Historisch Caïro-avontuur

Egypt had been on my bucket list since I was a teenager and thus I booked the tour with a travel agent in India ( Tibro travels ) requesting a tour which gave a good overview of the history of Egypt- and I was not disappointed!! We spent 2 weeks in Egypt. Travayage tours in Egypt ensured that we had a great guide . Our guide in Cairo Mr. Muhammad Mahmoud had been an archaeologist and thus with his great knowledge , he made the long and complex history of Egypt very simple, interesting and easy to digest for us .. almost like he brought history to life ! My kids got so interested in the history and the hieroglyphics that they had lot of fun trying to name the different Gods and deciphering the names of the pharaohs in the cartouches. Mr.Mahmoud was considerate and kind, ensuring we were comfortable, didn’t feel rushed during the tour and patiently answered thousands of our questions, sometimes multiple times , as it is easy to get confused with the vast information that is there in the vast history of Egypt. Our itinerary was well organised and tailored to our needs as my son arrived a few days later and they modified the tour so that he doesn’t miss out on the important bits. In Cairo we started with visit to a museum to get a good overview of history and then went to Coptic area , Alexandria, Citadel , Mosques and Mohammed Ali palace to get acquainted with Greek, Roman, Christian and Islamic past of Egypt. These were long days and our guide and driver were cheerful and considerate throughout. We also went on the Nile cruise- seeing sights on the way - Philae temple, Aswan Dam, Kom Ombo, Abu Simbel, Edfu temple, Esna lock. I think Nubian Village is overrated, although I guess the traffic is good for the economy of the village . But the 50 minutes boat ride there was really nice and the painted houses were beautiful. We felt a bit rushed at the sights as we got an hour or two for the visits as the cruise boats had to leave on time. This time was not sufficient as there were long queues and wait to enter the sites, and the places were very crowded with tourists and we had to wait to see particular images/ features/ hieroglyphics - and we were told it can be busier as the crowds were less due to the situation with the Iran war ! Accommodation in Nile Cruise and later in Luxor and Hurghada were nice, clean and comfortable. Food was nice and we had good drivers to take us to the different places . Everything was punctual. We returned back to Cairo and finished the trip with visits to GEM Giza and Saqqara pyramids - which were amazing. Such imposing structures which are so well preserved even after about 4500 - 5000 years! The only drawbacks to the trip - which the trip organisers tried their best to reduce the discomfort of for us - was the expectation of tipping - toilets ( understandable to some extent) , but also in the tourist sights - there would be people inside the tombs / monuments who would point out the obvious or insist and take our photo or a photo of something out of reach for us and demand money. They would keep coming up to us offering their services even when we didn’t want them ( as we were given most of the information by our guide) - that it became quite annoying! We couldn’t admire the beautiful sights in peace. I know this is probably due to poverty here , but I hope the government would do something about the touts inside the monuments who could be quite demanding sometimes. Another big drawback was the lack of clean drinking water in the hotels . A water purifier station in hotel lobby would have been most welcome. I am very conscious of the environmental impact of plastics and it was disheartening to buy so many plastic bottles of drinking water daily. During sightseeing water was arranged by team which was helpful. Overall, very memorable trip for all of us . A big thank you to Travayage team for making the trip so comfortable and informative for us, just as I wanted. Wishing the team all the best. 😊

Our trip to Egypt was booked with Travayage through Travel Bespoke in Mumbai, Travel Bespoke handles all my travel arrangements. It was a bespoke tour of Egypt including a trip to Abu Simbel, Luxor, Kim Ombo, Edfu, Karnak, Hurghada, Cairo, Giza with a cruise on the Nile. Everything went very well, we were received at the airport and proceeded on the tour as per the itinerary. All the arrangements were flawless and made our trip extremely enjoyable. We were kept informed at all times about our itinerary and given choices where applicable. Our main guide in Cairo Mohamad ElShaer was vey pleasant and took excellent care of us. I was very touched by the way he held my husband's hand tight whilst taking us through a heavy crowd near the mosque in Cairo to visit the Al Khalili Bazaar and made sure every few minutes that our chain was unbroken. He was very informative about the culture and history of Egypt. Our guide Ayman in southern Egypt was excellent and gave us a detailed history and showed us all the important aspects of each and every site we visited. He is passionate about his job and ensures that the guests are well looked after and comfortable. The various drivers that we had on the tour were also very good, careful and courteous. The minibus provided for travel to Hurghada from Luxor was uncomfortable in terms of seating and leg space, I have conveyed this to Mohamad as feedback for future travellers. Mostafa our Egyptologist guide in Saqqara and Cairo was very knowledgeable however it was a little difficult to understand him at times due to his heavily accented speech. We were very impressed with the way he made arrangements for us to see the phenomenal artwork inside one of the tombs at Saqqara where the walls look flat with painted hieroglyphics in normal lighting and completely transform to large etched figures when the lights are turned off and a torchlight is trained on them - the effect is surreal. All in all a very enjoyable trip, I would thoroughly recommend this company to anyone who is looking for a good historical visit of Egypt.

Travayage provided excellent service on our recent trip to Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, and Abu Simbel. Alya worked very hard to set up the itinerary for our group of 12 and made arrangements including Flight, hotel, transportation, local excursions, food, etc. All the arrangements were top-notch. Her team executed the entire plan flawlessly. She himself stayed on top of the whole program until the end of the trip to make sure that all minor issues were handled right. Kudos to Alya, Mohamed, and the rest of the Travayage team for a job well done! We will definitely recommend them to anyone planning a trip to Egypt!

The organization was the best. As an Egyptian that lived his entire life outside of Egypt, I had the best time discovering historical Cairo that i only saw in pictures.