Family

First let me say, if you are hesitating to visit Egypt, DON'T. Just go, it is safe, they are waiting to show you their country and the incredible history documented there. Security is everywhere and as a solo traveling female, I felt as safe as ever there.
I joined the Nubian adventure after spending 5 days in Egypt, exploring the things I wouldn't see on the tour, on my own. Let me tell you, my first meeting with the guide, Waleed Kamouna, was indicative of what to expect from this wonderful man for the rest of the trip. He came to my rescue while I was trying to tell the front desk people at the hotel who I was and why I was there. He took over and the next thing I know I have a room key and am off to my room. Throughout the tour, which was fabulous by the way, Waleed showed his love for his country and its people, his knowledge of Egyptian history and the land and his concern for us, (his 'family' for the 9 days) our welfare, comfort and safety. He was always ready to give tips on how to get the most out of our experience, always went the extra mile to make sure we were comfortable and safe and made sure we had the opportunity to see everything we wanted to and to experience all that our Nubian Adventure had to offer. I am sure that Waleed made the experience, the Nubian Adventure Tour, so much better than it would have been without him. I appreciate all he did for us and all the extra steps and arrangements he made to accomodate us. Thank you Waleed and thank you Encounters Travel for such a well oiled machine that you run. I would recommend this company and this tour to anyone looking for an inclusive tour of Egypt.

My husband and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Encounters Travel for giving us the opportunity to experience the 10 Day Nepal Exposed Tour. Encounters Travel was great from even before the trip began in planning the trip, answering all our inquiries and providing us information in a timely matter. We would like to say this trip was phenomenal and left us both with memories and adventures that will last a lifetime.

We would like to give special recognition to our tour guide Ram Hari Aryal, who is a real professional and gave us individualized attention from the beginning of the trip when we arrived at the Kathmandu Airport to our departure back home. Ram really made this trip special for us and has such great knowledge of Nepal’s history, culture and geography. He also became a friend to us by the end of the tour.

The driver that accompanied us throughout the entire trip and drove us through the country deserves praise as well. He is polite and got out to open the door for us every time we stopped somewhere. He is a very good driver and we felt safe throughout the entire journey through the countryside.

In Kathmandu, we were assigned the same guide twice to show us through a few cities. His name was Prakash Luitel and he is wonderful and very knowledgeable of his country. The fellow who was our guide in Chitwan National Park was also very professional, energetic and friendly.

The accommodations were fabulous. All the hotels that we stayed in were great. We especially were impressed by Apsara Boutique Hotel in Kathmandu for their splendid rooms and exceptional staff. Another favorite of ours was Gaun Ghar located in Bandipur. We loved the décor of the hotel with stone floors and walls it gave us the feel that we were back in the 19th century. Also, great manager and staff that really made you feel at home. Not to mention the view of the mountains from our room that made us feel like we were in heaven.

We traveled through Kathmandu, Chitwan, Pokhara, Bandipur and Nagarkot. My husband and I asked each other at the end of the trip which city did we like the best. The both us could not pick one. We liked all of them. They all had their unique and individual charm and beauty. These are a few of our many favorite highlights of the trip:

1. Everest Mountain Flight
2. Tour of Lalitpur aka Patan
3. Monkey Temple (Kathmandu)
4. Chitwan National Park wildlife safari
5. Boat ride on Phewa Lake (Chiwan)
6. World Peace Stupa (Pokhara)
7. Devi Falls (Pokhara)
8. Boudhanath Supa (Kathmandu)
9. Durbar Square (Kathmandu)
10. Pasupatinath (Kathmandu)

Every day was wonderful on this tour and a real adventure. We would love to take another tour again in the future and we would recommend Encounters Travel to our family, friends and coworkers.

Some (hopefully) constructive criticism: we recommend that you advertise to potential travelers the option of extra days in Kathmandu more prominently and frequently in your literature. We didn’t realize until much later that we could’ve extended our stay for such little cost. We would’ve done it if the option had emphasized.

Under Day 12, the “upgrade to an [sic] domestic flight” is misleading. We assumed that if we took the flight we wouldn’t miss anything on the agenda. Big mistake! Thank God we called your office and clarified that we’d not see Nagarkot, Bhaktapur, Pasupatinath and Boudhanath. What a loss that would’ve been!

Nepali toilets are not up to Western standards. A tip to bring one’s own toilet paper (and lots of it), and to prepare for horrific sights and smells, would’ve been appreciated.

We strongly urge you to include Lalitpur (Patan) in the Class Exposed itinerary. It doesn’t take so long to see and it’s well worth making time for. We also were a little disappointed that we couldn’t see Lumbini, Buddha’s birthplace.

Thank you again for an epic experience!

Nicholas and Yvonne Towasser

I went on the Nubian Adventure 9-day tour in early October and loved it. I am usually a solo traveler that does my own thing, but I knew that Egypt would be a different story so I took a chance on the Encounters tour and it did not disappoint. My group (shout out to the family) was a great mix of people - range of age groups, backgrounds, some couples some not - and we got along great. Our tour guide Waleed was beyond incredible and he gave us so much information about the history of each monument and temple, as well as discussions on Egyptian culture and present day events. Encounters stayed true to the small group feel, which is where we got split up into 18-person groups, and did most of our walking around and hanging out in our small groups. On some occasions, like when we traveled for add-ons or stopped for our night on the felucca, we'd be in bigger groups and it was fun to meet some of the people from other groups.

As far as what we go to see, it was exactly what I was expecting from the tour. We started out at the Giza pyramids and rode a camel right there, and then the temples and monuments from there on just got even more amazing. Each temple had its own history and feel, and you can still see the colors on the walls of many of the sites. Our tour did one night on the felucca instead of the two that was originally listed, and we agreed that the one night was perfect. It was a nice break in the week to sit and hang out on the Nile after walking around a lot. The pace of the tour was slower than I would have done on my own, but with our groups it was actually pretty great. I also would like to commend the groups on their outstanding coordination between each location - I travel with just a backpack so I can carry my own things everywhere but I let go of that and let the company take care of it this time. They had people at each location that took care of getting our bags on each bus and train to the hotels, and our guides did a great job of getting us to each place on time and relatively quickly.

The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is that the pricing was a little confusing. The base price was a steal, but then I cannot imagine doing the tour without most of the add-ons and since we all ate together most meals, food could have been included in the price. It would have looked like a higher cost upfront, but then it also would have been nice to not have to deal with pulling cash and realizing your trip costs a lot more than you originally thought. Still, even with that, it was on par with other tours I had looked at prior to choosing Encounters and it was definitely worth it. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone!!