Destinations

Waleed our tour guide was beyond fabulous and catered for everyone's needs, nothing was too much for him. The service and information provided prior to the holiday was of an excellent standard and set the scene for the holiday. Being met at the airport upon arrival calmed everyone's nerves and set the standard of support for the remainder of the holiday.
A little rough and ready in places, overnight train and sleeping on the felucca, but still these and others are experiences that I would never have normally opted for but I am glad I did as I completely enjoyed them. The optional balloon ride, even if you are frightened of heights, like me, is a must.

We had an amazing trip! Mariska was super helpful in accommodating our requests to upgrade our itinerary and providing all our pre-tour information and details. Hani, our tour guide, was spectacular, and every detail was carefully attended to by the Encounters team in Egypt. We felt safe and relaxed as tours and transportation took place flawlessly and enjoyed every minute we were there.
This tour is incredible - we saw all the major sights in Cairo, Aswan, and Luxor, and enjoyed several days at the Jaz Makadi Resort in Hurghada. The tour is arranged more or less chronologically and you have the same guide the entire time, so you really get a great experience following the cultural/religious/political development of ancient Egypt over several thousand years.

I was very pleased with the responsiveness of everyone that I encountered through Encounters Travel. I worked mostly with Anthony and he was always very helpful.
I thought they selected a wonderful guide for the trip. The one part that I really hope that they change is the night at the Bedouin Camp. It was not authentic and it was so out of the way. I think that people would prefer to spend the extra money for a night in a hotel with a bed and your own bathroom.

Very nice to have "hand holds" throughout, especially at Egyptian airports and all the staff were so friendly and helpful. Would recommend.
Fantastic tours and guides with good knowledge - the holiday does go at a pace however, to get everything in - no lie-ins if you really want to see everything! Egypt is a place I wouldn't really want to negotiate/navigate through on my own - Encounters saved a LOT of time and stress.

We were very lucky there was only one other couple who were very nice and our guide was excellent. His name was Phuong. He had a lot of knowledge, put it over very well and was very concerned that we were all happy and always went out of his way to help and did 'the extra mile'. He really made the holiday so good
We thought it was a good tour but did not particularly enjoy the two full days at the seaside. It could have been cut back to one. We did enjoy the snorkeling and swimming. We would have also liked an extra day at Hulong Bay as it is a long journey each way and we barely had 24 hours there. Everyone was very pleasant and helpful in the tours and hotels