Wadi Rum Tours & Trips

Overall, the trip was good. However, there were a couple issues beginning with the airport pickup. We expected to meet our pickup person after we passed thru customs into the terminal. No one was there & after about 45 minutes a tour company rep showed up & informed us he was looking for us at the visa/passport section. We saw 2 tour reps with name signs, but not this tour rep. This area was not crowded & there were few Westerners. We should have been easy to spot. The tour rep thought we were driving to Petra that evening & we had to inform him we had the 1st night in Amman. The Amman hotel (nights 1&3) was a good hotel, with helpful staff, but not near any restaurants. On day 2, our itinerary showed a lunch was to be provided in Petra. Our driver was not aware of this. We arrived in Petra around noon, were handed off to a guide & had lunch at our expense, 3 hours later - after the guide's tour. The driver contacted their office that evening & we were compensated with lunch on day 3. This is not really a guided tour, but a driver assigned to shephard us to & from Petra. The driver was not a guide & provided virtually no guide information.

Let me start by saying we had a Fabulous time and the Itinerary itself was very good and quite thorough to see all the must see tourist sites. Definitely recommend booking 2 days each side ( Amman and Cairo) if you want to experience a little more local culture, especially if travelling a long way from the Middle East. The key takeaway /recommendation to NourBelle– set expectations early and this assists in delighting both you and your customer on the journey. We booked some 8 months before and requested a full itinerary. As someone that does a lot of self planned itineraries using tours on Getyourguide, Viator and Klook- I like to see a full itinerary and look to see what other things I may want to do to extend the trip. It was like extracting blood from a stone. I got a semi-itinerary and promised a full itinerary 15 days before travel (even though they take full payment within 2 months of travel). Talking to others on the tour, seems it’s a common theme. By full itinerary, I mean the name of the Cruise ship and the airlines and flight times. Yes, we know last minute changes can and do occur. The 14 day itinerary is a collection of tours stitched together – not a problem per se but would be nice to know beforehand. The Jordan part was via a sister Company -Flow Travel. Their confirmed itinerary for the whole trip was perfect and delivered just 5 days before the tour started. I was a little concerned the initial noted hotels were old and dated and the reviews very average, but happy to report Flow have changed these hotels some time ago and I can confirm on the whole very comfortable accommodation: E.g -Amman Tulip Golden Plaza -Dead Sea Spa and Resort – a bit tired but great facilities -Wadi Rum Sharah Camp (not so luxurious….but it’s the experience of a tent LOL) -Petra Quattro – very nice Our tour driver and semi guide was Azmi. He’s not allowed to guide on site, but is very knowledgeable and shares as much information as possible beforehand. Azmi was terrific! We only had a Petra Tour guide for 2 hours onsite included in the price which we found was quite sufficient. Our driver Azmi was fabulous. He helped us buy water at local shops and also came to pick me up to go to a pharmacy when my knee was playing up. He ensured we felt safe and happy, and I’m sure he was a key contributor to why we enjoyed Jordan so much. Hands down 5/5 We paid separately for lunches and tips, and booked our own flight from Amman to Cairo. Egypt... We were transferred to our hotel, and presented with a hand drawn map, and outlined into an itinerary. The hard upsell on optional tours only available here and now on arrival, when all you want to do is get to your room, can be quite intimidating, and I think these options should be presented and bookable earlier. It certainly helps if a thorough Itinerary is more forthcoming at the beginning. We joined a group of 8 others on their 7 day Egypt tour, an additional couple joined on the 3 day Nile cruise. We then had an additional 2 nights on Jolie Ville in Luxor. Pyramids Tour: Our freelance guide Abdul was very good, albeit he did the tour at quite a fast pace. It would have been nice for perhaps an extra half hour, just to be able to absorb the magical beauty of the Pyramids more peacefully. His was very helpful in helping communicate with the tour organisers when there was confusion with flight details provided that day for the next day that did not align with some itineraries already provided. The next leg was the flight to Aswan. There is no assistance with checkin on flights, so a bit of a nightmare for the group trying to check in. The 3 day Nile Cruise was Jaz Celebrity. We were pleasantly surprised with the ship and the staff were super friendly and helpful. The 3 meals on board were quite satisfactory! We had another freelance guide Saladino for the temples during the Nile Cruise. He is very knowledgeable. Room for Improvement: Day trip to Abu Simbel – wait at reception for pickup. No idea who for, or who to contact when the guide was not on time. The other group we joined was unhappy we had joined their group and asked if our guide was sick. This is a problem with setting expectations and could have easily been fixed with both guides communicating details to both groups. Hot air balloon attendees - wait for shuttle service at reception. No escort to Hatshepsut temple – we saw many other people with guides beside them. Not sure if this was because there was an altercation the day before between the guide and one of our tour members when asked: • what the group would do between end of temple tours eta 12pm and 7pm pickup for 9.40pm flight o Checkout of accommodation at 8.30am (5.30am for those on Hot Air balloon option) o No offers of what to do o Lunch option at USD$25 which subsequently was included! Tipping confusion! USD$60 per person (not including Tour guide tips) Everywhere we went people were looking at us for Tips. It was most embarrassing given the tips we had paid ahead should have been very generous. Perhaps let us tip ourselves with direction as to minimum amounts to be paid. Also they provide a range of USD$125-$165 for entry fees and then negotiate on day one of the tour - when these are finite costs. The actual costs is in the vicinity of 5080EGP- at the time USD$108. Any booked flights you will get the details the day before – I truly believe they only book the flights the day before. Water is only provided at the hotels/cruise 2 bottles per couple per day, so buy your water at the Supermarket as early as possible. Expect to pay for all water/beverages during every meal. But everything was fine and enjoyable if you are fine with plans being provided the day before and a few hiccups here or there knowing you will be safe and will see all the wonderful sites and activities available. And ok with the upsell for more money every step of the way.

The tour was very good. One thing that bugged me was the tip we needed to contribute to. According to the trip notes, the participation was optional and the amount could be decided by us. Which was not the case. I'm not saying I wouldn't have tipped, the driver and the bedouin family who transported and cooked for us more than deserved their money. Perhaps the information needs to be clearer.