An Egyptologist that rocked our trip!

Hesham Abdulla was our guide and Egyptologist during our entire trip to Egypt.  I can say without equivocation that Hesham made our trip the spectacular experience that it was.

Hesham is a consummate scholar of Egyptian history.  He is enthusiastic about his subject.  He is personable and charming.  And he is incredibly patient with his group of 24 tourists.  Some of us asked tiresome questions.  Some of us got lost from the group at times.  Some of us were slow walkers.  All of us mispronounced his name frequently, some up till the very last day of our eight days of togetherness!  Always Hesham was perfectly calm and imperturbable. 

Hesham Abdulla on Lake Nasser, near Aswan

We had two particularly memorable experiences with Hesham.  One was our felluca ride around Kitchener Island in the Nile near Aswan.  Originally scheduled to be a one-hour tour, it lasted about three hours because we became becalmed near the end of our sail.  Hesham used that time to answer any and all questions about Egypt and its history, the revolution, the current election and other recent events.  The time passed by and we were all entertained and informed at the same time.

The other was our visit to the mosque of Sultan Hassan in Cairo on the last day of our tour.  Hesham gave a mini lecture about the Muslim religion, its history and its beliefs, and made us feel perfectly comfortable to ask anything we liked about this subject.

Inside the mosque of Sultan Hassan

All this, and everything you ever wanted to know about Pharaohs and temples and tombs!