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(07 Nights / 08 Days )
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Day 1: |
Upon your arrival at Cairo International Airport you will be met and assisted by our Representative who will be holding a sign bearing your name (Please advise us of your exact international flight details: Airline, flight number and arrival time). Our Rep will guide you through luggage identification, portage and customs clearance. Then he or she will drive you by private air-conditioned car to your hotel and assist you with check-in. Overnight in Cairo |
Day 2: |
After your (included) breakfast at your hotel check out then our private professional Egyptologist English-speaking guide will meet you and accompany you by air conditioned private car to visit The Three Great Pyramids of Giza, listed among the seven wonders of the ancient world. This is an experience not to be missed! The largest and oldest of the Pyramids is that of Cheops (Khufu). It was built in the 4th dynasty (about 2960 B.C.). The ancient Egyptians believed that the spirit continued to live eternally after death, so they placed wooden boats near each pyramid to be at the disposal of the king when he went on his journey with the sun god, Ra, in the afterworld. In the front of the Pyramid of Khephre, we find the Sphinx, carved from a single piece of stone. Eulogized in poetry, enthroned in legend, the Sphinx has remained a symbol of strength, wisdom and mystery across the ages. The body of a lion with the head of a king or God, the Sphinx faces the rising sun and sits adjacent to a temple which resembles the sun temples found elsewhere in Egypt. Then, enjoy your (included) Lunch at an Oriental Restaurant. Next, you’ll visit Sakkara, a site even more ancient than the Pyramids, which contains tombs and temples spanning a 3,000 year period, including the famous Step Pyramid of Djoser. Then you will visit Memphis, a city of great importance throughout Pharaonic history. For much of the time it was the capital of the “Two Lands” (upper Egypt and lower Egypt), but retained it’s eminence even when Thebes grew to be the royal and religious capital during the New Kingdom. After your (on-your-own) dinner, our Rep will meet you at your hotel to accompany you by private air-conditioned car to Then our rep will escort you to the railway station where you will board a First Class Sleeper Train to Aswan. Dinner and breakfast will be provided at no extra charge aboard the train. Overnight on Train |
Day 3: |
Breakfast on Train. Upon your arrival at Aswan Railway Station our Rep will meet you to escort you by private air conditioned car to your Nile Cruise. Your onboard accommodations will include all meals, beginning with lunch on your first day and ending with breakfast on your last. After lunch on your cruise our Private Professional English-speaking Egyptologist will meet you to accompany you by private air-conditioned Motor Coach to visit The High Dam a modern wonder built to divert the Nile and prevent flooding while providing irrigation and electricity for all of Egypt . Then visit the Philae Temple, which was dismantled and reassembled on Agilika Island (about 550 meters from its original home on Philae Island) in the wake of the High Dam. The temple - dedicated to the goddess Isis - is in a beautiful setting which has been re-landscaped to match its original grandeur. Board your cruise and sail to KomOmbo. Dinner & Overnight On Board Cruise |
Day 4: |
Breakfast onboard, after which our Private Professional English-Speaking Egyptologist will meet you to accompany you by private air-conditioned car to visit the Temple of Kom Ombo. The temple is unique because it is actually a double temple dedicated to Sobek, the crocodile god, and Horus, the falcon-headed god. Sail to Edfu where the same guide will meet you to accompany you by private air-conditioned car to visit the Temple of Horus. This temple was excavated in the last century by Auguste Mariette. Its courtyard and surroundings had been buried beneath centuries of sand, not to mention many houses built by the local villagers. Deep within the temple is the sanctuary where a statue of Horus would have been cared for by priests. Sail to Esna and cross the Lock. Sail to Luxor. Dinner & Overnight Onboard |
Day 5: |
Breakfast onboard, cross Esna locks, after which our Private Professional English-Speaking Egyptologist will meet you to accompany you by private air-conditioned car to visit the West Bank, where the Valley of the Kings awaits! This is where the ancient Egyptians entombed their leaders. They believed that “to speak the name of the dead is to make him live again," so they recorded the names of their kings here that they might be read and spoken by visitors for all time. They certainly achieved their objective! While many of the tombs have been raided, and many of the artifacts have been scattered to museums worldwide, the guide will still recount fascinating stories as you soak in the atmosphere. Then visit the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, one of the most dramatically situated in the world. The queen's architect, Senenmut, designed it and set it at the head of a valley over shadowed by a mountain peak. Visit the Colossi Of Memnon Built in Thebes as a mortuary temple by Amenhotep III, it was guarded by two collossal statues atop the outer gates appropriately called the "Colossi of Memnon". Lunch aboard your ship and afternoon at your leisure. Overnight Onboard. |
Day 6: |
Disembarkation after breakfast. Then our Private Professional English-Speaking Egyptologist will meet you to accompany you by private air-conditioned car to visit Karnak Temple built over 2000 years and dedicated to the Theben triad of Amon, Mut and Khons. Karnak can be a confusing place, its buildings spanning a long period in Egyptian history. Most visitors have very little time to see much of the temple, and many visits are needed to get even a brief idea of the temple as a whole. Then visit Luxor Temple, central to the most important festival of the year for ancient Egyptians, the festival of Opet. The ancients believed that once a year the divine image of Amun with his consort, Mut, and their son, Khonsu, would journey in their sacred barges from Karnak Temple to the temple at Luxor to celebrate the festival during the inundation. Built largely by Amenhotep III and Ramesses II, it appears that the temple's purpose was for a suitable setting for the rituals of the festival. Then our Rep will drive you to Luxor Railway Station to Travel by Sleeping Train To Cairo. Hot dinner & breakfast will be served in your cabin or in the restaurant per your choice. Dinner & Overnight On Board Train |
Day 7: |
After breakfast and upon your arrival at Cairo Railway station, our private professional English-speaking Egyptologist and Guide will meet you and escort you by private A/C car tovisit the world-famous Museum of Egyptian Antiquities which houses collections that now exceed 120,000 artifacts ranging from the prehistoric era to the Greco–Roman period. It has actually been calculated that if you were to spend one minute at each exhibit it would take nine months to see the entire collection! Of course, here you will want to see the treasures from Tutankhamen's tomb, which occupy a large area along almost two side of the upper floor. Chariots, gloves, jewelery, the famous death mask – a myriad of antiquities from the famous tomb of “King Tut” are on display. Then visit the Citadel of Saladen, built by Saladin in the 12th century to protect the old city of Cairo. You can see the pyramids of Giza from here to the west on a rare clear day. Visit the Alabaster Mosque then, in Coptic Cairo, the “Hanging Church” built atop the southern tower gate of the Babylon fortress. From this precarious perch the church derives its name, which literally translates from the Arabic word for “suspended.” The church has been built and rebuilt a number of times, first in the 3rd or 4th century and finally in the 11th century when it became the seat of the Coptic patriarchy until the 14th century. It is built in the Basilican Style. Then visit the Jewish Synagogue lying behind the Hanging Church, which is reported to have been erected in the 6th century. The temple site and the surrounding grounds, originally a property of the church, were acquired by the Jews in return for "kantars of gold". The basilican-style temple contains a Jewish heritage library that was inaugurated on November 25, 1997. You will also visit Mary Girgis, the Coptic church where you will see the image of St George as a Roman soldier mounted on a fine Arabian horse and spearing a dragon. It is a familiar scene repeated often throughout Old Cairo, where there are two facilities dedicated to him. Throughout the Christian East, Saint George is undoubtedly the most popular warrior-saint, and in the Coptic churches of Cairo there are now more than twenty relics of the equestrian saint. Lunch at Oriental Restaurant You will then be driven to your hotel for Check-in & Overnight in Cairo. |
Day 8: |
Breakfast at hotel our Rep will meet you to accompany you by private air-conditioned car to transfer to Cairo International Airport in where you will be assisted in luggage portage and Through Passport Control Formalities for Final Departure.(Please Advise Your Exact International Flight Details: Air-carrier Name, Flight Number and Departure Time). |
The Program Includes: |
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The Program Excludes: |
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