Memphis Tours

Limited hassels in a very busy place

This is where we normally write about the hours of research, the offline maps, google translate, and numerous plan b, c, or d’s that we had for going to a country that we didn’t know a lot about. Instead, I’m going to write about how amazing this trip was thanks to Memphis Tours and how it was done. Once we selected Memphis Tours, based on reviews we read online, the price, and the breadth of what was offered, we got to work with Amira, our Destination Expert. We had a list of places we wanted to see and things we wanted to do, she was able to advise on other things in the areas we’d be in and work out the logistics for any one-offs we had. The only warning we’d have on this is to do your due diligence, because they’ll make whatever you want to do happen, within reason of course, but that doesn’t always mean it’s a good idea, like our sleeper train ride.

Transportation

We took care of our flights, which were made all the more easy with the non-stop St. Louis to Frankfurt Lufthansa flight, and after that we were in their hands. We were met at the airport by a person who had a card with our name on it, we were given his name in advance. He took us to the currency exchange counter in the airport, which offers the best rate of any other option we could find and then waited in line at the customs counter with us. Once we had our bags, he walked us outside to meet our tour organizer, Monica, who would be with us for the non-museum and archeology portions of our trip. She walked us out to the parking lot where we met Ahmed, who would be our driver for the first leg of our trip as well. Driving in Egypt is crazy, I don’t care where else you have been, this is at least as bad as that. Cairo and Giza have a combined population of 22 million people and a road system that looks like it was built to reduce decision making options, but that doesn’t stop people from trying to play Mario Cart at every turn. Monica also accompanied on our Nile evening river boat trip and walked us through Cairo to see some of the local restaurants, coffee houses, and snack shops. She also waited with us at the train station, as did her counterpart in Aswan. The train station is a little more complicated than we had imagined, nothing is in English and there’s always someone looking to make a buck to “help” you. Our only real hiccup with transportation involved the trains, and this is a hard thing to blame the agency for. Trains are notoriously unreliable in Egypt, the schedule is documented, but the adherence to that schedule is anyone’s guess. One of our tour leaders even tried to get the cell phone number of the train conductor to pass it along to our tour guide at our next destination.

Tours

Knowing where to go, when to go, and even simple stuff like what line to stand in and how not to get ripped off are essential things you want during a tour, but in Egypt, sometimes you need a few more things. The exhibits in Museums are usually well documented in multiple languages, but so much of what we came to see in Egypt was outside. Signage at temples and outdoor museums was almost non-existent, so if you like carvings then you can make do without a guide, but if you want to have any clue about what you’re looking at, there’s really no other way. We had two tour guides, one in upper and one in lower Egypt, both of their names were Ahmed (as was our driver) so it made things pretty simple. Both of our guides were great, they explained what the expectations of the day were, how long the guided part of our tour would be, how much time we’d need for wandering and pictures, and where to find them again. There are something like 20,000 tour guides in Egypt, so millage may vary on other experiences, but ours were great! Tour leaders are folks that are knowledgeable in the area you’re in, but not licensed tour guides. Monica was a tour leader; she took us on local walking tours of the area and assisted us with things that were more logistic in nature. Our driver in Cairo and Giza didn’t speak English but he got us everywhere we needed to be, was a very jolly guy, and played a mean game of dominos.

River Cruise

If you’re familiar with cruising, then this bit is going to be a little odd. The Nile cruise ships, for the most part, are literal floating hotels. Memphis Tours organized our rooms and excursions, the ship was just on the hook to get us from stop to stop and feed us. Our guide travelled with us and there are quarters aboard for just them. We were curious about the accommodations, but we didn’t get a great answer about it, you hate to think they are staying three or four to a room down below, but it wouldn’t surprise us.

Tipping

Tipping is a funny thing in the US right now with rampant tip culture being a topic of conversation everywhere, but in Egypt, it’s a way of life. Memphis Tours gave us great guidance on what was appropriate because, let’s face it, it’s a very uncomfortable experience at times. We had three basic professions supporting us, drivers, tour leaders, and tour guides and each of them added something to our trip at a different level. The tip guidance helped us to feel like we weren’t being cheap, but also not being guilted into getting ripped off by people who can literally ruin your trip in many ways. By the end of the trip, tipping added an additional 20% to the cost and accounted for most of the currency we exchanged. Tipping in dollars is ok, but tipping in the local currency is more appreciated because it’s one less step for them.