Cruise down the Nile with Mody Tours!!!
Doris_C, Apr 2022
4-Days Nile Cruise From Aswan To Luxor including Abu Simbel and Hot Air Balloon
All guides were very resourceful, well versed in ENglish, very polite, professional, and caring of our experience, going the extra mile to make sure we were comfortable, hydrated, fed, and educated on the temples and other historical sites.
Our trip was amazing!!! We chose the 4-night Nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor with hot air balloon and Aby Simbel. I went with one of closest friends and coworkers, so it was two omen traveling solo. The tour began in Aswan, however I purchased the tickets and took a plane from Cairo to Aswan to begin the tour. Before booking I contacted the owner- his information was provided in Viator - and he was very helpful and pleasant - and informed me that the tour guides would be supplied to my friend and myself privately - with private car transport if we would like to upgrade our package. I was worried about not interacting with other tourists, so he did infom me to try at least one private tour and transport at the very beginning - which was temples in Aswan and the hydrodam. He was absolutely right!
Take this advice- book private tours and transport if you are a small group of travelers or traveling solo. When you go to the temples, the locals are looking at those huge tour buses and they are all over you trying to sell stuff, begging, standing in the way and it is a huge headache. We breezed by these groups frequently, huge, huge plus for Mody Tours.
Our tour guides were Aida, Taalat, Meena, and (I cannot remember his name, he has gray hair and blue-green eyes, was our guide for Ramses III temple.) All guides were very resourceful, well versed in ENglish, very polite, professional, and caring of our experience, going the extra mile to make sure we were comfortable, hydrated, fed, and educated on the temples and other historical sites. Aida helped my purchase a necklace for my godmother that she loves and took us shopping (again privately, without people hassling us) to some high quality stores where we brought Egyptian cotton sheets, spices, perfumes, as well as took us on a tour of the Nubian village. Taalat was also very kind, very well versed in the temple information, he took us to aa sculpture store privately where we purchased alabaster vases and statues. my friend has some difficulty walking and Taalat made sure to go above expectations to help, getting water, snacks, and cool drinks - that we did not pay him for, stopping at the pharmacy, carrying BOTH our bags and canteens (so he was weighed down), buying lunch, and basically catering to our every need. Meena, who also stayed on the cruise ship, made sure to outline our daily itinerary in WhatsApp, give us wake up calls, have our packed lunches or other meal times arranged, and coordinated our departure/arrival anytime we left the ship. Our Ramses III guide (sorry I cannot remember his name) was also an archeologist, so he also spoke about his personal experience on-site at the temples and his work outside of touring. He also invited us to his house for tea and snacks.
Our drivers (sorry I can not remember their names except Mani) were all excellent as well. Opened doors and kept people away from the car when we were stopped. On the day Mani picked us up to go to the temples from the boat he stopped and got coffee and snacks for us - which we did not ask nor pay him for - and while we drove through the dessert he talked with us, showed us pictures of his wife and children, showed us the terraforming project where they are converting the dessert to farmland, showed us the desert mirage, we even got to use the bathroom for free at the rest stop. (also Amazing)
The theme with this group is impeccable service and I am happy to recommend this company to anyone. I also encourage you to reach out to the owner if anyone needs special accommodations (they do not walk well, can not enter all temples). from what I heard from other tourists this is a personal touch of the guides and drivers, as there really is no handicap services that I witnessed. Thank you Mody Tours for you service. This was the highlight of my 14-day vacation and I can not wait to return.