Vantage: Egypt and Jordan, Jan. 2009

[Hydrokitty]

What a wonderful trip this was. The hotels, food, people, sites, all were wonderful. Here’s the run down: Arrived in Cairo on Egyptair, which is quite comfortable. We flew business class so our food and service was really nice but everyone who flew coach admitted they had more leg room than on other international carriers. Hotel in Cairo (Conrad Cairo) was very nice with a balcony overlooking the Nile and the corniche. Unfortunately, unable to enjoy the lovely walk in the “greenway” along the river because you cannot cross the street!!

Traffic in Cairo is indescribable….there are no rules or laws, all the traffic lights flash yellow only, a 4 lane highway will have 10 lanes of traffic (no exaggeration, I counted!) and the only rule is if you see a space, go for it! Day 2: Off to see the Pyramids. Awesome site, the bus actually drove us to each of the major pyramids so walking was at a minimum. It was quite hot and the vendors are very intimidating. (see “things I learned”). Next the Sphinx and Saqqara (the step pyramid) and a carpet factory where children are learning to make rugs (a euphemism for child labor). Day 3: optional tour to Alexandria a beautiful city on the Mediterranean Sea. Day 4: Optional tour of Old Cairo, which was wonderful. The Hanging Church is magnificent. Followed by the Egyptian Antiquities Museum. I bailed on the tour and toured the museum on my own. I recommend visiting the museum web site, take the virtual tour and pick out what you want to see, then go see it. Tour takes about 75 minutes leaving you only about 30 minutes to explore on your own. Day 6: Early departure to airport (4 a.m.) Conrad gave us a really nice boxed breakfast. Arrived in Aswan around 8 a.m. and air conditioned bus with bathroom was waiting to take us 3 hours to Abu Simbel. Drive through the desert very interesting. Abu Simbel is amazing (I’ll be using that word a lot) and then onto the Omar El Khayam. Entire group on the 2nd floor. Ship very nice but sun deck teak floor is coming up so be sure to wear shoes up there. Pool lovely but cold. 3 days cruising Lake Nasser visiting Kasr Ibrim, Amada Temple, Valley of the Lions and Kalabshah Temple. Day 9: Arrive at the Moevenpick Resort on Elephantine Island in Aswan. Beautiful hotel with an infinity pool and two balconies on our room over-looking the Nile. Felucca ride to the botanical garden on Kitchener’s Island, very relaxing. Nubian dinner and show entertaining. Food good, floor show fun especially when they got some of us up to join in what turned out to be Nubian version of the Macarena and Simon Says!!! Tour of the Nubian Village and school was not worth it. I would have preferred doing something else. Day 11: Visit to papyrus factory (see rug factory with better stuff) then on to the Crown Jubilee. This time on the 4th floor (no elevator) this ship has no amenities (shampoo, etc.) so take some from the Movenpick or bring your own but this is the only place you’ll need it. Visited Kom Ombo, Sobek, Horus Temples…..all wonderful. Day 13: Luxor: don’t miss the hot air balloon ride! It was fantastic. Met up with group at Memnon Statues and on to the Valley of the Kings. In VOK you can choose only 3 tombs to visit on your admission ticket. King Tut’s tomb is extra (and pretty much empty) a good place to go is the mapping project web site, take a virtual tour of all the tombs and pick out the ones you want, or if your tour guide is Maged (Magic) let him decide for you. After lunch Karnak and Luxor Temples. Day 14: Back to Cairo and visit the Citadel, which is beautiful and you can see the pyramids from the hill. Day 15: Lunch in a beautiful park in Cairo then on to the airport for late afternoon flight to Amman. Day 16: Tour of Amman and the Citadel in the morning, and Jerash in the afternoon. Jerash was very difficult walking and second half of tour is uphill. Option for those who didn’t want to walk to the end was a “roman gladiator show”. There were 5 of us who went to the show and it was “hokey” but lots of fun. We got to decide who lived or died!! Day 17: Bus to Petra stopping at Mt. Nebo (where Moses walked) and a mosaic school (see carpet factory, but with a lot of really nice things to buy). Movenpick Resort Petra very nice hotel Day 18: Petra for the whole day. Absolutely amazing!!! If you don’t feel like you can walk 7 miles round trip (actually a little more than that) take a chariot through the Siq…..you’ll see everything in the Siq and have plenty of time waiting for the walkers to get reacquainted with your kidneys! Then walk with the guide to the restaurant (about 1.5 miles) have lunch and take a camel back. Trust me, take the camel back to the treasury where your chariot will take you to the gate. Day 19: Bus back to Amman with a stop at the Dead Sea at a really beautiful resort. You can swim if you like but be warned it will take at least 3 showers to get all the salt off your body.

Things I learned:

• BRING DISPOSABLE FACE MASKS. Dust in Cairo is terrible. I’m NOT asthmatic and I had to get a doctor because the bronchitis was so bad.
  
• First sign of nausea and diarrhea tell your tour manager and ask him/her for antinel tablets. Only thing that cures it and it works super fast.
  
• Don’t forget to take shampoo from the Movenpick in Aswan to use on the Crown Jubilee.
  
• All meals are buffet so bring your patience.
  
• Vendors in Egypt are relentless and will not take no for an answer. They will follow you until you buy something. NEVER take your wallet out in their presence. Very rare but some have been known to quickly remove all your money, mostly if they see how much you have, that will become how much you owe them. DON’T let them take your picture. Once they have your camera they gotcha! NEVER let them split you off from the group. Only way to deal with them is keep your head down and keep repeating no, thank you. Say nothing else. If you engage them in conversation you're done.
  
• Be sure to notify your bank and credit card companies that you are going to Egypt. We had a problem with our bank ATM card because we forgot to tell them. And compounding our problem was you cannot call the collect number on your bank card because ATT will not permit collect calls from Egypt. You cannot put the call on your credit card unless you have an ATT calling card! If this happens, tell your tour manager immediately and he will take you directly to a bank that will help you out.
  

Egypt and Jordan were wonderful places to visit. The people were very friendly and seemed genuinely glad to have us visit. I never felt threatened or in danger at any time. We did have an armed guard with us at all times but he was very nice and very comforting to see.

[robthens]

What a great review!

 

We did the same trip with Vantage last spring; however, we did not do the post extension. "Amazing" is the only word to describe these sites.

 

Re: stomach virus

We take probiotics prior and during our trips and have not had that dreaded virus since we started doing it.

[npphotog]

Thank you Hydrokitty for an great report on Egypt with Vantage. Have done three trips with Vantage and been very pleased. Have read recent reports here about Vantage that didn't sound too good. Our experiences have been really good with them. Want to do Egypt but not this year, maybe next year. Have you done China yet? We did that with Vantage two years ago and it was a super trip. Last year we did the Vantage Greece Odyssey but that trip is not offered this year. Willard

[Hydrokitty]

Hey Willard, no we haven't done China yet.....tell me about it, I'm interested but husband not so much, so I'll have to do some convincing! this was our second trip with Vantage, first being Castles on the Rhine, which we loved. We did Greece and France with Trafalgar and that was wonderful too. Next up for us will be Netherlands in Bloom for 2010 and either Alaska or Hawaii for Spring 2009. Have you done Alaska or Hawaii with Vantage? I was considering doing them on my own, but I really don't think I can beat the price or a tour and I love the information you get from the professional guides.:D:D

[robthens]

We have taken several trips with Vantage including China in 2007. Actually, DH had to talk me into going to China. Now, China is my all time favorite. The people are amazing. I made an entire scrapebook with the pictures I took of the beautiful (well behaved) children.

 

We have the Russian Waterways with Vantage in Sept.

We think they do a great job.

 

We are going to Alaska on Princess in May. Alaska is a do it yourself.

This is our 3rd trip to Alaska. We prefer to book our own excursion when possible. Alaska is really easy.

[npphotog]

Back at you Hydrokitty - You must do the China/Yangtze trip. One of the best tours we did and since it's 21 days, the price is good. Keep in mind there is some smog in the big cities. The hotels, food and tours are really great. Our tour director was Kelly Wei and she was terrific. Check out some of my photos on the following site...36 or 37 photos.

http://s191.photobucket.com/albums/z210/1Willard/

We had done the Holland to Hungary river cruise with Vantage in 2005. We did the optional tours on the China trip - I think only 3 but well worth every penny. It is a long plane ride. We went from Tampa to Chicago and on to Beijing. Coming back from Hong Kong to Chicago then to Tampa. Hope you can pull up the photos. Willard