Latest / GowayPro Travel Tales / Chasing Totality in Egypt: The Solar Eclipse 2027

Transcript

Chasing Totality in Egypt: The Solar Eclipse 2027 · GowayPro Travel Tales

• 0:00
  Hey there everyone, I'm Don, Professor Goway, and welcome to the GoWay Pro Travel Tale Podcast.
• 0:13
  Travel far and travel often.
• 0:18
  Hello everyone, welcome to the GoAPro TroubleTales podcast.
• 0:23
  For those watching on our YouTube channel, you might notice something different.
• 0:26
  Um there's no guest.
• 0:29
  Visually, there's no guest.
• 0:31
  Um because we're having some technical problems with Jody's um camera.
• 0:36
  She sees it on her end, but I don't see it at my end.
• 0:39
  But because this is a podcast, we don't really need to see Jody's face.
• 0:42
  You don't just need to see my face either.
• 0:44
  But what we will do
• 0:46
  So it doesn't get totally boring and weird just staring at me um for however however long we're gonna talk.
• 0:53
  Um we'll throw up a an image or two of Jody.
• 0:55
  Maybe Jody, if you can send me photos of you from around the world, maybe actually from Egypt, because that's our subject matter today.
• 1:02
  And then we can have that rotating through.
• 1:04
  So at least visually, people out there won't be too bored.
• 1:07
  So on that note, our special guest today is Jodie Hartnell, and Jody is one of Go A destination specialists.
• 1:15
  for the region of Africa.
• 1:17
  So hello Jody.
• 1:18
  How are you?
• 1:20
  I'm great.
• 1:20
  How are you?
• 1:21
  Very well, thank you.
• 1:22
  Um I'm happy to be here.
• 1:24
  I'm glad I'm glad you're happy to be here.
• 1:27
  Um where are you coming from?
• 1:28
  As I can't see you, are you uh I assume you're at home somewhere and if so, where is home right now, right now, I'm coming from home, Regina Saskatchewan.
• 1:37
  So Yes, the only one right now that works at Go Way from Saskatchewan.
• 1:43
  kind of here Where's Jennifer Murray?
• 1:45
  She's in um she's in Manitoba.
• 1:48
  For in Manitoba.
• 1:49
  So Brandon Manitoba she always Yeah, it's only about six hours well not even maybe four hours from here.
• 1:55
  So she would be my closest person that works at Go Away from Saskatchewan right now.
• 2:02
  Were you in the office at one stage in Toronto?
• 2:04
  I remember seeing you around here I believe.
• 2:06
  I have I do go in when we have events and stuff in Toronto or Vancouver and I usually I like to stay for the week to work in the office.
• 2:13
  So when we have events I go and stay longer.
• 2:17
  Have you ever lived in Toronto?
• 2:19
  No, I haven't.
• 2:21
  For some reason I I had memories of them being in the office pre COVID.
• 2:27
  Okay, obviously not.
• 2:28
  So have you been a Regina for most of your life?
• 2:32
  I was born here and raised here, left a couple of times and came back and I'm here now for a while and getting ready to
• 2:43
  do some snowboarding and and going to spend my winters away because Saskatchewan winters are notoriously frigid.
• 2:54
  Brutal.
• 2:54
  Yeah.
• 2:55
  So let me ask you some immigrant questions, me be me being the immigrant and not knowing Canada that well.
• 3:01
  Okay.
• 3:02
  Well let's put this way.
• 3:03
  I know the East Coast Peru is pretty well on the West Coast, but most people, probably Canadians, don't know the the middle that well.
• 3:10
  So
• 3:12
  Uh born and bred in Regina, does that automate automatically lump you as a country girl?
• 3:19
  No.
• 3:19
  Well, it depends on how you're looking at that.
• 3:22
  I think if anybody from outside Saskatchewan, they may view me as a bit of a bumpkin and I'm proud of that.
• 3:29
  I don't mind that moniker at all.
• 3:32
  Um but it is a city.
• 3:34
  I mean there's there are two main cities here, so Regina and Saskatoon.
• 3:38
  Um we have an international airport.
• 3:41
  Not that we have a lot of destinations internationally, but it it's considered international.
• 3:49
  so it's it's not easy to get in and out of here.
• 3:54
  We do have to connect in either Calgary or Toronto or Vancouver.
• 3:59
  So it you know, I mean it's it's not the the prime places to live like Vancouver and and Toronto.
• 4:08
  But I I'm happy with my little city.
• 4:11
  yeah, yeah.
• 4:11
  I I I again I didn't mean to imply any disrespect at all.
• 4:15
  Oh not at all.
• 4:16
  If it came across that way.
• 4:17
  It's just that again, you know, most people outside of Canada will know the bigger cities Vancouver, Calgary.
• 4:23
  Of course.
• 4:24
  Well a lot of people aren't really sure like a lot of people have not heard of Saskatchewan.
• 4:29
  So Well there's that there's that and you know, they might have an idea of that in Manitoba and it's like it's in the middle of somewhere.
• 4:37
  They know it's there, but just not necessarily exactly where it is.
• 4:40
  So I usually tell people right above North Dakota and Montana.
• 4:44
  there we go.
• 4:45
  For our American listeners who may not know Canadian geography.
• 4:48
  So we're recording this in uh coming up to the end of July, early August two thousand and twenty six.
• 4:54
  And I remember speaking to Jennifer.
• 4:55
  Again, Jennifer's in Manitoba and she's one of our group's people.
• 5:00
  And I saw in the news that Manitoba about a month ago were being hit by heavy floods and
• 5:06
  Most people will know.
• 5:07
  lots of wildfires in Canada at the moment.
• 5:10
  How are you and your area doing with wildfires?
• 5:12
  We're not bad.
• 5:14
  We are the prairies.
• 5:15
  We're so we don't get we don't get the actual the fire so much.
• 5:20
  We get a lot of smoke coming in from BC and Washington.
• 5:25
  of course everything pretty much moves west to east.
• 5:28
  So what we see here today, Jennifer, we'll see tomorrow and you guys will see a day or two after that.
• 5:34
  Um, but the smoke hasn't been too bad here lately.
• 5:37
  I think that the they're more in the eastern region right now, which is pretty devastating.
• 5:42
  We've had them the last couple of years and it can be it can be really bad.
• 5:46
  Yeah, so yeah, definitely Northern Ontario where I am Ontario.
• 5:51
  So I think yeah, they're they're the worst ones this year for sure.
• 5:55
  Yeah.
• 5:56
  Uh two of my boys are coming down from
• 6:00
  North of Prince George from tree planting, they're heading over to Vancouver.
• 6:03
  The season's over and their drive they're having to sort of not in any great way, but they being very conscious and having to dodge wildfires or that as well.
• 6:12
  You do have to be very careful when you're going through there, I know.
• 6:15
  Well, I hope they do okay driving.
• 6:17
  Yeah, yeah, no, they they made him to Kamloops last night, another good funny good, okay.
• 6:28
  They will be so almost there when you hit Kamloops, so that's good.
• 6:31
  Exactly.
• 6:32
  Now, you mentioned you're gonna start doing some snow burning.
• 6:35
  Would any of that snowballing happen to be on our subject matter today?
• 6:39
  Egypt?
• 6:41
  It is.
• 6:42
  it is.
• 6:42
  It is.
• 6:43
  Ah, it is.
• 6:44
  I will I'm going to start heading out and doing my winter months um in Egypt.
• 6:52
  I have very close friends there that I are they're more like family there.
• 6:57
  Um
• 6:58
  And the weather is beautiful and perfect for me and there's no snow and ice, which is like neon sign bonus for me.
• 7:09
  And I have been going back and forth to Egypt for about twenty years and so it's just kind of another step that gonna try doing the daily living there.
• 7:22
  And you know staying sort I sort of segued that
• 7:27
  question thinking, like ha ha ha yeah, I I won't live in Egypt.
• 7:30
  And I was thinking, yeah, I'm gonna go to Florida or somewhere else.
• 7:34
  And here you are.
• 7:35
  You are actually going to do some full time stuff.
• 7:38
  Okay.
• 7:39
  So um you mentioned twenty years you've been involved with Egypt.
• 7:43
  So let's get bit of a background on you and Go way and your expertise in the Africa area and in this instance Egypt.
• 7:49
  So has your involvement been literally through selling Egypt with Go Away and anyone else or
• 7:55
  You mentioned you have some close friends there.
• 7:56
  What's the tie to Egypt for you?
• 7:59
  I started doing um before I came to Go Away, I started doing Egypt's small group tours.
• 8:06
  And I put those together.
• 8:08
  Oh gosh, probably it's been fifteen to twenty years now.
• 8:13
  um I was a a travel agent, like many of the viewers today.
• 8:17
  Um, and I just wanted to do something different and I started putting these programs together and it
• 8:24
  became very, very successful and we ran them year after year.
• 8:30
  And that was, you know, in my first year or two there how I met a lot of people through through business and and you know, guiding and things like that.
• 8:41
  And uh just became very good friends and and so I mean I've been selling Egypt for as long as I can remember.
• 8:51
  Um
• 8:53
  And it's just it's one of my happy places.
• 8:59
  I very much love it.
• 9:00
  Um the history is incredible.
• 9:03
  I love the people.
• 9:05
  And the you know, f the cost of living is is quite reasonable.
• 9:13
  Yeah.
• 9:13
  So there's not y th there you know, I mean the every place has some drawbacks.
• 9:17
  Um anybody that's been to Egypt understands the traffic is a drawback.
• 9:23
  traffic is uh it's something else.
• 9:26
  I don't drive there.
• 9:29
  I I did I did learn at one point, and that was probably about ten years ago and I've never sat behind the wheel since then.
• 9:39
  Just don't have to do that.
• 9:42
  I just don't have to.
• 9:43
  Um but yeah, it's just it it's become my passion.
• 9:50
  And that was how I got started with Go Away.
• 9:52
  Oh, okay.
• 9:53
  so you so you came in with that sort of Egypt knowledge as your base and then obviously expanded on things.
• 9:59
  Yes.
• 10:00
  I came in with the Africa y the Middle East in general.
• 10:04
  I met one of the BDMs at a conference that I was attending and um got talking to him and he he said that he would that like to have me speak to somebody from the Africa
• 10:16
  Department.
• 10:17
  He thought that my experience would be
• 10:19
  Very well used.
• 10:20
  And so that was kinda how it started.
• 10:23
  And I love Go Way.
• 10:26
  I d I don't know why I didn't come sooner.
• 10:31
  I just I love working here.
• 10:33
  well that's it.
• 10:34
  Yeah, in my view everything's about timing and obviously the timing was right when you went to CM and and it's what you've been here how many years?
• 10:44
  eight or nine now, I think.
• 10:48
  That's a good innings, as they say in Australia.
• 10:50
  So when you go back or when you go to do your uh do your snowboarding um experience in Egypt, where are you going to base yourself?
• 11:01
  Is it the classic Cairo?
• 11:02
  Are you going up to the Mediterranean, Alexandria?
• 11:05
  You're heading further south, or to the city that maybe most people don't know about?
• 11:09
  I will be headed to well it it's a sub it's a satellite city of Cairo.
• 11:16
  It's called Pyramids Gardens.
• 11:18
  And it is located directly across the highway from the new uh big Egyptian museum.
• 11:26
  All right.
• 11:26
  Um, and of course, right beyond that are the pyramids.
• 11:31
  So very, very close.
• 11:32
  Um, yes, the traffic is incredible out there now.
• 11:37
  Didn't used to be like that.
• 11:40
  but it's a very unique place to be.
• 11:45
  um
• 11:47
  More of a neighborhood than a big city.
• 11:49
  Right.
• 11:50
  In that respect.
• 11:51
  Is the area you're going into a expat type area or conclave, or is it just a actually not really.
• 11:59
  Not really.
• 12:00
  Um most of the expats um live around the Zamalik area, which is kind of downtown.
• 12:05
  It's an island in the downtown area.
• 12:07
  And there are a lot of embassies down there.
• 12:09
  A lot of the major banks, the oil companies and stuff are in there.
• 12:12
  Um this is uh the pyramids are outside, they're in Giza.
• 12:18
  and the reason I chose to do that is because my friends and family are out there.
• 12:23
  And so for us much easier.
• 12:26
  It it's a chosen family for me.
• 12:29
  It's it's it's just when you've been with people long enough they feel like your family.
• 12:36
  And that's kind of how yeah.
• 12:39
  So with them being out there, I think it was important because we all know that you can take
• 12:45
  an hour and a half to drive into the city sometimes.
• 12:47
  So we figured the twenty minute drive was much better.
• 12:51
  So that's where I am.
• 12:52
  I have I've not had any issues or anything out there.
• 12:58
  Most a lot of people speak English.
• 13:00
  Well that was my expression.
• 13:02
  Do you speak Arabic?
• 13:05
  Very little and when I do, it's a source of great amusement for most native Egyptians.
• 13:13
  I I know some words I can I can get by.
• 13:17
  I do a lot of talking with my hands and I manage to get by, honestly, and and people uh like I said, the people are lovely.
• 13:26
  They will usually figure out what I'm trying to say.
• 13:30
  And even the shopkeepers will tell me certain names of things to try and remember for next time when I want them.
• 13:38
  Um but I have down like the the fruits and the vegetables and that kind of thing.
• 13:43
  Right.
• 13:43
  Okay.
• 13:44
  So when you go to Egypt as a traveller, a and again I haven't been for a long time, my experience and I don't think it's a great deal from people I've heard speak of it when
• 13:54
  they come back from a tourist point of view.
• 13:56
  You know, there's a lot of, you know, has you're you're hassled a lot on the street, though you're also very, very welcome and they you know, they love having travelers there
• 14:05
  to visit Egypt.
• 14:07
  Is it a different vibe when you live there as a Westerner, as a single white or assume you're single, I don't know if you're single or or married.
• 14:15
  No, I am.
• 14:16
  I I am.
• 14:16
  Um i uh actually and and very, very blonde, so I I'm not I don't blend in.
• 14:25
  Right, yeah.
• 14:26
  So um do you find it because you are probably having a more in depth experience than the average person, 'cause you've been back so many times you're now gonna choose to live
• 14:34
  there, albeit part time.
• 14:37
  Um, obviously it's not a concern to you 'cause otherwise you wouldn't be going there to do what you're going to do.
• 14:41
  But are you looked at I don't know, not weirdly differently, or like are you a bit of an amusement to them as a foreigner living um outside of where most expats would live in
• 14:52
  Cairo?
• 14:53
  Oh of course.
• 14:54
  yeah.
• 14:55
  Of course.
• 14:56
  you always get you know, people will always look and and feel they might stare.
• 15:02
  I I th it doesn't mean that they're doing it in a negative way.
• 15:07
  you know, don't get me wrong, there are some times that you can tell people are going, What are you doing?
• 15:12
  Yeah.
• 15:13
  You know, a smile and a wave.
• 15:14
  I I don't care.
• 15:17
  but no, most people are quite welcoming.
• 15:20
  They ask where you're from, they ask where you live.
• 15:24
  I have not been able to say in Egypt yet to see what their reaction would be, but I imagine it's going to be gales of laughter when I do say it.
• 15:34
  Um they're they're very happy people and and you know, so it it'll be it'll be interesting.
• 15:40
  Yeah, that that's for sure.
• 15:41
  And again, I'm just curious because um yeah, anyone who's different in a country it doesn't mean you're being stared at for the wrong reasons because you are different.
• 15:50
  And for sure, and you know you are, right?
• 15:53
  You know, I mean it's it's no secret.
• 15:55
  I can look around and see the same thing.
• 15:56
  I mean that being said, I I do there are times that if I am doing some traveling there I will
• 16:04
  the the touts and the the hawkers will ask me to buy things.
• 16:07
  I also kinda have the body language down a little bit so that many times they just pass me by.
• 16:12
  And I think that's one of the the keys that you have to learn and especially for us in North America to to not look at somebody and continue to walk without a smile or a nod is
• 16:22
  perfectly acceptable there.
• 16:24
  And and I think that the more the oftentimes that's why people will stop and and or they get
• 16:33
  harassed as they say and and I I understand I've seen it happen a million times and I always think, Oh, you guys, they would buy so much more if you'd leave them alone.
• 16:42
  And unfortunately that doesn't always get their kids fed for that night.
• 16:48
  So they tend to be on the more aggressive side.
• 16:51
  There's so many of them.
• 16:53
  But it is every place has its has its little idiosyncrasies and that's just one that you deal with.
• 17:01
  Well yeah, and again I and again I don't think that's exclusive to Egypt.
• 17:04
  I was in a No, I don't think so either.
• 17:06
  Last year with my family and and I I kept saying to my wife in a joking fashion, like, don't make eye contact with the with the banks.
• 17:14
  Exactly.
• 17:15
  Yeah, if you if you look or yeah, and like of course you want to be polite and be nice, but as you say, sometimes it's better in that environment, it's not being disrespectful.
• 17:24
  You just yeah, you walk by, don't look, don't smile.
• 17:27
  And that's the sign you're not interested.
• 17:29
  As soon as you look or smile.
• 17:31
  And I remember then you're interested, yeah.
• 17:33
  You're interested, then they're on you and then you get the guilt by if nothing else.
• 17:37
  So yeah.
• 17:38
  Interesting.
• 17:39
  It is.
• 17:40
  And it's not rude by doing that.
• 17:41
  It's you know, we we consider it rude and we feel guilty.
• 17:45
  It's not rude.
• 17:46
  It just means you're not interested.
• 17:47
  And there's nothing wrong with that.
• 17:49
  Yeah.
• 17:50
  And you you and directly you you you will acclimatize if you haven't already to being able to do that, so
• 17:56
  Don't get bothered as much.
• 17:58
  Okay, so let's talk Egypt.
• 18:01
  a couple of things we want to bring up today.
• 18:02
  Like we're not going to go into sort of the usual things.
• 18:06
  There are a couple of areas I'd like to discuss with you today.
• 18:09
  One is the upcoming solar eclipse.
• 18:12
  Um and then a chat about the Nile, which is a very obviously sought after common request, should be done when you're in Egypt.
• 18:23
  But it's not so much the Nile experience, it's how
• 18:26
  You can enjoy the Nile and that leads to some of the vessels, which we'll talk just on a minute.
• 18:30
  So for those that don't know, um, there is what they're calling the eclipse of the century.
• 18:36
  It is a total solar eclipse, which will occur actually almost a year to the day, August second, two thousand twenty-seven.
• 18:46
  maximum tot maximum totality, uh six minutes and twenty-three seconds.
• 18:52
  So that is extensive.
• 18:54
  visible cross
• 18:56
  Southern Spain, and for those who've listened to our podcast before, we have done a couple of podcasts recently on Spain, Portugal, the Canary Islands, all of which are right in
• 19:06
  line.
• 19:06
  So yes, we're talking Egypt today.
• 19:08
  There are other options as well.
• 19:10
  Um North Africa and the Middle East in our conversation today.
• 19:15
  The sun influences everything we experience on Earth.
• 19:19
  Earth is so perfectly positioned to experience this.
• 19:23
  Totality hits
• 19:27
  This amazing phenomenon that is so rare throughout the universe.
• 19:33
  This is a great time to learn more about our own star and how it affects our daily lives.
• 19:39
  Instant chills?
• 19:40
  I burst into tears.
• 19:41
  There's no other feeling like it.
• 19:43
  It's insane.
• 19:46
  Everybody should be watching.
• 19:53
  Egypt.
• 19:54
  Now Goway has put together for those watching, I've got to put my glasses, a trip for this.
• 20:02
  it's called Chasing Totality, Egypt and the Red Sea, twenty seven.
• 20:07
  Uh what have we got here?
• 20:09
  Four nights in Cairo, four nights in Astralam, um Egyptologist led tour of the Grand Egyptian Museum.
• 20:16
  I want to talk to you about that as well.
• 20:18
  The Grand Egyptian Museum, breakfasts, etcetera.
• 20:21
  So can you expand on
• 20:23
  That particular trip and anything that you may know about, which I know you know something about, the solar eclipse for next year.
• 20:29
  Yes.
• 20:30
  Um we have our product manager, Angela, managed to put this together and kind of do uh it's it's kind of a bit of a double holiday because the people the the the actual full
• 20:43
  totality is a little bit south of Luxor on the Nile.
• 20:47
  There will be ships that are there.
• 20:49
  The ships are full, the boats are are
• 20:52
  packed full.
• 20:54
  The land is packed full in Luxar.
• 20:56
  It's it's going to be absolutely insane.
• 21:00
  So what she did is she put it, she took us out a little bit over to the Red Sea, to Mar Salam.
• 21:08
  Okay.
• 21:09
  And they will still have almost complete totality over there.
• 21:14
  However, being on the sea, and Mar Salam is a smaller place than than the the usual Sharm al Sheikhs and and that kind of thing.
• 21:21
  Tourism wise.
• 21:23
  And so it will be not as many people, which will be lovely.
• 21:28
  And they will also get the beautiful water.
• 21:32
  The water is absolutely stunning down that way, even better than Sharm and Hergata.
• 21:38
  Just just not as used.
• 21:39
  Um and so it's kind of it to me, I think it's one of the best packages I've seen that's been put together as far as a little bit of beach.
• 21:51
  And then of course the stay in Cairo as well as a city.
• 21:53
  Um and with the eclipse being you know, she's got stuff organized for that.
• 22:03
  and the the itinerary of course is online on our website.
• 22:06
  And so people can go on there and see what it is.
• 22:09
  The resorts are v beautiful resorts.
• 22:14
  and I kind of think I might go.
• 22:18
  Well, there you go.
• 22:20
  You never know.
• 22:21
  You never know.
• 22:22
  If you're gonna be there for sure.
• 22:24
  So just a couple of things on this in general.
• 22:26
  Um for those who don't know our travel partners out there, which I'm sure many of you do, um, solar eclipses or eclipses of any description are always very, very popular.
• 22:35
  Uh just prior to COVID I was organizing a a charter for a trip to Antarctica because there was a solar eclipse where you were gonna have total totality down the Antarctic waters.
• 22:47
  Um
• 22:49
  And that'll fell through obviously because of COVID.
• 22:51
  But the point is, and I think um Ms.
• 22:54
  JD's alluded to there that most of the if not all the Nile boats around Luxor are full or will be full very soon.
• 23:01
  This is actually they've actually been full for a long time.
• 23:05
  Well there you go.
• 23:06
  There's a personal point that this experience is very, very popular with people.
• 23:12
  And correct me if I'm wrong, JD, there's two of though we have guaranteed space and there is still space available.
• 23:18
  Yes.
• 23:18
  Yes.
• 23:18
  She was able to block rooms for it, which is incredible.
• 23:23
  there were a lot of tour companies.
• 23:25
  Egypt has a lot of different tour operators and so many of them blocked the space, you know, a year and a half in advance as soon as they sort of announced this.
• 23:35
  And it made it very difficult for anybody else getting in there.
• 23:38
  So, you know, Angela went and thought outside the box a little bit and she managed to get the space and and
• 23:46
  I'm really glad she did.
• 23:48
  Yeah.
• 23:48
  So there you go again for those uh listening in.
• 23:52
  Chasing Totality Egypt and the Red Sea.
• 23:54
  It's on our website.
• 23:56
  We have space.
• 23:57
  We have guaranteed space.
• 23:58
  So if you do have clients they're coming to you about the solar eclipse, then you've got space if you can get in there quickly enough.
• 24:05
  Or if you want to mention to clients that you have out there that may be interested in in it as well.
• 24:09
  And as a complete side note, um prior to me organizing um
• 24:14
  Our charter for the Antarctica way back when I had just previously actually the reason it came that's right.
• 24:21
  The reason I did it, because I just read a book and I pulled it up in front of me here on my laptop.
• 24:25
  It's called The Sun's Heartbeat and Other Stories from the Life of the Star that Powers Our Planet.
• 24:32
  It's a book by a gentleman called Bob Berman.
• 24:35
  And we're actually going to have Bob on our trip.
• 24:36
  He's going to be our guest guide because this book is if you're into the sun and the stars and everything else.
• 24:43
  This book is amazing and it goes through a lot of uh lunar eclipse, solar eclipses, everything behind it's a really easy to read book.
• 24:51
  And that's I think in that book it had made mention of the cycles and the next one was coming up soon.
• 24:56
  That's that's for what we've got a one.
• 24:58
  Um but I found it fascinating and then learnt that it's kind of like everything out there, there's groups of people who are into everything and solar eclipses.
• 25:07
  yeah.
• 25:08
  That's a complete aside.
• 25:10
  the sun's heartbeat, if anyone wants to have a really good read about
• 25:13
  The sun itself and again back to the sort of business in hand, chasing totality in uh probably mid July departure for the August second solar eclipse in Egypt.
• 25:24
  Now, um, as you mentioned, and it's on my notes here, the prime viewing for the solar eclipse is Luxor, Egypt.
• 25:31
  Now Luxor um is southern Egypt.
• 25:35
  So I'm gonna segue now into Nile options, and you've mentioned unfortunately for the Nile cruises
• 25:41
  Unless it's a last minute cancellation for the solar they're all booked out, so unfortunately it's unlikely anyone out there is gonna get that spot.
• 25:49
  Never know, give us a call if you do get the inquiry.
• 25:51
  We may get lucky.
• 25:53
  But when it comes to a Nile cruise, I think the average person who may not know the geography of Egypt that well would immediately think Nile cruises are in and around Cairo,
• 26:04
  which I think they are as well, but they also run the extent of the river, which is quite long from the
• 26:12
  Well God, I can upper Egypt.
• 26:14
  I can remember how it's anyway.
• 26:15
  Southern Egypt all the way to the to the Mediterranean.
• 26:19
  The Nile runs at length.
• 26:20
  The Nile actually starts in Lake Victorian Uganda.
• 26:23
  So my question is that's a very bumbly roundabout way to ask you where do most Nile cruises start and or finish and what are your options from start or finish points for a
• 26:33
  Nile cruise?
• 26:35
  Okay, there there are a lot actually.
• 26:38
  of course, as you said, the Nile runs
• 26:41
  north to south and literally n north to south.
• 26:46
  there are very few boats going out of Cairo right now.
• 26:49
  In the last few years we've had a lot of like everywhere else, there's there's changes in the climate and it's changed the the water levels.
• 26:56
  And so the boats going down, there also is very little between Cairo and Luxor as far as stops.
• 27:04
  And so they do tend to now the majority and I'm gonna say
• 27:09
  probably ninety-seven ninety-eight percent of them will depart from Cairo or I'm sorry, depart from Luxer and sail down towards Aswan.
• 27:19
  Now one of the odd things about Egypt, and it it's goes back to the ancient Egypt days, is that the southern part of Egypt is called Upper Egypt.
• 27:28
  Yeah, that's where I was getting confused, yeah.
• 27:31
  Right.
• 27:31
  The northern part is called Lower Egypt because you always went towards the sun.
• 27:36
  And so
• 27:37
  Um all of the cruising then is done in Upper Egypt.
• 27:41
  So there are four day cruises, there are three day cruises, and you can do seven days.
• 27:47
  You can go Luxer to Aswan, which is a four-day.
• 27:51
  It's actually four night, five days.
• 27:54
  You can go Aswan to Luxer, which is three nights and four days, and it is a packed four full days because you are um packing into four days, but the others pack into five.
• 28:06
  So it can be very busy.
• 28:08
  And then if you really want to take your time and enjoy yourself, and this is what I do, is seven days.
• 28:16
  and one thing that's nice with with the Nile, when it does run north to south, and actually with any river cruising, very little wake.
• 28:25
  Um, there's very little rock action on the on the boats.
• 28:29
  A lot of people are very adverse to taking cruises just because they're not sure about about the the
• 28:36
  action, will they feel sick?
• 28:37
  Will they I can almost guarantee that they never know that they're on the water unless you're looking out the window because it's that steady.
• 28:46
  Um there is no need for stabilizers anywhere.
• 28:50
  Um an interesting thing with Nell Cruise boats as well is that their pilots have even now they come into piloting boats generationally.
• 29:04
  So
• 29:05
  If their fathers and grandfathers were pilots on the Nile, they know exactly where the shallow spots are, they know exactly where the deeper parts are, where they can maneuver
• 29:13
  the ships, the boats, um, how to go around you know, this area and to get into that area.
• 29:21
  And I have actually been on a boat with a gentleman and he very difficult to tell how old some of the the people are from the the country and the villages, but um
• 29:34
  uh he had three teeth so he may have been a little bit older.
• 29:41
  he had been on the boat as a child with his grandfather, whose father had been on the boat on a boat with his grandfather.
• 29:51
  So yeah, it was I I couldn't believe it.
• 29:54
  I thought I was misunderstanding him when he was telling me.
• 29:57
  But so they have five generations of piloting these boats.
• 30:02
  up and down the Nile.
• 30:03
  So that would have been way back in the days when you know some of the the um discoveries were made.
• 30:11
  I was gonna say yeah yeah that takes it back pretty World War One for Howard Carter.
• 30:16
  Absolutely to the common say Howard Carter would have been you know in the Valley of the Kings at that point, which is absolutely fascinating.
• 30:26
  And then yeah also down in Abu Simba.
• 30:32
  you know, I mean there was a lot of action that happened down there.
• 30:34
  They had to move it out w when Dinah started to flood.
• 30:39
  Um there are cruises on Lake Nasser, which is just across the high dam in Aswan.
• 30:47
  So if you were to do a cruise from Luxer to Aswan, you would be on for four nights and then you would do from Aswan to Abu Simbal.
• 31:01
  That is another four nights on Lake Nasser.
• 31:05
  Very, very few things on Lake Nasser.
• 31:08
  If anybody is going for um stargazing, anything like that, it has got to be probably the most perfect place to do that because it is black at night.
• 31:21
  And you can see a hundred shooting stars a night.
• 31:25
  I I I had never seen anything like it.
• 31:28
  Um didn't know it existed actually.
• 31:31
  Until my first time doing that cruise, I was absolutely fascinated.
• 31:34
  Um the stars in Egypt are bright, incredible.
• 31:41
  so much more so it seems, there than in some other places.
• 31:46
  So just for clarity's sake, for those who may not know Egypt that well, as we discussed, this is Avery, is on the map southern Egypt.
• 31:55
  Right.
• 31:56
  Um and Aswan, as you mentioned, down to Abu Simbol.
• 32:00
  That's where the dam was built and they had they flooded this valley, which I'm looking at a map here and you can see how it expands.
• 32:07
  And Abusimbel, I think it was I'm not sure it went probably twenties or thirties, maybe a bit later.
• 32:12
  They moved some of the big I can't remember the name of the ruins, but the Valley of the Kings.
• 32:17
  They moved it all, took it apart and moved it to height and ground 'cause the the dam was gonna flood where it
• 32:24
  Yes.
• 32:24
  Now the average average traveler though, they probably wouldn't cruise from S1 down there.
• 32:29
  I from memory, it you can drive down or you can fly down or train down or all of the above?
• 32:35
  I have never heard of anybody driving down just because there's really nothing in between.
• 32:39
  I believe there is one or two trains that might go.
• 32:46
  cruising down there used to be it used to be more popular.
• 32:53
  you know, probably before the revolution, a lot of people were were kind of picking up on that Lake Nasser thing.
• 32:59
  Lake Nasser is also actually well known for its fishing.
• 33:02
  A lot of people go in for the the giant fish in that area.
• 33:05
  Um getting down into there too, there are I yeah I haven't seen any, but I've talked to to some of the guides that have seen crocodiles in there.
• 33:17
  There are still some crocodiles in that area.
• 33:20
  because it is very remote.
• 33:23
  and I mean really remote.
• 33:25
  Abu Simbel itself is is only twenty three kilometers from the Sudan border.
• 33:32
  So it is the very southern part of Egypt.
• 33:36
  Yeah.
• 33:37
  So on average when you are building a trip for someone and they've done their Nile cruise, assuming it's from Luxor to Aswan South, do you then fly them down to Abu Simbal?
• 33:48
  Is that the is is that the normal way of connecting these two?
• 33:51
  Yes.
• 33:51
  A lot of people want to go down of course to see it.
• 33:54
  I mean it it it is one of the um most iconic sites in Egypt that's been used in in film and and talked about and and people know about them moving it out of the Nile piece by
• 34:06
  piece.
• 34:08
  And so it it's done as it's done as a day tour and it it actually only takes about half a day to do it.
• 34:17
  So flying in there are
• 34:20
  other tours that drive in.
• 34:21
  Um and that is slightly more inexpensive than doing the flights if people want to take the time.
• 34:28
  It does take pretty much all day.
• 34:30
  It's a long drive in, basically through the sand and then out again.
• 34:38
  So I I can remember my first time driving, I had people asking what's that over there?
• 34:43
  Sand.
• 34:45
  what's that over there?
• 34:47
  More sand?
• 34:49
  Um, you you kinda see the you know, is you i you do get a little bit of that oasis feeling uh driving through there.
• 35:00
  but it's so vastly different from it how it is here, uh you find it interesting.
• 35:07
  Right.
• 35:08
  So in general terms, a average best of trip to Egypt would be in and around Cairo, the pyramid of course.
• 35:18
  The new museum, which I'll ask you about in moment, then they would fly down to Luxor, probably, Valley of the Kings, etcetera, etc.
• 35:26
  Then they do their Nile cruise to Aswan, and then fly down to Abu Simbel, and then fly back to Cairo.
• 35:33
  That would be a very standard structured itinerary for Egypt, correct?
• 35:37
  Absolutely.
• 35:38
  And then there if people have the time, I do get a lot of requests to put a little beach extension on at the end.
• 35:45
  And for the Red Sea Sunday, correct.
• 35:47
  Whether it be Yuragata or Sharma Sheikh or something.
• 35:50
  A lot of it depends on time.
• 35:52
  Everybody gets different amount of holidays.
• 35:54
  And I people from the Americans tend to get two weeks a year, where Canadians are more frequently getting three weeks a year.
• 36:02
  So it just kind of depends on the holiday time that people have, um, as to the amount of time they can spend.
• 36:09
  Right.
• 36:09
  So excluding some of the add-ons, let's say let's drop the Red Sea.
• 36:14
  add on let's drop someone who's interested in Alexandria maybe the the northern coast of of Egypt along the Mediterranean is ten days to two weeks enough to do what we just
• 36:26
  discussed?
• 36:26
  Cairo yes.
• 36:28
  Yes.
• 36:29
  You could yeah.
• 36:31
  the classic Egypt tour that we have, um, that's exactly that.
• 36:34
  The the the pyramids, the museum, the cruise, um coming back to Cairo is nine days.
• 36:41
  I know.
• 36:41
  Okay.
• 36:42
  So yeah.
• 36:43
  And so yeah, it's plenty of time.
• 36:45
  And the fly time, of course, you lose a day going over, so you would end up with ten days.
• 36:50
  Yeah, okay, of course, yeah.
• 36:51
  And then as you say, if you wanted to, you could add on Red Sea for some downtime, head up to Alexandria for some old history.
• 36:58
  When I was there for ago, I drove I can't remember what it's called now.
• 37:02
  I'm a military buff, and there's a famous bat um El Alamein.
• 37:07
  El Alameen.
• 37:08
  Mm-hmm.
• 37:09
  I drove up there to see the the battlefield and the graves of the That's actually on the way in between you can stop in between Cairo and Alexandria.
• 37:17
  I have I have a little group doing that in November.
• 37:21
  They'll s yeah, they d sort of do a little bit of a detour and swing around and they'll stop at Al Alameen.
• 37:27
  Um there are actually a lot of um people who have you know, historically grandfathers, great grandfathers that fought in Al Alameen.
• 37:38
  Um
• 37:39
  My grandfather actually has uh a medal from there.
• 37:42
  And so my grandfather was actually in Egypt before I ever was.
• 37:46
  And he earned a medal while he was there for North Africa.
• 37:49
  So um different reasons for stopping and and it's qu it is quite interesting though.
• 37:55
  Yeah, it's very interesting.
• 37:56
  For those who don't know, it's that's basically where the Allies uh turned the the German forces back as they were marching towards that was the goal to get.
• 38:06
  Alexander in Cairo and the combined forces, primarily Commonwealth British, Canadian, Australian forces for the most part.
• 38:13
  Um, stop them and turn them around.
• 38:16
  And again, as an Australian historian myself, um, Cairo has always been fascinating for me because or Cairo itself, like Egyptian history, goes without saying.
• 38:25
  I think it's one of the it's like it's like Peru, you mentioned Machu Picchu, yep.
• 38:29
  Easy.
• 38:30
  Galapagos, Ecuador, Egypt, pyramids and Egyptian history.
• 38:35
  It's sort of
• 38:36
  cells itself but for the Australians, we have some odds out there.
• 38:40
  Those who may not know, when the during the First War when the Australians were heading over to France to fight, they were redirected into Cairo and they based themselves in
• 38:49
  Cairo before they were asked to go off to Turkey and Gallipoli and fight there.
• 38:54
  So uh Cairo and actually the Sinai in the Middle East has a lot of uh connections to Australian military as well.
• 39:02
  So we're expanding from Egypt here in our conversation.
• 39:04
  But
• 39:05
  Yeah, there's a lot of modern history as well as the ancient history.
• 39:08
  On that note, it there are actually a lot of um tourism from Australia is is quite big.
• 39:15
  they do a vast majority percentage from Australia.
• 39:19
  So a lot of people interested in that.
• 39:24
  Um one of the bigger one of their bigger attractions it is for Australians.
• 39:31
  Yeah, there's lot of uh a lot of Australians.
• 39:33
  No, it might have changed when I was growing up, a lot of Australians didn't know, but uh we have a lot of ties historically, again, modern modern history I mean, into the Middle
• 39:42
  East, which in Israel as it is now.
• 39:44
  Uh it was Palestine during World War One, etcetera.
• 39:48
  Anyway, um I am digressing into other areas of conversation which we're not here to talk about.
• 39:54
  but I do want to talk about from a historical point of view, uh I th I can't remember the correct name for it, like the Grand Egyptian Museum.
• 40:01
  has recently opened, I believe.
• 40:04
  Only in the last six months.
• 40:06
  It opened in November, actually.
• 40:10
  yeah, they promised us for the last five years that it was going to open.
• 40:16
  And of course, they've been working on it Forever, haven't they?
• 40:21
  For as long as I can remember actually they've been working on it.
• 40:24
  Um have you used no.
• 40:30
  I haven't.
• 40:31
  The last time I was there, uh one of my coworkers came with me, Vanessa, and um that was the day that I wasn't feeling all that great and I thought it's probably not best to go to
• 40:42
  a museum right now.
• 40:43
  Um so she went and loved it.
• 40:47
  She said it was the most incredible place she'd visited.
• 40:49
  She would have stayed for hours longer.
• 40:52
  Yeah, b again, by all accounts they've spared no expense and No.
• 40:56
  It it was
• 40:58
  Like I I've seen photos only, but it looks absolutely like the subject matter is easy to impress, let alone you then put it in an environment which just makes it even I mean
• 41:11
  anything is better with interactive displays, of course, and they have lots of those.
• 41:15
  And and yeah.
• 41:17
  So she was very impressed and from from everything that I've heard where we are
• 41:24
  Located, we we knew they were getting serious when the the lights were on twenty four hours a day.
• 41:30
  So they had big construction lights and it was right almost brighter than the sun actually.
• 41:35
  And they stayed on all the time.
• 41:37
  And so interesting to see the progress on it.
• 41:42
  It is five million square feet.
• 41:45
  Wow.
• 41:45
  Which is kind of beyond my brain comprehension.
• 41:50
  I d I don't
• 41:53
  I mean how would you ever is is it located in the in in this in the vicinity of of the pyramids?
• 42:00
  Is it yes?
• 42:01
  em Yes.
• 42:02
  It's it is on its there is a a highway, the Cairo Alexandria Desert Road is kind of beside it.
• 42:15
  I mean it was one of the places where they had room and so they were they headed out towards the satellite cities for that reason because it was going to be so big.
• 42:23
  they needed room for it.
• 42:25
  So the perfect place was kind of at the end, the opposite end of where the pyramids are.
• 42:32
  At one end you have the town of Al Haram in Giza, and then the other end is flanked by the museum.
• 42:39
  So the new um entrance into the pyramids actually is you go through the museum.
• 42:44
  Um not through the actual building, but you enter all in the same place for the museum and the pyramids.
• 42:50
  Um
• 42:51
  It stopped a lot of the traffic going through the local town, which is nice for the people there.
• 42:58
  And and it kind of makes everything a little bit more central for them.
• 43:03
  Yeah, I've just put it up on on my maps here as we're talking and as you say it is a stone's throw from oh wow, look at that.
• 43:13
  I'm looking at the satellite image.
• 43:15
  it's huge.
• 43:16
  Yeah, look at that.
• 43:17
  yeah.
• 43:18
  Yeah, big people can be looking at it.
• 43:20
  But um look at that.
• 43:23
  We'll put a picture on.
• 43:27
  I will.
• 43:27
  I'll I'll get a screenshot and throw it up.
• 43:29
  But yeah, the building itself is huge, and as you say, it feeds into where the pyramids are.
• 43:34
  Right.
• 43:34
  And that I remember it that well.
• 43:37
  But yeah, it looks like those yeah, well actually you can tell the new highways because the roads are sort of beautiful and dark black.
• 43:46
  hasn't been driven on so much at the moment.
• 43:48
  So yeah, it's so really now it's it's part of the pyramid experience is how you would position it also or is it or because as you said uh when your friend Vanessa went, she
• 43:58
  could have spent more hours.
• 43:59
  So actually let's talk this from a structural point of view.
• 44:01
  So uh like a lot of people they're going to Egypt for the history because it's it is what it is.
• 44:05
  of course, yeah.
• 44:06
  That's why you go.
• 44:07
  Yeah, for sure.
• 44:09
  So if you're in like really into it, would you would you recommend is
• 44:14
  I I know the answer, but I'm gonna ask you anyway, as the true expert, is there enough to do in the just the museum for a day?
• 44:21
  Absolutely.
• 44:22
  There you go.
• 44:23
  Okay.
• 44:23
  yes.
• 44:24
  They actually now the the most popular tour is is half a day.
• 44:30
  And I don't think it's long enough.
• 44:32
  I I generally will change um something in the itinerary to give them a full day.
• 44:38
  Yeah, I was gonna say because maybe just looking at something like
• 44:42
  King Tut's exhibition within the museum would probably be half a day, let alone all the other history around it.
• 44:47
  It you know, and of course that all depends too on how long people it's subjective as to how long people will wander, right?
• 44:53
  And we know that.
• 44:54
  Um if people are really into it, I actually have a gentleman going in August who's spending two full days there.
• 45:00
  Two full days.
• 45:00
  Well that doesn't surprise me.
• 45:02
  He's waited.
• 45:04
  He went last year hoping that it was going to be open.
• 45:08
  He had booked his trip and it it was supposed to be, and then of course things got held up.
• 45:12
  And so he then called his agent this year and said he wanted to go back and he wanted two full days at the museum.
• 45:21
  Okay.
• 45:22
  So, you know, I mean he will likely come back and say that there was probably still more time he could have spent in it.
• 45:30
  You know, it it's it is subjective.
• 45:32
  I personally with all the interactive d s um exhibits and I I could
• 45:40
  Easily do a day, I think.
• 45:43
  Yeah, yeah, I'm definitely like I'm into it.
• 45:45
  I'm not probably crazy into it, but I think for me I'd be planning on a day just the museum itself.
• 45:51
  Right.
• 45:52
  Now that leads me to the next questions.
• 45:54
  I know we're sort of getting into the the core of a trip to Egypt, but I'm sort of interested in this and as you're much closer to it than I am.
• 46:01
  Um when I did it forever ago, you could enter the main pyramid, Kiops I think it is, and you could walk
• 46:10
  to the king or the queen's chamber.
• 46:12
  Like you could literally climb up the stairs in the in the guts of the pyramids.
• 46:16
  Now that was then in this day and age, uh my experiences of seeing ruins in Central America and South America when I led groups, you could do it you could get a lot more
• 46:26
  access back then.
• 46:27
  Now a lot of these things are closed off because unfortunately people damage them, graffiti them and they had to design things, one to preserve them and two for the lowest
• 46:37
  common denominator out there.
• 46:38
  Um
• 46:39
  Are the pyramids restricted in any way these days?
• 46:44
  Can you only see them from the outside?
• 46:45
  Like how close, how intimate can you get with the pyramids?
• 46:49
  No, you can still enter the great the biggest pyramid, the Khufu pyramid.
• 46:52
  You can.
• 46:53
  Um it is I we do forewarn people ahead of time though.
• 46:58
  It it is a very of course, back in the day people were much smaller than they are now and it the the
• 47:06
  Even though the passage has been expanded, it still reflects it and and it's very tight.
• 47:12
  Going down one side, you're you're walking downhill and coming out, you're walking uphill a little bit and it's shoulder to shoulder, it's tight.
• 47:22
  but I do remember you.
• 47:24
  Yeah.
• 47:25
  Not a lot down th down at the end.
• 47:28
  Although I didn't really need to see anything to just think I was in a pyramid.
• 47:37
  Yeah, well I must admit when I did it f forever ago, what you see on the inside and then finally is it the King's or the Queen's Chamber?
• 47:46
  I can't remember whose it is.
• 47:47
  But anyway, when you get to the central chamber, it's not like you see in in uh documents in the Valley of the Kings of uh paintings and hieroglyphics everywhere.
• 47:57
  It's basically a passageway up and then the chamber, which is stunning in itself because it's just so finely put together and whatnot.
• 48:06
  Um
• 48:07
  But to your point, like I've always like I was inside the pyramid.
• 48:12
  That in itself to make another.
• 48:14
  Actually they don't go as far as the chamber anymore.
• 48:17
  There's no act there there's a there's a kind of a table at the end of it or more of a I don't know what you would call it.
• 48:26
  Altar.
• 48:26
  I don't know.
• 48:27
  Okay.
• 48:28
  nothing really around it.
• 48:30
  It's it no, very plain.
• 48:31
  Nothing uh because of
• 48:35
  A lot of things have had to be closed off there and the Valley of the Kings because of the humidity coming off of of of bodies, out of our breath, out of you know, with the the
• 48:46
  restoration, they do uh swit like the Valley of the Kings will switch their their tombs out every three months.
• 48:56
  So you're seeing different ones every three months just in for preservation's sake.
• 49:01
  Um and that's been in the last
• 49:04
  probably ten years when they've as they get more knowledge about how to preserve and and how they're gonna keep things for future generations, they tend to change the rules a
• 49:16
  little bit.
• 49:17
  And I would s assume that may have been with the the main chamber as well.
• 49:22
  just in order for preservation and and stuff, they've just sort of limited it to a certain degree.
• 49:30
  But then yeah, it didn't matter what I saw at the end.
• 49:34
  I was in the pyramid.
• 49:35
  Yeah.
• 49:36
  Um do they still have the light shows in and around the pyramids?
• 49:42
  They do.
• 49:43
  Um and believe it or not, good old Omar Sharif still gives you betcha.
• 49:51
  From the grave.
• 49:52
  He From the grave.
• 49:54
  I I don't know if there's plans to update that.
• 49:59
  there was talk at one time that
• 50:01
  They thought that they might do a few updates and get somebody that was a little bit more modern and and I heard at one time that Mo Salah was was a name they were tossing around.
• 50:14
  So a a football player to narrate that, but you know, I don't know how true that is.
• 50:21
  It still gets the point across and it's certainly not a Disney production by any stretch.
• 50:29
  But it's interesting.
• 50:31
  And it it's something that you wouldn't experience anywhere else.
• 50:34
  Of course not.
• 50:34
  Yeah.
• 50:35
  And I know for years, like even when I did it, you weren't allowed to find the pyramid, so that's a a a a no go.
• 50:40
  They they do have d um the great one of the pyramids you can go up to a certain line.
• 50:48
  Really?
• 50:48
  And so there are yeah, there are people that will will go up and get photos taken and stuff.
• 50:53
  I believe it's four or five um
• 50:57
  When I say level, I mean like the rock, the the actual stone.
• 51:02
  It's not a brick.
• 51:03
  What what do you call it?
• 51:03
  A stone?
• 51:06
  I call it stone.
• 51:08
  A huge stone, yeah.
• 51:11
  so yeah, they do still permit that in in one area.
• 51:15
  Well that I didn't know.
• 51:16
  And however, you know, picking up rocks or
• 51:20
  gravel or anything strictly prohibited.
• 51:23
  And as we know, Egypt has a a a whole force that's for tourism.
• 51:28
  And so there are tourist police at at all of the sites and and everything.
• 51:33
  So they do enforce that fairly strictly and as they should.
• 51:36
  It is their history and they need to keep it.
• 51:39
  Yep, 100%.
• 51:40
  And they don't that they don't take kindly to people trying to break those rules.
• 51:44
  No, and and they share it with us.
• 51:47
  So we have to treat it as that, that they're sharing it.
• 51:50
  with us and we have to respect that.
• 51:52
  Of course, a hundred percent.
• 51:54
  Um so we've discussed how you can't do certain things, like you can't climb the entire pyramid, but you can go up a little way and certain areas of within the pyramids and other
• 52:03
  well as the kings have been closed off back to the pyramid.
• 52:06
  So are there any other things, experiences around the pyramids?
• 52:10
  Like we we discussed the light and sound show.
• 52:13
  Are there any other things that have been introduced to experience the pyramids other than of course the huge expense on the
• 52:20
  the museum.
• 52:20
  Um they do have they used to have like this kind of things have modernized a little bit.
• 52:28
  They used to have where you could get a a horse and carriage ride around the pyramids.
• 52:35
  now they pop you on a golf cart.
• 52:39
  And you and they've got a boardwalk that they've made out of wood.
• 52:44
  And so the walking much easier.
• 52:47
  it's made it more accessible for people
• 52:50
  that perhaps it wasn't accessible to before because of the uneven ground and and y you know, you couldn't if you had walking disabilities, it was tough to get in and out of
• 53:00
  there.
• 53:00
  Um they do have experiences that are available for people who are willing to pay for them.
• 53:10
  You can get a private pyramids visit early in the morning.
• 53:14
  You can go there just yourself and
• 53:17
  your guide and of course there will be the the curators from the pyramids and and the tourist police are also there.
• 53:29
  Um I've done that many times with groups where there was, you know, fourteen or fifteen people and the the the staff.
• 53:40
  And we were the only ones there.
• 53:41
  Wow, now that sounds like
• 53:44
  And like if you're into it, that'd be something worthwhile because as we discussed in the beginning of podcast, um, well, if we didn't highlight it, we will now, you know,
• 53:52
  traffic's insane 'cause there are so many people, tourism because there are so many people.
• 53:57
  We just people that want pictures without strangers in them.
• 54:00
  That was great.
• 54:02
  Exactly.
• 54:03
  Yeah.
• 54:03
  So that might be worth our agents out there to consider uh a private pyramid to to escape the crowds.
• 54:10
  People looking for that type of
• 54:12
  Getting away from crowds.
• 54:13
  So that's a really I one I didn't know about.
• 54:15
  So that's very interesting.
• 54:16
  Anything else?
• 54:17
  Um there are well, with relation to the museum, you can also do the same thing at the museum before or after opening time.
• 54:25
  You can have private visits.
• 54:28
  when you're in a group, if you're traveling with groups, which a lot of people do in Egypt, they like to do group trips there.
• 54:34
  Mm-hmm.
• 54:36
  It's actually quite reasonable.
• 54:38
  You know, when you're s could be yeah, of course there's a charge for it, and it and it is expensive.
• 54:42
  But when you're doing it as a group, it it's it's not too bad.
• 54:45
  And it's a great way to visit.
• 54:47
  And it's a it's a great way to sell your trip too when you're doing groups that you have a private pyramids visit.
• 54:54
  Um that was one of our major selling points for years.
• 54:57
  And it's uh very easy to do.
• 55:02
  early morning, I will say, but worth it.
• 55:07
  Absolutely worth it.
• 55:08
  The Grand Museum too.
• 55:09
  So okay.
• 55:11
  Before we wrap up
• 55:12
  One thing I want to come back to, which we actually didn't discuss in detail.
• 55:15
  We discussed Nile cruises and the sort of logistics of start, finish, etcetera.
• 55:21
  you wanted to bring up a couple of new vessels that are available when cruising the Nile.
• 55:26
  Before you get into because you said you did say they're sort of more of the higher end.
• 55:30
  So before we get into some details on those ones, if someone doesn't have that type of budget, um
• 55:36
  You can still cruise the traditional Dows up and down the the Nile, I would guess, and there would be three and four star budget options as well as the high end budgets.
• 55:44
  Yes?
• 55:45
  We don't book a lot of that.
• 55:48
  they don't they don't tend to be a product that that put it this way.
• 55:55
  When we when Goway has their their clients going, we want to make sure about thing the safety factor, we wanna make sure about food preparation, things like that.
• 56:06
  We can do that with um we do have a good selection of boats.
• 56:11
  There are some that aren't quite as high end, but they still have those factors.
• 56:16
  They still have um great guides aboard them, fantastic food.
• 56:21
  You don't have to worry about the safety, the preparation.
• 56:24
  Um you still have all your f comfort facilities, your own bathroom, a comfortable bed to sleep in, some air conditioning to get out of the sun.
• 56:35
  the
• 56:37
  Every boat they're they're just like floating hotels where you have some that are four stars, some that are five, some that are higher than five, and depending on the amenities.
• 56:45
  And so you know, we do have a lot that y you have people that don't want to spend the bank when they're doing that, and I understand that.
• 56:56
  And w we absolutely have a product for that.
• 57:00
  there are also the one thing that we do offer.
• 57:04
  is the Dahabiyas and those are a traditional sailing vessel with with cabins that usually they sleep anywhere from twelve to fifteen people.
• 57:16
  and some of them now have a motor, but a lot of them are pulled by a tugboat out front, about 75 meters ahead.
• 57:24
  And traditionally they're done with the wind, but of course can't always count on that.
• 57:29
  So in order to get them where they're going
• 57:32
  And the time frame that they have.
• 57:34
  Sometimes they have to be pulled.
• 57:37
  those are lovely.
• 57:38
  Um, silent.
• 57:41
  And those tend to be very, very relaxing cruises.
• 57:48
  Most times they have a minimum of about five nights on those, just because it can be a little bit longer.
• 57:55
  But they also stop at places where some of the bigger boats can't get into.
• 57:59
  So some
• 58:00
  The islands and stuff they'll go into there that the bigger boats can't go into, which is interesting.
• 58:07
  just uh it's kind of one of those things that if people have been before and they might want to try something different, I will oftentimes throw that in and see if if that might
• 58:16
  be something that they'd like to do.
• 58:18
  Um great feedback from them.
• 58:21
  People really enjoy them.
• 58:24
  Okay then.
• 58:25
  So
• 58:27
  I think there were a couple of vessels you wanted to to highlight.
• 58:31
  Um We have they're either newer vessels themselves or they're new to GoAway.
• 58:38
  Actually the two that I'm thinking of are actually new vessels themselves.
• 58:44
  at this point there was there was always a a theme with Egyptian Nile cruise boats and they were very heavily decorated.
• 58:54
  I guess you'd say in a classic Egyptian way.
• 58:58
  Heavy curtains, usually dark, there was a lot of gold paint.
• 59:03
  they tended to have some um
• 59:07
  Very Egyptian decorating.
• 59:10
  A lot of palm trees that you had to f fling out of the way when you walked in a room.
• 59:17
  They are changing a lot of those now to be a more European style cruise.
• 59:23
  So it looks like it's a little bit more upscale.
• 59:28
  more modern looking cabins and windows, making those windows, expanding them, making them a little bit bigger.
• 59:38
  Right.
• 59:38
  And i it's a nice change.
• 59:40
  Um we took aboard uh another boat last year called the MS Soleil.
• 59:47
  And some of my coworkers went to Egypt last year and had a chance to to go through her.
• 59:53
  And if you want to impress a bunch of go away specialists, they put them on that boat and let me tell you, actually on that tour, our
• 1:00:07
  Africa manager was on that and he's from Egypt.
• 1:00:12
  Grew up in Cairo and moved to Canada ten years ago.
• 1:00:16
  Khalid.
• 1:00:17
  Khalid.
• 1:00:17
  Yes.
• 1:00:19
  And
• 1:00:21
  When a boat oppresses an Egyptian in Egypt, it was a nice boat.
• 1:00:28
  yeah.
• 1:00:29
  So they came back with nothing but positive things to try to say about the Soleil.
• 1:00:35
  And so um I have booked that a few times.
• 1:00:39
  There's also Movin Peak has another boat called the MS Farah and it is beautiful as well.
• 1:00:44
  Done also in the European style.
• 1:00:46
  They do tend to be on the upper side of pricing.
• 1:00:51
  As with, you know, the European cruises as well.
• 1:00:57
  that being said though, many times paying for those boats isn't always a bad thing.
• 1:01:04
  their food quality's always a little bit better.
• 1:01:07
  Um, they might have steak more than once a week.
• 1:01:12
  the it's I mean
• 1:01:17
  oh I just love cruising the Nile.
• 1:01:19
  I just be there all the time.
• 1:01:22
  So these cruises are structured like a Galapagos or Amazon in that the fee you pay is pr is pretty much all inclusive.
• 1:01:29
  All your all your shore excursions, your food, your entertainment on board, et cetera.
• 1:01:33
  Right.
• 1:01:33
  Right.
• 1:01:34
  So the the thing with Egypt is kind of nice.
• 1:01:37
  There's very few ports that you actually would have to get into a a vehicle of any kind to go visit any of the temples.
• 1:01:45
  Most of them are within walking distance.
• 1:01:48
  when you just get right off the gangplank.
• 1:01:52
  there are a couple that you would have to to they would have transportation for you to get there.
• 1:02:00
  And the only thing yeah, the only thing that you really would pay for outside of of that would be your your alcohol.
• 1:02:10
  Of course, Egypt is not a big drinking country.
• 1:02:15
  Just
• 1:02:16
  They have two bottle shops in Cairo, believe it or not, in the whole city of thirty three million people.
• 1:02:21
  Um I have been to both of them.
• 1:02:24
  And maybe I shouldn't be so proud of that.
• 1:02:30
  they had a remarkable array of products, but yeah, there were only two.
• 1:02:35
  And uh so of course alcohol you pay for, soft drinks you pay for, everything else included.
• 1:02:45
  And the food is plentiful, served often.
• 1:02:48
  Yeah.
• 1:02:50
  Um and the tours.
• 1:02:55
  Sorry, go on.
• 1:02:56
  Yeah.
• 1:02:57
  Tours included as well.
• 1:02:59
  I think it's important to point out too something you you just mentioned in passing when I was asking you about the more budget style boats, um, air conditioning.
• 1:03:06
  Um notoriously, even in the cooler seasons, is very, very hot.
• 1:03:12
  So
• 1:03:12
  It can be.
• 1:03:13
  In the South, yes.
• 1:03:15
  Yes.
• 1:03:15
  And that's right.
• 1:03:17
  And that's why go away.
• 1:03:18
  We don't tend to book some we have to book things that North American people are going to be very comfortable on and and it has to have comforts like air.
• 1:03:30
  no hundred and or if even if you're on a budget, I think in certain instances you need to be conscious of You very much do.
• 1:03:40
  You get what you pay for and
• 1:03:42
  Yeah.
• 1:03:43
  Extreme heat environment.
• 1:03:45
  Egypt is one of them.
• 1:03:46
  I was in India earlier this year.
• 1:03:47
  That's another one.
• 1:03:48
  Air conditioning.
• 1:03:49
  my God.
• 1:03:49
  It was a literal godsend.
• 1:03:51
  Um and I think even someone on the budgets has said, you know, would be willing to pay if they have that.
• 1:03:57
  Well, I mean we have to remember that that kind of heat, well well a lot of people are used to heat, you know, and we get into Georgia and Florida and people are used to heat.
• 1:04:06
  This kind of heat uh that that's in the summers is is dangerous to our health.
• 1:04:12
  If you're outside too long, if you haven't had enough water, if you're not used to it.
• 1:04:16
  Um and and we have to consider that.
• 1:04:19
  It's uh being used to heat and then staying in that heat for too long is physically dangerous.
• 1:04:24
  And so we we are very conscious of that when we choose our our boats and stuff.
• 1:04:29
  Yeah, the boats and also by extension the itinerary not having people outside or doing activities.
• 1:04:34
  I don't I don't mean like climbing pyramids and stuff, but just being outside walking in the heat.
• 1:04:40
  Exactly.
• 1:04:41
  So in the research are always designed and our local suppliers are very conscious of that as well.
• 1:04:46
  Exactly.
• 1:04:47
  Um we've been chatting for quite a while and it's been very, very fun and very informative, but I think we need to wrap up now.
• 1:04:53
  So as a reminder, um Egypt in general sells itself.
• 1:04:58
  we have wider range a wide array of vessels to choose from for the Nile, which is technically Upper Egypt, southern Egypt if you look at geographically.
• 1:05:09
  Um
• 1:05:11
  And more importantly, and what's uh and I say importantly because of time and space is the solar eclipse for next year.
• 1:05:18
  August second is the official day of uh but Gaway has the chasing totality, Egypt and Red Sea solar eclipse trip with guaranteed space with space available now.
• 1:05:30
  So please you can give Jody a call directly out there or you can call your Africa destination specialist that you work with on a normal basis.
• 1:05:39
  And confirm your space.
• 1:05:40
  Actually, Jodie, on that point, um, how many how many people does this trip or how much space do we have held?
• 1:05:46
  Do you know off the top of your head?
• 1:05:48
  I believe that she was able to get six rooms per um resort at you.
• 1:05:56
  That's I think I that I'm not positive of, but I mean there's and I'm not sure what's booked even.
• 1:06:05
  I haven't looked lately to see how many have been taken, but we do have space now.
• 1:06:08
  for them.
• 1:06:09
  So we have space, but even we don't have a lot of space.
• 1:06:12
  So not tons.
• 1:06:13
  Yeah.
• 1:06:13
  Yeah.
• 1:06:14
  So our partners out there, if you're looking to present this to your clients, do it quickly.
• 1:06:20
  If you have someone come through the door shortly, please give us a call a minute so we can get that space.
• 1:06:24
  Um and because it's not on the main run, as JD mentioned before, Angela sort of thought outside the box and got near and you'll still have a great might mightn't be the six
• 1:06:35
  minutes, twenty three seconds.
• 1:06:36
  It'll still be
• 1:06:37
  good totality.
• 1:06:38
  it'll still be an amazing view.
• 1:06:40
  Yeah.
• 1:06:40
  Yeah, I can't guarantee it, but we may be able to get some extra rooms if we run out of space.
• 1:06:45
  In short, give Jodie or someone on the African team a call if you have a solar eclipse inquiry or you want to chase down one of your clients for this, and we will see if we can
• 1:06:54
  make it happen for you.
• 1:06:56
  So on that note, I'd like to thank Jodie for her time and the beautiful black screen, which is Jody.
• 1:07:03
  we would appreciate
• 1:07:05
  We would have put up some photos so you would know who the voice belongs to by the the images put up there.
• 1:07:11
  And as always, thank you out there for carving out an hour or so of your time today and listening in.
• 1:07:17
  Um I hope you learned a lot more about Egypt, the solar eclipse, and travel in general with Goway, and until next time.