We are booked on the Land of the Prophets tour leaving early November. We have a few questions for anyone who has been in these countries at this time of year. Will we need more than a jacket for evenings? As we are bringing our netbook, how is internet access in Israel, Egypt and Jordan? What are the customary tips for tour guides and drivers, and are there others we need to tip as well?? How structured is the tour timing or is there much down time to explore on our own? How careful must we be about food and drink in Egypt and Jordan or is the food, especially on the cruise ship, ok? We see few posts about the Israel portion of the trip; is there any input about this portion of the tour i.e. guides, sites, accomodations, travel or food? What are the security issues about items left on the bus or in our rooms while we are visiting sites? We are seeking separate transportation from Petra back to Queen Alia airport in advance of our tour - any input on transportation services, drivers, etc.? We are packing casual comfortable traveling clothes - do we need any thing dressier? Any recommendations on laundry service in all three countries? We have read a great deal on this bulletin board about social customs and appropriate dress, are there other small tips on respectful behaviour? We are very much looking forward to our first trip with Insight Tours and any information shared will be greatly appreciated.

Hi Berk

I went to Egypt 15 years ago and tomorrow I'm planning on booking Insight's Israel and Jordan tours for the end of next month, so I've done a lot of research.

When I went to Egypt, it was January and still warm enough for shorts then, so November should be really nice. Next month, I plan to take two pair of jeans, two pairs of shorts and two shirts. A light waterproof jacket and a sweatshirt (that I wear on the plane to stay warm and have for cool evenings).

You don't need anything dressy for the Nile cruise. All they require is that you wear pants to dinner and from what I've read, that hasn't changed. Simple fact of the matter is that you have only so much room in your luggage. Don't waste it on suit jackets, dress, dressy shoes etc. Save the room for souvenirs!! You won't need more than a light jacket or the sweatshirt for the evenings. Compared to Chicago this time of year, it's downright balmy over there!

Tank tops and sleeveless shirts/sun dresses etc are okay except for when you're visiting a Mosque or Church, though they'll usually have a scarf for you to pull on over your shoulders. I don't wear tank tops or sleeveless dresses, but when I checked my pictures of Egypt, people around me were wearing tank tops while visiting the sites, so it shouldn't be a big problem if you like to walk around without your shoulders covered.

The food, overall, is safe, especially at the hotels and on the ship. I avoided fruits and veggies unless I could peel them since they're usually washed in local water. Do all your teeth brushing with bottled water and keep your mouth closed while taking a shower. If you do get Tut Tummy, the hotel usually has something that will help that others on the boards have raved about (can't remember what it's called...started with an "A"). I plan to visit my local travel clinic and they will give me something I can drink that will protect me from some of the bugs (I remember she mentioned e-coli). Check with who ever gave you your vaccinations. (Can't remember that name either, but it started with a "D"). Bring some immodium with you as well, but don't take it at the first sign of diarrhea. Wait a few hours to give your gut a chance to empty and remove whatever it is that gave you the diarrhea. (The immodium would slow the movement and trap what is causing the diarrhea).

I've had no problems with items left in the hotels or buses. The driver stays with the bus and it is locked, so anything you leave on there is safe. Usually there's a safe in your room and you can leave your electronics and passport in there without a problem. (Always double check with your TD on that just in case there is an issue, but on all my tours, the safes in the room were secure). I also lock my luggage with everything in it if I go outside for any reason. In Italy, my nephew and his friends had their jeans stolen.

There is always free time worked into the tours and most of the time, it's adequate for the location. I know we get an entire day in Petra. Part of it is guided and the rest is free time with the hotel walking distance away. On the cruise, I remember the ship staying in port at one location until late so that we could go shopping all evening after returning from our tour.

The tour timings are strictly regulated. Bring a watch!!! And make sure everyone coming with you has a watch in case you go in different directions on your free time. Being late back to the bus is stealing valuable time from the rest of your tourmates. All the hotels have maps. Take one when you arrive and have the clerk mark the hotel's location on the map. If you ever get separated from your tour, or get lost while out for a walk, you can always just hop a cab back to your hotel.

Laundry is available on the ship. It can be expensive in the hotels. I don't use it except for emergencies. I usually get enough time to do whatever laundry I need to do in the sink and it dries overnight. I only bring two pairs of travel socks with me (they dry in two hours) and four pairs of undies (they dry overnight). A lot of the time, unless you're spending two nights at a hotel, you won't have time to get laundry done, so the sink becomes your best friend. Bring a small container of Tide with you and you'll save a bundle.

Yes, bring your netbook. The hotels will have internet and although it can be expensive, they usually have a cheap option if all you want to do is check your email. It's nice to be able to stay connected.

The netbook has another important function - to save a copy of your photos!! I was just in Greece on a Trafalgar tour and one couple laid their camera down and forgot it at dinner. ALL their photos were gone in an instant. So, I HIGHLY recommend that you can copy your photos to your netbook and to a USB key. That way, you have three copies. One in the camera, computer and the key. Do this every night if possible. Then when you go to go home, put the USB key in your luggage and take your computer with you so that one way or another, a copy of your photos get home. (Since I travel solo, I have plenty of time in the evening to do this and I save my best photos to the internet as well).

I also use my netbook to type up a tour tale as I travel so that my memory is fresh.

Visas into Egypt and Jordan are available at the airport and fairly routine. Have some US money on you but I always recommend that people have some local cash on them for when they arrive in case there's a problem with the transfer and you end up taking a cab to your hotel. ATMs should be easy to find for money as you travel and the TD should give you a chance to get money as you move between the countries.

Tips are a little trickier. I don't remember it being necessary in Egypt that much except for your tour guide and driver. The Egyptians leave it up to you if I remember correctly. Your tour guide can clarify that for you on your arrival.

As for social behavior, just treat them as you like to be treated and you'll have a great time. Avoid discussions about religion and politics!! LOL.

The Land of the Prophets tour looks like a fabulous way to see the three countries. I'm excited about finally being able to get to Israel and Jordan (which my travel agent wouldn't arrange for me 15 years ago cause he said I couldn't travel to Egypt and Israel at the same time. Of course, that was total BS).

Oh, and don't forget a bathing suit for the Dead Sea!!

Chech has given wonderful information and I can advise that those little miracle tablets starting with A are Antenal. These can be purchased in any Egyptian pharmacy without a prescription.

Have a fabulous time and may you love and enjoy Egypt as much as I did.

Happy travelling.

I haven’t travelled in those countries in November, however have just returned from the Land of the Prophets tour (a couple of weeks ago), so I can let you know how things were for my trip.

1. I found the weather to be extremely hot, however in Petra it did cool down considerably in the evening and I found I needed to wear a light sweater at night. I should think that a light jacket should more than suffice for your trip (or at the very least a long sleeved shirt). I imagine the daytime temperatures in all three countries is probably still very warm.

2. I didn’t try to access the internet, however I’m sure you shouldn’t have a problem while staying in the major hotels. (Not so sure about internet access while cruising the Nile).

3. As far as tipping, we were advised $2.50 (Egypt) / $2.00 (Israel) USD/person/day for the driver and $5.00 USD/person/day for the guide. No guidelines were given in Jordan. We were advised (on several occasions) that all other tips were included (ie. transport to/from airport, hotel staff, etc.) however as it is customary for my husband and I, we tipped the bellboy, chambermaids, wait staff, etc. (but that was a personal choice).

4. By ‘down time to explore’ – do you mean at the sites, or back at the hotel away from the sites? If you are talking about venturing out on your own while back at the hotel, the answer is sort of, but not really. We typically didn’t get to our hotels until close to supper time (which is about 7:00 or 8:00 p.m.), so most of the free time would have been after 8:00 or 9:00. (I was usually so tired from all the walking and the heat that I often went straight to bed after supper). On the days of the transfers (ie. from Israel to Egypt and from Egypt to Jordon) we arrived mid/late-afternoon, so we had time to explore on our own if we wanted. (but on both occasions we arrived on their ‘holy’ day, so a lot of places weren’t open in any event). If you mean time to explore while at the sites: Israel - not really, Egypt - most of sites we had time to explore, take pictures, etc., Jordan - for the most part just at Petra.

5. I would be EXTREMELY careful about the water in Egypt and Jordan (particularly Egypt). We only ate at the hotels and on the cruise in Egypt. I would be extremely careful if you eat anywhere else in Egypt. Even if a restaurant is quite sanitary, there is still the possibility they wash their produce, etc. in tap water (which is not safe to drink, therefore the food washed in it wouldn’t be safe to eat). The hotels we stayed at and the cruise wash all their food items in bottled water, so there wasn’t an issue with the food eaten at those locations.

6. What specifically would you like to know about the Israel portion of the trip? My advice on Israel would be: bring a bathing suit for the Dead Sea (it was a definite highlight of the trip), don’t waste your money on the optional night drive of Jerusalem (biggest rip off of the trip – particularly since we went to an outdoor mall because the place(s) we were supposed to go was too crowded). Bethlehem is definitely not to be missed. Be sure you have enough USD to pay for any optional tour(s) you decide to take because the tour guide would only take cash (preferably USD), even though the itinerary said you could pay by credit card.

7. All the hotel rooms had safes and in almost all the cases you could leave stuff on the bus, which was locked and/or the driver was there. The exceptions to leaving stuff on the bus were in Bethlehem and Abu Simbel (you had to take all of your stuff with you). FYI – Abu Simbel is another optional tour that should not be missed (you can use a credit card to pay for that excursion). If you want, use a luggage lock for anything you are leaving in your suitcase back at the hotel. (I never felt the need to lock my suitcase)

8. Cannot provide you with any information about transportation from Petra to the airport.

9. For the most part, casual travel clothes should suffice. If you have room in your suitcase, you may want something a bit dressier for the Shabbat dinner in Israel and the candle light dinner on the cruise. [Not necessarily to the extent of a suit & tie or even dress pants – but something slightly ‘dressy casual’]

10. Laundry service – I wouldn’t bother. I didn’t check the prices on the cruise, however the prices at the hotel were outrageous and you need to be at the hotel longer than just overnight to use the service – which is enough time for your clothes to properly dry if you wash them by hand. I brought individual packages of Woolite (easier to use for handwashing than regular detergent as the clothes don’t need to be rinsed). Most of the hotels had a clothesline in the shower, although a couple (including the cruise) didn’t, so you may want to consider bringing a line with you. Our cruise ship was a newer one and had balconies off each room, which was perfect for draping clothes (on the chairs and table on the balcony) for fast drying (it was like an oven outside).

11. My advice about money: There was easy access to bank machines in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and the Cairo Marriott, so if you plan on using bank machines, plan on using them in those locations. As soon as you get to the hotel in Cairo, try to get as many 1 pound coins/bills as you can from the two banks in the Hotel, as you will need them to use bathrooms, etc. [Our first day there we couldn’t get any as the banks were all out and the second day they were rationing it to 5 coins per person.] Once you leave Cairo, don’t count on being able to use a bank machine, and don’t plan on being able to use any large denomination bills (either USD or EGP), so also change any large denominations at the bank before leaving Cairo. You may want to take a lot of $1.00 bills USD (if you plan on buying anything from the roving venders – as ‘everything’ they sell costs $1.00 USD). USD seemed to be accepted everywhere in Egypt and I believe also in Israel (at least at the tourist places) Not sure about Jordan, but I think USD was also accepted (at least at the tourist places). If you plan on primarily using USD, I would recommend having some local currency as well. If you cannot get any Jordanian Dinars before your trip (and you are running low on USD by the time you leave Egypt – assuming of course you take USD), be sure to take EGP to change at the Amman Airport as that may be the only place you may be able to get Dinars. (Not sure if people were able to change money at the Amman hotel or not – I already had Dinars before my trip) Also I’m not sure where the closest bank machine was in Amman, but some of the people inquiring about bank machines once we left Amman were told there weren’t any. So, if you don’t take any Dinars with you, I would make sure you have sufficient money before you arrive in Jordan (even if you have to get EGP from the bank machine in Cairo) and change the money into Dinars at the airport. I wouldn’t recommend travellers cheques (I didn’t take them – however those around me who did seemed to be have difficulties in cashing them). Either use the bank machines in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Cairo and/or take extra money with you. (I took a lot of money with me – leaving the excess cash in the hotel safe while touring around)

12. Other than dressing ‘modestly’, I am not aware of any other respectful behaviour/traditions in those coutries (other than common courtesy behaviour). For ‘modest’ dress, (particularly at churches and mosques), you are fine so long as your knees and shoulders are covered (short sleeves are fine but ‘cap’ sleeves were not). Men are required to cover their heads in the Jewish holy sites (caps are available if required), however since most people wear hats for sun protection, that wasn’t an issue. On our tour, the men mainly wore long shorts (except at the holy places) and the women tended to wear capris (as opposed to shorts). Everyone typically wore short sleeved shirts (although there was the occasional ‘sleeveless’ shirt – but no ‘tank' tops).

13. One last piece of advice: Bring some granola bars with you (or something to munch on). Breakfast was often extremely early (ie. 5:00 a.m. or earlier), lunch was usually around 1:00 and supper 7:30 or 8:00. I find that too long between meals to go without food (particularly when doing a lot of walking and when it is extremely hot). There were a couple of times I desperately needed something to eat, so I was glad I had a little something with me to bring my blood sugar back up.

DM,

Great info, especially on the currency. I was going to put in my order for Israeli and Jordanian currency tomorrow, so now I'll order more Dinars than I had planned to. (I'm doing Israel Discovery and Jordan Experience in 5 weeks).

I have a question about Tel Aviv and Amman. I have an extra day in each city. I know the hotel in Tel Aviv is on the beach and close to Old Jaffa - will that be enough to keep me occupied for that day? (I'm a solo female traveler, mid-40s and told I shouldn't have to worry about safety in Tel Aviv).

How about Amman? I'm guessing you were in the Crowne Plaza. Is there enough to do in the area? Would it be safe to walk the area alone? Would you recommend I go for jeans instead of shorts when I'm out alone?

Thanks!

Chech

You shouldn't need a huge amount of Dinars, unless you plan on doing a lot of shopping. The issue some of the people had on the trip was they only had a minimal amount of money at that point in time and I think they had planned on obtaining more while in Jordan. However I don't think anyone actually ended up running out of money. [Not 100% sure of the exact money/banking issues as I had enough dinars with me - just relaying snippets of overhead conversation(s) - it is possible there was no bank access in the area we were at that particular point in time and they obtained money elsewhere.]

We arrived in Tel Aviv a day early as well, however used much of the time getting some much needed sleep (it was a very looooong and tiring flights to get there). We did venture out a bit and it did seem to be quite safe (although at one point the area we were walking in did seem to get a bit 'seedier', so we just moved over a couple of blocks and everything was okay.) The hotel is on the beach, so if you enjoy sitting on the beach that is the perfect way to spend part of your day. You should definitely be able to find enough to amuse yourself - at the very least the hotel should be able to give you ideas of where to go or what to do if you start to get bored.

We arrived in Amman mid-afternoon and the Rep. suggested we check out the shopping district a couple of blocks away. We attempted to, however since it was their holy day practically everything was closed and the area was almost like a ghost town. Some of the folks on our tour stayed an extra day at the end of the trip and had made some sort of arrangements to go to the Dead Sea for the day. If we had stayed an extra day I would have definitely looked into going to the Dead Sea. (We only spent a short time there while in Israel, however I would have loved to have spent more time there - it also would have been interesting to go there on the Jordan side). We were at the Crowne Plaza and the area appeared to be safe - although, like I said, it was like a 'ghost town' when we were there, so it's really hard to say with certainty.

You may want to consider wearing long pants (or capris) in Jordan when out alone. One thing I did notice in Egypt (and to a certain extent in Jordan) was that you didn't see a lot of women, and those you did see were wearing traditional clothing. So, a female walking around alone in shorts might attract too much unwanted attention (but that is just a guess).

Thanks DM. Great info.

I'm curious why you felt there wasn't enough time at the Dead Sea. Did you not get there until late? By early December, it's going to be getting dark fairly early for our tour (around 4:30 pm). Will we have enough time to go for a dip in daylight?

It's definitely a consideration for my full free day in Amman. If the Crowne Plaza can hook me up with a day tour to the Jordan side, I'd take it.

Oh, one more question...did they rotate seats on the bus?

thx!

Chech

We didn't arrive at the Dead Sea until early evening (about 5:00 or 5:30 if I remember correctly). There was essentially just enough time to take a quick dip and then shower before supper. We were also advised that fair skinned people should only spend about 15 mins. in the water (I actually spent 1/2 hour with no problems, but then I don't typically burn easily.) If it hadn't been for the warning, I would have stayed in the water much longer (and been late for supper). After supper it was dark and we weren't sure if you were allowed (or if there was proper lighting) in the water after dark. We left fairly early the next morning (around 8:00 or 8:30 I believe). Some of us took an early morning (6:00 a.m.) dip before breakfast, so I did get in the water more than once. I just feel that it would have been nice to have had at least 1/2 a day there so you could take multiple dips if you wanted and actually have time to fully enjoy the warm soothing water.

They didn't officially rotate seats on the bus in any of the countries, however everyone made an effort to sit in a different place each day so I don't think it was an issue for anyone. (Most people on the tour were seasoned travellers and used to rotating).

Ah. That's too bad. With sunset at 4:30, we're liable to get there after dark unless they alter the program a little. The hotel that is listed on the website says it has an indoor pool with Dead Sea water. I'm guessing that would be lit.

All the more reason to seek out an extra day on the Dead Sea from Amman!

Oh...one more questions...which Crowne Plaza did you stay at in Amman. There's a couple listed. Was it the one on King Faisal near the Roman theatre?

Thanks!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Chech,

Thank you everyone for sharing your valuable information. For DM, thanks for the details;re: #3, how much did you spend tipping in total if we may ask? #6 Israel, no one has done a tour tale with detail of where they went, did they enjoy it, how were the guides and any advise (other than Dead Sea)? re:the Nile Cruise, were you on the Tosca? Did you see any of the other ships? Some concerns were posted over conditions of the older ships. re: money, did you use mostly US$ or convert currency and should we brings several hundred or more in small bills, again if we may ask? Again thanks for your input; we like to be prepared.