In Search of Egypt's Ancient Lands

A Grand 19 Day Dream Vacation win Egypt
including a stay on the Red Sea and a Sharm El Sheikh Honeymoon Resort , the Lair of Rameses : Tanis, modern San El Hagar--famed in the film Raiders of the Lost Ark as the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant, the Suez Canal and of cours an 8 day Nile Cruise

A 19 Day tour in Egypt with an 8 day Nile Cruise and a
one week stay in a Red Sea Resort in Sharm El Sheikh

See the Pyramids,the Sphinx, the timeless temples along the Nile in Luxury fit for a Pharaoh. Meet the locals: Enjoy a home hosted meal. Weekly year round. Add Petra ? How would you like to cruise the Nile the way the Pharaoh & Cleopatra did ? These graceful boats will allow you to cruise the great river in a stately Pharaonic style. Our 11-day "soft adventure" cruise visits Cairo, all of Upper Egypt's top sights, and gives you the chance to see the timeless Nile as adventurers have seen it throughout the ages , come and tour Bubastis, capital of the 22nd and 23rd dynasties. Here, the cat was more than a king, it was honored as a goddess .

DAY 1 - CAIRO : Arrive weekly on a Wednesday or a Fridays ( subject to cruise availability which sails on Saturdays and Mondays)
Upon arrival, our local rep. will escort you to your comfortable hotel.
All transfers in Egypt are on a private basis. Private air conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur .
Visa may be secured upon arrival , please pay the $ 15 fee in cash at Cairo Airport , please pay in USD or Euro , this is available for a limited number of nationalities such as American , Australian, NZ , Canadian, EU , Singaporean, and Japanese Citizens , if in doubt about your eligibility , please contact the Egyptian Consulate nearest you . After exiting the terminal, our local representative will escort you to the hotel : Hilton, the Grand Hyatt, Cairo Marriott or similar.

DAY 2 - CAIRO : Thursday or Saturday :(BL)
Breakfast at the hotel . Morning at leisure. Lunch is served at a local restaurant .In the afternoon we see Giza's major sights: Giza Pyramids, and the mighty Sphinx.

DAY 3 - CAIRO & GIZA - Home Hosted Dinner - Friday or a Sunday (BL)
Today we see Cairo's major sights: the Egyptian Museum, including the Mummies Room. Lunch at a local restaurant. Before we had for a walking tour of Khan El Khalili and Muizz LedeenAllah districts .
We'll take our dinner at a local family's home , Home hosted meal, meet the locals, you may wish to bring token gifts to exchange with the host family (T shirt or small souvenir from your home town). If you rather have a quiet evening at your hotel, please let's know.

DAY 4 - LUXOR - Saturday or a Monday (BLD)
Morning flight to Luxor , we'll escort you to your Nile cruises . Check- in is at noon, if/when you arrive earlier your cabin may not be ready , yet all the public facilities on board are at your disposal.

complimentary welcome fruit basket awaits you in your cabin.

Today we tour the Ancient Workers Village at Deir El Medineh, the first known "Workers Village" these were the true creative heroes who built the temples & tombs for the mighty Pharaohs of the Nile Kingdom.

Deir El Medinah is on Luxor's west bank you get a totally different perspective on ancient Egyptian life, at the ancient workers' settlement of Deir el-Medinah. While most of the imposing stone monuments and sites of Egypt honor the lives and after-lives of royalty, Deir el-Medinah gives us unique and surprising insights into the ordinary citizens who constructed and decorated the tombs.

Here we'll see the excavated homes shared by laborers with their domestic animals. These quarters were surprisingly large, with three good-sized rooms, courtyard, kitchen, and even storage cellars. While ancient Egypt might not have been a workers' paradise, we'll see that artisans and builders were highly regarded in their community. We are proud to be the only operator to offer regular visits to this singular ancient settlement in its tour and cruise programs. Evening Sound & Light show at Karnak Temple.

DAY 5 - VALLEY OF THE KINGS Tuesday (cBLD)
Today we tour the Valley of the Kings, including King Tut's tomb, Valley of the Queens, Queen Hatshepsut's Temple and the Colossi of Memnon. After a shipboard lunch. Sail for Edfu where we dock for the night.

DAY 6 - EDFU & ASWAN Wednesday (cBLD)
In Edfu, we board horse-drawn carriages for the ride to the Temple of Horus. The best preserved temple in Egypt. Returning to our ship, we set sail for Aswan .Complimentary Galabya , you may wish to try on for the evening when there's a jolly galabia party aboard.

DAY 7 -ASWAN & CAMEL CARAVAN Thursday (BLD)
Get ready for the tour of Aswan Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk, The Nubian Museum, and Philae Temple ,before we head back for our lunch aboard. In the afternoon we board a graceful felucca and cruise among the islands of the Nile, be our guest if you wish on a complimentary short camel caravan to a near by Nubian Village for tea with the locals. Return to the ship in time for your "afternoon Tea"

DAY 8 - KOM OMBO - Friday (BLD)
Morning at leisure or join us for an optional tour to Abu Simbel by plane.
In the afternoon we sail for Kom Ombo. Where we dock for the night.

DAY 9 - KOM OMBO - Saturday (BLD)
We explore the twin Temples of Haroeris , the Sun God, and Sobek , the Crocodile God, at Kom Ombo, . Returning to our ship in time for tea. We set sail for Luxor.

DAY 10 - LUXOR - Sunday (BLD)
After breakfast, on to the Gigantic Temple of Karnak & the great temple of Luxor are our goal this morning , after lunch we see the most recent discoveries housed in the relatively new & charming Luxor Museum. Return to our Nile cruiser in time for afternoon tea

DAY 11- LUXOR/ Sharm El Sheikh - Red Sea - (cB)
Check- out, breakfast on board . Fly to Sharm El Sheikh non-stop or via Cairo . The rest of the day is yours to enjoy this unique desert beach resort. Relax by the cerulean waters, take a complimentary camel ride at your option , and observe in the distance the steady line of ships heading to and from the Suez Canal.
Sunset Camel Caravan or on Horse Backs :
A two hour caravan on camels, if you prefer to enjoy a 2 hour of horse back riding, please do let's know, but in this case the horse ride will not be into the Sahara .
The camel caravan is fully escorted & guided as well by local Bedouins through the desert and through the mountain passes of El Aat mountain , we stop at the highest point in the valley for a cup of tea with the Bedouin, take in the the evening charm of the desert & nature before we head back to your hotel.

Day 12 - Sharm El Sheikh - (cB)
Enjoy the beach or take one of the local optional tours. Breakfast is included daily at your hotel.

DAY 13 - Sharm El Sheikh, Snorkel or Dive at your option - (cB)
The Red Sea just off "Sharm" is replete with fascinating coral and aquatic species unique to this area.
You may spend the full day today ( optional excursion - your expense ) exploring these wonders as you snorkel or scuba dive (for which proof of certification is a must ). There's also time to relax, take an optional excursion, or look into the life of the Bedouins who have made a way of life in the desert.

Day 14 - Sharm El Sheikh - (cB)
Enjoy the beach or take one of the local optional tours. Breakfast is included daily at your hotel.

Day 15 - Sharm El Sheikh - (cB)
Enjoy the beach or take one of the local optional tours. Breakfast is included daily at your hotel.

Day 16 - Sharm El Sheikh - (cB)
Enjoy the beach or take one of the local optional tours. Breakfast is included daily at your hotel.

Day 17 -Cairo (cB)
Fly back to Cairo , transfer is included to your hotel.
With your travel guide book in hand, explore Cairo as you wish or go on a shopping spree, the choice is all yours.

DAY 18 - Tanis - Suez Canal (B. Lunch Box )
Breakfast is included at the hotel, lunch box will be prepared by your chef with bottled water.

To the Lair of Rameses and the Suez Canal

Venture where few visitors have gone before, away from trafficked pathways and neatly packaged tours, to the legendary capital of Rameses II, the Great. So unusual is this full-day adventure, and so select are the people who take it, that special permits are required from the Egyptian Department of Antiquities. And if this opportunity is not enough to whet your appetite, we'll round out a spectacular day with a journey forward through the centuries, to the modern wonder of the Suez Canal.

Arrange your wake-up call . . . we'll be heading out from Cairo at 6 a.m. on our day of discovery. We'll make our way through busy streets, and beyond, to the fertile farmlands of the Nile Delta, seemingly unchanged since the time of the pharaohs, watered by a web of canals running from the life-giving Nile, worked by villagers with hand tools and the aid of camels and donkeys. We'll pass through Zagazig, a bustling cotton and grain farming center, and stop at nearby Bubastis, capital of the 22nd and 23rd dynasties. Here, the cat was more than a king, it was honored as a goddess, and sacred cats were buried in chambers that lie behind an Old Kingdom Chapel. Parts of temples erected by Osorkon II and Nectanebo II also remain.

But this is only prologue ... We'll continue to Tanis--modern San El Hagar--famed in the film Raiders of the Lost Ark as the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant. Tanis was the capital of Smendes, founder of the 21st Dynasty, a grand center whose rich remains include the main temple of Amun, and a royal Necropolis with the only Pharaonic burials never touched by ancient tomb raiders. There are even artificial lakes contained by limestone blocks.

So grand was Tanis that many believe that it was the capital of Rameses the Great. Among the layers of cities and palaces might lie the site of the Pharaoh's court that was built by the labor of the ancient Hebrews. before Moses led them out of Egypt.

Tanis is a restricted site because of its ongoing excavations and its intact burial chambers that are still yielding treasures and understanding of the ancients. It will be your privilege to make your own discoveries as one of the few to tread these stones. Because our path is away from the usual routes of visitors, we will travel with provisions, including a box lunch, and of course, bottled water.

After our discovery of Tanis, we'll journey northeastward through the delta and across the centuries to a wonder of the modern world. The Suez Canal opened in 1869 to international celebration that included the commissioning of the opera Aida, after ten years of excavation that employed more than a million laborers. The canal was the technological feat of its day, connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, cutting trade routes to the East in half, and changing the course of history. Even today it is the mainstay of Egypt's economy, its neutrality guaranteed by treaty.

We'll visit Ismailia, where the historic Canal headquarters are located. We'll soak up the atmosphere of worldwide commerce passing through this sash of the sea, and conjure up the international intrigues of bygone days, as we take a break for tea and sandwiches at a local establishment. If time permits, we'll see the fortifications of the Bar Lev line, held by Israel after the Six Day War of 1967, and demolished by water cannon in 1973 in a surprise Egyptian attack.

After a day of encounters with ancient and modern history, we'll continue on our way back to Cairo.

DAY 19 - Departure - Wednesday (cB)
Our staff escorts you to the airport for your flight home. Bon Voyage

Deluxe Hotels & Cruise : RATES per person in USD $ :
Sample Deluxe Nile Cruises : M/S Monaco or M/S Monte Carlo, or similar

First class ( 4 stars ) hotels & Cruise : RATES per person in USD $ :

sample Cruises : M/S Nile Dream- M/S Ruby or similar
Hotel : Sonesta Cairo or similar

Dec 20 - Jan 5 & Easter Week : Please add 20% holiday supplement.

YOUR TOUR INCLUDES :

• Egyptian domestic airfares as described in the itinerary in " Y " class . Please add $150 to upgrade to business class.
  
• All airport transfers and airport taxes in Egypt.
  
• Hotel accommodations in the category you select , including taxes and breakfast daily .
  
• Pre set-menu (table d'hôte) meals as indicated in the itinerary above.
  
• Nile cruise based on your category selection, with all shore excursions and all meals on board .Complimentary welcome drink upon arrival on board the Nile Cruise .Complimentary welcome fruit basket on board the Nile Cruise.
  
• Large bottle of water ( per person ) delivered to you cabin daily while you are on board the Nile Cruise.
  
• Tea or coffee an bottled water with each / every meal while you are on board the Nile Cruise.
  
• Guided sightseeing by air-conditioned motorcoach, including all admissions fees.
  

Ultra Deluxe Category :

Sample Ultra Deluxe Hotels :
Four Seasons Nile Plaza , or Four Seasons First Residence : Deluxe Room
Four Seasons Sharm El Sheikh : Deluxe Room

Sample of the The Ultra Deluxe Nile Cruise : Oberoi Zahra Deluxe Nile Cruiser .
Sonesta Star Goddess ( Beethoven Suite )
Private guide / egyptologist in Cairo and on board the Nile cruise .

Dec 20 - Jan 5 & Easter Week : Please add 10% holiday supplement

Not included :

• Insurance
• Air fare from/ to your home country .

• Visa may be secured upon arrival , please pay the $ 15 fee in cash at Cairo Airport , please pay in USD or Euro , this is available for a limited number of nationalities such as American , Australian, NZ , Canadian, EU , Singaporean, and Japanese Citizens , if in doubt about your eligibility , please contact the Egyptian Consulate nearest you . After exiting the terminal, our local representative will escort you to the hotel

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What other guests say about our services :
Adrian and Melina

-------- Original Message --------
From: "Adrian"
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 2:04 PM
To: omar@travelinstyle.com>, > Subject: We're Back!

We just wanted to let you know we made it back home after our weeklong detour through Italy. Athens was fantastic. The tours were very good, and short of heading out to the islands, I can't think of a single thing we would have rather done while there.



Although we had an excellent time in Athens, Egypt was by far the highlight of our entire trip, including Italy. We just can't say enough about Ahmed, Isis, Ashraf, and all our drivers. We simply could not have done the trip without their help. Ahmed was very professional, courteous, and helpful, and always went out of his way to make sure we
were where we needed to be at the right time. Our Egyptologist guides, Isis and Ashraf, were both very knowledgeable and made our visit so much better with their endless supply of information. We wore out both days
long before they did. We will definitely try to come back to Egypt when we have more time to spend.



Thank you so much for arranging the trip, allowing us to customize what we needed to, and putting us in touch with such good people. And please find attached pictures of us enjoying a camel ride. :-)



Adrian & Melina