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EgyptianRose
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Joined: 08 Mar 2012
Posts: 251
Location: Australia. Down Under.
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 Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 8:36 am Post subject: Touring/Travelling in Egypt suggestions... |
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As you may already know I am going to Egypt in Decemeber and I would love to cover Cairo (Giza Pyramids/Sphinx, Cairo Museum), Aswan, Luxor, Valley of the Kings etc I preferably would to do this via Nile cruise, If that's possible. So is there any suggestions or sites that can inform me more about this? Would be very much appreciated...
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It is of course the hieght of irony that, after this intensive campaign to expunge them from the annals of Egypt, the Amarna pharaohs are today probably the most recognized of all the country's ancient rulers!
Quote 'Amarna Sunset' by Aidan Dodson. |
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neseret
Vizier
Joined: 10 Jul 2008
Posts: 1031
Location: United Kingdom
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| Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 4:03 pm Post subject: Re: Touring/Travelling in Egypt suggestions... |
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| EgyptianRose wrote: | | As you may already know I am going to Egypt in Decemeber and I would love to cover Cairo (Giza Pyramids/Sphinx, Cairo Museum), Aswan, Luxor, Valley of the Kings etc I preferably would to do this via Nile cruise, If that's possible. So is there any suggestions or sites that can inform me more about this? Would be very much appreciated... |
I don't now of a cruise ship today which goes to (or from) Cairo). That's the way it's been for many years (over the 20+ years since I started going to, and working in, Egypt, it's always been that way). If you want to go on a Nile cruise, the main route is from Aswan to Luxor, or vice versa. The only way to get to Cairo is normally to take a flight there. Some tours make a Cairo trip the "last leg" of the trip and send you home from there, while others offer Cairo as a 1-3 "day trip", and then return you to Luxor to take your flight home.
Nile cruises are not cheap: you need to budget (at the VERY least) about £1,000 UKP per person, assuming 2 people travelling. If you want extra side trips, various experiences (like a ballon ride across the valley of the Kings), single supplements, or the services of an Egyptologist as a guide/lecturer as part of your cruise, the costs increase quite a LOT.
For example, Ancient World Tours (UK) offers rather good Nile cruises, that include the services of an expert in the field, such as Barry Kemp, Aidan Dodson, Dylan Bickertsaff, or Lucia Gahlin. Their itinerary at their website shows what this sort of expertise can cost you:
The tours remaining for 2012:
Daughters of Isis with Egyptologist Lucia Gahlin
Basic Holiday Price: £2,480 per person, assuming 2 persons travelling
Abydos to Abu Simbel with Egyptologist Campbell Price
Basic Holiday Price: £2,795 per person, assuming 2 persons travelling
Land of the Red Crown with Egyptologist Dylan Bickerstaff
Basic Holiday Price: £2,485 per person, assuming 2 persons travelling
The Great Oases with Medhat Saad, a Senior Licensed Egyptian Guide
Basic Holiday Price: £2,965 per person, assuming 2 persons travelling
I think you can see that you will be paying for the expertise, but you will also find such trips VERY enjoyable.
If you don't want to go the "cruise ship" route, and take some adventure for your own, some travellers to Egypt today are opting for Nile trips by riverboat, felucca, or Dahabiya. The travel group which I know offers all three type of this sort of travel is Responsible Travel, which offers not only innovative travel to interesting places, but also makes a real effort to work with the local populace to make sure that services and goods paid for by travellers actually originate in the home country visited, and funds are spread to the local workers.
You will see, however, by the URL's on each type of trip, that my budgeting for £1000+ UKP is still the case. You can do various searches online about Nile cruising, but it's been my experience that it's always an expensive way to travel.
Beyond that, I would suggest you look into what your travel agencies in Australia offer to you: their prices may be even more as you will have to pay quite a lot in flights just trying to get to Egypt: my prices are assuming leaving from the UK, for example.
HTH.
_________________
Katherine Griffis-Greenberg
Doctoral Candidate
Oriental Institute
Oriental Studies
Doctoral Programme [Egyptology]
Oxford University
Oxford, United Kingdom
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Robson
Priest
Joined: 08 Jun 2006
Posts: 996
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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| Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 4:10 pm Post subject: |
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To be avoided:
Suez-Taba Road
Going to the Sinai by car or bus
Hanging alone (as a woman) close to Tahrir Square demonstrations
Be careful for not being mistaken with an US/UK citizen in certain areas, but is better to avoid them at all, once most of people don' know how to distinguish Aussies and Canadians from the other Angles.
Just keep inside the tourist beaten track |
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Priest of Hekat
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Joined: 30 Sep 2010
Posts: 168
Location: Luxor, West Bank
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| Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 4:15 pm Post subject: |
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I'm not sure if you need to be a member of the L4U forum to read this but I will post a link here on a thread which discusses the return of the "long" Nile cruise from January next year.
http://www.luxor4u.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=30200&hilit=nile+cruise
If it does not work for you let me know and I will copy some of the post text here.
Too late for EgyptianRose but might be useful for others. |
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Lutz
Pharaoh
Joined: 02 Sep 2007
Posts: 3751
Location: Berlin, Germany
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| Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 11:41 pm Post subject: |
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In Germany are offering several travel agents, starting October this year, Great Nile Cruises from Cairo to Aswan or Aswan to Cairo. Duration 15 days, price from 780, - to around 1.600, - Euro.
Greetings, Lutz. |
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Lutz
Pharaoh
Joined: 02 Sep 2007
Posts: 3751
Location: Berlin, Germany
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| Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 2:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Lutz wrote: | | In Germany are offering several travel agents, starting October this year, Great Nile Cruises from Cairo to Aswan or Aswan to Cairo. ... |
Small correction, it's probably starting from end of August. Here is as example one of the offers, the one from "Phoenix - Reisen" :
Cairo - Assuan and Assuan - Cairo .
Greetings, Lutz. |
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EgyptianRose
Scribe
Joined: 08 Mar 2012
Posts: 251
Location: Australia. Down Under.
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| Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 7:54 am Post subject: |
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Thanks everyone for the help 
The gorvernment (of Australia) is not recommending people to travel to Egypt momentarily, will this impact me, when I go in November? Is it safe for a woman to travel to Egypt during this time?
_________________
It is of course the hieght of irony that, after this intensive campaign to expunge them from the annals of Egypt, the Amarna pharaohs are today probably the most recognized of all the country's ancient rulers!
Quote 'Amarna Sunset' by Aidan Dodson. |
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Hekat
Scribe
Joined: 18 May 2010
Posts: 320
Location: Luxor
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| Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 1:24 pm Post subject: |
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An Australian friend has been here for a month & didn't have any problems and a couple of New Zealanders are due November 1st. I should think you would be fine.
I would avoid Sinai, but I don't think it was an area you wanted to visit anyway. The new President is very keen to boost tourism so hopefully by November any problems should be resolved.
Have a wonderful trip.
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http://picasaweb.google.com/112743752796606929007 |
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Lutz
Pharaoh
Joined: 02 Sep 2007
Posts: 3751
Location: Berlin, Germany
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| Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 3:03 pm Post subject: |
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However, it remains still to say nobody can say anything about the situation looks like in 2 or 3 weeks. You should inform short term prior to departure. I would, for example, currently as a woman not go alone to the Tahir in Cairo...
Lutz |
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