Aswan ... men in galabeyas and turbans, galloping donkeys in front of their carts, the muezzin, calling to prayer. Feluccas sail in the wind down the river Nile, in the cafeterias the shishas are smoking, with this typical apple-tobacco-odour, which greets everyone in this exotic country while people enthusiastically watch a football-game on tv together.
This
website about Aswan gives offers and advices for people who like to travel
on their own. This is not a travel agency ...
The idea was, to create a website, which offers services described in detail
and with a fixed price. There is no haggling nor hassle. Aswan Individual
is a network founded by a tourist, who - after years of experiences in Aswan
- put together trustworthy people: to honour their hospitality and honesty
by publishing their services: with low prices for visitors, but which are
also fair for the Egyptians. We
wish you wonderful days in Aswan!
You pay for your driver / guide / captain / car / felucca: no matter if you are one or 8 people. You pay only for the service - not for each person.
Of course no other tourist will be put in "your" felucca or "your" car!
All people involved in the "Network Aswan Individual" are fully licensed and very professional.
All vehicles (cars, boats) are new and stocked with all necessary safety equipment.
You will NOT! be brought to any papyrus-, spices- or parfumeshop (etc.), where other service providers usually "collect commission for bringing tourists". We will help you to keep away from mass tourism as far as possible!
As in any other country you can give a tip, but no "baksheesh" will be asked from you!
After your return we will ask about your opinion. If you have new ideas, if there is anything we could do better or to add informations to our website which could help others we are very grateful. And of course we love to be praised!
Please see our guestbook for further proof.
"And the idea of Aswan Individual is the opposite of "packages" being sold all over the world. We are not one face from many service providers, and we dont see our guests as one face from many tourists, we are individuals, see our guests as individuals, with their individual wishes."
(Our answer to a travel agent who had been our guest and asked us to sell our offers as packages)
Aswan has so much to
experience. Of course there are the old temples like Abu
Simbel, Philae during the day, Philae Sound and Light Show in the night, the Unfinished
Obelisk, Kalabsha
temple, the Tombs of the Nobles or the temples of Komombo, Edfu and - very special - Sil Sila (by car or felucca).
And: the Aswan of today is so vibrating and lively: you should visit the colorful
market called Suq, visit the
island Elephantine, have dinner with
a Nubian family there, stroll through our Botanical
Garden, have a look from the Highdam and see Nubian
Villages.
Feluccas will take you whereever you want: sail for hours or days: f.ex. cross the
Cataract and enjoy selfmade coffee, sail to Sahel
Island, Sahel
Village, Gharb
Aswan or even make a One-day-trip to see as much as you like. Trips with overnight on the felucca are the camelmarket
in Daraw, Komombo, Silsila or Edfu. Or would you like to fish? Did you ever swim in the Nile?
How about "Crocodile
Watching" on Lake Nasser? Would you like to travel with a Nile
Cruise ship with stops at Komombo Temple and Edfu Temple?
Camels for you or donkeys for children are waiting to bring you to the Tombs of the Nobles and Qubet Al Hawa or the Monastery of St. Simeon. And after all you may relax at the swimming pool, or take a bath in healthy sand if you have rheimatism or rheumatoid arthritis. In the evening its nice to have a perfect view over Aswan from the restaurant Nubian house.
If you plan to visit Aswan on your own, we offer places to stay (holiday flats or hotels), we pick you up, offer drivers with limousines / microbusses with aircondition (if you like with guide) for the transfer to Luxor (including Komombo and Edfu, if you like also Esna Temple), excursion to Komombo / Edfu, (also possible by car:) Silsila or Abu Simbel and choose from any other offer on the sites of Culture / Sightseeing or Adventure / Sport.
Of course, we can also help you in Luxor. If you need a microbus (with guide) to visit the Valley of the Kings, the temple of Hatchepsut, Karnak or Luxor temple, please ask. Hot air balloons fly early, but its worth to see Theben with the sun coming up.
A place, which is not touristic at all, but which I recommend to visit if you love animals, is the Brooke Hospital in Aswan: a charity helping working horses, donkeys and mules through free veterinary treatment.
Have a beautiful time in Aswan and please come back to visit the friends you will have made!
From our guestbook
Dear Petra
-
I feel so lucky to have found Aswan-Individual while planning our recent family
trip to Egypt in March, 2008. We (myself, husband and two teenagers) wanted
to travel independantly, have unique experiences where we could connect with
the real people of Egypt yet still have some assistance with making our plans.
And you, and your local people in Egypt - Waleed and Mustafa - really made
the Aswan part of our trip one we will forever treasure. We got to see a slice
of Egyptian life and culture that I know we would never would have experienced
if we had been on a big group tour or on a nile cruise boat and we felt like
we made some new Egyptian friends in the process. Mustafa ("the Nubian
Eddie Murphy") and his friends and family were so warm and invitiing
in both the Elephantine Island and Westbank Nubian Villages. He was the perfect
laid-back but highly skilled felluca captain and we loved our time on the
Nile. Waleed (the "man with the plan") was so dedicated and so totally
attentive to our needs, the changes we made to our schedule were easily handled
and he made sure all was well during our entire stay. Whatever we needed -
a place to find change for small EP bills for baksheesh, a place to get my
broken glasses fixed - he was genuinely happy to help. Both Waleed and Mustafa
made us feel like family and we are happy and grateful to have had the chance
to meet them in this beautiful part of Egypt.
And of course, you, Petra, made all this possible because of Aswan-Individual
and your interest in having others experience the real Aswan that you clearly
know and love. Making these kinds of plans over the internet at first seemed
intimidating, but you were always so prompt with your follow up to any questions
and were so eager to make sure we had a great time, I just knew that I could
trust your advice and your guidance. Thanks again to all of you at Aswan-Individual
for making our trip to southern Egypt a fantastic one - its only been a month
since our visit and I am already longing to return.
Carol Waller, Idaho, USA
(If anyone wants to contact me directly for any recommendations and/or information,
Petra can provide you with my email)
Please see Carols photos (like
the last 6 here on the left and the one above, thank you for sending them
to us!
....
Dear Mustafa,
Just thought we would write a very quick note of Thanks to you for giving us such a great day out in both your family's village and the trip on your wonderful falucca. It was a pleasure to meet your mother also and to enjoy her home cooking, all of which was very good.
As Petra identified in setting up Aswan Individual it makes a huge difference to tourists if they can feel comfortable with their tour guide and not feel intimidated during their time on a trip. You accomplish these things and are a very honest man which puts your guests at ease from the first time they meet with you.
We were very fortunate to be your only guests for today and we spotted other tourists looking on with envy when saw the space we had on your very comfortable boat.
We wish you good health and continued success with your house rental and your Falucca tour business!
Kind Regards,
Mary & Tony Newton
...
... Overall, we are extremely grateful for the quality of the services we received from Aswan Individuals. We found you from recommendations from friend and also from Tripadvisor and I must say that you have exceeded our expectations and made our 3 days in Aswan very enjoyable and stress-free. I just wished I could have employed your services for Cairo and other parts of Egypt too. I will not hesitate to recommend you to others on TA and look forward to returning to Egypt and seeing Waleed and Mustafa again ...
Chris and Jimmy from Australia
Many many more emails, please see our guestbook
Pdf for download (in german)
with speech in front of the jury of the
Travel One Gründerpreis 2006,
for which Aswan Individual had been nominated
Under this sign we have clearly defined offers with fixed prices mostly in EGP (Egyptian Pounds).
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