GUIDES

TOUR GUIDES

Tour guides are absolutely essential to a good Nile cruise package, especially if you don’t have much knowledge of the places you're visiting. In fact, even if you think you know a lot, chances are you’ll find that they’ll surprise you with a wealth of details you’ll never find in any guide book. They are trained Egyptologists and have to undergo many years of training before they are licensed to operate as a tour guide. In Egypt, they are held in high esteem and are comparatively well paid for their talents.

A good guide will tend to keep you in small groups, allocate you plenty of time to browse the monuments at your leisure and crucially arrange visits at the appropriate times i.e. quiet times when there aren’t too many groups around (although it is impossible to visit ancient sites exclusively) and when the weather is at it’s coolest. They're used to the climate and are experienced in looking after groups, keeping you in shaded areas when giving presentations. Even the hardiest tourist doesn’t want to roast out in the open for a lecture on Ramesses II.

Upon traveling to the places of interest, the guides provide interesting snippets of history and local information to keep you entertained. Feel free to ask your guide even the silliest of questions… they like to know that you’re interested -- although I regret asking if he’d ever seen a UFO over the pyramids.

If you’re worried that you’ll be given long lectures in broken English, then worry not… guides specialize in different languages and are required to obtain a high level of proficiency. As you tour these ancient sites you are treated to an array of historical stories and facts but they seem to know their limits in terms of how much or how little they should tell you, leaving you time to explore the sites how you wish.

One thing to be wary of is a tour guide’s potential affiliation with certain retail outlets and vendors. Whilst it is probably true that they know whom to trust, it is also true that some of them work on commission from (often government run) vendors. The reality is that even though you may feel more comfortable about the quality of the goods you are purchasing, they are often more expensive. Of course, credit card purchases are best made in official government run outlets, but if you are game for a little haggling, then you can often pick up items much cheaper from the so called ‘street’ vendors. Please don’t take this to mean that they are in some way corrupt. Ultimately, there’s nothing wrong with links to vendors or affiliation of this kind, just be mindful about your choices and reasons for buying. At the end of the day, if you desire an item and you feel the price is right, then it’s a good purchase.

The pivitol role that tour guides play is not to be underestimeted and it is well worth booking with an established tour operator if for nothing more than to have an experienced guide at your service.

GOVERNMENT GUIDES

It is sometimes difficult to tell who is in fact an official government guide as they are often dressed in traditional Egyptian clothes much like anyone else. The easiest way to tell is if they are within the confines of the site you are visiting, usually denoting that they work there.

They provide visitors with the history behind these great structures and know the sights like they would their own homes.

They are supposed to provide information to visitors for free, without asking for tips. In some cases however, this is far from the truth. They will offer to take your picture for you, point out interesting architectural features or offer you a piece of cardboard with which to fan yourself…. then they will hold out their hand. I personally have no qualms about tipping if you think you are being offered a service. What is sometimes difficult is when you are hounded and this will more than likely happen at least once. Don’t be put off or feel threatened by this behavior, turn it into a game if you like, thinking of fun ways to avoid them! It’s always best to be polite about it, but you may find that you have to be firm. This is not to say that all guides are like this, just that it is generally something you will encounter from time to time.