Perhaps because the price was relatively cheap, I ended up stuck on a group tour with people who frankly shouldn’t qualify for group tours at all. It was a massive waste of both time and emotional energy. The worst were an Italian woman and a Spanish man traveling as a couple, who had absolutely no concept of time. The guide’s time management was also a complete mess.
If you want to arrive early at Abu Simbel and spend at least two hours there, this is not the tour for you. And if you have any schedule in Aswan afterward, you should absolutely not choose this tour. To begin with, the claim that the entire trip takes 8 hours is simply false.
Time management was disastrous. What was supposed to be a 3-hour one-way trip took nearly 4–5 hours. Because of delays at checkpoints and the “Trenitalia villain woman,” we arrived late, and the tour tried to give us only one hour at Abu Simbel. I had to complain just to extend the time slightly, but even then, the only people who actually used the full two hours were the same individuals who were habitually late, including that Italian woman.
The pickup time was confirmed as 3:45 a.m., yet the driver showed up after 4:00. He had already picked up only one person before us, which I could still tolerate. But we lost nearly an hour at checkpoints on the way, and although the rest stop was supposed to be 10 minutes, it turned into over 30 minutes because of the Italian woman. For some reason, the driver also let other buses go first, resulting in us being the last group to arrive at the temple among all group tours.
After arriving at the temple, the guide spent meaningless time to double check who paid for a ticket in advance, lost 10 min even though I was not related. Thankfully, the ticket line wasn’t long, but the temple was already packed like a fish market, making it nearly impossible to enjoy properly. On the way back, the driver detoured to random places at least twice claiming to look for a gas station. It was nothing but pain and endurance from start to finish.
Don’t make the mistake of booking this tour just because it seems cheaper. The price reflects the lack of basic manners among the participants. The van itself was in decent condition, but the seats were extremely narrow. After this terrible experience, the guide naturally asked for tips and a good review.
What an extraordinary place to visit. This tour was a very reasonably priced option with a pretty comfortable van for the 6+ hours of driving, great drivers and adequate but hardly outstanding guides. They picked me up on time - a good thing when you are standing outside at 4 in the morning.
Recommended as a viable option.