Ancient Wonders of Egypt & Jordan

Day 1 - Thursday 3 November 2022

Melbourne - Cairo (Meals in flight)

Welcome to Sisterhood Womens Travel!  Meet with your Sisterhood Tour Hostess and fellow travellers at the Melbourne Airport for your flight to Cairo.

Sit back, relax and enjoy the inflight entertainment of our airline as we make our way towards Egypt.

Day 2 - Friday 4 November 2022

Welcome to Cairo (D)

Upon arrival in Cairo we will be met by a representative who will provide assistance with airport & visa formalities, we then transfer to the hotel for check-in and meet with the Tour Guide for a briefing.

The remainder of the day is at leisure.

Early evening we will regroup for a welcome meeting and tour briefing before our dinner at the hotel. 

Overnight: Conrad Cairo Hotel 

Day 3 - Saturday 5 November 2022

Cairo (B,L,D)

This is a day to tick off the bucket list, that will be remembered for years to come! 

After breakfast, we visit the awe-inspiring Sphinx and Giza Pyramids. 

The Pyramids are the only present-day survivors of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The great Pyramid of Cheops will take about a 45 minutes stop, then the other two Pyramids of Chephren and Mykerinos (entry into one of the Pyramids can be available at an approximate additional cost of USD30 depending on which ones are open).

Then drive down to the Sphinx.  It’s a one block carved statue of limestone for King Cheops representing him as a sitting lion with human head.  Just next to the Sphinx see the valley temple of King Cheops.  It’s a small temple built of the red granite stone of Aswan. Egyptologists believe that this temple was the mummification place of the royal body.

The solar boat museum (optional visit at an additional cost of USD20) is located just behind the Cheops Pyramid, it is a small boat-shaped museum in which you will see a large wooden boat belonging to King Cheops himself. It’s one of five boats that were buried around his Pyramid for the afterlife.

Proceed to Sakkara, it is a large open air desert area (a lot of walking), about half an hour drive from Giza Pyramids through the countryside.  This rich archaeological necropolis houses the funeral complex of King Zoser including his step pyramid, the oldest pyramid in Egypt.  See one or more of the Noble’s tombs.  They show the beauty and excellence of ancient Egyptian art and give an insight into the daily life of ancient Egypt as shown on the walls of these tombs in beautiful coloured scenes.

See the Pyramid of King Teti (if it is open), it’s a small pyramid of limestone in an external bad condition, but when you go inside it, you will be surprised by its marvellous decorations and the famous religious texts written in beautiful hieroglyphic vertical columns.  

Make a stop at an oriental carpet school then lunch will be at a local restaurant.

Proceed to Memphis, an open air museum built on the ruins of the oldest capital city in ancient Egypt. See a collection of antiques especially the colossal of King Ramses II, carved of one block of limestone weighing 80 tons and measuring 12 metres high.  You may also see the famous alabaster Sphinx of Memphis as well as many other monuments.

Make a stop at a papyrus institute to attend a demonstration on how ancient Egyptians used to make papyrus and a chance to buy some souvenirs.

Return to the hotel for dinner.

Overnight:    Conrad Cairo Hotel

Day 4 - Sunday 6 November 2022

Cairo (B,L,D)

After breakfast at 8.00am, enjoy a guided tour of Cairo.  Visit the Citadel and Mohamed Aly Mosque.  It is one of Cairo’s most popular tourist attractions.  The Citadel is an old fortress originally built by Salah El-Din (Saladin) in 1176 to fortify the city against the crusaders.  It is a complex which houses a number of museums, mosques and other sites, located on a spur of limestone that had been detached from its parent Mokattam Hills by quarrying.  The most famous mosque to be visited at the Citadel is the alabaster mosque of Mohamed Ali the Great, built in 1850.

Continue on to visit Old Cairo (The Hanging Church, Amr Ibn ElAss mosque and Ben Ezra synagogue), then proceed to visit the Egyptian museum (GEM) if it’s open for visits.

New Museum Description:  The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), also known as the Giza Museum, is a planned museum of artefacts of ancient Egypt.  Described as the largest archaeological museum in the world, exhibiting the full Tutankhamun collection with many pieces to be displayed for the first time.  The museum is sited on 50 hectares of land approximately two kilometres from the Giza pyramids and is part of a new master plan for the plateau.

Old Museum Description:  The Egyptian government established the ‘Service des Antiques de l’Egypte’ in 1835 mainly to halt the plundering of archaeological sites and to arrange the exhibition of the collected artefacts owned by the government.  The Azbakiah garden in Cairo was first used as a storage place for these artefacts.  The collection was later transferred to another building in the Citadel of Saladin.

In 1858, a museum was prepared at Boulaq, its contents collected by the French archaeologist August Mariette. In 1880, the contents of the Boulaq museum were transferred to an annex of the Guiza palace of Ismail Pasha, the ruler of Egypt.  The present museum was built in 1900, in the neo-classical style by the French architect Marcel Dourgnon.

The museum contains 107 halls.  On the ground floor there are the huge statues and the upper floor houses small statues, jewels, the golden treasures of the boy-king Tut Ankh Amun.  It also houses the royal mummies room (optional admission USD23 approx).

Enjoy lunch in a local restaurant then visit Khan El Khalily souk (old market) for the remainder of the afternoon.

Return to the hotel for dinner.

Overnight:    Conrad Cairo Hotel

Day 5 - Monday 7 November 2022

Cairo - Luxor (B,L,D)

Early this morning at 4.00am, you will be transferred to Cairo Airport for the departure flight to Luxor.

DEPART CAIRO                                  MS 062                                                        0630

ARRIVE LUXOR                                  EGYPT AIR                                                  0730

Arrive early morning in Luxor.  A Chrismar Travel representative will meet you and take you on a tour of the Karnak temple, a gigantic temple complex which is over 3,500 years old and dedicated to the greatly powerful Ram Headed God Amun. 

At the end of the tour you will be transferred to the boat for the 4 night cruise.  All meals starting with lunch today and ending with breakfast the last day will be served on board.  For your convenience, most meals will be buffet style.

In the evening visit the historic Luxor Temple.  Luxor Temple is an important temple in that it was dedicated to three Gods; Amun, his wife Mut and his son Khons.  Together these temples and Gods are key players into the great Opet Festival which was held during the flood season.

The ship will be moored in Luxor for the night.

Overnight:  Private Cabin, MS Nile Premium – 4 nights
 

Day 6 - Tuesday 8 November 2022

Luxor - Esna - Edfu (B,L,D)

**Early this morning, for those who have chosen to do the Optional Sunrise Hot Air Balloon trip**Transfer at 4.30am from the cruise vessel to the West Bank and Balloon launch site. After a safety briefing, final inflation of the balloon will take place and passengers will board for their one hour balloon flight over Luxor.  We will enjoy breathtaking views of the temples and tombs and their relationship to each other.  See farmers starting work in their fields before landing and transferring back to the launch site and cruise boat. This is an experience of a lifetime. The balloon ride takes 45 minutes then you’ll be transferred back to your Nile Cruise

This morning after breakfast, we will tour the West Bank of Luxor.  Start the tour off with the world famous Valley of the Kings and enter some of the incredible tombs of the New Kingdom Pharaohs, then onto the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. We finish with the great Colossi of Memnon.

From there we continue to the famous Nefertari tomb in the Valley of the Queens. Nefertari, also known as Nefertari Meritmut, was an Egyptian queen and the first of the Great Royal Wives of Ramesses the Great.  She is one of the best known Egyptian queens, next to Cleopatra, Nefertiti, and Hatshepshut. She was highly educated and able to both read and write hieroglyphs, a very rare skill at the time. She used these skills in her diplomatic work, corresponding with other prominent royals of the time.  Her lavishly decorated tomb, QV66, is one of the largest and most spectacular in the Valley of the Queens. Ramesses also constructed a temple for her at Abu Simbel next to his colossal monument there.

Finally we visit the Alabaster Factory and Shop for a small demonstration of how they use the stone to make many household items & there will be an opportunity to shop for some of the locally made pieces. 

We return to the boat for lunch. Then sail to Esna and pass its lock. From there we sail to Edfu for overnight mooring.

Overnight: MS Nile Premium 

Day 7 - Wednesday 9 November 2022

Edfu - Kom Ombo - Aswan (B,L,D)

This morning at 6.30am enjoy a visit of Edfu.  The city of Edfu contains the famous Temple of Horus.  The 2,000-year-old Temple was dedicated to the Son of Osiris, Horus the Falcon Headed God, and is the best preserved and most complete temple in Egypt.

Return to the boat and sail up the Nile to Kom Ombo.  In the afternoon, visit the Temple of Kom Ombo.  This is a Dual Greco-Roman Egyptian Temple dedicated to the Evil Crocodile god Sobek and the Good Falcon God Haroeris, which stands overseeing the Nile and had sacred crocodiles kept as pets.  Sail to Aswan where the ship will be moored for the night.

Overnight: MS Nile Premium 

Day 8 - Thursday 10 November 2022

Aswan (B,L,D)

Visit the Temple of Philae, a majestic Greco-Roman Egyptian temple dedicated to the goddess Isis, the goddess of love.

Enjoy lunch on board.

This afternoon enjoy a felucca ride around Elephantine Island followed by High Tea at the Old Cataract Hotel to watch the sunset over the Nile.  Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Nile was filmed here so there is much memorabilia and photographs of famous celebrities who have stayed or visited.

Return back to the ship for dinner and overnight on board

Overnight: MS Nile premium

Day 9 - Friday 11 November 2022

Aswan - Abu Simbel - Cairo (B,L,D)

This morning at 7.00am, disembark the ship, transfer to the airport and fly from Aswan to Abu Simbel.

DEPART ASWAN                                MS 147                                                        0955

ARRIVE ABU SIMBEL                         EGYPT AIR                                                  1040

Upon arrival in Abu Simbel, you will be taken on a tour.  Explore the famous temples at Abu Simbel, in the southern region of Nubia, built by the pharaoh Ramses II in about 1260 B.C. to celebrate the 13th year of his reign.  Of all the pharaohs, Ramses II was the most prolific builder of monuments and temples.  Two of his greatest temples, the Great Temple of Abu Simbel and its smaller cousin, the Temple of Hathor are at Abu Simbel.  Both temples originally sat some sixty metres below where you find them today.  They were part of a massive UNESCO operation to save Egypt's Great Temples from Lake Nasser's rising waters.  Embedded into the mountain itself, the temples had to be cut free from the rock and painstakingly dismantled and rebuilt.

Transfer to the airport and fly to Cairo via Aswan. 

DEPART ABU SIMBEL                        MS 150                                                        1340

ARRIVE CAIRO                                  EGYPT AIR                                                  1620

Upon arrival you will be met by a Chrismar Travel representative and transferred to the hotel for dinner and overnight.

Overnight: Conrad Cairo Hotel

Day 10 - Saturday 12 November 2022

Cairo – Bahariya Oasis - White Desert (B.L.D)

At 7.00a, depart to Bahariya Oasis (approximately 5 hours).  Depart from Bahariya Oasis in 4 x 4 jeeps for the journey to the White Desert (approximately 3 hours including visits).  Enjoy a safari picnic lunch. 

Before sunset reach the White Desert and enjoy a BBQ dinner.  Camp in tents under the stars.  Clean sleeping bags are provided.

Overnight:  Camping in tents – 1 night

Day 11 - Sunday 13 November 2022

White Desert - Bahariya Oasis (B,L,D)

Enjoy a breakfast picnic in the Sahara.  Return to Bahariya Oasis and along the way, explore Crystal Mountain, the area of the wonders with the desert roses, and the Black Desert.  Also visit Akabat Mountain (Mountain of Miracles).

Upon arrival, check-in to the hotel at 1200hrs for overnight accommodation including breakfast.

Lunch will be at a local restaurant.

Dinner will be at the hotel.

Overnight: International Hot Spring Hotel, Bahariya Oasis 

Day 12 - Monday 14 November 2022

Bahariya Oasis - Cairo (B,D)

After breakfast at 8.00am take a tour of the Golden Mummies Museum and a couple of well-preserved ancient tombs from the 26th Dynasty.  Return to the hotel for checkout then board the bus for Cairo (approximately 5 hours). 

Arrive in Cairo in the evening and transfer to the hotel for an overnight stay including breakfast.

Early this evening enjoy a 1 hour Belly Dancing course.  The name “belly dance” or “raks sharki” has a long and colourful history.  Belly dancing does not mean moving only the belly.  When women belly dance, they use their entire body including their head, hair, shoulders, arms, hands, chest, belly, hips, bottoms, legs and feet.  It is magic!  Belly dancing is not popular only in Egypt but in many oriental countries.  Egypt, however, is the first country to come to mind when one thinks of belly dancing.

Dinner tonight will be at a local restaurant.

Overnight: Conrad Cairo Hotel

Day 13 - Tuesday 15 November 2022

Cairo (B,L,D)

Today is a day at leisure.

**For those who have decided to do the Optional Cairo Tour** -This tour includes a visit to El Hussein Mosque (named for the grandson of Prophet Muhammad and it is one of the holiest Islamic sites in Cairo), El Refai Mosque (the oldest mosque in the city surviving in its original form and the largest mosque in Cairo in terms of land area), El Sultan Hassan Mosque (remarkable for its fantastic size and innovative architectural components), El Moez Street (one of the most amazing streets in Islamic Cairo) and Wekalet El Ghouri (architecturally stunning arts centre). 

This evening we have a special treat with a one hour Sound & Light show near the pyramids and the Sphinx. The history is re-told by the Sphinx, telling you the most ancient secrets of the world.  In the 21st century, go back in time thousands of years ago to see how they were built and survived! The show manages to convey the great humane spirit and creativity behind their creation.

Dinner tonight will be at the hotel.

Overnight: Conrad Cairo Hotel

Day 14 - Wednesday 16 November 2022

Cairo - Amman (B,D)

This morning you will be transferred to the airport for the flight to Amman, Jordan.

DEPART CAIRO                                  RJ 504                                                          1345

ARRIVE AMMAN                                 ROYAL JORDANIAN                                    1505

Upon arrival at Queen Alia Airport, you will be met by a Petra Nights Tours representative and assisted through customs and immigration.  Then you will be transferred to the hotel.

The remainder of the day is at leisure.

Dinner tonight will be at the hotel.

Accommodation:  Amman International Hotel, Amman

Day 15 - Thursday 17 November 2022

Amman - Jerash - Amman (B,D)

After breakfast take a city tour of Amman, Jordan’s capital.  Amman, already mentioned in the Bible as Rabbath Ammon, is a bustling modern city.  The historical places are located in downtown, where we visit the Citadel with remains from the Roman to the very Islamic period.  Then visit the Archaeological Museum, housing an excellent collection like several Dead Sea Scrolls.  Stroll via the Souq, for an idea of everyday life, to the 6000 seat Roman Theatre from the 2nd Century.  Drive north to Jerash, the best example of a roman provincial city in the Middle East.  Visit the spectacular Forum, Roman colonnaded Street, the Nymphaeum and the Temple of Artemis.

Enjoy a cook and dine experience at Beit Sitti and learn how to prepare a traditional Arabic meal in one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Amman, Jabal al Weibdeh.

Return to the hotel.

Overnight: Amman International Hotel 

Day 16 - Friday 18 November 2022

Amman - Mount Nebo - Kerak - Petra (B,D)

After breakfast depart for Mt Nebo, the place where Moses gazed at the Promised Land before he died.  Visit the old monastery and overlook the Jordan Valley, Dead Sea and parts of the Holy Land.  Proceed to Madaba to visit the famous mosaic 6th century map of Palestine in St Georges Church.  Afterwards drive to Kerak along the famous ancient biblical caravan route the King’s Way.  Have a short stop in Wadi Al-Mujib, a great wide valley with its breath taking geological formations.  In Kerak, the ancient biblical capital of the Moabites, see the famous crusaders castle that was built in 1132/34 by King Baldwin I, the first of Jerusalem. 

Then drive on to Petra for a three night stay including breakfast.

Dinner tonight will be at Al Qantarah Restaurant.

Accommodation:  The Old Village Hotel & Resort, Petra 

Day 17 - Saturday 19 November 2022

Petra (B,D)

After breakfast, enjoy a full day tour to the red rose city Petra, the biggest attraction of Jordan.  Petra was first established around the 6th century BC by the Nabataen Arabs, a nomadic tribe who settled in the area and laid the foundations of a commercial empire that extended to Syria.  After the conquest by the Romans 106AD Petra declined in importance.  The city was rediscovered in 19th century by the Swiss explorer, Johann Burchardt. 

Upon arrival you will begin an unforgettable trip on a horse back to the canyon, the so called Siq and then by foot to the most beautiful monument – the treasury.  The local guide will give a brief history of the city.  Among other monuments you will see are the Pharaoh’s Castle, the Street of Facades and the Royal Tombs. 

Visit Henna Fantasia and celebrate Jordan Folklore in glamorous dances performed by the Henna men and women.  Immerse your senses in the Jordanian heritage and culture.  Taste Jordanian gourmet desserts coming from Jordan history.

Return to the hotel for dinner.

Overnight:  Old Village Hotel 

Day 18 - Sunday 20 November 2022

Petra (B,D)

After breakfast, you have another day to visit Petra.  You may hike the 800 steps to the Monastery or also known as the Ad Deir though the main trail.  Then visit the bizarre landscape of Little Petra, visit Siq el-Barid, a miniature Petra with its modest gorge (Siq) that leads into an area of carved tombs and monuments. 

Enjoy dinner at a local Bedouin camp in Little Petra before transferring back to the hotel. 

Overnight:  Old Village Hotel 

Day 19 - Monday 21 November 2022

Petra - Wadi Rum - Dead Sea (B,D)

After breakfast travel southwards for 4 hours via the Desert Highway to Wadi Rum, the wild desert landscape which fascinated the British liaison officer, Lawrence of Arabia.  Embark on a 2 hour Bedouin Jeep Tour which leads to the sand dunes in Wadi Rum Ishrin where you can find Nabatean rock inscriptions. 

Drive 3½ hours to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth and the largest natural spa in the world.  Transfer to the hotel for a two night stay inclusive of breakfast.

Dinner tonight will be at the hotel.

Overnight: Crowne Plaza Dead Sea Resort, Dead Sea

Day 20 - Tuesday 22 November 2022

Dead Sea (B,D)

Enjoy a day at leisure at the Dead Sea for exploring or enjoying the facilities of the resort.

With 400 metres below sea level, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth and the largest natural spa in the world.  Ever since the days of Herod the Great, people have flocked to it in search of its curative secrets.  The area is characterised by high annual temperatures, low humidity and high atmospheric pressure, the air is extremely oxygen rich.  With the highest content of minerals and salts in the world, the Dead Sea water possesses anti-inflammatory properties, and the dark mud found on its shores has been used for over 2000 years for therapeutic purposes.  With it’s own beach. you have the opportunity to float in the Dead Sea and experience the feeling of not sinking in the water. 

Dinner tonight will be at the hotel.

Overnight: Crowne Plaza Dead Sea Resort, Dead Sea

Day 21 - Wednesday 23 November 2022

Dead Sea - Amman - Melbourne (B, Meals in flight)

After breakfast, time is at leisure until check out. Then we transfer to Amman airport (approximately 1 hour away) for our return flight to Australia. 

Sit back, relax and enjoy the inflight hospitality of our airline as we head towards home.

Day 22 - Thursday 24 November 2022

Melbourne

Welcome Home!  Arriving back into Melbourne in the evening.  We thank you for joining us for your latest adventure and look forward to welcoming you back.