Who: Vayna Gamble

Location: Egypt

Package Type: Bucket List

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As always, we had first-class accommodations with the help of Rey and Jackye Alton of Almeda Travel.

It is always a pleasure when you can travel with a group of friends. We have a “love-to-travel” group that has been traveling together for over 20 years. We stay ‘travel focused’ because of our leadership at Almeda Travel.

Each year we suggest a destination and Almeda Travel makes it happen. This past summer, we traveled to Dubai and Egypt. It was a wonderful, hot and historical trip. The newness, richness and beauty of Dubai was awe-inspiring as well as the cultural diversity of the country’s visitors. The gold souks (markets) were glistening with rows and rows of stores filled with gold jewelry. The visual of all the shining 22K adornments created an emotional excitement and financial meltdown by the ladies in our group!

As always, we had first-class accommodations with the help of Rey and Jackye Alton of Almeda Travel. Our events included an evening dinner cruise, desert was breathtaking. Thanks to Almeda Travel, the trip was safaris and sand dune driving. The Dubai Mall, a mustsee, especially the indoor ski slope, was a remarkable 120 degrees outside and 20 degrees inside the glassed-in ski area. When you think of Dubai, most people envision the famous 5-star hotel, The Burj al Arab. Indeed it is all that it is written to be, extravagantly fabulous! We toured the public areas of the hotel as a private group and viewed the many exotic and elegant restaurants and the notably luxurious spas, only to wish that one day we could come back for an overnight hotel stay! Almeda Travel planned a rigorous itinerary for us to see, experience and enjoy the sprawling city. From the new, Dubai, to the old historical Egypt, we changed geography but not heat and humidity. Cairo is a bustling, busy, crowded urban city. We visited Giza, the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx, the Egyptian Museum, toured the Islamic City, the Citadel and visited Old Cairo. We stayed in a terrific hotel on the Nile and also stayed in first-class accommodations in Heliopolis, the upscale residential area near the airport. From the capital of Egypt to the cruise up the Nile, we had a memorable cultural journey visiting historic tombs, temples and places such as Abu Simbal, Aswan and Luxor. The people were beautiful and the scenery priceless.