Greatest Birthday Ever w/ Greatest People Out There - Faiyum, with Shahd, Ahmed, and Joseph, through their company…there are not words to articulate the lovely experience I had. My trip to Faiyum happened to occur on my birthday. Some background: I first met Ahmed while he was engaged by another tour agency (Nice Tours – do not use them) to provide driving service from my hotel to the Cairo airport as part of my overnight trip to Luxor. Ahmed and I immediately sparked a friendship and enjoyed music together on the drive. We exchanged numbers through WhatsApp and stayed in touch. When I arrived back from Luxor, I shared with Ahmed the poor experience with Nice Tours and he took it upon himself to introduce me to Shahd and their company. Shahd contacted me quickly thereafter and, much like the sudden connection with Ahmed, Shahd and I hit it off, began conversing for hours, and also began an immediate friendship for life. I had numerous excursions booked already and after discussing and cultivating this friendship with Shahd, I decided to cancel two trips and book through her. I first went to Saqqara with Shahd’s company, with Ahmed acting as driver for that trip (see my Saqqara review). My second trip was Faiyum. Shahd knew this was my birthday. I decided to cancel an overnight camping trip to the desert and instead spend my birthday with Shahd after cultivating our friendship. She presented me with a further surprise that Ahmed would be the driver for us this day. The day began with the two of them picking me up from my hotel. By this time, we were already strong friends. We laughed all throughout the ride, enjoyed music (both Egyptian and American pop – Ahmed loves his Rhianna), taught one another each other’s languages, and shared with each other more of the everyday details of our lives to further develop this budding friendship. We stopped for breakfast at a local place with an amazing view. This did not feel like a tourist excursion one bit. My friendships with Shahd and Ahmed made it feel far more like a “hey friends, let’s take a day trip for my birthday.” After breakfast, I was introduced to Joseph, our desert drive to traverse the sand dunes, drive us to the prehistoric whale museum, take us to the waterfalls and oasis, and brew us some tea along a calm lake. Joseph was great. Unbelievably friendly, ingratiating. He had a contagious laughter and energy as he sped through the desert blasting Egyptian and Bedouin beats. The four of us laughed all day. Again, this felt far more like a group of friends out on a trip for my birthday. Our first stop was the whale museum and dried up prehistoric ocean bed, experiencing the open desert and seeing the whale fossils. After, the fun really began. Joseph navigating the dunes, the four of us laughing incessantly, the music, everything. The entire experience I have no words to truly convey its wonderfulness. I was supremely impressed with Joseph hitting those dunes and controlling his Land Rover. We took a brief stop afterward for a most lovely scenic view. Some pictures are included here. After, we again navigated dunes until stopping at a small lake where we sandboarding and Joseph brewed us tea along the lake. Shahd and Ahmed had some extra fun with me, teaching me “I want to drink some tea” in Arabic. I shared this with Joseph and he and another driver died in laughter. It was truly a familial feeling. A great group that welcomes you easily. We then drove further to the Rayan waterfalls and a beautiful lake where the sun set across. See the photo. Finally, we drove back to our original breakfast location for dinner. Prior to the trip, Shahd had put forth the energy to ask what I would like. This is when the greatest birthday experience of my life occurred. Shahd and Ahmed secretly planned for a birthday surprise at dinner. All of a sudden, the music changed from Arabic to an English rendition of “Happy Birthday”. Shahd quipped “listen”. I died in laughter and truly held back tears of joy at the kindness of these two individuals. A true reflection of Egyptian hospitality. Then…a cake was brought out from behind me. This was no normal cake. This cake looked tremendously expensive by any measure. Fresh fruit covering the vanilla half, decadent chocolate shavings the chocolate half. I am not exaggerating when I say I cried (and continue to when reflecting back on it or watching the video taken by Shahd) with a sentimentality and joy and shock of the kindness of this experience. At the end of the night, the three of us drove back to Cairo and once again enjoyed music, laughter, and learning about one another’s lives deeper. Further cultivating what will be a lifelong friendship. I remain friends with Shahd and Ahmed and will for life. While I did a great deal of things in Egypt (ATV pyramids, GEM, Giza complex, Luxor, Valley of the Kings, Temple of Hatshepsut, Luxor Temple, Temple of Karnak, Aswan, Abu Simbel, Faiyum, the Civilization Mueseum, and more), Shahd and Ahmed were the true highlight of my experience. When I say friends for life, this is true. My last few days in Egypt, we spent each day together. I spent nights with Ahmed having tea as friends. They provided me the most wonderful birthday and birthday surprise I have ever experienced in my 41 years of life. On their day off, which coincided with my last day, they accompanied me to lunch and the Civilization Museum. My final night there, I took them to dinner at Zayeera Pyramids Elite as a special thank you. When we all parted, we all felt sadness and expressed missing one another for days. Their services went above and beyond just a tour. They are friends. They helped me switch a hotel. They helped me get extra cash due to my idiotic forgetfulness leaving my wallet in the States, and they helped me replace a ring I lost. Shahd routinely would ask ,“Are you happy”. Yes, Shahd, I am. And I will see you again next year and, as promised, I will learn Arabic by then (we committed to learning one another’s languages better, though, Shahd does speak better English than she gives herself credit for). Please, if you are reading this, look no further than booking your excursion with them. You too will be “happy.”