. The flight was punctual and the services offered in flight were fine. We were met in the airport by a rep. There was some delay in the airport before all the party secured their luggage. As a result it was quite late when we reached our hotel in Cairo which was the Holiday Inn in Maadi. The standard of this hotel was excellent . Spacious rooms with beautiful views over the Nile and great options for lunch , dinner and breakfast. The next guide our group met our guide Dodi for the first time. Dodi has been guiding tours for the Travel Department in Egypt since 2007 I think. As guides go, he was superb. He has a deep and extensive knowledge of Egyptian history and culture , having studied extensively. He shared this with the group with great passion and effectiveness and was always willing to go the extra mile to help any member of the group who encountered problems. He made the phone call that sorted all problems whether it was a lost wallet or a wrong perfume or other. The tour was extensive and had many very early mornings, the purpose being to avoid the intense heat and big crowds which happen later in the day. There was plenty of time to relax also and socialise with members of the group. We flew from Cairo to Luxor and had 7 day cruise on the Ramedis 2. This river boat is similar to most others thst travel up and down the Nile. It is dated and certainly not equal to European 4 star riverboats but was adequate. The staff were lovely. Food was quite repetitive and only of a fair standard. We visited some magnificent architectural sites during the cruise including temples in Edfu. Phillae, Luxor and Karnak. I loved the cruise on the Felucca around Elephantine island. The day visiting the valley of kings and in particular the tomb of King Tut was superb. We travelled to Hurgada for 3 nights to the Swiss inn resort on an all inclusive basis. Beautiful hotel and a lovely way to relax at the end of the tour. I did two extra optional tours. One was a hot air balloon trip which was a bucket list item for me and absolutely lived up to my expectations. The other was a days snorkling off the reefs in Hurgada. It was stunning and very well organised. Dodi accompanied the group on this tour. Highly recommend this tour to anyone interested in visiting Egypt . The success of the tour was enhanced by the excellent guide used by the Travel Department. Thank you Dodi!