SPLENDORS OF EGYPT

• Day 1:

  DAY 1 - CAIRO Upon arrival in Cairo, you will be met by Ya'lla Tours USA’s Egypt representative and transferred to your hotel for overnight.

• Day 2:

  DAY 2 - CAIRO Your private Egyptologist tour guide and driver will pick you up at 8:30AM to start your tour. Visit the Red Pyramid of Dahshour. Senefru, father of Cheops, built this pyramid approximately 4,600 years ago. Many scholars consider it to be more glorious than the Great Pyramid of Cheops. Continue to Sakkara to see the prototype of the pyramids, the Step Pyramid, built for the 3rd Dynasty Pharaoh Djoser by the exalted architect Imhotep. Lunch en route. Drive to Giza and visit the Great Pyramids. See a royal burial chamber, the Valley Temple, and the Sphinx. Then visit the Solar Boat, one of the most amazing Pharaonic discoveries. Return to Cairo for overnight.

• Day 3:

  DAY 3 - LUXOR Drive to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities for a detailed visit with your guide. Among other fascinating exhibits, see the treasures of the Tomb of Tutankhamen and the extraordinary Mummies Room. Over ten mummies, including that of Ramses II, are displayed in freestanding glass cases in this climate-controlled room. Walk around the mummies and examine them from all angles, gaze into their incredibly well preserved 3000-year-old faces. Leave the museum and enter Old Cairo and walk back in time. Visit the Old Coptic Church and the Ben Ezra Synagogue. Lunch en route. Continue to the Mohamad Ali Mosque and the streets of Khan el Khalili Bazaar. After a day of touring, you will be transferred to the airport for your flight from Cairo to Luxor. Upon arrival, you will be met by a Ya’lla Tours USA representative and transferred to your hotel for overnight.

• Day 4:

  DAY 4 - NILE CRUISE (Luxor) A Ya’lla Tours USA representative will meet you at your hotel and transfer you to your Nile cruise vessel, for lunch. After lunch, begin touring with a visit to Karnak Temple, called by some “the Temple of Temples.” It is the largest place of worship ever built. Its ancient name Ipet-isut means “the most sacred of places.” The temple, or, more correctly, the complex of temples, was built over more than two thousand years by generation after generation of pharaohs. Within the complex, the great “Hypostyle Hall” is an incredible forest of giant pillars covering an area larger than the whole of Notre Dame Cathedral. Then visit the graceful Temple of Luxor built by Amenhotep III and Ramses II for ritual and festivals and dedicated to the god Amun. Return to your cruise for dinner and overnight on board.

• Day 5:

  DAY 5 - NILE CRUISE (Edfu) After breakfast onboard, cross to the West Bank of the Nile and visit the wondrous Valley of the Kings, a vast city of the dead where the magnificent tombs of 62 pharaohs have been discovered. The tombs were carved deep into the desert rock, richly decorated and filled with treasures for the afterlife of the pharaohs. Visit several of the tombs. Next, visit the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. This beautiful monument to the reign of one of the very few female pharaohs rises out of the desert plain in a series of terraces and merges with the sheer limestone cliffs that surround it. On the way back to your Nile cruise, stop at the famed Colossi of Memnon, two 66ft, 1 thousand-ton statues of Amenhotep III. These colossal statues were known by the ancient Greeks to emit haunting voices at dawn. Though damaged by nature and ancient tourists, the statues are still impressive. Return to your cruise and set sail for Edfu. The afternoon is at leisure. Lunch, and dinner on board. Overnight at Edfu.

• Day 6:

  DAY 6 - NILE CRUISE (Aswan) After breakfast on board, set out by horse-drawn carriage to visit the Temple of Horus, the most perfectly preserved of all the Nile Temples. Horus, also known as Haroeris, was the falcon-headed solar war god. Return to your cruise vessel by carriage and sail to Kom Ombo. Visit the Temple of Sobek, the crocodile-headed god of fertility and creator of the world. The temple stands at a bend in the Nile where, in ancient times, sacred crocodiles basked in the sun on the riverbank. Lunch, dinner and overnight on board. Sail to Aswan for overnight.

• Day 7:

  DAY 7 - NILE CRUISE (Aswan) After breakfast on board, take a tour of Aswan High Dam, Egypt’s contemporary example of building on a monumental scale. Continue by a short motor-boat ride to the Temple of Philae on the island of Agilka. The temple was dedicated to Isis, sister/wife of Osiris and patroness of the Ptolemaic rule. In the afternoon, sail around Elephantine Island on a felucca, the traditional Egyptian sailboat. Elephantine Island is the largest of the Aswan area islands and is the site of some of the most ancient remains in Egypt, with artifacts dating to pre-dynastic periods. Elephantine is Greek for elephants. In ancient times, the island was called Abu or Yabu, which also means elephant. The name may indicate that the island was once a center for the trade of ivory. Continue sailing around Kitchner Island (also known as Lord Kitchner’s Botanical Garden, Plant Island, Gizirat al-Nabatat, Plantation Island, or Gizirat al-Bustan). Lord Kitchner moved there after being given the island for his campaigns in the Sudan. He imported plants from around the world to create his famous garden. From the river you have a nice view of the Aga Khan Mausoleum, an elegant pink granite structure built in the late 1950’s. Return to your Cruise for dinner and overnight in Aswan.

• Day 8:

  DAY 8 – LAKE NASSER CRUISE After breakfast, you will disembark from your Nile cruise and be transferred to Aswan airport for your flight to Abu Simbel. Upon arrival, you will be met by a cruise representative and transferred to your cruise, the Nubian Sea, for lunch. In the afternoon visit the awesome twin temples of Ramses II and his queen Nefertari with their facades of colossal statues. In the early 1960’s, by a prodigious feat of engineering and international cooperation, the entire temple complex was dismantled stone by stone and reassembled 90 feet above its original site in order to save it from the rising waters caused by the construction of the Aswan High Dam. Return to your Cruise for cocktails with the temples as a fantastic backdrop. Dinner and overnight on the ship.

• Day 9:

  DAY 9 - LAKE NASSER CRUISE In the morning, visit Kasr Ibrim, one of the few remnants of ancient Nubia still accessible and in its original location. During the Pharaonic period, a citadel dominated this hill. Admire the Roman arches, vestiges of a medieval cathedral, which stood here. In the afternoon, visit the Amada Oasis. The temple of Amada was built during the reigns of Tutmosis III and IV. Cruise to Wadi El Seboua. Dinner and overnight on ship.

• Day 10:

  DAY 10 - LAKE NASSER CRUISE Visit the Oasis of Wadi El Seboua. Ramses II dedicated the temple here to the two gods, Amon Ra and Ra Harmakis. Cruise to Aswan. Dinner and overnight on ship.

• Day 11:

  DAY 11 - CAIRO Disembark after breakfast. Visit the Kalabsha Temple with its Pharaonic aspect, which was remodeled, into the Greco Roman style. Ramesses II dedicated the Kalabsha Temple to the God Mandoulis in the beginning of his reign. After the morning of touring, you will be transferred to the Aswan airport for your flight to Cairo. Upon arrival, you will be met by Ya'lla Tours USA representative and transferred to your hotel for overnight. In the evening, enjoy a special farewell dinner.

• Day 12:

  DAY 12 - You will be transferred to the airport for your departure flight.

PRICE INCLUDES:

* Domestic flights in Egypt: Cairo – Luxor / Aswan – Abu Simbel /Aswan – Cairo.

* 4 nights of hotel accommodations with buffet breakfast daily.

* 4- night Nile cruise with all meals onboard and standard tours included.

* 3-night Lake Nasser Cruise with all meals onboard and standard tours included.

* All transfers to/from airports and ports.

* 2 days of touring in Cairo in an air-conditioned, private van with a licensed, English-speaking guide.

* 2 lunches during touring in Cairo.

* All entrance fees as per itinerary.

* Farewell dinner.

* Porterage at airports, hotels and cruises.

* Service fees and local taxes.

* Ya’lla Tours USA Inc. travel bag and exclusive information kit.

  PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE:

* Visa to Egypt $50 per person.

* Airfare except as specified.

* Departure taxes.

* Meals except where indicated.

* Drinks of any kind.

* Personal expenses.

* Tips to guides, drivers, hotels, Nile Cruise and Restaurants.

* Tip to bellman ($1 per piece of luggage handled in every hotel).

* Travel Insurance, highly recommended.

   IMPORTANT NOTE:

* Most airlines allow 1 checked bag, maximum of 50 lbs. However, the rule can vary from carrier to carrier.  Please check with each airline in your itinerary for their policy.

* Air and cruise schedules are subject to change at any time.

* Egypt Air allows 20 kilos of luggage at no charge on the domestic flights.

* Luggage allowance, one 25 inches (total 62 linear inches) checked bag and one small carryon per person for transfers and tours.

* You must have a valid U.S. passport to enter Egypt. (Must have at least 6 months of validity past your scheduled return date).

* Ya’lla Tours USA Inc. reserves the right to change the hotels to others of similar quality.

* Due to unforeseen circumstances the sequence of the sightseeing may vary.