The tour was hectic! It was very informative and very well organized. Here are a few comments for your consideration. The Abu Simbel tour on Monday felt like a “drive by.” That morning we had to wake up at 3:30 am to fly to Aswan and take the connecting flight to Abu Simbel. We took three flights by 3:00 pm that day. Goodness! I have flown for business all my life and never had a crazy schedule like that. It is just too much packed into one day. You should add a day so that Abu Simbel and Aswan can be enjoyed at a more leisurely pace. Next comment: the pricing on some optional tours seemed odd. $36.00 to go to the Luxor Museum when the entrance fee is about $5.00? The charge of $160.00 for the balloon ride seemed high when several folks on TripAdvisor report that the cost is $95.00. Finally, while Smartours advises us on tipping guidelines we were unprepared for the multiple “opportunities” for tipping that we encountered. Tips for security, tips for bathroom attendants, tips for any and everyone who looked at us...or so it felt. We enjoyed our trip but Egypt is such a history lesson that we felt that we would have enjoyed it better had we done the trip at a more leisurely pace. The last day in Cairo was rushed. We did not have enough time at the market or at the Cairo Museum. On a positive note, the hotels and the ship were great! The Cairo Marriott is an architectural marvel. The food was wonderful everywhere and copious and the Egyptian people were welcoming and friendly. Our tour director Khaled was wonderful: a font of information on his country’s history. If I had to design this trip, I would do it at a more leisurely pace so that I could truly enjoy this rich country.