Once again, my plans for Egypt remain on hold. You see, Egypt is my dream trip, but the week before we booked last time, they had a bit of a revolution ;). Now, despite me hearing that it is a very cheap time to visit, I can’t find a single deal even remotely in the same ball park as the great deals I was getting pre-revolution (I believe this is likely due to the fact that the volume of tour groups is down, so there are just less seats to fill over all).
Some facts:
The Travelers: me (26 year old female) and a friend (36 year old female). She’s a teacher, so she’s free basically the entire summer-- I can take a week off as needed with my job. We’re both somewhat extensive travelers, but don’t mind repeats of locations (between the two of us, we’ve been to Mexico, Canada, Fiji, Australia, the Caribbean, Turkey, Italy, and Spain— though those last three are just her, so I’m open to them 
)
When: See above. June, July, or August (though July or August is best for me)
Budget: Ideally, we’d like to do everything as cheaply as possible without having to stay in the slums/ crash in hostels. Between airfare and lodging, we’d like to keep it under $1500 each, though that can be adjusted up (we’d just prefer to be cheap :D).
Interests: I love, love, love history. Love. Beautiful architecture. Good food. Nice people. Did I mention history? A relaxing component-- whether a beach or spa or something is definitely a plus, though historical excitement is a bigger interest.
Last year, when Egypt fell through, we ended up pulling together a last minute trip to Fiji. Between air and housing, we spent about $1600 a pop (food and shopping obviously was a different matter). That was beautiful, amazing, and I definitely want to do it again sometime. . . but we’d like to see somewhere new. Where? I don’t know, that’s why I’m turning to you all. I’ve tossed around Asia (I’d love to see Angkor Wat, for instance), South America (though I did Machu Pichu and am not particularly interested in that again, despite the awesomeness!), Central America, North Africa. . . I just need some good ideas.
Oh, another important factor: extra points for a location where my sweet American money will go farther, rather than costing me double :). (ie: places with good exchange rates are A+ for me).
So: where should I go this summer?
