9-day adventure tour in Egypt: pyramids, Nile cruise & more

Descrição da estadia

Alojamento

Programação da estadia

• dia 1

  Arrival in Cairo, Egypt

  Destination: Cairo Accommodations: Cairo Marriott Hotel or similar Afternoon/Evening: Upon your arrival in Cairo, a Blue Heaven Travel representative will meet you and accompany you to the hotel. After you’ve settled in, we will meet in the lobby and your Trip Experience Leader will guide you and the other travelers, including those who arrived early in Cairo before the main adventure, on an orientation walk around the hotel and the surrounding area. Your Trip Experience Leader will also answer any questions you may have about our Immersion adventures. Dinner: at your own expense. Your Trip Experience Leader can offer you suggestions on where to dine, or you can choose to eat at the hotel restaurant. Evening: After dinner, you are free to explore on your own or return to your room to rest from the flight and prepare for tomorrow’s discoveries

• dia 2

  Visit the Pyramids of Giza

  Destination: Cairo Meals included: breakfast, lunch and dinner Accommodations: Cairo Marriott Hotel or similar Breakfast: at the hotel Morning: drive to Giza to admire the Great Pyramids, including the largest of all — the Great Pyramid of Khufu, 4,500 years old. The only survivor of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, the Great Pyramid was built for the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu (Cheops in Greek) and was the tallest man-made structure in the world for more than 4,000 years. We will be able to reflect on another mystery through the ages at the Sphinx, enigmatic guardian of the Giza Plateau. Lunch: at a local restaurant Afternoon: return to our hotel for the rest of the afternoon, free to relax or continue your explorations independently. Then, we will join a local woman to discuss the controversial topic of laws protecting women's rights in Egypt, compared to the reality of traditional women's roles. Egypt has made progress toward gender equality in recent years, but while many laws have been put in place to protect and strengthen women's rights at home and in the workplace, the reality is more complex. In many local communities, these laws do little to change the long-standing traditional roles of women in Egyptian society. We will meet a local Egyptian woman who will give us an overview of the new laws that the Egyptian government has put in place to enforce women's rights, and how these laws have little impact in many local communities. She will share her personal story and tell us about the obstacles that many women still face in communities that resist women's independence. Dinner: enjoy a welcome dinner at a local restaurant in Cairo tonight. Evening: the rest of your evening is free to enjoy the hotel's amenities, relax with your travel companions in the lounge, or retire to your room and prepare for tomorrow's flight to Aswan.

• dia 3

  Fly to Aswan • Temples of Philae • Embark yacht

  Destination: Aswan Meals included: breakfast, lunch and dinner Accommodations: Turquoise — yacht Breakfast: at the hotel Morning: After breakfast, we will drive to the airport for our flight to Aswan. Upon arrival, we will drive to Philae, then take a boat to the island temple of Philae, center of the worship of the goddess Isis. Like the fate of Abu Simbel, this temple complex was moved in order to save it from the rising waters of Lake Nasser. Our discoveries include the Temple of Isis, with its courtyards flanked by granite lions and its walls covered with ancient gods and goddesses, as well as Trajan’s Kiosk, with its 14 majestic stone pillars. After our visit, we will drive to our dahabeya, which will be moored in Aswan. To set your expectations for the days ahead, a word about our private 16-passenger dahabeya — your accommodations for the next five nights: this is not a typical large riverboat. On the contrary, you will experience a gentler, more graceful era of travel. In fact, the history of the dahabeya dates back to the Pharaonic era, and inscriptions of these vessels have been found in the tombs of ancient Egyptian kings. They take their name from the Arabic word for gold (dahab), since the earliest form of this boat was golden in color. As we glide silently over the timeless waters of the Nile, guided by gentle winds and the whims of the currents, our small motorized tender is there to give us a boost when we need assistance. The intimate size of our vessel also allows us to visit ancient temples at quiet times and gives us access to smaller islands and riverside villages unavailable to travelers on large riverboats. Silently moored in secluded places, we can spend peaceful evenings relaxing on deck, gazing at the Nile, imagining a time when Cleopatra and Julius Caesar drifted on these same waters aboard the golden barge of Egypt’s queen. Lunch: on board our yacht Afternoon: After lunch, you will have a bit of free time in Aswan. Later, we will visit Aswan’s lively spice market before enjoying one of the highlights of our adventure in Egypt: a dinner with a local family in their home. This is a unique opportunity to learn more about life in the region — so come with an appetite for your home-cooked meal and bring plenty of questions for your welcoming hosts. Dinner: in the home of a local family, and discover local life with these residents as we watch them prepare an authentic dinner. Our meal tonight will consist of typical regional dishes — such as mahshi (eggplant and zucchini), moussaka (an eggplant-based dish with meat and potatoes) and tahini salad (made from toasted and ground sesame) — and the family will sit with us to enjoy it. Evening: Spend the rest of the evening as you wish, our yacht being moored for the night on the outskirts of Aswan

• dia 4

  Visit Kom Ombo • Fares Island

  Destination: Aswan Meals included: breakfast, lunch and dinner Accommodations: Asiya river yacht or similar Breakfast: On board our yacht Morning: this morning, we will set sail for Kom Ombo, a small town on the river, surrounded by sugar cane fields, which is home to Egypt’s only double temple. Dramatically located along a bend in the Nile, the magnificent Kom Ombo temple, from the Greco-Roman period, features one side dedicated to the local crocodile god, Sobek, and the other side dedicated to the falcon god, Haroeris. A unique feature of Kom Ombo is a series of engravings considered among the world’s earliest depictions of medical and surgical instruments. After exploring Kom Ombo, we will return to our river yacht and continue sailing. Lunch: On board our yacht Afternoon: our next stop will be Fares Island, home to a traditional Egyptian village, where we will enjoy the local means of transport — a type of auto-rickshaw called a Tok-Tok — to visit a local artisan. Dinner: On board our yacht Evening: we will spend the night on board our river yacht, moored at Fares Island, and we will enjoy the rest of the evening at leisure.

• dia 5

  Cruise to Edfu • Discover Edfu Temple

  Destination: Nile cruise Meals included: breakfast, lunch and dinner Accommodations: Asiya river yacht Breakfast: On board our yacht Morning: This morning, we will set course for Edfou. During our two-hour panoramic cruise, you can join our Trip Experience Leader for a conversation about the life of the pharaohs, cast a line into the calm waters of the Nile, or even try your hand at senet, an ancient Egyptian board game that was Tutankhamun’s favorite pastime. We will then arrive in Edfou, a city on the west bank of the Nile that is home to Egypt’s best-preserved cult temple. Here, we will visit the Temple of Horus. Built between 237 and 57 BC, the ancient Egyptians believed that the temple was inhabited by the falcon-headed god Horus, their divine protector. Each year, coronation festivals took place to crown Horus, during which a falcon was released in his honor. After exploring the remarkable hieroglyphs and bas-reliefs of Egypt’s second-largest temple, we will take a discovery walk along the lively streets of Edfou, before returning to our yacht. Lunch: On board our yacht Afternoon: After lunch, we will continue sailing until we reach Higz, a small village along the east bank of the Nile. Dinner: On board our yacht Evening: You are free to relax on the deck to admire the night sky or to settle into your cabin for the night

• dia 6

  Cruise to Esna

  Destination: Nile cruise Meals included: breakfast, lunch and dinner Accommodations: Asiya river yacht Breakfast: on board our yacht Morning: After breakfast, we will take a pleasant walk in the village of Higz before returning to our yacht and setting off again for four more hours of sailing Lunch: on board our yacht Afternoon: arrival in Esna, a town on the west bank of the Nile and, for centuries, an important stop along the camel caravan route. The rest of the afternoon is free to explore Esna on your own Dinner: enjoy our last dinner on board our yacht, moored in Esna, next to other dahabeya Evening: Relax on board with your travel companions or retire to your cabin to begin preparing your luggage for tomorrow's transfer to Luxor

• dia 7

  Disembark yacht • Valley of the Kings • Karnak Temple • Luxor

  Destination: Luxor Meals included: breakfast, lunch and dinner Accommodations: Steigenberger Nile Palace or similar Breakfast: on board our yacht Morning: We will disembark from our yacht this morning and we will head to Luxor. Today’s Luxor developed from the ruins of ancient Thebes. We will begin to grasp the scale and grandeur of the monuments and temples along both banks of the Nile in this special place: the Luxor Temple and the Karnak Temple on the East Bank, and the distant Valley of the Kings on the West Bank. Our discoveries begin in the Valley of the Kings. Located in an isolated spot in the Theban hills, this is where the great pharaohs were buried in rock-cut tombs and surrounded by all the treasures they would need in the afterlife. Almost all the sacred burial chambers were looted over the millennia, with the exception of an obscure young ruler whose reign lasted only a decade. On the afternoon of November 26, 1922, British archaeologist Howard Carter made a small hole in a sealed door, inserted a candle, and looked inside. Completely intact, Tutankhamun’s burial chambers contained thousands of priceless objects, as well as a gold coffin containing the mummy of the teenage king. Upon our arrival in the Valley of the Kings, we will set off for a walking tour, which includes a visit to the tomb of this young pharaoh, followed by a visit to the temple of Queen Hatshepsut, built for Egypt’s first known female monarch. Having reigned for 20 years in the 15th century BC, Hatshepsut is also considered one of Egypt’s most prosperous pharaohs. Lunch: in a local restaurant Afternoon: This afternoon, we will explore the Karnak Temple. With its massive gateway, Karnak is one of the most important ancient sites in all of Egypt. The ancient Egyptians, who believed that their principal deity, Amun-Ra, first created himself, and then everything else, called Karnak Ipet-Isut, “the most perfect of places.” Perfection was ultimately achieved at Karnak, which was built over a period of 1,300 years by successive kings and queens, each adding their own tributes to Amun-Ra, replacing or expanding existing monuments in ever more grandiose styles. After our visit, we will check in at our hotel in Luxor. Dinner: in a local restaurant in Luxor Evening: Spend the rest of the evening as you wish

• dia 8

  Fly to Cairo • Visit the Grand Egyptian Museum

  Destination: Cairo Meals included: breakfast and dinner Accommodations: Cairo Marriott Hotel or similar Breakfast: at the hotel Morning: After breakfast, we will head to the airport for our flight to Cairo. Upon arrival, we will leave the city for the Giza Plateau to visit the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), which houses the greatest pharaonic treasures in the world. The largest archaeological museum in the world dedicated to a single civilization, the museum’s vast exhibitions will provide context for our later discoveries, as we trace the history of Egypt, from Khufu to Cleopatra. After our guided tour, we will have time for independent exploration. Lunch: at your own expense in a restaurant inside the Grand Egyptian Museum Afternoon: After lunch, enjoy your free time to further explore the Grand Egyptian Museum on your own before returning to our hotel in Cairo. You will have a little time to relax before dinner. Dinner: This evening, we will enjoy a farewell dinner at the hotel restaurant. Evening: You are free to retire to your room or, perhaps, have a few cocktails at the bar with your travel companions to celebrate your last night in Egypt.

• dia 9

  Return to Home

  Meals included: breakfast Breakfast: at the hotel Morning: transfer to Cairo airport for the return flight home