Add a foray into the Western Sahara and camping in the White Desert
Compare with the Ultra Deluxe - Suite on the Nile with private balcony

DAY 1 - CAIRO - Monday - Weekly - Year Round . (D)
Transfers in Egypt are always provided to our guests on a private basis , private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur . On arrival, our local rep. will escort you to your comfortable hotel. Our local representative greets you at the airport and whisks you to your hotel. Visa may be issued upon arrival at Cairo Airport for a limited number of citizens such as : American, EU , Canadian , EU Singaporean and Japanese citizens. For Americans , please pay the $ 15 USD fee in cash upon arrival . You are responsible for having your passport in order valid at least for 6 month beyond the date of your arrival in Cairo. Our local rep. meets with a sign that carries your name you after you clear the passport and customs formalities . After exiting the terminal, our local representative will escort you (private vehicle) to the hotel . Dinner is included upon arrival at the hotel.

The King's Chamber in the Great Pyramid was not meant to be visited:
Getting to it is challenging, and once you enter, it is very difficult to turn back. The stone passage is only wide enough for one person. You must be in good physical condition, able to climb several flights of stairs, bend double, crouch and duck-walk for short distances. The King's Chamber itself is the world's most claustrophobic place, with dim light and heavy, hot, oxygen-poor air. There is no ventilation. If you are at all sensitive to claustrophobia or confinement, or if you have any sort of respiratory condition, for your own safety and the safety of others, you must not enter the pyramid because it is impossible to remove a person or to bring aid to them quickly .

Complimentary Dinner is included at a local home:
Meet the locals, you may wish to bring token gifts to exchange with the host family ( T shirt , small souvenirs of your home town) : This evening we'll venture where few ordinary visitors ever tread . . . right into the homes of some of the people of Cairo ! You'll be invited to a family dinner, and while you enjoy wholesome home-cooked specialties, you'll learn about and appreciate the outlook, aspirations, and way of life of your hosts. Be assured, as curious as you may be about your new friends, they're sure to have questions about your own background. Once the ice is broken, you'll enjoy a lively evening, and find that you have more in common than you ever suspected. Of course, you may enjoy dinner in a quiet restaurant with your travel companions, by letting us know your preferences.

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.

Two millennia ago the Mediterranean world was enthralled by the mystery of Isis:

"I, Isis, am all that has been, that is or shall be; no mortal man hath ever seen me unveiled."

Called Aset by the ancient Egyptians, the goddess was a Madonna in the Mediterranean tradition that stretches far, far back to the primitive Mother Goddess from Anatolia, home to some of the oldest human communities on earth.

Isis was the powerful and quick-witted protector of her son Horus, the Sun God. Ancient peoples throughout the Mediterranean regarded Isis and Horus as the perfect Madonna and Child. Another legend says she was
also the mother of the fertility god Min who, judging from the depiction of him on temple walls, needed no help from Viagra!

Because of her wisdom and skill at protection, she was admired as a good magician capable of healing the sick and protecting the dead in their journey to the Underworld. Isis is portrayed regally, as a queen seated on a throne (which may be the meaning of her name), often holding her son Horus as a baby. Other images show her with broad, magnificent gilded wings able to protect the world.

Isis, the great Mother Goddess. Come explore her mystery in timeless Egypt when you Travel in Style!

DAY 11 - CAIRO - Thursday (B)
On Desert Safari for the Day - Fayoum Oases - And you thought the Pyramids were old (BL)
We leave Cairo by sunrise ( private air conditioned car/driver/guide): Full day Fayoum Oases including:
Hawara Pyramid, El Lahoun Pyramid, Ruins of Karanis, drive by Lake Qarun, lunch is included at a local restaurant.

The wilds of the desert begin right on the outskirts of Cairo, and continue for hundreds of miles to the east and west, through sands, rock, mountains, oases, and a surprising variety of scenery and inhabitants.

Join us for a day ranging across the desert like modern nomads. In place of camels, we’ll travel in comfortable, reliable four-by-four Toyota Land Cruisers. Your guide and drivers will meet you at your hotel, and soon you’ll leave bustling Cairo behind as you undertake the drive toward the Oasis of El Fayoum, 150 kilometers to the southwest. Hard as it is to believe, a great inland sea once covered these sands. It was a holy reserve of sacred crocodiles, symbolized by the god Sobek.

We’ll visit the temple of Kom Oshim, drive over ancient lake beds, and alongside the waters of today’s Fayoum Lake to reach the fishermen’s village of Chak Chouk. There we’ll stop for a lunch of fish caught fresh that morning. There will be time to wander the village lanes and discreetly watch the everyday activities of baking flatbread, irrigating crops from the lake’s waters, and bringing in the catch. We’ll also include the craft and pottery museum where the best works of local artisans are on display.

Then it’s into our four-by-fours again, for an off-road adventure! We’ll head alongside and across desert washes, between dunes, and over ancient lake beds for 35 kilometers to the Valley of the Whales ( In Arabic : Wadi-El-Hitan) . Incredibly, these great mammals once thrived - almost forty million years ago- in waters surrounded by sands. We’ll stop and gaze in amazement at their fossilized remains alongside smaller sea creatures that remain in stone.
This valley was discovered in 1936 , by the German geologist George Schweinfurth in the northwestern corner of Wadi El-Rayan.

The valley provides evidence of one of the major changes in this mammal evolution has been declared by the UNESCO to be a World Heritage Site. It is believed that these land based whales once had feet that may have helped them somewhat while ashore . A team from the University of Michigan discovered in the late 80's that these Zeuglodon whales did have rudimentary feet , this was a startling discovery , suggesting that whales of Wadi -El-Hitan had recently started living in water as well , these whales were not related to any of the whales we have today , rather a more slender body and may grow up to 75 feet long. Several skeletons of whales are exposed in the sand. George Schweinfurth named this extinct specie the Zeuglodon Isis Whales .

In the evening, you’ll return to your hotel in Cairo. Land transportation in air-conditioned four-wheel-drive Toyota Land Cruiser with the services of driver and English-speaking driver. Lunch is included

You’ll see that shopping in Cairo goes far beyond a supermarket experience. Be prepared for whispers, gestures, shouting, and controlled chaos. It’s all part of the bargaining process, engaged in by women in traditional modest garb as well as others in Western dress.

Then it’s on to the Museum of Islamic Art, with its tapestries, textiles, swords and other objects exemplifying one of the world’s great decorative traditions. We’ll continue to the Gayer-Anderson House, a serene and classic domestic oasis, right down to its central fountain and exquisite furnishings. Our visit is also a journey into a vanished way of life—the residence is actually two traditional medieval Cairo houses restored by an English physician to a former king. We’ll stop for lunch at a restaurant where Cairenes go, then visit the Bab an-Nasr, the Gate of Victory in Cairo’s old walls. You’ll even see graffiti that survives from soldiers of Napoleon and of the British Empire, among the many who passed this way.

RATES per person in USD for the full program

DEPARTURE NOTES .
For departures during Christmas, New Year's ( Dec 20- Jan 2 , please add 20% to the rates .
For Easter weeks, Only for the DELUXE rate category please add 20% supplement.

YOUR TOUR INCLUDES:

• Egyptian domestic airfares as described in the itinerary in economy class.
• All airport transfers and taxes in Egypt.
• Hotel accommodations (including taxes).
• Set-menu (table d'hote) meals as indicated in the itinerary above.
• Guided sightseeing by air-conditioned motorcoach, including all admissions fees.
• Visa fee is included & will be issued upon arrival for : American, Canadian, Australian, NZ, Mexican , EU , South Africa, Brazilian & Japanese citizens.
• A Nile cruise with all shore excursions and meals.
• 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 and bottled water with each / every meal while you are on board the Nile Cruise.
  
• DRESS CODE and what to wear, please click here.

Not included:

• Expenses of personal nature, such as phone calls, laundry , beverages, etc
• Tips.
• Travel Insurance
• International air fare from/to your home country.

• Add Jordan
  
• Add a Foray into the Egyptian desert and visit one of the Oases
  
• Mediterranean Fantasies: Luxury Nile Cruise and The Greek Isle of Santorini.
  This 12 -day itinerary combines a Nile Cruise of Ancient Egypt with Athens and Santorini
  
  
  
• The Wonders of the Near East : A Private Tour of Egypt Palestine ,
  Israel and Arabia . A True Grand 28 -Day Tour of the Middle East.
  
  
  
• Add a 2 night stay in London .
  

The Agha Khan in Egypt :

Programmes in Egypt began with the creation of 30-hectare (74-acre) Al-Azhar park on the site of what had been a rubble dump for 500 years. Today, the project has evolved well beyond the Park to include the restoration of 1.5 kilometres of the 12th century Ayyubid wall and several landmark buildings, as well as socio-economic initiatives in the neighbouring Darb al-Ahmar district. These include housing rehabilitation, microfinance, apprenticeships and healthcare. Nurse’s training and early childhood education programmes are also underway in Aswan.

Agha Khan Social Development in Egypt :

Darb Al-Ahmar, one of the
poorest parts of Cairo, is the site for various AKDN social programmes - including restoration of the decayed housing stock - which are designed to help revitalise the historic district. Al-Azhar park, undertaken by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, has proven to be a powerful catalyst for urban renewal in the neighbouring district of Darb al-Ahmar -- one of the poorest districts in Cairo. Other AKDN agencies are now working on social programmes in the neighbourhood, including microfinance, education, civil society strengthening and health.

Darb Al-Ahmar Social Programmes
Less than two centuries ago, Darb Al-Ahmar was one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Historic Cairo. Today, however, the 92,000 inhabitants of the district are among the poorest. While featuring one of the richest concentrations of Islamic architecture in the world, the district also suffers from a lack of adequate basic infrastructure and services such as water and sanitation. When the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) made a baseline study in 2003, the housing stock was crumbling, piles of trash lined the streets, the historic monuments had come under increasing stress, the neighborhood retained an unsavory reputation and hope among its inhabitants for improvements in the quality of life had dimmed.

Since 2003, AKTC and its partners have created a number of social programmes in Al Darb Al-Ahmar, each of them designed to address a development challenge. Hundreds of families have benefited from improvements to the water supply network, including the replacement of lead junctures. Repair of the electrical systems began in 2007. Parts of the sewage network have been upgraded and expanded into alleys previously not served by these facilities. New drainage works are preventing the pooling of water, thereby reducing the potential for water-borne disease. Environmental programmes have stressed general environmental awareness as well as focusing specifically on environmentally friendly solid waste disposal practices. A programme to remove the trash and rubble that is strewn across many roofs in the area and replace them with vegetable gardens was undertaken. Another project installed water supply cisterns on roofs, addressing a chronic lack of water and water pressure. In addition, to tackle the lack of heating in 25 percent of the area’s homes, a pilot project for affordable solar water heating systems was started.