Firstly, after booking, on the night before our one day trip fro Hurghada to Luxor, my wife and I decided to see if we could include a balloon ride. On phoning Ahmed up, he explained that balloon rides only operated in the morning, we would therefore have to stay overnight in Luxor. He then spent a considerable amount of time tailoring our original trip to include a balloon ride. This meant that he had to find a hotel, and organise transport for our return to Hurghada.
We were then picked up at 5am, followed by a nice relaxed trip through the mountains, the desert and through the fertile land as we drew closer to the Nile. It was clear that they had successfully harnessed the water of the Nile with irrigation canals. With the lush crops all around in abundance.
Throughout the trip I was confident of the professionalism of the security forces, when we stopped off at a convenience stop in the desert, I noted snipers on the roof, excellent. Then the security of the various vehicle check points were great too. I thank the security forces for their excellent protection, deterrent.
On arriving at Karnak Temple, the largest religious sight in the World, we met up with Mansor, our Egyptologist Guide. He was warm, astute and really knew his history. Importantly, he brought the history alive. It's one thing knowing historical characters, dates, places etcetera, but it is an art to bring history alive, of which Mansor was adroit in doing so.
The food at the restaurant was delicious, just bear in mind that the drinks are not included in the trip.
The Valley of the Kings was fantastic, going down into the mountains was such an experience, with the walls decorated still in bright colours, c2,500 years old, I bet Dulux paint wouldn't last that long!
After exploring those ancient sites along with others places of note, we boarded a boat, heading for the Lotus Hotel on the Nile. I then played my Scottish bag-pipes up the Nile, with the locals in awe of the ancient sound of the pipes, in the land of Ancient Egypt. On our approach to the hotel, I played us in while standing aloft on the roof. There we had a guard of honour for my own Queen Nefetiti....
There we bid our dear Mansor farewell, then watched the Sun go down across on the west side of the Nile, We initially thought we would have to dine out in Luxor, as thought hotel would be pricey. To our joy, the menu was full of really good value for money. In fact it was one of the most enjoyable dinners that we had.
The room with a view of the Nike was splendid!
We were then picked up in the morning for the balloon ride, what magnificent views Afterwards, I okayed the pipes again on the Nile.
After sitting in the Sun on the banks of the Nile, we were picked up to go home to Hurghada
That day, thanks to Ahmed, Abdul, Mansor and all that support them, our trip was a trip in a lifetime!
How's this, my wife said that it was one of the best days of her life!
I strongly recommend using this company with these fantastic men at hand!
El vehículo estaba limpio y en buen estado, el conductor también fue eficiente.
El guía en español, por el que tuvimos que pagar un extra de 50 €, cuando con anterioridad nada se nos había dicho y todas las comunicaciones fueron en español, por lo que deducimos que el guiña de habla hispana estaba incluido en el precio. Como decía el guía fue por todo con prisa y daba la sensación de que todo lo que explicaba lo hacía rápido y memorizado.
El lugar al que fuimos a comer no estaba mal, pero bastante normalito.
Ein interessanter Tag, den wir alle genossen haben. Das Fahren war ausgezeichnet (2 Fahrer), wir hatten keine Angst. Der Führer war charmant, sehr sachkundig und freundlich - aber wir fanden seinen Akzent manchmal schwer zu verstehen. Außerdem hätten wir gerne etwas mehr Zeit gehabt, um ein bisschen auf unserem Weg zu wandern, aber der enge Zeitplan bedeutete, dass der Stundenführer uns immer wieder bat, in der Nähe zu bleiben und ihm stattdessen zuzuhören - was ein Paar in unserer Gruppe als ärgerlich empfand!