the experience cost £57 each and, while seeing the pyramids was incredible, there were several disappointments. our guide, Mimo, was informative, but we expected more from the overall service. we paid £32 for two scarves, which, although egyptian cotton, felt massively overpriced. we had to negotiate the price down from £50 ourselves, as the guide didn’t step in to help, the guy selling the scarves was the guides "friend". later, we saw similar scarves for just £10, which was frustrating—we highly recommend bringing your own. when we asked about affordable souvenirs, we were instead taken to an expensive shop, which felt like a setup.
quad biking was enjoyable but didn’t last the full guaranteed hour, and rather than engaging with us, the quad bike guide just sat in front of my friend’s bike. the camel ride was well-handled, and the driver did a great job, but the food was a major letdown—just a syrian shawarma takeaway for the hotel, far from what we expected. the biggest disappointment was the tour’s timing. we started at 9 am and were supposed to finish at 3 pm, but it ended abruptly at 1 pm, leaving us feeling shortchanged.
then there was the tipping culture, which completely caught us off guard. we were strongly encouraged to tip generously without being given clear guidance on what was appropriate. in the end, we tipped together as 500 egp to the camel ride handler, 200 to the quad bike guide, 200 to the driver, and 500 to the guide—far more than necessary. looking back, 100 egp for the camel and quad bike guides, 200 for the driver, and 400 for the main guide would have been reasonable, but the lack of transparency made it feel like we were being taken advantage of.
after factoring in tips, the total cost came to around £100 each. given the rushed itinerary, overpriced add-ons, and lack of clear communication, we left feeling more disappointed than satisfied.