Trip of a lifetime to the Middle East

Jordan | Sep 12 - Sep 17, 2022

We just returned from the Middle East, visiting Israel, Jordan and Egypt. Kim Kim handled the Jordan/Egypt portion. It was an amazing experience. We visited Wadi Rum (The Desert, with beautiful landscapes), Petra, and Amman. We were originally scheduled to go in March 2020, so of course that didn't happen. We had a whole itinerary laid out. It was re-scheduled and canceled twice more due to Covid. During that time, Sarah, who was most helpful, left Kim Kim, and we were handed off to Nada. Nada worked so hard, dealing with airline schedule changes to change the itinerary. I believe this happened three different times, but every time, Nada came thru. Our driver in Jordan the first two days was Bayan, and he was funny and friendly and showed us the sites as we drove thru Jordan. We spent the first night in a Bedouin Camp in the desert, and while rustic, it was beautiful and everything we expected (including Air Conditioning and a full bath!) The next day we were taken to Petra where the sites are just incredible. Buildings carved right into the mountainside. We were escorted thru the Petra site with a guide named Basil, who was very friendly and learned, and explained how the people (The Nabateans) here lived and worked. Then we were driven to Amman, where because of flight delays, we asked the driver to show us a little of the city before taking us to the airport. He (Ali) was most accomodating, and we saw the Blue Mosque, and the Citidel, a fort built by the Romans 2000 years ago. Then we flew to Egypt

In Egypt, we were met at the airport, taken thru security and had a car (driven by Mustafa) take us to our hotel. We were supposed to have a dinner cruise on the Nile, but couldn't make it because of flight delays. No worries, Nada rescheduled it for the next night. Mustafa and our guide Ibrihim picked us up the next day and took us to the Pyramids, Sphinx and the Egyptian Museum of Civilization. A wonderful place with many artifacts some as old as 35000 years. It also had mummies, some were 5000 years old. An Ibrihim explained it all. Very cool. That night we had our dinner cruise on the Nile, which was a lot of fun.

The last day we saw the Alabaster Mosque and the Hanging Church, and learned of their historical significance. Another wonderful day. At midnight, Mustafa was back to pick us up and take us to the airport.

The things to take away from this is
1. For 2+ years and two local specialists, Kim Kim organized and re-organized the perfect tour designed just for us.

2. The Drivers and Guides were friendly, kept us safe, kept us informed to changes along the way, and truly added to the value and enjoyment of our trip. We feel most fortunate that we had them with us.

3. Most of all Nada, our specialist was a great asset. She helped us with finalizing things, suggesting changes, and setting everything up. And as I said this was over the course of 2+ years.
Everyting worked. We were never stuck, and we always had someone with us.

We HIGHLY recommend Kim Kim Tours, and Nada in particular. We will certainly use them again