Item Code: 15-11928

Day 01: Arrival to Cairo

You will be driven from Cairo airport to the palatial Mena House Hotel where you will be
welcomed with a drink and stunning views of the Great Pyramids. The remainder of your day is for
relaxing and re-energizing.

Day 02: Giza Pyramids

Start the day correctly, with a visit to the Sphinx enclosure and the Valley Temple, an austere and
megalithic complex used as a preparatory area for the pyramids. After lunch in the desert
overlooking the pyramids, a camel ride across the Giza plateau takes us to the Pyramid of
Menkaure, the one that attracts the least attention and thus the repository of perhaps the biggest
secret of the entire complex. Finish with a crawl into Khafre’s pyramid. Return to hotel for an
evening at leisure.

Day 03: Saqqara – Serapeum

A bus ride to Saqqara, and short descend into the Pyramid of Unas, one of the best-preserved
initiation chambers and home to the oldest texts outlining the process for accessing the Otherworld
(and returning). We will then explore the mysterious underground Serapeum featuring 100-ton
monolithic granite boxes of exquisite craftsmanship, once used to protect something very precious.
After lunch we enter Saqqara proper, a vast site named for the god of rebirth, and home to the
majestic step pyramid of Djoser, with free time to ponder over the day’s events. Return to hotel,
with an optional side excursion to the perfume house.

Day 04: Dahshur – Fly to Aswan
We travel to Dahshur and enter the deep shafts of the elegant Bent Pyramid and its cunning
geometry. Because we are gluttons for punishment we then descend into the interior passages of the
adjacent Red Pyramid, which has the largest base of any pyramid in Egypt. After a late lunch we
depart Cairo Airport for our flight to Aswan, known for being Egypt’s strategic and commercial
gateway since antiquity. We are in for a real treat as we transfer to our 5-star hotel for the next 3
nights ~ the legendary Old Cataract Hotel. This ravishing hotel with its legendary guest list of
royals and dignitaries (think King Fouad entertaining Agatha Christie over cocktails), sits on a pink
granite cliff overlooking the Nile and Elephantine Island.

Day 05: Aswan – Kom Ombo

After a relaxing breakfast at Old Cataract, we have free time to shop the market and visit the
Papyrus Institute. After lunch, we take a short bus ride to Kom Ombo (because getting you out of
this hotel in the morning will be fruitless). Kom Ombo is two temples, one dedicated to Horus, the
other to Sobek. Each was used to raise the initiate’s awareness through specific tests. Here, they
learned to control fear, and proved it by swimming with live crocodiles. Swimming gear mandatory.

Day 06: Aswan – Philae Island & Temple

Yet another dull breakfast on the patio overlooking the Nile. While a thousand tourists head to
Philae, there’s an optional tour to Khnum Temple on Elephantine Island (where the Ark of the
Covenant once resided), followed by a relaxing boat ride to the Nubian Village, to see how real
people live. Just about everyone takes this option, probably for the chance to hold the unusual
family pet. As the hordes depart from Philae, we head to the island (superior tour planning requires
observation and avoidance of crowds as much as possible). We share a packed lunch with a hundred
cats, and then walk the temple in peace. Philae, or P-aaleq, is one of the eight original mounds
established in the primeval age of the gods, it is a truly ancient site where the cosmic marriage of
Osiris and Isis was consummated twice a year. Later, we will sail back to the Old Cataract for
dinner by the Nile, you poor thing.

Day 07: Edfu Temple – Luxor by Road

Grudgingly we depart for Edfu. To avoid more crowds, we go by bus and take a packed lunch,
giving us the luxury a few quiet hours. The Edfu is one of the best-preserved temples, thanks to the
Greeks who rebuilt it, and in the process uncovered perhaps the most important prehistoric text
detailing the activities of the gods and their point of origin. The site is dedicated to the offspring of
the resurrected god-man Osiris: Horus or Heru, symbol of the path of the fully awakened initiate,
and the root of ‘hero’. A relaxing bus ride puts us in Luxor early evening.

Day 08: Karnak Temple – Luxor Temple

Morning is for exploring the sprawling open air Karnak complex, the axis mundi of Egyptian
religious culture and the cult of Amun, with each pharaoh adding to or altering the site over
thousands of years. It is a place for getting lost, but not before we try to get private access into the
chapel of Ptah and Sekhmet, as well as one of the most perfect buildings in the world, the chapel of
Senusret. After lunch we take it easy: worship Ra in the Winter Palace’s formal garden and pool. Or
the best gold and silver jewelry store, where your art of bartering will be sorely tested. We gather at
twilight to visit Luxor Temple, best experienced when lit. Luxor encodes proportions derived from
nature’s mathematics, hence why it looks and feels perfect. You can then retire to the Winter Palace
for dinner, or squeeze in an hour visit to the small but well provided Luxor Museum, worth it just
for the busts of Akhenaten and the art of Amarna.

Day 09: Abydos By Road – Abydos Temple & Osirion

A bus across the desert takes us to Abydos. After lunch and a swim, we spend the rest of the
afternoon in the temple of Seti I to do personal work among the various frescoed chambers
dedicated to the gods and their respective teachings. The highlight is a rare, two-hour private access
into the Osirion, a megalithic chamber over 11000 years old, once mistaken for being underground,
where the 17 Ways of the Gods were taught. A five-minute walk returns us to the hotel for dinner,
and to smoke shisha by the pool and relax, man

Day 10: Dendera Temple – Luxor by Road

We drive to Dendera, or Enet Ta Neter, the House of the God, and eat a packed lunch in the shade.
In addition to the beautifully preserved frescoes, astronomical ceilings and Hathor pillars is a
replica of the spiral zodiac, unique in that it is centered on the Age of Cancer, thus placing the
original site in the epoch of 8000 BC. After bribing the local police escort, we scurry across the
desert to Luxor West Bank and the luxurious Al-Moudira Hotel. An oasis of grace and elegance, Al
Moudira sits within a garden of lemon, orange, mandarin, mango, guava and palm trees, with
hibiscus, eucalyptus, jasmine and henna lining the brick paths. Relax in the pool or the Turkish
Bath, or book a massage. Or just eat al fresco in the fountain courtyard resembling Marrakesh in
1902.

Day 11: Valley of the Kings’ – Hatshepsut Temple – Habu Temple

Once we prize you away from breakfast in the courtyard, it’s a short ride to Valley of the Kings’,
where we will visit 3 of the most reserved royal tombs (not including entry to Tutankhamun, Seti
I, and Ramses V & Ramses VI). After a brief visit to the alabaster factory, we have lunch on a
covered verandah, followed by a short drive to Hatshepsut temple, a masterpiece of architecture
where the hill looks like its giving birth to the temple. Finally, we’ll squeeze in Djanet Temple, a bit
off the tourist trail, because it is where eight of the primeval gods of Egypt are buried. Few come
here, I don’t know why, this is one of the most important places on Earth. Return to Al Moudira for
relaxation in the Arabian Night atmosphere, sip mint tea or a cocktail in the eastern bar. Humphrey
Bogart and Ingrid Bergman just out of shot.

Day 12: Fly to Cairo – Private Visit to Giza Pyramid

To complete our adventure, we fly back to Cairo early, freshen up at Mena House and prepare for
one of the greatest experiences in life: We finally enter the Great Pyramid in private, the prize for
every initiate who completed training along the Nile temples. We ascend the Grand Gallery, follow
in the footsteps of countless initiates and gods, into the Kings Chamber, completing our ascension
(literally and metaphorically) with a guided meditation. Who knows what will pop out of those
megalithic red granite walls. We close our adventure with a good meal at Mena House, overlooking
the pyramids, where we can share stories. And bid each other au revoir, because in the ancient
world there is no such thing as goodbye.

Day 13: Departure Transfer

One final breakfast before transferring to Cairo International airport.

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