4-Day Nile Cruise - ASW-LXR Incl. Abu Simbel and Hot Air Balloon

Day 1.

• Pick up from Aswan Railway Station or Aswan accommodation and transfer to the Nile Cruise for check-in.
• After lunch on board, you visit the Aswan Highlights. Our first stop will be a modern wonder of technology. Built in the 1950s, the Aswan High Dam brought the Nile's devastating floods to an end, reclaimed more than 100,000 acres of desert land for agriculture and made further crops possible on an additional 800,000 acres.
• To continue, we board a motorboat to Philae Island. After the construction of the Aswan Low Dam, it was completely submerged in the Nile, but with the help of UNESCO, it found a new home on the Island Agilkia. The first structure that greets visitors is the iconic Trajan's Kiosk, built in the 2nd Century AD by the Roman Emperor Trajan. The main structure on the island is the Temple of Isis, the goddess of health, marriage, motherhood, and wisdom. You will visit the temples and the ancient Nilometer.
• At the end of the tour, you will be brought back to your Nile Cruise for the night.

Day 2.

• An early rise (around 03:00 AM) and a 3 to 4-hour desert trip bring you to the southernmost archaeological site, the Nubian Monuments of Abu Simbel, where you visit the temples commissioned by Ramses II for himself and his most beloved wife, Queen Nefertari. Like the Nubian population, the temples were relocated in the 1960s due to the construction of the High Dam and the creation of the reservoir, Lake Nasser. You visit both temples and have time to explore the wall decorations, monumental statues and innermost holy sanctuaries.
• Drive back north to Aswan, in time for lunch on board while the Nile Cruise is ready to commence.
• Enjoy the tranquility of the Nile whilst cruising towards Kom Ombo where the famous double temple of Sobek and Horus the Elder awaits you. There are some remarkable scenes on the temple walls which will be explained to you like the portrayal of a set of surgical instruments that look extraordinarily like the ones we use today. Furthermore there is a beautiful depiction of an ancient calendar, showing the hieroglyph figures for the days of the month and the seasons. At the temple exit you visit the picturesque Museum with its huge mummified crocodiles.
• The cruise continues to Edfu. You visit the Edfu Temple, dedicated to the God Horus. The temple has a pillared hall, two diagonal halls and a sanctuary surrounded by chapels, containing a beautiful replica of the Holy Bark. The walls provide details of the construction, the religious myths and the family history of Horus. The temple is nearly intact and a very good example of an Egyptian/Ptolemaic temple.
• Back on board, the cruise commences until you reach the Esna Lock, an interesting feature to see how the cruise ships navigate the lock to be able to sail through to Luxor (nighttime arrival).

Day 3.

• After breakfast, you visit the Karnak Temple; a vast network of temples, hypostyle halls, holy lakes, shrines, statues and obelisks. The Karnak Temple is the second largest religious construction in exsistance and you have time to wander around before continuing the morning excursion.
• Next is the Luxor Temple, elegantly decorating the shores of the Nile. The temple is dedicated to the Rejuvenation of Kingship, and many Pharaohs were crowned here and participated in the yearly Opet-feast. The Karnak and Luxor temples are connected by the recently re-opened Sphinx Alley where excavations are still ongoing.
• Drop-off at the cruiser for lunch. You spend the rest of the day at your leisure.

Day 4.

• An early morning check out from the cruise takes you to the West Bank of Luxor to board a different means of transportation. On a Hot Air Balloon you imagine yourself on a magic carpet ride over the Theban Mountains, the villages and archaeological sites.
• With your feet back on the ground, you drive to the ancient Theban Necropolis, starting at the Valley of the Kings, where you descend into 3 Royal Tombs and gaze at the beautiful colours, magnificent paintings and hieroglyphs.
• The next stop is the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, the famous rock-cut tomb at Deir El-Bahari. You enter the temple, where your guide translates the exciting stories on the walls about Hatshepsut's divine birth and her trade expedition to the Land of Punt while you admire the fantastic wall decorations.
• Last is a photo-stop at the Colossi of Memnon, frozen in time and guarding the ongoing excavations of the Temple of Amenhotep III.
• Drop off at Luxor Railway Station or Luxor Accommodation.