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‘Izbat Dhū al Fiqār

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    • TravelerTurkey & Egypt 2020
      Day 11

      Cairo

      March 15, 2020 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

      Our Egyptian odyssey begins at the amazing Great Pyramids of Giza and the nearby Sphinx. At 500 feet high and 750 feet wide at its base, the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) is breathtaking man-made structure, built from enormous stone blocks with a white limestone covering. Together with the smaller pyramids, the sight of these huge structures is unforgettable. Had lunch at nearby restaurant overlooking the Pyramids. Afterwards, visit the ancient capital of Memphis and the famous Step Pyramid of Sakkara. Just found out that Jordan has closed its borders and that part of the journey has cancelled. Our TAD will continue the Egypt portion of the trip and all Australian will be asked to return to Oz. Not happy! At this point we were given conflicting information regarding continuation for foreigners to complete the tour before they get home and closure of Cairo airport next Thursday from midday. We were advised by The Tour guy that we should continue on our tour but we fly out of Cairo to Luxor the next morning.

      Letter from TAD

      TripADeal has been following the developments of your tour very closely and we thank you for your patience while we make arrangements to resolve this unprecedented situation. According to the latest updates on Smartraveller and the Jordan Tourism Board, as Australian citizens, you are still allowed to enter the country of Jordan by air. However, based on the experience of a previous tour group being denied boarding to their flight to Jordan, we have reluctantly decided to organise a flight home for you at the end of the Egypt portion of your tour. We view this is the best approach as we don’t want anyone stuck in a foreign country and unable to get home. This scenario has played out on many other tours around the world, with some groups finding it extremely difficult to organise return travel to Australia. You can choose to proceed but there is a very strong chance you may not be able to get home in a timely manner.      Read more

    • Greece, Egypt and Jordan
      Day 6

      Checking in at the Oasis Hotel

      December 26, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

      When we arrived at Cairo International Airport, we were met by Osema from Timeless Tours. He was there just as we got off the plane so he ushered us through passport control and security. We didn't have to queue for anything - it was real VIP treatment!

      We did have to wait for the baggage to come through - even Osema couldn't speed up that process! But once we had our bags 🎒, we were quickly shown to our very comfortable airport transfer transport.

      We have been to many busy cities and even lived in some of them, but Cairo in rush hour takes traffic chaos to a whole new level!! We had a hair-raising drive to our hotel. Fortunately, we made it unscathed! 😂

      We were delighted to get our first glimpse of pyramids en route, too. It seems so incongruous to have them as the backdrop to the busiest traffic jam ever!!

      At the hotel, we were met by Sam who explained everything we needed to know. Hotel staff brought us orange juice and Ferrero Rocher - bizarre!! After a few minutes we were shown to our room (none too shabby!) where we unpacked, freshened up, and went to dinner. It was buffet style and very tasty.

      After dinner, we went for a drink in the hotel bar, The Thirsty Camel! At the prices they charge, we won't be making a habit of it!! 😂      Read more

    • Greece, Egypt and Jordan
      Day 7

      A relaxing day

      December 27, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

      We decided to do very little today! We availed ourselves of the very efficient (and cheap!) laundry service, had breakfast, sat in the sunshine in the hotel gardens to read and listen to podcasts, relocated poolside for a couple of games of Scrabble, and generally chilled.

      It's important when travelling for lengthy periods to have some 'do nothing' days!! 🙃      Read more

    • Greece, Egypt and Jordan
      Day 8

      A day by the pool

      December 28, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

      We had another relaxing day. We sat by the pool for most of it. I finished my first book of our non-work year - the story of a girl growing up in Botswana. It was really good and made me look forward even more to our visit to this fascinating country. It will be lovely to see for real the places she describes.

      This evening, we had our briefing for our tour which starts tomorrow. We met our guide, Nabil, aka Tiger! We also had the chance to start to get to know some of our group members. We are 31 in number and include Indians, Yemeni, Irish, Australians, South Africans, a Croatian, an American, a lady from Papua New Guinea 🇵🇬, and four fellow-Brits - a real global mix!! We look forward to getting to know them during the tour 😀      Read more

    • Greece, Egypt and Jordan
      Day 18

      Return to Cairo

      January 7, 2023 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

      Our airport pick up was scheduled for 7.15 this morning so I set my alarm for 6.15 to give us plenty of time to do the last minute packing and get ready. Imagine, then, how annoyed we were when the hotel gave us a wake-up call 📞 at 4.15am!!! We explained that they were too early and tried to get back to sleep 😴. Just as we were nodding off, there was a loud knock at the door! It was the guy coming to collect our cases! It was still only 4 31am!!! Mark was as polite as he could be under the circumstances 😂

      It took us ages to get back to sleep but we must have managed it eventually as we got a rude awakening when our alarm ⏰ went off at the correct time!

      We quickly got ready. We were too early for the hotel breakfast so we tried, for the first time, to make a coffee using the kettle in our room. This is when we discovered it didn't work!! 😂

      We took our cases down to reception at just before 7. The guy there was apologetic for waking us up early, but showed us his list to prove he was just doing as he was told 😀. It's no big deal - if that's the worst thing that happens on this trip, we'll be happy.

      Our transport to the airport arrived just 4 minutes late. Nabil had just messaged to check they had arrived. How good is that? He's not even our guide anymore!

      The hotel insisted on giving us huge breakfast bags. We left them with the transfer driver!

      Hurghada airport is only 20 minutes from the hotel so we were there in plenty of time for our 8.40 flight. It turns out that today is orthodox Christmas not yesterday as I had thought - so we still had wall-to-wall Christmas music throughout the airport!

      Once we were airside, we had time for a very welcome coffee ☕ before boarding. The plane was an ATR 72-600 - a smallish propeller plane- which Mark delighted in telling me was the same model that we aquaplaned in when we landed in Koh Samui many years ago 😂. Luckily, today was very dry and the flight passed without incident.

      At Cairo, we were met by Osema, the same guy who met us off our flight ✈ from Athens. He made sure we got to our transfer transport quickly and easily. Then, it was a matter of a 45-minute drive back to the Oasis Hotel. This time, we were making the journey in daylight so were able to see all the sights of Cairo city.

      It was nice to get back at the Oasis. Romani explained the programme for the next couple of days and we asked him to arrange a couple of extra things for us - the sound and light show at the Pyramids, and a day trip to Alexandria.

      During the afternoon he organised both of these while we had something to eat by the pool and I finished my Florence Nightingale book (a brilliant read!)

      Sorry about the quality of these photos 📸. Most of them were taken through a dirty window!      Read more

    • Greece, Egypt and Jordan
      Day 21

      A day at the hotel

      January 10, 2023 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

      We had a free day today so we spent it sitting in the sunshine 🌞 by the pool. Mark listened to podcasts and I read. This afternoon, we had a few games of Scrabble - things we don't have time to do usually. It was a very relaxing day!

      I'm reading 📚 Simon Reeve's autobiography at the moment. He is one of our favourite presenters of TV 📺 travelogues. It's fascinating to learn about how he went from teenage delinquent to accomplished author and documentary maker.      Read more

    • TravelerEgypt
      Day 6

      Baharia Oasis to Cairo

      March 6, 2020 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

      Left Baharia Oasis behind after another breakfast of beans and bread! Pleased to leave the hotel behind! The owner said there is a pool but it's a bit cold...yeah that's the reason we won't be swimming (see photos!) Arrived at the Oasis Pyramids Hotel.Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    ‘Izbat Dhū al Fiqār, `Izbat Dhu al Fiqar, عزبة ذو الفقار

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