Reflections Travel

Our tour experience was disappointing and unsatisfactory for several reasons. Our tour guide's name was Abdo Esmael, and I participated in the tour with my husband. We book luxsor tour by Expedia. Firstly, water was not provided by the tour company. When I asked the guide, he told us that he didn’t have any water available. Considering the importance of staying hydrated during sightseeing in the heat, this felt unsafe. If we had known that water was not included when we booked the tour, we could have prepared in advance. I would like to request that the "what’s included" details of the tour be updated to reflect that water is not provided. The guide also mentioned that we could get free water at the alabaster factory, but this does not mean that water was actually provided by the tour company. Next, at the Valley of the Kings, the guide told us we could visit three tombs, but he did not specify which tombs. After visiting those tombs, I wanted to see Tutankhamun’s tomb. The guide explained that it would take too long and that there would be an additional fee. However, my husband happened to find a QR code on the wall of Tutankhamun’s tomb to purchase tickets online, and we were able to visit it. The guide mentioned that the QR code option had only recently become available, but as a professional guide, he should have known about it and informed us in advance about the additional fee and the possibility of purchasing tickets online without needing to go back to the entrance. Furthermore, the guide complained about me not telling him that I wanted to visit Tutankhamun's tomb, making it seem as though the fault was ours, which was very upsetting. The guide should have provided that information beforehand, and this was his lack of explanation. Thirdly, we had lunch with the guide, but honestly, we didn’t feel comfortable sharing our meal with him. We did not want to share the meal that was included in our tour price with the guide. Fourthly, right after getting in the car, the guide started talking about an alabaster factory, so we were prepared to visit a souvenir shop. We thought it would be fine to stop at one shop. After having lunch at a restaurant and visiting the alabaster shop, the guide told us that there was no time to visit the Valley of the Queens and insisted that there were no worthwhile tombs there. We followed him. However, immediately after, the guide suddenly took us to a perfume shop. Honestly, we had time to visit the perfume shop, but not to go to the Valley of the Queens, which was very disappointing. Additionally, we did not receive a refund for the Valley of the Queens tickets, which added to our discomfort. Finally, during our visits to Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple, the guide asked if we were interested in shopping for papyrus, cartouches, spices, and other souvenirs. By this point, we had already been taken to more than two souvenir shops (the alabaster factory and the perfume shop), and it felt overwhelming. We were quite uncomfortable with this. Even after declining, the guide invited us to go to a souvenir shop about three times. Overall, we were extremely disappointed with this tour. It would have been much better if the guide had been more informative, focused on the key historical sites, and avoided pressuring us into unnecessary shopping.