 |
 |
Hi Emil
Yes, we have now arrived safely in one piece back in Wales. We have had a fabulous time in Egypt. For your part of our excursion, your representative was very prompt and found our boat at Luxor. Even though we were delayed in our arrival, he returned later in the evening with our train tickets. We were a little disappointed in the fact that the tickets were for the earlier train of 17:00 and not the 18:30 as we had agreed. What was the problem there?
In Cairo your team arrived promptly at 9:00 in the morning. The mini-bus was extremely clean and comfortable and we were taken to the arranged destinations. The driver was excellent. The guide was very knowledgeable and spoke good English and made our trip very interesting. Though we requested a stop at a carpet factory and perfume factory, it was a pity that these visits were spoilt by the hard sell of the owners. As a nation we are not experienced at bartering and I feel that we were taken advantage of. Under such circumstances we would have appreciated support and some guidance from the guide. I am sure that it was in their best interest for us to make a purchase as they would have received commission from the owners.
We decided that we did not want to visit the bazaar on day 2 but instead the Coptic quarter. This was agreed but I was disappointed that it involved an extra cost, (I believe it was $42), which we paid to your represenative. We were not in a position to argue, but I felt that this was very expensive as the main cost of the car, driver and guide was already paid for.
It is good that your guides are flexible, but I feel that it should be very clear from the beginning what extra costs there might be. As guests in your country, it is unfortunate if we feel we are being taken advantage of. Some sort of price list for alternative additions to the trip might be useful, or a fixed price for the car, driver and guide with entry fees on top might be an alternative.
The young lady who acted as our guide on day 2 was also very knowledgeable and did her very best in the vast crowds at the museum to take us to the main points of interest and explain them. The visit to the Citadel and Coptic quarter were also very interesting.
We finished both days quite early in the afternoon as it was extremely hot and too tiring for us to continue but we were both pleased with what we achieved in those 2 days and really appreciated the driver and guides.
Thanks yet again
Paul and Nesta Adlam
