Traveling to Egypt?

[Kevin abq]

If you're planning to go there, read my web page first. I might be able to save you some grief. I just wish someone had warned me before I bought this tour :P

I took my family to Egypt Dec. 2003 - Jan. 2004 to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. I hired a stateside tour company and they contracted with a land operator named Travel House, in Cairo. My story describes what happened.

My Egypt Trip page is at:

http://www.geocities.com/khennis/egypt.html

and my home page is at:

http://www.geocities.com/khennis/index.html

I put this story on the web to not only expose the tour company but to warn others who may be planning a trip to Egypt. Let me know what you think. Thanks

[Cobra]

Kevin,

Firstly, congratulations to yourself and your wife on 25 years!

Secondly, congratulations on owning a Desert Eagle!

There's a blinding amount of information there - I'm afraid it's late and I could only skim-read it. What makes it a strong case, though, is the photos. Use them, and take these people to court. Also, talk to the media. They are there to serve you and act as your megaphone, after all.

If this were the UK, I'd be right on to Trading Standards. I know for a fact that these guys are pretty ruthless as they've come to my rescue before.

Next time, why don't you try the UK? Go to Edinburgh when the Tatoo is on. You and your family will love it, I promise!

http://www.edinburgh-tattoo.co.uk/

G'night!

Cobra

[pacmania_2001]

Better yet, come to Australia.

The only people tourist guides rip off here are the Japanese.

Seriously though, that sucks what happened to you. At least you had some good times once you ditched the tour and also got some compensation from the state-side travel agency.

I've always wanted to travel to Egypt and see the pyramids but I've heard quite a few horror stories like yours.

[Kevin abq]

Thanks guys. I appreciate your support. Only Japanese tourists get ripped off? And that Desert Eagle IS a sweet weapon. And I'd love to see the tattoo. It gave me goosebumps to watch the video on that web page. Thanks!

I won't rehash what's already on my page, but this trip was supposed to be something we'd remember and tell our grandkids. You can imagine the sinking feeling we had when we realized it wasn't going to get any better, and we needed "out".

I apoligize for the sheer, mind-numbing volume of information on the page, but I did that for legal reasons. My page is serving as a chronological log of our experiences, and the hard copy of it is now in several different departments at the Egyptian Ministry Of Tourism, and is being used as evidence in an effort to get Travel House closed down. It isn't the most streamlined page, but it has all the facts.

I'm waiting to hear from the tour company owner who is going there on Feb. 20 and will lodge a complaint in person, on my behalf, to the Ministry. He's the one who knows all about this tour outfit and referred to them as "bad news".

Now that my stateside tour company has offered us a free, anywhere in the world trip including first-class airfare and 5-star hotels, we've been looking seriously at going "dan undah". Oz was a real contender before we decided to go to Egypt. Great Britain was also very high on our list. We want to see Alice Springs, Ayers rock, the GB reef and, of course Steve-o in Beerswah. England has so much too, it would be hard to decide. Also, Rome, Greece and Russia would be very interesting. These are all places we could go for free any time we want, all four of us, thanks to our stateside tour operator who felt so bad about our experience. Maybe I could talk him into two trips so it wouldn't be so hard to decide? Naaahhhh, that would require a truly brass set

We met some really friendly aussies in Egypt who extended an invitation for us to visit their country, saying "you can drink our water, mate". It would be nice to visit a country where we can drink the water, speak the same language, and have the same God. Besides, both you Brits and you Aussies are legendary in colorful slang, and I'd like to learn some. Bob's my uncle Always looking to expand my vocabulary, hahaha

We'll probably go somewhere after the shock of our Egypt trip wears off a little more. Maybe in a year. Maybe in August? Who knows. I do know it'll be somewhere where we all want to go and it'll have to fall between the boys' semesters at college.

Cheerio,
Kevin

[pacmania_2001]

Only Japanese tourists get ripped off?

Awhile back (probably still goes on today), Japanese tourists on tours were being charged for things like walking on the beach (it's free) and being forced like you were into going to shops for sales pitches.

The irony of it was that they were getting ripped off not by Australians but by the Japanese tour operators and their shops.

Now that my stateside tour company has offered us a free, anywhere in the world trip including first-class airfare and 5-star hotels, we've been looking seriously at going "dan undah".

You'll want first class or business flights to Australia, the flights a killer. I've done it twice in economy class and my best advice is having sleeping tablets.

It's not too bad if you travel a reputable airline like Qantas that have entertainment systems in every seat and it's worth enduring the flight.

We want to see Alice Springs, Ayers rock, the GB reef and, of course Steve-o in Beerswah.

All good places, well maybe not Steve's croc farm, he's a stubby short of a carton.

I don't think it's called Ayers Rock anymore though, Uluru is it's new name after it was handed back to the Aborigines and they try to not get you to climb on the rock.

You haven't been to a beach before unless you've been swimming or snorkelling in the Whitsundays / the Great Barrier Reef. Some of the islands you can go to look like they've never had another human on them and the water is crystal clear.

I'm sure your boys will love Australia as well because the legal age for things like drinking and gambling are 18 so they can enjoy the nightlife of places like the Gold Coast and Sydney. I think they'll like the female Aussies as well.

If you are interested check out www.seeaustralia.com.au for some other great places to visit.

[Kevin abq]

All good places, well maybe not Steve's croc farm, he's a stubby short of a carton.

I've always wondered what could motivate someone to handle a fer snake or a funnel-web with his bare hands. I figured he's either the bravest man in the world, or he's been shaking hands with the unemployed too much
Uluru huh? I knew that, but the name escaped me.

Sounds like our tour co. in Cairo isn't the only place squeezing tourists dry. Charging for a walk on the beach? How do they sleep at night? Knowing how society is nowadays, probably just fine :P

Killer flight is right. At least going to Egypt we broke up the monotony by stopping in Dallas, New York and Frankfurt. It was still 19-1/2 hours of flight time, but it seemed like less. Unfortunately going to Oz limits the stopover points a bit, at least the dry ones Still, going first-class will help. Those seats fold down into true beds so that and a few sleeping pills (or induced coma) ought to take care of the flight. Either that or we could bring along a couple laptops and watch DVD movies provided they have power outlets.

I will check out that seeaustralia link at length. Thanks for the info. So many places we could see ....it's going to take a while before we all agree on one place, but it'll be fun discussing it and comparing notes. My tastes run more towards the exotic than my wife's. The possible places we could go include Nepal and Tibet, Tahiti, New Guinea. I'd also like to see Komodo Island. I think those would be interesting places to see, but no way my wife would agree to any of those. I think she'd like something more mainstream. We all agree that the LAST place we would ever want to see is France

When I was shopping for our trip to Egypt I looked into adventure tours which include actually living in the desert in tents with bedouins, becoming part of their family for a while. They also had trips to Siwa Oasis which is still fringe, but beginning to get attention. To me that would be ideal finding a little B&B out in the boonies somewhere. I hate touristy places ...except what we saw in Egypt. Those things were just so amazing and awesome, we weren't even aware of the other tourists most of the time, and you have to put up with that over there if you want to see the monuments ...and you HAVE to see the monuments if you're going there.

[indolikaa]

I'm a Desert Eagle patron myself.

But I prefer the 6" .50 Action-Express. Nickel finish, of course.

[Kevin abq]

I'm a Desert Eagle patron myself.

But I prefer the 6" .50 Action-Express. Nickel finish, of course.

a .50 huh? The brass for that looks like a lipstick tube I've got one piece of .50AE brass on my desk at work and it draws many comments. What does it cost per round to reload that caliber? Surely you reload ...right? I can't imagine the cost of shooting only factory ammo in that beastie

[indolikaa]

That's the beauty of having a family member in law enforcement!

For reloads? Figure about $1.05 for 350Gr/JSP and $1.10 for 300Gr/JHP.

Factory loads? About $40.00.

[Kevin abq]

That's the beauty of having a family member in law enforcement!

For reloads? Figure about $1.05 for 350Gr/JSP and $1.10 for 300Gr/JHP.

Factory loads? About $40.00.

Man ....that's not playing fair, hahaha Are those prices for 50 or 100? I don't suppose it matters because that's almost for free (reload prices). Lucky stiff That price for factory loads has got to be for 50, right?

I pay about $8/100 for 10mm, about $20/100 for .44 magnum, and about $7.50/100 for .45ACP. The reason my .44 price is so much higher is, as you know, because you can't shoot cast lead target loads in the Desert Eagle. It's copper-jacketed, or leave it at home. I use Unique powder for the 10mm and .45, and 2400 Powder for the .44 mag.