International Travel & Congresses / Rafi Shelef Tourism (International) Ltd | Israel - Lonely Planet Forum

ONLINE

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 08:06:30 +0000

Hi,

I have been in contact with the International Travel & Congresses / Rafi Shelef Tourism (International) Ltd company about a tour from Eilat to Cairo. There website is http://www.international-travel.co.il/

I cannot find any reviews about them on the internet, so I am wondering has anybody come accross them or have anything good/bad to say about them?

I am just a bit worried as I cannot find any reviews about them online when from the website they seem to be fairly big. Maybe I am been overly suspicious.

ONLINE

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 13:45:22 +0000

Why are you taking a tour?
Getting from Eilat to Cairo is pretty much straightforward
1. Have a visa for mainland Egypt
2. Get a bus or taxi to the border crossing
3. Cross
4. Catch the bus from Taba (twice a day I believe), it goes directly to Cairo. I took the morning bus several times and it was a 6 hour journey - you don't need a ticket in advance.

Once in Egypt, it would make a lot more sense to take an Egyptian travel company for a tour of Egypt, rather than an Israeli one.

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ONLINE

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 14:00:15 +0000

Thanks for your response.

From reading this web page [http://wikitravel.org/en/Taba] it says this. WARNING: as of September 2012, foreigners are BANNED from taking the bus from Taba to Cairo (they must make the much longer and more expensive trip to Sharm first, then Cairo, for about 85-105EGP).
I just dont have the time to go down south.
Which bus company did you use to go from Taba to Cairo? Was it the east delta bus company as I cant understand there web site?

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ONLINE

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:35:25 +0000

I hadn't heard of this ban - I'll try and inquire.

Anyways, the route that takes you via Sharm is indeed longer (an extra 4-6 hours I'm guessing) and more expensive - but transportation is really quite cheap there - so it probably wouldn't be that significant.

An Israeli outfit called Mazada Tours offers transport to Cairo from Tel Aviv - they have a bad reputation in terms of their tours in Egypt - but if all you want is to get there - they can be trusted - but I'm sure they're a lot more expensive than the public transport option.

http://www.mazada.co.il/index.php/en/

I'll get back to you if I manage to find info on this supposed ban.

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