Disrepectful to skip visit to Mosque?

[kismetique]

DH and I are doing an overnight in Cairo with a private guide. Is it considered bad form or disrespectful to ask the guide to skip visiting any mosque?

 

We really have no problem with visiting a mosque, but we have no idea if we will ever have the opportunity to visit Egypt again, and would much prefer to spend our time seeing the sights we are more interested in. Basically we don't want to be off-putting to our guide by asking that this be skipped - what is your opinion?

 

Thanks!

[Keith1010]

i would make it a positive with the guide rather than a negative. Let the guide know what you want to see rather than talkng about what you don't want to see. It's no big deal and I would not worry about it.

 

Keith

[kismetique]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I tried that route already. When I wrote to about 4 private tour guides, I gave them a very specific list of MUST sees and intentionally left the mosque's off the list. I tried to word it in such a way that I was implying these are the only locations we wish to visit.

 

Every one of them came back with the Ali Mosque in the itinerary. Now, I want to respond and somehow gently let them know that we are not interested. Or, we are wondering if we should just go ahead and visit the Mosque in order not to offend, as that is the absolute last thing we want to do. We are visiting their country and want to show respect.

[cruisemom42]

I don't think they will be offended. Just tell them you prefer to concentrate on the ancient Egyptian sites in your limited time.

 

The Mohammed Ali mosque is not, IMHO, the best mosque to visit anyway. There are several in Cairo that are much more evocative such as Ibn Tulun.

[Susan-M]

DH and I did a private tour from Alexandria to Cairo with a guide who comes highly recommended on Tripadvisor...you'll also find some reviews for her here but she is much better known on TA & fairly new to this forum.

 

Our planned itinerary for the day was:

-Pyramids at Giza and Sphynx

- Muhammad Ali Mosque & Citadel

- Egyptian Museum

 

After spending our 'allotted' time at the Pyramids and Sphynx, DH said to me that he would really like to have more time there since this was the highlight of our trip to Cairo and who knows when we would get back again. I asked our guide if she minded if we skipped the Citadel/Mosque and instead lingered at the Pyramids to wander on our own for a while. She didn't mind at all and our extra hour or so there was a memorable experience ... all of the tour buses from the morning had left and we enjoyed viewing the magnificent pyramids in solitude.

 

We had a quick lunch and then a couple of hours at the museum where she pointed out the highlights (King Tutankhamen's treasures from his tomb are amazing).

 

We were glad that we had focussed on just the two sites rather than three and since we had seen several mosques in Istanbul, did not feel the need to see one in Cairo.

 

Our guide was Rasha, who owns: http://www.egyptdailytours.com/

We were very pleased with her...she is well qualified, professional and personable. It was a very educational and enjoyable day! (One thing I appreciated was that when we were initially making the arrangements she pointed out that she does not do the 'obligatory' shopping stops that other tour companies do...she would only take us shopping if we wanted to.)

[micked10@earthlink.net]

I agree with you about Rasha being very upfront about not taking you shopping unless you want too. I contacted her for next Nov. and her first reply to me was that she would suggest sights and also do what we had suggested but to be aware that she does not take you shopping. I really appreciated this since I can shop at home and do not want to waste time going to papyrus, rug or perfume shops. I am mainly interested in the museums and sights of Cairo.

Her replies are very quick and I appreciate that too.

micked10

[hightownCO]

Just wondered if Rasha requires a deposit in advance? What are her costs if you don't mind sharing?

[Susan-M]

Just wondered if Rasha requires a deposit in advance? What are her costs if you don't mind sharing?

Hi Sharon,

Rasha didn't require a deposit when we booked with her for this past October. The cost was $130 each for DH and I (we had a private tour, so just the 2 of us, plus Rasha and the driver.) The price included admission to sites, but not lunch ...we had an inexpensive lunch at a local take-out (Egyptian, not American:) and our only other expense was tips.

 

We had 3 private guides on this past trip who didn't require deposits, but 2 of them mentioned that they had been 'stood up' in the previous week, so I wouldn't be surprised if more guides start asking for deposits.

[MercedMike]

The entire point of having a private tour is that it will be done the way YOU want it to.

 

We booked with Egyptian Express http://www.egyptianexpress.com/shore_excursions.html

And I had a long correspondence with them and specified exactly what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do it. They were extremely cooperative and arranged a perfect itinerary (with NO mosque and VERY LIMITED shopping) exactly as I asked.

 

Check out our review and pics at http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/holyland2.html

 

If they sent you a proposed itinerary that is not to your liking, let them know exactly why and tell them what you want changed. If your tour company is not doing it that way, they are not proper businessmen.

 

It is not a matter of being polite, or not respecting anyone. It is simply a matter that you are buying something and have every right to specify what you plan to pay for.

 

I will say that on a previous visit to Egypt we did visit the mosque and it is very interesting and well worth seeing.

Check out our review and pics at http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/egypt9.html

But you have to decide how to use your limited time.

 

You will love Egypt. Have a GREAT cruise!