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Or if you desire a longer session in private surroundings they are available for a fee based session by appointment, feel free to call and arrange a time / place for their services. |
DETAILED TRIP ITINERARY February 1-14, 2009 Sponsored by The Denver Church and Friends NOTE: We are keeping our group small – we’re
happy to create a travel group of 16 Trip leaders: Jonna C. Castle, Organizer & Egypt
specialist; Rev. Jim Chandler, Senior Minister; B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner Day 1 – Sunday: Depart USA . Day 2 – Monday: Arrive Cairo. We will be met by our host representative and assisted through customs and passport control and transferred to the 5 star Le Meridien Pyramids Hotel. The great pyramids of Giza are within walking distance. Evening is free. BL on plane. Day 3 – Tuesday: We meet our private Egyptologist who will travel with us throughout the trip. Full day tour of the Pyramids of Giza with an opportunity to go inside the Great Pyramid, to visit the innermost chamber. We continue to Memphis, the first capital of Egypt, and visit the recumbent statue of Ramses II and the 80 ton alabaster sphinx. Continue to Sakara to see the first pyramid, the Step Pyramid, prototype of those to come. Return to our hotel after a fine lunch. Remainder of the day is free. BL Day 4 – Wednesday: The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities exhibits over 120,000 artifacts but we will concentrate this morning on the gold and treasures of King Tutankhamum. Our bus will then transport us across Cairo to the Citadel of Saladin and the Mohamed Ali Mosque, which is inside the Citadel – and also known as the Alabaster Mosque. This is “church day” and we’ll visit the Hanging Church & the 5th century Coptic Church of St Sergius, where tradition says the holy family stayed during their exile to Egypt. The Ben Ezra Synagogue is a unique relic of Cairo’s ancient thriving Jewish community. (tidbit: Egypt’s population is around 80 million, of which less than 200 are Jews). Tradition says this is where the princess found the baby Moses in the bulrushes. We’ll manage to work lunch into this busy day before stopping off at the middle ages bazaar, the Khan il Khalili, as we head toward the train station and board our overnight sleeper train for the 400 mile journey south to Aswan. BL Dinner on train Day 5 – Thursday: Awaken early to watch rural Egypt come awake as we speed by. Such a peaceful & tranquil view, as the fellahin & their animals go to their fields and their daily work. We’ll be met and transferred to our hotel for a quick shower & clean-up and early lunch before our visit to the High Dam and the granite quarries, where the Unfinished Obelisk has rested for thousands of years. Then we board a small motor launch for the journey across Lake Nasser to visit the Ptolomaic Philae Temple on its own island. Evening free. BL Basma Hotel Day 6 – Friday: An early departure from Aswan Airport, flying the length of Lake Nasser to within a few miles of the Sudan border, where we visit the very well known Abu Simbel temples, dedicated to Ramses II and his wife Queen Nerertari. This entire mountain was cut into pieces and moved 90’ to higher ground as the lake water threatened. The countries of the world united to save this magnificent monument in 1960.Would that be possible today? Upon returning to Aswan, we will be met and assisted with boarding our 5 star Nile Cruiser, the M/Y Mirage I. After lunch on board, we leave for a relaxing felucca sail around Kitchner’s Island, a lovely botanic garden in the middle of the Nile. All rested, we are off to visit the Nubian Museum before we board our cruise ship again for dinner and sleeping. B at hotel, LD on ship. Day 7 – Saturday: We sail
this morning to the Nubian town of KomOmbo where we tour the Then we enjoy a relaxing lunch while cruising to Edfu, where we tour the best preserved temple in Egypt, the Temple of Horus, (the hawk-headed god & protector of the pharaoh). We are transported there in horse-drawn carriages. We sail to Esna, cross the locks, and sail on into Luxor, capital of
Egypt during the New Kingdom, and today, home to the greatest outdoor
museum in the world. Dinner & entertainment on board ship. Sleep on
board. BLD Day 9 – Monday: Disembark after breakfast. Staff will transfer us to the Amon Hotel in a village on the West Bank. This is our home until Day 13. This is a small, very basic family-run hotel where the owners, as well as the staff, will embrace us like family. Meet Ahmed, the owner, and his son Mohammed and his daughter, Hala. For these next four days we will be on-our-own and we will do some very exciting things that other groups never get to do. Refer to FOUR FREE DAYS IN LUXOR
to review the many possible activities. After lunch we journey to Dier el Medina, the ruins of the city of the artisans – the builders of the tombs of the pharaohs. This gives an opportunity to see how the non-royals lived. While they worked on the pharaoh’s tombs, they also worked on their own and they are exquisitely painted! We can buy tickets to enter and see for ourselves. Return to hotel and on your own for remainder of day. Day 10 – Tuesday: Group
activity: Please join us for a very early morning Day11 – Wednesday: Group activity: In the morning, we’ll all climb aboard a camel for a nice ride along canals and through villages. During the day we go our separate way. Toward evening we’ll come together for a sunset sail on the Nile. Day 12 – Thursday: Group activity: This evening we will eat like an Egyptian and have local musicians entertain us. Maybe we can coax some of the local boys to dance and entertain us. This will be a scaled-down farewell party. Later, we can gather in the moonlight, on the roof-top, for recounting our journey and experiences, as our farewell to Egypt. Day 13 – Friday: Today we check out of our hotel and say goodbye to the staff. We fly back to Cairo. (We do not know air schedules at this time,) but there is time for last minute shopping. In Cairo we transfer to Hotel Meridian Heliopolis. The remainder of the day is free. This might be a good time to make a return visit to the Khan el Khalili or revisit the museum – or seek out something new. Some things are closed because this is the holy day. B Day 14- Saturday: Check out
after breakfast. Staff transfers us to the airport for our international
departure. B at hotel. Arrive home at DIA late on the same day. ! ! THIS IS WHAT MAKES OUR TOUR
DIFFERENT AND INCREDIBLE ! ! Our hotel & breakfast are prepaid for these four days. We are responsible for our other expenditures.* We have almost four days of free time in Luxor, Egypt – ancient Thebes, the magnificent capital of New Kingdom Egypt. These could be the busiest days of our life! Luxor is the world’s greatest and largest outdoor museum of antiquities and there are dozens of extremely interesting things to do and to see. A typical tour shows guests just four. Let’s do it all!! Let’s really experience the EGYPT of MY HEART! Each day we are in Luxor we will have a group activity and invite everyone to participate. The remainder of the day will be your very own time to choose amongst the exciting possibilities listed below and in your guidebooks. Jonna can help you decide and offer additional information. It is suggested that you do these activities in small groups of 3 to 5. Think of the fun sharing our experiences and comparing notes when we come together in the evening. Luxor is a very small town. We will bump into our travel mates often. But, this is our opportunity to mix and mingle with the Egyptians – experience EGYPT. This is the Egypt of My Heart and I want you to share it. – Jonna Castle On the West Bank
In Luxor
* Food, transportation, refreshments, tips, and activities should cost far less than $200 for the four days - that’s less than $50 a day. Many of the fun things-to-do are free. Egypt is not expensive. Remember, only 16 reservations will be accepted
You are STRONGLY advised to purchase trip insurance. See
Joyce, our travel agent. FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT THIS TRIP CONTACT: For travel related questions or to make a reservation,
call Joyce Essex of Royal Wings Travel, For Egypt related questions or to schedule a trip presentation or to make a reservation, call Jonna Castle, 303-751-7343 or contact jonnacastle@hotmail.com. Type “Egypt” on the subject line. AND AN INFORMATION ATTACHMENT WILL BE
E-MAILED TO YOU! IS EGYPT SAFE? My feeling is that travel in Egypt is just as safe as travel in any often-visited country in the world. I am always totally comfortable there. The Nile Valley (our destination) has not had an incident since 1997. I was there and it was devastating for the Egyptians – they thought the world would blame them & hate them. There have been a couple of incidents more recently in Israel-Egypt border towns. Most of the crime in Egypt is petty. It is rare to have the type of crimes we have in the US. The Egyptians think our country is very unsafe. But you should never let your guard down! Egypt is very dependent on tourism and the government has strong
policies in place for the benefit & protection of tourists. As we pass
through police checkpoints and see armed guards on our overnight train,
remember, they are doing that for our protection. They do not want us
harmed or frightened in any way. They think that seeing those measures
will make us feel safe. –
Jonna Castle POINTS TO PONDER Men & women both should dress conservatively. No shorts for either. Women should have upper arms covered & no exposed cleavage. Hems shall be below the knees. Hair covering is not required, except when visiting mosques – then it is required. Guys, no muscle shirts. Wear sturdy shoes for protection – no sandals or open toes. In the south, daytime temperatures could be in the mid-to-high 80’s, but nights in the desert can be quite cool. Be flexible. While our intention is to adhere to the schedule as printed, we must be prepared for a bit of flexibility, as we are planning 1 year in advance. ATMs are available. Outside of Cairo, credit cards are not widely accepted. Tipping: In Egypt, tipping is called bakshish and is a recognized part of life. The tour leader will tip for group activities such as luggage transfer, guides, drivers, etc. You must tip for activities of your own. Tipping in restaurants may vary. A service charge is often added to the bill, but that is for management. An additional 10% for the waiter is good. Always check. Don’t give bakshish to begging children. But it is good to “donate” to blind, lame, etc. They have no income. Please don’t be rude to annoying children or other street solicitors. Say “la sho-kron” (no thanks) in a matter-of-fact manner and then ignore them, because they will not stop. Don’t take photos of people without their permission. Unless the price is fixed in writing, ALWAYS barter. Never pay the first price mentioned.
Remember, only 16 reservations will
be accepted |
