Welcome to Egypt! After you step off the plane you will be met by our local representative who will help orient you and assist you with your luggage, through passport control and on to your waiting transfer. Outside of the airport you will meet your friendly guide who will take you to your Cairo home for the next 3 nights, the Mena House Palace Hotel.
Enroute you have the option to visit Al-Rifa'i Mosque (keeping busy helps to stave off the Jetlag after-all!).
Check into your hotel and this evening enjoy a welcome buffet Dinner at the hotel, inclusive of 2 local beers or half a bottle of local wine.
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Awake invigorated this morning for your first full day of exploring Egypt. Early this morning you will transfer the short distance to the Giza Plateau and experience up close the majesty of the Great Pyramids and the mysterious Sphinx. Cairo is a bustling metropolis of over 20 million people ( estimated to be over 28 Million in the Greater Cairo, more than the population of our entire country!) so the traffic can be quite an experience and 10 km drives may take over an hour. It's an exercise in patience but you will be in good hands. There is an old adage, ' If you can drive in Cairo, you can drive anywhere'.
With your guide you'll visit the highest point of the plateau to have a panoramic view of the area. Here you may be able to enter one of the smaller pyramids (Chephren or Mycerinos.) Khufu/ Cheops Pyramid can also be entered for a supplement. Your guide will discuss this with you in the morning and you can decide before you enter the plateau if you would like to purchase the extra ticket to enter Khufu's pyramid. Afterwards head to the forefront of the pyramids to walk around and capture images of the Great Sphinx.
Following this amazing experience visit the Egyptian Museum, another absolute must on a tour to Cairo. Your guide will take you through the history of Pharaonic Egypt with the help of the artefacts exhibited, from Narmer to Akhenaton and Ramses. Of course, the galleries with the treasures of Tutankhamen will be carefully explained.
Photography tickets can currently be purchased on arrival at the museum and they allow you to take pictures of most exhibits within the museum, with the exception of Tutankhamun and some of the mummy rooms.
Once you've had your fill of history, you'll depart the museum.The day is at your leisure to enjoy your hotel and it's facilities until this evening when you will enjoy a nostalgic sound and Light show, learning even more about the monuments you visited today followed by dinner in an Egyptian specialty restaurant overlooking the glittering lights of Cairo’s suburbs.
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This morning head off on another adventure into the countryside to the Necropolis , Saqqara. Here you will have the opportunity to enter a few different beautifully decorated tombs from the old kingdom and witness the first recorded step Pyramid in Egypt, designed by Imhotep for the Pharoah Djoser.
After exploring the fascinating tombs you'll return to the city and brave the traffic for Lunch in a park overlooking Medieval Cairo followed by a stroll through Khan el Khalili.
Khan El Khalili: While walking through this famous bazaar you’ll observe daily life and the unique character of this place, with its typical shops and cafés. All manner of curios can be purchased here and if you don’t feel like haggling ask your guide to direct you to one of the fixed price stores that are tucked away in the maze that is Khan el Khalili.
Dinner this evening will be in your hotel.
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Saqqara
Early this morning you will depart Cairo aboard a flight to Luxor. Directly upon arrival your excursion will take you to the amazing Karnak temple complex, the Vatican of the Pharaonic Era. The temple was built and added upon over a period of 2000 years. Here everything is large and some of the most impressive sights will be the monumental gates, enormous halls with pillars and beautiful wall carvings.
Following your tour of Karnak temple you will be taken to your hotel overlooking the Nile. The rest of the day is at your leisure to relax by the pool or on the terrace taking in the scenery.
In the early evening you'll make your way to the illuminated temple of Luxor. Where you will stroll through the temple as the refreshing coolness of night sets in. Return to your hotel for Dinner.
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In the morning you'll turn to the western bank of the river, to the Valleys of the Dead. Here you'll visit the Valley of Kings where among others the tomb of Tutankhamun was found almost intact in the 1920s (you can enter the tomb for an additional ticket approx USD20pp).
The texts and the pictures of the walls are describing the thoughts and imagination of the transformation from life to death. Once totally clear to the pharaohs, it is for us today to a great extent incomprehensible but oh, so fascinating. Approximately 10 of the 60 tombs are opened to the public and you will visit 2 of them. ( possibility to add the tomb of Rameses VI which has exceptional colours and v.few visitors approx USD 35).
Continue a little further down the road to the Valley Temple of Hatshepsut, the famous female Pharaoh , enroute you will also see the Colossus of Memnon once standing outside the temple of Amunhotep III.
Possible to make an optional balloon ride in the early morning over on the west bank of Luxor (NB NOT over the Valley of Kings – not allowed)
Check in at your cruise ship for Lunch with the rest of the day at your leisure. Later enjoy your first dinner aboard the ship.
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Enjoy a morning at leisure. Around Lunch time your ship will start cruising towards Esna lock.
Make your way up to the sundeck and watch the world go by. Not much has changed in the Nile River valley since the time of the pharaohs and the farmer and all his family are working hard on the fields. The intensive green color stands in sharp contrast to the arid yellows and browns of the surrounding desert.
The ship will queue and wait for it's turn in the locks of Esna and will pass through the lock during the afternoon and continue to Edfu.
* Exact cruising time might be altered during the season.
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The visit to Edfu temple this morning is sure to be one of the most memorable moments of your tour. Currently off all cruises tourists must proceed to Edfu temple by horse and cart, which makes quite a spectacle in the streets. The Edfu Horus temple was built approximately 200 BC and is almost perfectly preserved.
Back on the cruiser you will continue to sail southwards toward Kom Ombo where there it's only a short distance from the harbour to the beautifully situated double temple dedicated to the gods of Haroreris and Sobek, the crocodile god. Here you can see some beautifully preserved unwrapped mummified crocodiles.
Back on board your ship will continue to Aswan where you will dock for the night.
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This morning enjoy breakfast and then depart on a day of excursions in Aswan. You will visit the High Dam, this wonder of the new world and learn a little about how it has changed life in the valley. Continue by boat to the Philae temple situated on a small island between the old Aswan Dam and the High Dam. Here the goddess Isis ruled, after she was left alone when her husband the god Osiris was murdered by her brother according to the ancient mythology. Depart the island ( inhabited by friendly temple cats) and take the boat back to Aswan main where you will visit your last stop,the unfinished obelisk in the granite quarry. One cannot help but to be fascinated by the enormity of projects done during a time when no real tools existed.
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Early this morning you will check out of your cruise and enjoy a sailing tour in a classic Nile boat called a felucca, making a stop at the scenic Botanical/ Kitchener island. Finish your tour today with Lunch at a scenic spot.
This afternoon check into your accommodation the beautiful Old Cataract
You can either have the afternoon at leisure or it is possible for us to arrange a tour of a Nubian house or village which would take approximately 2 and a half hours .
Nubian Village: Travel by boat to one of the beautiful Nubian villages along the Nile. The Nubians are a people living on both sides of the border with Sudan. They have their own language and culture and their villages, dressing, music etc are different from the Egyptian. The all speak Arabic today but only with outsiders. Between themselves they keep their language alive. You will visit a house, meet the families and get to know more about them. You can also take a stroll through the village.
Min 2 people USD 45 Min 5 people USD 35
This evening enjoy dinner at your accommodation .
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Check out of your hotel this morning and from Aswan fly the short distance to Abu Simbel . Visit the magnificent temple , famous for its gigantic statues in front and for being cut to pieces and moved away from the rising waters of the Lake Nasser in the 60s. This afternoon you will fly back to Cairo via Aswan.
Check in at hotel in city center. Marriott Cairo or similar.
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Enjoy a leisurely breakfast this morning before later checking out and transferring to the airport for your departure flight.
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