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Beyond the Pyramids holiday in Egypt

COUNTRY:
Egypt
LOCATION:
Luxor, Nile cruises, Pyramids, Sinai Desert
HOLIDAY TYPE:
Moderate walking holidays
DEPARTURES:
PRICE:
From £780 (16 days) excluding flights. We can arrange flights from the UK
VOUCHERS:
Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday
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Beyond the Pyramids holiday in Egypt

Beyond the Pyramids holiday in Egypt

Small group adventure holiday
Typically you will be sharing your experiences with between 4-20 like minded travellers (depending on the trip, operator and how many others are booked on the trip) and you'll have a group leader with you. Whether you are travelling alone or with friends its good value, and a great way to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is some flexibility and you'll have plenty of privacy. This trip will appeal to travellers of all ages who enjoy meeting new people as well as seeing new places.

How this holiday makes a difference

The Sinai is an area of outstanding natural beauty and delicate eco-systems. Home to many Bedouin villages, traditionally there is very little employment apart from tourism but a great need for that tourism to be environmentally responsible. Travellers are briefed on the importance of not leaving behind litter, using long drop toilets, conserving water and dressing modestly and our tour leaders make a point of leading by example.

We join up with local Bedouins and their camels for a moderate trek where we are dependent on their skills and stay in traditional Bedouin camps.

On the Red Sea coast we work with environmentally certified Dive Schools (members of HEPCA) and have initiated a campaign to protect Red Sea coral with the construction and maintenance of awareness signs on the beach.

We also spend two nights aboard a traditional felucca crewed by Nubian villagers from the West Bank of the Nile with whom we have a very long standing relationship. Plus by working directly with the 'donkey men' and carriage drivers our horse drawn carriage ride to Karnak and donkey ride to the Valley of the Kings involve no 'middle men' ensuring all revenue goes directly to the locals (who in both cases live in smaller villages outside Luxor).

We have long term relationships with some of the best local Egyptologists whose services are included at every ancient site on all Egypt trips. This provides long term employment (even during lulls in tourism) and fair wages. Our own tour leaders are a mix of foreigners and locals - who all receive the SAME wages for the same job.

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Beyond the Pyramids holiday in Egypt

Reviewed 30 Apr 2010 by John Charles4 star rating

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?


Sleeping in the White Desert

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?


Only bring a few clothes, as there are opportunities to wash them. Find out taxi fares before having to get a taxi.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?


Overall yes it did help local people. There was a lot of driving, which can't be that good for the environment, but difficult to avoid.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?


Memorable, although some hard travel days

Reviewed 22 Mar 2010 by Liz Walker4 star rating

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?


The guide was very good.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?


Watch import and export taxes.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?


Yes.

Reviewed 12 Nov 2008 by John Connell3 star rating

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?


All of the Temples, Pyramids and Abu Simbal. Worth the whole holiday just to see them!

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?


Be prepared not to get a full nights sleep for 2 weeks.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?


We all were encouraged not to litter and dispose of all rubbish correctly which we did, so I feel the tour operator did help minimize the impact on the environment. The problem is Egyptians having no sense of environmental impacts!! Although this is no reason to stop the good work the tour operator is doing on these trips. As to benefitting the local people I think that the shopping and tourism money we may have put into the economy in Egypt will not go a long way to help the people of Egypt!!

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?


Great experience and likeable people. Our guide (Marwuan) was excellent, but would not be in a rush back to Egypt. Would definitely book with this operator again!

Reviewed 16 Apr 2006 by Theresa Pemberton5 star rating

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?


There where so many things happening on this holiday that it is impossible to pick one part of the trip as the most memorable. However, the highlights included: The Giza Pyramids, riding Donkeys to the valley of the kings, sailing the Nile on Felucca boats and desert trekking and staying in a Bedouin oasis.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?


Take lots of insect repellent, sunscreen and hand wash. Make sure these three items are top quality - don't waste money on cheap stuff.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?


This holiday directly benefited local people in many ways as we always ate at locally owned restaurants, went to visit local families and ate with them, used local transport and local guides. Everyone on our tour was conscious of the environment we were in which meant there was little impact on the surroundings.

4. Any other comments?


Although quite tiring, it is an absolutely amazing adventure tour where you don't just see Egypt but actually experience Egypt.

Reviewed 06 Mar 2005 by Jon Franklin5 star rating

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?


This is very difficult to answer as it's hard to compare visiting ancient sites with a felucca trip - and we enjoyed it all! The mix of experiences probably made this holiday particularly memorable - we felt as if we'd visited several countries in one holiday, for example - the Nile experience is so different from the Sinai experience, and visiting a Nubian village is different again. Climbing Mt Sinai by moonlight was fantastic, the desert was very interesting, meeting Bedouin and Nubian families was fascinating, and the temples/tombs just got more and more amazing. And then there was the Red Sea ... Wow! The only low point for us was Hurghada - it just isn't our sort of place, but as we only spent a few hours there en route to St Catherine's it wasn't a problem.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?


Thoroughly read the information you supply - you really describe the holiday and what you do on it as it is, and we knew what to expect in terms of accommodation, facilities, etc, so there were no nasty surprises. Think hard about Abu Simbel - it is an amazing site, but the crowds really detract from it and this was not the highlight we expected it to be. Make sure you have the stamina to cope with a lot of very early starts - you have to have the knack of sleeping anywhere to cope with catching up on sleep on the overnight train and coaches. Expect to have to cope with stomach problems - even after you've got home. It's taken us about a week to feel we are approaching 'normal'!

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?


Yes, I'm sure it benefited local people. I hope we minimized the impact on their environment. We were very carefully briefed on what we should and shouldn't do so that we didn't leave our mark on the local surroundings.
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Day tour/Attraction Reviews

We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!

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