Marvelous Egypt - January-February 2020
Ya"lla Tours USA, Inc. does a great job in planning well thought out itineraries for their clients. Before you even leave on your trip you receive an information kit with packing tips, history of the area you will be visiting, hotel information and a day by day itinerary. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that our tour group was just the two of us, along with our guides and drivers (who changed at different destinations) for the whole trip. Maged Ayad meet us at the airport and took care of everything - bags, visas, etc. along with our transfers to and from the hotel. All of the accommodations were very nice. Because we were traveling in January it did get a little cold in the hotels at night. We asked for extra blankets and they brought them. They don't have heat in their hotels so keep that in mind if traveling during the winter months. The guides in Cairo and Luxor (Rhonda and George) were very professional, knowledgeable, friendly and flexible. We started our days early to avoid larger crowds at the pyramids and temples which made it great for picture taking. The Nile Cruise was an awesome experience, sailing from Luxor to Aswan, seeing the country side along the way. We were a little nervous at the beginning of our cruise because we were the only two Americans on an all Egyptian ship. The ship accommodations were very nice. The crew, staff and Egyptian travelers couldn't have been nicer, putting us at ease and welcoming us. George, our guide surprised us with a birthday cake at dinner (we are twins), and the crew sang "Happy Birthday" to us in both Arabic and English. What a nice and unexpected surprise! The only disappointing experience was our tour guide at Abu Simbel. We had a difficult time finding him and once we did he sent us into the temples on our own and talked about them once we came out. He should have gone into the temples with us and shared his expertise along the way. Overall, we had an unforgettable experience that we can now mark off of our bucket list. What an amazing place! The Egyptian people are so kind and the culture was great to experience. We have pictures and memories that will last a lifetime.