Jordan and Egypt a la Indiana Jones

The 16 - day edition , including Abu Simbel Excursion
Flying between Cairo & the cruise - Starting in Jordan then on to Egypt

Indiana Jones himself couldn't squeeze more adventure into this journey: Cairo and the Pyramids, a cruise on the Nile, the fabled temples and tombs of Luxor and Thebes, diving in the Red Sea, the mountains of Sinai, and a trek to the mysterious ruins of Petra in Jordan. Departures are weekly on Sunday and Tuesday

DAY 1 - DEPARTURE - Overnight across the Atlantic - Sunday & Tuesday
We take off aboard Lufthansa ,Swiss , KLM or British Airways jet from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. Add on is available from most major cities . When you handle your own air fare , please deduct $ 500 from the listed rates.

DAY 2 - AMMAN - JORDAN - Monday & Wednesday
We'll land in Amman , our Jordan-based representative waits to greet you. You'll drive to Amman and your hotel for the night. Complimentary Jordanian visa fee (valid only for American, EU, Canadian, Australian, NZ , Korean , Singaporean & Japanese citizens. Passports must be valid for at least 6 month upon arrival).

DAY 3 - PETRA - Tuesday & Thursday (BL)
We'll drive to Petra where we spend the entire day, the stunning desert city hewn by the Nabateans from solid cliffs of pink and violet sandstone. Petra was known in the bible as Sela, and rediscovered only in 1812. You'll feel like Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark as you penetrate into the city through a narrow sandstone gorge, the Siq, and wander among the Temple of the Winged Lion, tombs, Roman theater, and the imposing Treasury. Lunch is included enroute . Overnight :Petra

DAY 4 - PETRA/JERASH - Wednesday & Friday (B)
We drive back north visiting Jerash, among the best-preserved Roman cities in the world, to tour its temples, theaters, churches and colonnaded streets. From Jerash, we will escort you back to Amman and your hotel.

DAY 5 - AMMAN - CAIRO - Thursday & Saturday
Air ticket: Amman / Cairo is included ( issued & delivered in Amman).
Transfer to Amman Airport, fly to Cairo . Our Egypt-based staff greets you in bustling Cairo airport and escorts you to your hotel . Complimentary Egyptian visa fee (valid only for American, EU, Canadian, Australian, NZ , Korean , Singaporean & Japanese citizens. Passports must be valid for at least 6 month upon arrival). If you rather start first in Egypt then go on to Jordan, please click here.

Visa will be issued upon arrival.
As you exit the gate, you will pass through a door or two , down some stairs , then walk for 2-5 minutes , until you pass the duty free shops, at the end of a wide corridor , you will see the security officers. There you will be met by a local representative, who will be holding a sign with the name you prefer to use for the sign . Our local representative will then take your passport to obtain a stamp from the cashier / bank window and escort you to speak with the passport officer. He will escort you through another last check on your passport as you exit the passport control, into customs area, he will assist you in collecting your luggage and clearing customs . After exiting the terminal, our local representative will escort you (private vehicle) to the hotel

DAY 6 - CAIRO - Friday & Sunday (BL)
Your exploration of the ancient world begins today! First stop is the Egyptian Museum, with its treasures of the ancient pharaohs: mummies, statuary, precious stones and metals. We'll also stop at the Citadel of Saladin and the Alabaster Mosque. Then it's on to Giza and the mysteries of the Pyramids and Sphinx.

DAY 7 - Luxor- Board your Nile Cruise- Saturday & Monday (BLD)
After an early breakfast, we board a short flight heading for Luxor , where we settle you into your cabin on your Nile steamer.
Complimentary welcome drink is served upon arrival, as well as a welcome fruit basket awaits you in your cabin . After lunch, we visit the great temples of Luxor and the mighty Karnak, then return to our Nile cruiser in time for afternoon tea.Add an extra night in Luxor ?

DAY 8 - VALLEY OF THE KINGS -Sunday & Tuesday (BLD)
We tour today as well the magnificent tombs in the Valley of the Kings, including Tut-Ankh-Amon's tomb, and the great temple of Queen Hatshepsut, we stop at the Colossi of Memnon on the way back to our cruise.

Afterward, we'll continue on Luxor's west bank to 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.

DAY 9 - EDFU & KOM OMBO - Monday & Wednesday (BLD)
We cruise by Esna to Edfu, where we board horse-drawn carriages for the ride to the Temple of Horus. Returning to our ship, we set sail for Kom Ombo. In the evening, there's a jolly galabia party aboard.

DAY 10 - KOM OMBO & ASWAN - Tuesday & Thursday (BLD)
We explore the twin Temples of Haroeris and Sobek at Kom Ombo, then sail south to Aswan. After lunch we board a graceful felucca and cruise among the islands, returning to our ship in time for tea.

DAY 11 - ASWAN ABU SIMBEL - Disembarkation - Cairo - Wednesday & Friday (cB)
After breakfast we check out, visit the awesome Aswan dams, and next an ancient granite quarry complete with an unfinished obelisk, then board a motor launch to visit the the Island temple of Philae , dedicated to the Ancient Goddess ISIS :

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.

Returning to Aswan Airport by late morning. A short flight to Abu Simbel.

There we'll marvel at the temples dedicated to Ramses the Great and Queen Neferatri, saved from rising waters of the Nile when the High Dam was built. In the larger temple, colossal figures of Ramses are seated with the gods and attended by his queen and daughters.
The smaller temple is dedicated to Queen Nefertari, who appears as Hathor, the goddess of love, joy and fertility, symbolized by the benevolent cow. We explore these fine temple then fly back to Aswan . Domestic air fare is included , issued & delivered in Egypt: Aswan Abu Simbel Aswan .
Connect in Aswan and on to Cairo by air . Domestic air fare is included as well back to Cairo .
In Cairo , we meet you at the airport & escort you back to your hotel

DAY 12 - SHARM EL SHEIK - RED SEA - Thu & Saturday (B)
Now that you've seen the best of the Egypt of the Pharaohs, our guides escort you to the airport. You'll fly over the Sinai Peninsula and land at historic Sharm El Sheik on the Red Sea. You're at the beach and free to swim, or explore under the waters.

DAY 13 - SHARM EL SHEIK - Fri & Sunday (BD)
Relax! Today is set aside as a strategic mid-journey break. Spend some time in the sun, but don't miss your chance to snorkel or dive under Red Sea waters for an array of coral and glittering tropical fish.
Evening Bedouin dinner theme in the Sahara

DAY 14 - MOUNT SINAI - Sat & Monday (BL)
Our knowledgeable guides arrange a pre-dawn departure into the still-cool wilderness of Sinai, through which Moses led the Children of Israel to the Promised Land. Our goal is the Monastery of St. Catherine, built of rock at the base of Mount Sinai, at the site of the Burning Bush. We tour the monastery, rich in history, icons and sacred paintings, then return to Sharm El Sheik and connect to Cairo and your Hotel .

DAY 15 - Cairo Fayoum -Sunday & Tuesday (BL)
On Desert Safari for the Day - Fayoum Oases - And you thought the Pyramids were old

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

DAY 16 - CAIRO / DEPARTURE FOR HOME - Monday & Wednesday (B)
Our staff escorts you to the airport for your flight home. Or, you may choose to add one of our extensions( at a supplement of course ! ) , and return at a later date but at no additional charge on your air fare. Bon Voyage

Giza Pyramids , circa 19th- Century

RATES per person in USD:

Easter, Christmas, New Year's ( Dec 20 - Jan 3 ) : 10 % supplement will apply.

Air fare notes:

• For departures from most west coast cities, as well as Phoenix, Dallas-Fort Worth or Atlanta in , please add $300 to the above rates. This doesn't apply when you handle your own air fare.
  
• For travel May through end of Sep , please note that a $300 air-fare supplement is added to the above rates.
  
• When you handle your own air fare, please deduct $500 from the listed rate.

Inclusions:

Not included:

• Personal expenses and beverages

• Gratuities

• Additional meals and services

• Trip interruption and cancellation insurance (please see your insurance agent ).

Supplement to Upgrade to the Ultra Deluxe Nile cruise :
Please add % 20 to the deluxe rates
Sample 5-stars Ultra Deluxe Nile Cruises:

M/S Princess Sara Nile cruise
MS Queen TiYi
Alexander the Great Nile Cruise
Movenpick Radamis II and Movenpick Royal Lotus Nile Cruise
M/S Amarco
The all suites with private balconies Nile Cruise:
Oberoi MS Philae
Sonesta : MS Star Goddess or Sonesta M/S Moon Goddess ( all state   rooms do offer private balconies)

More Choices :

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  For Guests who want the BEST when touring the Middle East

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