Cruise and vacation Experts

Few places arouse more fascination and curiosity than Egypt, one of the world´s oldest civilizations, with a recorded history of more than 5,000 years.

Flowing through the country´s desert, the great Nile River has supported large populations along its lush, fertile banks since the beginning of time.

Greek historian Herodotus wrote nearly 2,500 years ago that Egypt is the gift of the Nile, its existence depending solely upon the mighty waters. Despite its distinction as the kingdom of the Pharaohs, Egypt also conceals a remarkable Christian heritage; discover it firsthand when you visit St. Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai Desert.

Then looking deeper into antiquity at Jordan´s Petra, the rose-red rock city that lay hidden from the world for more than 1,000 years.

Your journey concludes with a relaxing stay along the scenic shores of the Dead Sea, which includes a visit to ancient Jerash, a remarkably preserved city often labeled the Pompeii of the East. Explore it all Egypt and Jordan, by private chartered plane!

Your itinerary will include:

• All flights within Egypt and to Jordan by private chartered plane
• Deluxe accommodations at the Mena House Oberoi Hotel (3 Nights); Grand Hyatt Hotel (2 Nights); Petra Movenpick Hotel (2 Nights); and Jordan Valley Marriott Resort & Spa (2 Nights)
• Four nights aboard the River Deluxe-Plus Oberoi Philae in outside staterooms with lower beds, individual temperature controls, private bath facilities, and balconies
• All sightseeing and shore excursions
• 12 breakfasts, 9 lunches, and 8 dinners, including all meals during the cruise and these special events: Cairo welcome reception and dinner, Egyptian dinner and costumed galabia party on board ship, and farewell dinner at the Dead Sea
• Egyptologist and other experts throughout Egypt and Jordan, enhancing your enjoyment of the areas visited
• Professional travel director
• Exclusive concierge service and hospitality desks
• All overseas airport/hotel/ship transfers for air passengers traveling on scheduled dates of departure and return, including tips to hotel/ship porters for luggage handling
• Full pretrip information and assistance

Daily activities
Day 1 Depart U.S.A.

Day 2 Cairo/Giza, Egypt
Evening brings you to Cairo, located at the mouth of the Nile River delta. Upon arrival, transfer to Giza and the Mena House Oberoi Hotel, where you´ll have dramatic views of the Great Pyramid of Cheops.

Day 3 Cairo/Giza
The last remaining of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Giza Pyramids are the only vestiges from that time to survive in their original form. Also view the Sun Boat, the well preserved, wooden funeral boat that carried Cheops body from Memphis to Giza.

If you choose, even ride a camel during the tour. Tonight, gather for a welcome reception, dinner, and folkloric show at Rubayyat Restaurant.

Day 4 Cairo/Giza
Journey to Egypt´s ancient capital of Memphis” site of the enormous, limestone colossus of a young Pharaoh Ramses II and the alabaster sphinx. Continue to Sakkara to see the Step Pyramid Complex of King Zoser.

After a barbecue lunch and relaxing afternoon, join us under the star-filled Egyptian sky for a sound and laser light show at the Pyramids.

Day 5 Abu Simbel/Aswan (Embark)
Our chartered private plane takes you to the magnificent Temple of Abu Simbel, carved from the side of a sandstone cliff more than 3,000 years ago in honor of Ramses II.

Also visit the site’s smaller temple, dedicated to Nefertari, Ramses II´s favorite wife. Next, continue by private plane to Aswan gateway to the Nubian Desert and the Sudan, and also site of the great High Dam constructed to harness the power of the Nile.

Upon arrival, transfer to the River Deluxe-Plus Oberoi Philae for your four-night cruise. Late this afternoon, enjoy a short jaunt aboard an Egyptian felucca.

Day 6 Aswan/Cruising the Nile/Kom Ombo
This morning, see the High Dam and visit the Temple of Isis at Philae. At the nearby granite quarry, where the Pyramids´ building blocks were excavated, also view the 1,320- ton, 137-foot-high unfinished obelisk.

Return to the Oberoi Philae and begin your cruise to Kom Ombo the strategic point on the ancient desert route to Nubia and Ethiopia.

Though much of the town´s Greco-Roman temple has fallen, its aesthetic proportions are still quite evident today.

Enjoy an Egyptian dinner and costumed galabia (a long, loose Egyptian garment) party this evening.

Day 7 Edfu/Cruising the Nile/Luxor
The ancient Greeks called the site of Edfu Apollonopolis,  after Apollo (or Horus, the Egyptian god of light).

The nearly intact Temple of Horus is one of Egypt’s finest examples of Ptolemaic art. Next, cruise a bit farther downstream to Luxor, on the Nile’s East bank at the site of ancient Thebes, where the ship will dock for the night.

Day 8 Luxor
A morning West Bank tour takes you across the Nile to the remote Valley of the Kings, site of the Tomb of King Tutankhamen. Sixty-four of Egypt’s rulers were buried here in ornate subterranean

chambers. Also visit the Valley of the Nobles. And, finally, marvel at the Colossi of Memnon two giant statues that once stood watch over the funerary temple of Amenophis III. This afternoon, explore the massive temples of Karnak and Luxor, surprisingly well-preserved. Enter the Hypostle Hall, reputedly the largest hall of any temple in the world, before reaching nearby Luxor Temple.

Day 9 Luxor (Disembark)/St. Catherine’s Monastery/ Cairo

Disembark the Oberoi Philae for your flight by chartered private plane to the heart of the Sinai Desert and St. Catherine’s Monastery.

According to religious tradition, it was here that Moses saw the Burning Bush and received the Ten Commandments.

Examine the collection of priceless icons and hanging lamps in the Chapel of the Burning Bush. Reboard the private plane and return to Cairo, where you´ll enjoy a Nile-view room at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, located nearby the Egyptian Antiquities Museum.

Day 10 Cairo
Discover Old Cairo during a tour that includes the Muhammad Ali Mosque, which commands a complete view of Cairo, the Nile and, in the far distance, the Giza Pyramids. Continue to colorful Khan el-Khalili Bazaar and delight in a lunch of local specialties at Naguib Mahfouz Restaurant.

Later, visit the renowned Egyptian Antiquities Museum. Included as part of your guided tour are the treasures from the tomb of the boy-king Tutankhamen and entrance into the Royal Mummies Room.

Day 11 Petra, Jordan
Fly by chartered private plane to Al Aqabah, Jordan, and drive to Petra the fabled city that lay hidden to the world until its 1812 discovery. Stay at the Petra Movenpick Hotel.

Day 12 Petra
Time appears frozen in Petra, the abandoned capital of the Nabataeans ´” Arabs who dominated this area in the pre-Roman era.

Follow the Siq, a narrow gorge winding through the regionPetras rock, on a walking tour that includes the impressive Treasury, royal tombs, colonnaded street, and amphitheater.

Monumental in both size and scope, PetraPetras architecture is astonishing, yet her colors deep rust, banded with grays, yellows, and every hue in between are sure to captivate as well.

Day 13 Dead Sea, Jordan
Drive through rolling countryside along the Desert Highway to Madaba, where you´ll marvel at the town’s Byzantine mosaics, including a sixth-century map of the Christian holy lands made from 2 million pieces.

Continue to the Jordan Valley Marriott Resort & Spa, located directly on the Dead Sea’s eastern shore. You´ll have the afternoon and evening to relax and, perhaps, take a swim or enjoy the resort’s extensive spa services.

Day 14 Dead Sea (for Jerash, Jordan)
Today, tour ancient Jerash, a vast Greco-Roman city that flourished in the time around the Christian era. See its well-preserved walls, colonnaded streets, temples, public baths, plazas, and theaters decorated with ornate sculptures and fountains.

Enjoy the rest of the afternoon at your Dead Sea resort. This evening, join us for a festive farewell dinner.

Day 15 Return to U.S.A.
Hyatt Regency Dubai • 3 Hotel Nights
Enhance your travels with a fascinating journey of discovery that focuses on the lifestyles, traditions, and culture of Dubai, the second largest member-state of the United Arab Emirates. Although thoroughly modern, cosmopolitan Dubai is one of the world’s fastest growing tourist destinations and still exudes old-Arabian mystique in its tiny souks and splendid mosques.

This package is by International Expeditions and prices are based on availability and can change without notice. Contact one of our specialist and find the right Mediterranean Egypt package for you.