Most Inspirational Moment
There were so many sights and moments to choose from in this trip! Jordan: Wadi Rum: sunset, traditional Bedouin dinner and stargazing. Petra: aside from the famous treasury, Mikhled’s alternative walk up through the royal tombs with panoramic views and the climb up to the monastery to dinner with a Bedouin family. Egypt: The temple and the ecolodge at Abu Simbel. Visiting Luxor temple by night, rather than the following morning as per the itinerary. The felucca ride on the Nile.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Jordan: Mikhled was our tour leader in Jordan and was absolutely fantastic. From the very first day we felt welcomed. He had great people skills and was very personable, looking out for everyone. Since we were only an intimate group of 4 people, he took us to small local family restaurants, had dinner with a Bedouin family and he tried to introduce us to the everyday life of the people. He was very enthusiastic, knowledgeable and engaging, and we learnt so much about the sights, culture, history as well as daily life of the Jordanians in our short time there. On travelling from Petra to the airport for the flight to Cairo, Mikhled suddenly stopped the van and disappeared, only returning to have bought us a bag of falafel to eat whilst we waited at the airport! He also WhatsApp'd us the day after we had flown to Egypt to check up on us and make sure we had arrived safely, which was very thoughtful. We would, without a doubt, highly recommend him as a tour leader for anyone looking to visit Jordan. Egypt: Our tour leader in Egypt was Yousef and he was excellent as a teacher and educator in the hieroglyphs and history of ancient Egypt and we really enjoyed his explanations and how he brought the hieroglyphs to life.
Advice for Potential Travellers
This trip certainly covers a lot in the two weeks, and could be very tiring for some, especially in Egypt where the itinerary is more demanding with lots of travelling to get to more remote sights. Meal times in Egypt were quite irregular, so wise to have a supply of snacks. Bring ear plugs if you are a light sleeper!
Suggestions
It was a good decision by Yousef to visit Luxor temple in the early evening, rather than the following day. It would have been good to have then visited the temples at Karnak earlier the next day, rather than at lunchtime when it got much hotter, and then going straight to the airport for the flight to Cairo. Many of the sights we visited in Egypt felt rushed. For instance we only spent about 40 minutes, which included the walk from the entrance, at and around the main pyramid, before then being driven to a viewpoint overlooking all the pyramids. We were expecting more time to wander around the other pyramids, especially as no-one opted for the climb inside the pyramid or the camel ride. Having then visited the sphinx and the Cairo Museum we were then deposited back at the hotel by 13:30, with the rest of the day free. It would have been nice to have more time at the pyramids, stop for lunch and then visit the Cairo Museum, rather then rushing everything into the morning. We were thankful for Omar, who assisted Yousef in Cairo, for arranging some falafel wraps to keep us going. Everyone in the group wanted to stay longer at Abu Simbel but we were given limited free time, and ended up being back at the hotel early. Similarly everyone felt rushed on the day travelling up from Aswan to Luxor. We understood that there was a lot to fit in that day, but we still arrived in Luxor in good time and could have spent more time at some of the sights, especially Kom Ombo, where we had limited free time and felt the visit to the crocodile museum was curtailed very quickly.