Raques

I went here in Sept. 2007 for a wedding. While I was there, I fell in love with the place. We really only had time to go to the wedding and walk on the beach before we went home. I learned about the migratory birds that visit the island in the fall/early winter and decided to make a trip back to the island to see them. It was amazing! I was so impressed. We saw so much wildlife while we were there. The snow geese were amazing just by the large number of birds that were there. Watching them all take off when scared by an eagle is absolutely breathtaking. Also, we enjoyed looking at the views from the lighthouse. The nature centers are really fantastic. We signed up for a bus tour of the island and it was so worth it!

My husband dragged me through Khan El-Kalili looking for the famous coffee shops there. We did find them them and sat there for quite a while. We had a nice time talking to the people around us while drinking coffee, smoking shisha and having henna done. It was such a fun place to just sit and relax. The shopping was amazing. There was so much too see. I don’t think people should visit Cairo without stopping by Khan El-Khalili.

but at first I was completely frightened. At the airport, we were bombarded by cab drivers who were offering different prices to take us to our hotel in Giza. I don’t speak Arabic, but my husband does. He was really tense, so it made me tense. Once we found a driver, I was terrified by the way people drive. It was nuts! I couldn’t believe the speed, the lane switching, the beeping, and the close calls with pedestrians. I was probably overly tired at the time since I had had a long day. It was past 3am when we arrived in Cairo. We had driven 5 hours early that morning to get to the airport in Tunis, we had flown to Italy where we had taken a train from the airport to the city center and had walked around Rome looking for the colosseum and visting Trevi fountain, then back to the airport to fly to Cairo. The worst part was, when we got to the hotel and they didn’t have our reservations listed! We got a room anyway and got it all sorted out.

After a good night of sleep, I was much calmer and was able to enjoy the sights. We went to Khan El Khalili bazaar and shopped around. We visited the coffee shops, smoked shisha, got a little henna done, and had dinner. It was fascinating in the bazaar. There was so much to take in. We had to be careful crossing roads because of the crazy traffic, but it made everything an adventure.

The people were really friendly. We were hustled, but we knew we were being hustled. Most people were very helpful. The second to the last day we had a Nile Dinner Cruise and it was fantastically romantic. The river was so deep, dark, and mysterious. The food was good and the on-board entertainment was fabulous. There were at least three different dance shows during the cruise. We were picked up and dropped off in a very nice car. The only problem was that I was very, very sick the next day. My husband was fine and we had the same food, so I am not sure what happened. Maybe it was the mango drink I had…Anyway, I would go back. I want to visit the Cairo museum, go up in the tower, and go inside of the pyramids.
Maybe next time…

I loved visiting many of the sights of ancient Egypt. We only visited Sakkara, Memphis, and Giza (I would like to visit some of the other sights as well). I enjoyed my time so much. I happen to enjoy riding camels so we rode them in Sakkara and in Giza. The day we were in Sakkara the weather was so nice. There was a breeze and it wasn’t too hot at all. We rode out to a tomb where we were able to explore and look around. In Giza, it was way too hot to be riding around the dessert on camels…especially for someone as fair-skinned as I am. It was still exciting.

However, we were hustled quite a bit while we were there. People wanted Bakshish for everything! One guy even straighted my husband’s headwear and wanted a tip for it. At the pyramids in Giza, we were shuffled to one side of the pyramids where we were told that we would need camels or horses because the walk was so long. Since it was such a hot day, we agreed to take the camels (the horses didn’t look too healthy). Then we soon saw that there was a road going right between the pyramids.

One of the tourist police officers told us that we had to allow one of the guys there to take us on a tour (it wasn’t true and he was paid for it later). Our tour guide took us way off into the dessert on the camels so that we could get a good view of the all 9 pyramids. We did get some nice pictures, but it wasn’t really what we wanted to do. Also, it was so terribly hot! I thought my skin would melt off my body.

My advice for anyone planning to visit Eygpt is to sign up for a tour through Expedia or another travel sight. We were VERY impressed with all of our tours we signed up for. We were not harassed much at all when we were with our tour guides. The tours were well worth the money spent. What I mean is, they were fairly inexpensive for all the tour offered. One of our tours was so nice. We were picked up in a very nice, air-conditioned bus. My husband and I were the only ones in the bus, besides the tour-guide and the driver. We went to Memphis, Sakkara, the Citadel, and the relgious district where we toured the Hanging Church and a Jewish Temple. We also toured a school where they make rugs, a perfume shop, and a papyrus shop where would could buy the goods, but were not pressured to do so. I bought essences of jasmine, papyrus, and lotus flower. I love these purchases and feel that they were well worth the money. The tour guide was really intelligent and patient. We felt very close to her by the end of the tour.

Anyway, I loved visiting the sights of ancient Egypt and would love to visit again. I didn’t get the chance to see inside of the pyramids because I was sick my last day there. I also didn’t get to visit the museum. Egypt is defintily a place I would visit again.

Of course I want to go back…I didn’t see nearly enough of this fascinating city! I was only there for a few hours. I hope to have the opportunity to return and see many of the sights I missed…

Some day maybe…

I wrote before that I would have a 10-hour layover in Rome on my way from Tunis to Cairo this past summer. I asked for advice here and people were so very helpful…THANK YOU to all of those who helped.

My husband and I caught the train from the airport to the city center. The ride was a little longer than I expected, but it was worth it. We didn’t plan very well, but it was exciting to step off the train in Rome. We had no idea where to go or in what direction to go. We just started walking and asked people along the way. We found a cute gelato shop, nice gift shop, and finally the colosseum. We didn’t have a lot of time, so we didn’t tour the inside. It was amazing nonetheless. I did fall on the steps leading down to the colosseum though!

Then we took a cab from there to Trevi Fountain. I loved it! Then we walked again and found an adorable little alley filled with restaurants. We had a delicious lunch outside in that alley way. Then we made our way back to the train station on foot. We could have tried to take the metro trains, but we wanted to see as much of Rome as we could. It was a lovely day. We stopped and bought some fruit from a fruit stand. It was lovely!

We had such a nice time. I would love to go back to see more of the sights. We were only there a few hours, but those hours were precious ones!

Well, my husband and I will be laid over at the airport in Rome for 10 hours on our trip from Tunis to Cairo. Is it feasable to leave the airport and see any of the sights during this lay-over? Are there any great places to see close to the airport? We might just have a meal or enjoy coffee at a cafe. Any suggestions? I am just excited to be able to leave the airport and have a look around. I am not an experienced traveler, but is this possible?

I am traveling with my husband and kids to visit Tunisia this summer. From there, my husband and I are going to leave our kids with his parents and we are going to travel to Egypt for a few days. I am really excited about it. We only have a few days, but my husband and I haven’t traveled alone together…ever! Any suggestions, advice, or comments would be greatly appreciated. We are staying at the Oasis Hotel near the pyramids in Giza. Has anyone stayed there? Thanks!

I liked Djerba, however, it was very difficult for my husband and I to find a hotel there. They were all booked for months and we just drove there from another city in Tunisia expecting to just find a place to stay. Big mistake! We found one hotel which didn’t have a pool or a view of the sea. Then my husband had to visit almost every hotel on the island until we found one.

The hotel was very nice. We were very happy with our room, our view, the food, and the pools. We had access to the beach and a lovely little cafe right on the sea. What I disliked were all the European tourists. It was almost like you could have been anywhere in the world that has beaches or hotels with pools. It didn’t seem like the rest of Tunisia at all. The people who were staying in the hotel with us were very cold and unfriendly. We have two young boys and it made what could have been a kid friendly place, not so kid friendly. We always felt like our kids were bothering the people around us because they sat around practically silent with sour looks on their faces. We did a chance to tour the island and visit some places that were less touristic. It was a lovely place and I was able to ride camels there. However, I think the camels were mainly there for the tourists. I didn’t see camels anywhere else in Tunisia. I did see a few in Sousse and Hammamet, which were equally touristic.

I think that Djerba is worth visiting, if you want nice beaches, pools and restaurants. However, if you really want to experience Tunisia, leave the touristic zone and travel to other parts of Tunisia.

My husband and I are taking our two children to Tunisia July 25th. We have so much to do before we leave! We were in Tunisia for three weeks in 2003 and I had a wonderful time. His parents and the rest of his family are from there, and he lived there most of his life. Last time we stayed in El Kef, which was nice. This time we are spending our first week in Kassrine, my husband’s native city, where we will have our youngest son circumsised (which I am not looking forward to). We will have a big party to celebrate. Then we are off to a beach house my husband rented for us near Hammamet for 15 days. We are planning to visit some of the coastal cities that we visited last time and we are also planning to drive to Djerba. I hear it is really beautiful. I am really excited about our trip!