I won't get to Pokhara when I visit Nepal in April/May, but have great memories of swimming & picnic-ing off these boats last year.
Astrid - if you are uploading photos straight from your camera, they may be large images (3Mb plus) and so taking a l…
Countries I've visited, or will visit with Uncover the World
Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Thailand, Cambodia, New Zealand
Information I'd like to find or share here:
I'm here to share information and tips about travelling to the countries in which we operate, answer questions, and hopefully see that our current and future travellers are finding this space useful.
What I enjoy most when I'm travelling:
Spending time with our local guides and reps, and the friends we've made over the years running these holidays.
Trying as much local food as possible, and attempting to learn from the locals how to cook it back home.
Hi Ralph,
In response to your comment on our Valley of the Whales photographs, we both agreed that this trip was one of the highlights of the whole tour. Even if you are not really interested in seeing fossils, the trip is worth it just for the desert scenery, as you said the views are fantastic. Our party was the only party at the site on the day we visited and the utter quietness of the area is a novel experience.
The site is well laid out with the walk well defined and there are information points at all the places of particular interested. Although rather warm there are several shelters located around the walk which provide some welcome shade and a place to sit.
There are currently 2 walks available, one of approximately 1.7km which covers 6 points of interest (including one large Dorudon atrox whale fossil, fossilised roots of mangroves and the burrows of wood-digesting ‘shipworms’) and a 3km walk, which we did, which covers all 13 points of interest including several more large fossils. The 3km walk took us approximately 3 hours to complete.
The journey to and from Cairo takes approximately 3 hours each way and includes, if I remember rightly, about 50km of driving on a dirt (sand) track. We had a modern 4x4 vehicle for the whole journey which was suitable for our party size of 7 people.
Time spent at Wadi Rayan was short, about 30 minutes due to the lateness of the afternoon, and consisted of a look at the waterfall and a quick look out over the lake.
Overall itinerary for the day comprised of travel to the Valley of the Whales (approx. 3 hours), walk around the Valley of the Whales (approx. 3 hours), travel to Wadi Rayan including a stop to walk up a sand dune (approx. 1 hour), Wadi Rayan (approx. 30 minutes) and travel back to Cairo including a stop for a meal (approx 3 hours).
As a day trip to see the Valley of the Whales we would fully recommend it, the scenery is spectacular, the site is very interesting and it provides something totally different from the visits to pyramids, tombs and temples. We would however say that to see both the Valley of the Whales and also to enjoy the scenery and wildlife of the Wadi Rayan area really needs a 2 day visit with an overnight stay in the local area.
Regards Tim and Geraldine
Hi Ralph, please can you let me know whether we need to bring sleeping bag or blanket for the feluccia boat as it is quite bulky to carry if just for one night.
Thanks
David
Hi Louise,
Thanks for the message - really glad you and Sandie had a good holiday with Mohamed and the team in Egypt.
Just let us know if we can help with any further holidays in the future.
best wishes, Ralph
Hi Ralph, my friend Sandie & I have just returned from the Nile Explorer Tour and just wanted to say thanks for a truly fabulous holiday. Our guide, Mohamed El Maghrabi, was superb, we actully forgot what day it was as we trusted his organistaional skills so much. Really want to travel with your company again!