Melissa Pearson

My mother and I just got back from a two and a half week trip to Egypt, and I am soooooo glad we went with Memphis tours! I really did my research on companies--looked at endless TripAdvisor reviews, and they were dead on. =) We really wanted an in-depth tour of the country, so we pretty much did everything--Cairo, Sakkara and Memphis, Abu Simbel, Aswan, Luxor, Sharm el Sheikh, St. Catherine's monestary, Mount Moses, Alexandria..ahh soo much! We NEVER felt unsafe, and they truly took care of everything for us. From day one, our booking representative, Abdo Shawky, was truly helpful. He really tailored our trip for us and helped us do exactly everything we wanted to do in such a short time. Thanks Abdo! 

Once we got to Cairo, our rep Abdul was great, and especially our guide Ayman. Ok seriously... if you are truly interested in the history, PLEASE request Ayman!! He has a PhD in Archeology and speaks excellent English because he lived in the UK for a number of years. He is absolutely fantastic!! (And if you're starting in Cairo, he will be the best to help give you the history before the rest of your trip.) 

When we got to Aswan, we had a one-day guide, Fatima, for Abu Simbel. (And note.. Sabry, our representative, was always on time and very professional. Call him "Michael Jackson" and he will know what it means. Haha!) Maybe it's wrong because we had such an excellent time with Ayman, but I felt like Fatima didn't really enjoy her job. She told us the basics and was very nice, but in the end, she just showed us pictures and left us on our own to figure things out. Anyways.. on our Nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor we had Alaa, and he was much better. He's very professional and really wants to explain everything to you and still give you plenty of time to explore and get some great pictures. Please note: during the cruise was the only time we were in a group, and there was also another Memphis Tour group. Their guide was Eid, and according to the friends I made in the other group, Eid was excellent as well. (And a great dancer! Hahaha)

After Luxor we flew to Sharm, and Gomaa (our rep) was such a sweet man. He was extremely punctual and polite, and spoke great English as well. We chose not to do the extra Memphis tours there and instead I booked a private diving course--if you've always wanted to dive and never got the chance.. the Red Sea is truly the place to go! We wanted to see Colored Canyon, but because we had such an aggressive tour the first week, we chose to just have a day to relax on the beach. =)

Then we went to the mountains in Sinai. Gomaa and a driver took us to St Catherine's monestary, and let me tell you.. it's absolutely beautiful! We did go up Moses mountain to see the sunrise, and it was a once in a lifetime experience. Our Beduoin guide, Mohammed (wonderful recommendation by Gomaa) was truly a life saver, and his self-taught English was one of the best-speaking guides we had. I didn't realize even after all my research just how crazy the hike was, and my 63-year-old mother really needed Mohammed. He was there for her every step of the way. =) 

Okay I know this is a really long review, but I have to mention some things Memphis didn't tell us that I feel would be helpful to someone planning a trip:
1.) Tipping! Plan on paying your driver each day about $10 if he is good, and more for the guide (since they are college educated and are required to pass a test to obtain their guide license).
2.) TAKE TOILET PAPER OR WIPES WITH YOU EVERYWHERE. In Egypt, literally everywhere (even Cairo airport) relies on tipping. This means, in order for you to get toilet paper, you have to pay 1 Egyptian pound to get it if you don't bring your own. We always brought wipes and antibacterial gel too because soap is hardly ever offered. 
3.) The better you are to your guides, the more you will get to see. We heard many stories of people being rude to the guides, and they obviously didn't get the same experience we did. It's the same with anything really because tipping is so huge there.. in the Valley of the Kings, we went into King Tut's tomb and paid the man at the bottom a couple pounds. He took his flashlight and pointed out special things for us to see. (just something for you to think about.)
4.) DO NOT take the overnight train from Cairo to Aswan if you have something planned the next day. Please take my advice (and the advice of other travellers I met along the trip) and pay extra for a flight. It's awful.. you will not sleep without the use of medication. Haha! We barely slept all night and then had 6 hours of driving (total) for Abu Simbel the next day. The others in the group part came right from the train to the Nile Cruise and said the same thing. Ugh.. exhausting.
5.) The food is fine, so do not worry about that. We never got sick once, and they provide water to you everyday. =) Many of our meals were not provided, but we never had a problem even when we ate meals outside the hotel.
6.) Certain attractions cost extra, so check with your booking representative to help you plan for those expenses. For example, your ticket into the Valley of the Kings is included. You will get to go into 3 tombs of your choice, except King Tut and Ramses VI are separate tickets. (I think they're like $10-15 each or something. You have to buy those tickets right when you get there, so don't start walking and forget to. A couple people in our group weren't paying attention and missed out.
7.) Dress attire: Honestly we never really needed scarves because Egyptians are so used to tourists, but we wore them anyway. However, some mosques will require women to cover their hair (none of the ones we went to did, but just keep that in mind). Just dress casually but please be respectful to their culture and wear modest clothing. I heard one guide talking about how some Russian women wore really provacative clothing one time, and it really wasn't necessary. You're going to a Muslim country.. be respectful to their customs.
8.) If you want to see sunrise atop Mount Moses, I'll say this... be careful. Apparently the day before we went a woman had a heart attack and died on her ascent. This is not an easy hike, and it's very cold and exposed to the wind. Take my advice if you are unsure if you will make it--pay the $20 and take camels up as far as they will go. Once you get to the top you will be happy you took them.
9.) Take as many of the optional tours on the Nile Cruise as you can. They are a little expensive $30-90 depending on the tour, but totally worth it. We did all of them. The Nubian village was a fun experience. The city tour in Luxor was fun for me because we took a horse carriage ride through the market then had some sheesha. Mom really enjoyed the Karnak sound and light show--according to Ayman it's the best in Egypt. And we both loved the hot air balloon ride at sunrise over Luxor. It's absolutely breath-taking!

Ok sorry for the long review.. just trying to be helpful. =) If you end up using Memphis Tours, I promise you will not regret it. They were truly fantastic for the price!