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Middle East See the Promised Land, the Red Sea, magnificient ruins and mosques, oil-rich metropoles. When you're done with that, go skiing and rock climbing !

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Old 06-29-2007, 08:59 PM   #21
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I know it's a ways off, but have a great trip guys!
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Old 07-02-2007, 12:43 PM   #22
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I'm actually interested to read some Theroux - problem is, I get antsy when I read travelogues. Super super antsy. Which is probably why I went nowhere for 3 years and have visited 5 countries on two trips in the last 7 months...immediately after joining Tpunks. Coincidence? So I also am dying to read your reports on both Peru and Egypt!

To respond to your threadjack, though, I sometimes like it though when writers are critical, because it's so different from how I approach things, and yet it comforts me a bit whenever I get angry or frustrated at adapting to a different setting. Like, I'm human, humans crave/appreciate/fear and loathe different settings simultaneously. So I'll keep that in mind when I pick something up of Theroux's. Do you have a favorite?
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Old 07-03-2007, 10:53 AM   #23
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sounds like a great trip you and jenny have planned there. and you mike, take a bad photograph....pfst.
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Old 07-03-2007, 11:11 AM   #24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ScarlotteDorian View Post
and you mike, take a bad photograph....pfst.
None that anyone else would see! I'm the killer editor...most folks see less than half of my pics...I take out all the ones I don't like.

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Old 07-06-2007, 03:00 PM   #25
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Egypt is the coolest place I've been so far. I didn't go up the Nile or anything, but Cairo was great. After 10 days in the city, I still didn't feel like I saw all I wanted to. You're gonna have a blast, you guys : )
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Old 07-06-2007, 08:35 PM   #26
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awesome mike. i am so jealous!

i cant wait to get to egypt...i'm giving myself 4 years, tops! so many places to go , so little time!!!!
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Old 07-09-2007, 07:34 PM   #27
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Well, we may have run into a strange little hitch on our Egypt plans. A few weeks ago, when we booked the trip with DeltaToursEgypt, they confirmed a spot was available for us and said we could reserve it with a deposit. They did not take credit cards and gave us several methods of payment. The cheapest method appeared to be to send the $300 deposit via Western Union. Well, the Western Union clerk mistyped the name we were to put the money in for, which by the way, was NOT DeltaToursEgypt, but rather the name of the person who had been replying to our messages and confirming the booking. He let us know that the money hadn't shown, so we gave him the tracking number and so on. He finally replied two weeks later to say that the reason he couldn't get the money was the misspelling. He gave us the proper spelling and asked us to change it over to that.

I called Western Union, who didn't like the sounds of the transaction and connected me with their fraud department. The fraud department said they were going to refund our money fully and that they would not put the transaction through because it sound fishy to them, that:
1. The tour company didn't take credit cards
2. The name we were to put on the money transfer was NOT the name of the tour company, but instead the name of an individual.

So, I let Delta Tours (it is an Egyptian company, as far as I can tell) know that today.

Can anybody suggest means of confirming whether this company is for real or not? Are the Western Union folks paranoid, or are they saving our ass (and vacation)? Does anybody have any ideas on how to check this out? We've already bought and paid for our airline tickets, so if we do go with another company, it will have to fit into those days we've arranged.

In short, HELP!

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Old 07-09-2007, 10:07 PM   #28
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mike,

i dont think western union is being paranoid. they have a pretty good point. i can research at work more info about delta tours...and will let you know what i find. pm me so i dont forget...i dont get to the boards regularly. good luck w your vaca plans.
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Old 07-10-2007, 07:09 AM   #29
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Hey Mike,

I spoke to a woman who went on a similar tour. She said to make sure to visit the Valley of the Kings, and Karnak temple. Both are in Luxor/Thebes. Unfortunately she can't remember the name of her tour group.

I got to admit, the Western Union guy sounds like he may be being prudent. Wiring money to an individual seems a little fishy.

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Old 07-10-2007, 07:14 AM   #30
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damn that sucks Mike. Just stay after it. I think these companies, all companies actually, just give honest customers the run around so they don't have to do real work. Maybe they are being paranoid, maybe not. its probably easier to say it sounds fraudulent beforehand and not process the payment than try to get the money back later after realizing it is fraudulent.

If you do lose out on money, you should think about contacting Christopher Elliot, (http://www.elliott.org/) the Ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler. He has a column that appears in the Philly Inquirer (Saturday's Travel Section) that deals with helping customers who were wronged. It's one of my favorite sections of the paper.

Going back to Theroux, I've heard a lot of people criticize him as well for being negative. I don't know that I necessarily agree. His is certainly a different take - maybe more of a realist. While enjoying say, the beauty of the African bush, he doesn't let it cloud his judgement of the people he meets. In Dark Star Safari he has lots of praise for former colleagues of his. His scorn is mostly reserved for meglomaniacs that run most of the war-torn countries, the dictators who sit on piles of riches while their countrymen starve, and charitable workers. Seeing as how none of those charitable workers would give him a ride in their "white Land Rovers", I would be pissed too. And while he spent many years living in Britain, he is American and lived in Massuchusetts until he was out of college.

I am now reading his "Fresh Air Fiend", a collection of essays. So far its mostly solitary travel so I don't have any new opinions of how he regards others.

Anyways, again, Mike, good luck with the trip. If you cant find another tour, maybe you go anyways and hire a few different local tour guides.
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Old 07-25-2007, 10:07 AM   #31
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Quote:
Originally Posted by worldwidemike View Post
Can anybody suggest means of confirming whether this company is for real or not? Are the Western Union folks paranoid, or are they saving our ass (and vacation)? Does anybody have any ideas on how to check this out? We've already bought and paid for our airline tickets, so if we do go with another company, it will have to fit into those days we've arranged.

In short, HELP!

worldwidemike
Mike, that sucks ass.

Your trip, however, sounds awesome. That's what I'll do next time... Start in Cairo, go through Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon... and end in Damascus again. The bottom route.

But I'll ask some guys I met in Damascus (who started in Cairo) for recommendations for good tours agencies in Egypt.

Maybe you can try calling the Egyptian Embassy Tourism dept?

CB
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Old 08-06-2007, 08:25 AM   #32
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Just an update...they agreed to book our trip without an advance deposit. As it turned out, there was a convuluted way of doing a credit card that I hadn't noticed at first. So, we're back on with Delta Tours Egypt.

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Old 08-07-2007, 11:21 AM   #33
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Thats great news. Have fun with it. Can't wait to read your posts and see your pics.
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Old 08-07-2007, 03:05 PM   #34
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Two months & counting

I'm SOOOOOOO excited!!!!
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