The Egyptian Odyssey

My earliest memories of Egypt go back to Elizabeth Taylor who had acted as the queen of Egypt, Cleopatra in a movie of same name way back in 1960s. 

Egypt was also in the news off and on during series of Egypt wars almost 5 decades earlier. My fascination for Egypt further increased when I joined the Indian Navy in 1970 since it was home to the strategically located Suez Canal, a marvel of its own kind of great importance to the Indian Defence Forces. 

It is also the land of the Giza Pyramids, approximately 4500 years old being the oldest wonders of the world. The allure of the Nile Cruise one of the largest rivers of the world, marginally 2nd to only Amazon River, was an another attraction.

Our Co-Travellers comprised of 17 close friends including 8 couples. We decided to engage Vayudoot Holidays Pune to arrange our 10 days customised Egypt tour. We had earlier done another outstanding tour to Uzbekistan and Russia with the same travel agent which was planned meticulously without burning a hole in our pocket and offered us a good deal with all important tourist attractions covered. On this tour, the Owner himself accompanied us during the tour and proved to be a boon since it made things easier on the fly.

Got Going-Set Sailed

It was a 6 1/2 hours flight from Mumbai and we had reached Cairo at 0600 hrs in the morning by Egyptian Airlines. It was originally programmed to drive straight from the airport to Port Said about 200 kms away(3 1/2 hours) with breakfast enroute at a restaurant with toilet facilities. But we had preferred an early Check in at a hotel in Cairo on arrival. Though at an additional cost, it allowed us the convenience of morning rituals in comfort.

Visa on Arrival

Our local guide was waiting with Visa which we had to paste on our respective passports. Immigration was quick and smooth.

Extra Security Cover

Our bus was escorted by a police jeep from the airport to our hotel. In addition, one armed security guard was positioned in our bus throughout the tour. Fortunately, untoward incident occurred during the tour. But we did feel like being a VIP since escorted.

Egyptian Airline

We had travelled by Egyptian Airline since booking of all air tickets both international and domestic by their national carrier was not only cheaper and bargain-able but also increased the chances of all confirmed air tickets for the entire trip manifold as compared to multi-flight options with other airlines, which may appear cheaper. 

All Egyptian Airlines flights during our tour were very comfortable and punctual. Incidentally Egyptian Airlines does not serve hard liquor even on their international flights. 

Peculiarity in planning the Itinerary 

1. Egyptian Airlines flights from Mumbai are not daily plus the good Nile River Cruise Boats covering most sightseeing places in Egypt along the river are also on specific days. Hence the days of both flights and Cruise Boats needs to be dovetailed while finalising the itinerary. 

2. The check in time at hotels in Egypt is 1500 hrs. unlike the usual 12 noon. An early check, almost 8-9 hours in advance, was almost impossible with our flight arrival at 0600 hrs. 

Since we had kept awake almost the prior full night, we had no choice but to opt for a confirmed early check in on arrival by paying one day extra hotel charges over and above the package charges. A confirmed early check in  to complete our morning rituals had become unavoidable due to age factor of our group as it was impossible to manage with a road side restaurant toilet as was originally planned. 

The economical and advised tour option - Both Alexandria and Port Said are around 200 kms
(3 & 1/2 hours) from Cairo by road. Most tour operators take the tourists straight from Cairo on arrival to either of them and arrange breakfast enroute at a venue with good toilet and freshening up facility followed by lunch and some local sightseeing to be in time for hotel check-in. 

This is normally the advisable option unless your group requirements justify otherwise and decide to pay one extra day hotel charges at Cairo like us.

To know the specific details of what to do and where to stay, check the next post................