abu simbel sun festival 2010

ramses sunrise - 10 days

Tour Information
Starts/ Ends in: Cairo
Departs: 15th February 2010
Prices and Departures: Click Here
Local Payment Required: No
Breakfast: daily, Lunch: 4, Dinner: 6
Hotel rating: 5
Nile cruiser rating: 5  
Egyptian Tour Guide escorted: Yes

Day 1: Cairo
Monday - Cairo. Welcome to Egypt and the start of a wonderful holiday! Arrive Cairo airport, meet and greet service and included transfer to hotel. Overnight - Cairo Hotel.

Day 4: Valley of the Kings & Ancient Thebes
Luxor - breakfast onboard train. Arriving into Luxor we have a full day of sightseeing ahead of us, dictated by the early departure of all Nile cruisers tomorrow morning. The massive pair of statues known as the Colossi of Memnon are the first monuments you’ll see during our morning visit to the West Bank, home to the legendary Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens. You’ll also see the colonnaded Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. Return to Luxor for check-in aboard our Nile 5  cruiser. Lunch and time to freshen up. Afternoon visit to the magnificent Temple of Karnak. More than a temple, it’s a gigantic and stunning complex of sanctuaries and pylons dedicated to the Theban gods. Later, we visit to the Temple of Luxor built by Pharaoh Amenophis III. Luxor Temple looks stunning at dusk and is beautifully illuminated at night. Lunch, dinner and overnight - Nile cruiser.

Day 5: Nile cruising
Luxor - Nile cruising - breakfast. As the sun rises it's anchor’s away! Our cruiser will depart Luxor in the early hours of the morning to wait in queue for the opening of the Esna lock. We enjoy a well deserved day of complete R&R. Pull up a deck chair and relax as we sail upstream toward Temple of Horus at Edfu. Depending on our cruise schedule we may tour Edfu Temple this afternoon or early tomorrow morning. Lunch, dinner and overnight - Nile cruiser.

Day 6: Nile cruising & Kom Ombo Temple
Nile cruising - breakfast. A relaxing day as we sail the Nile. Later today, we visit the waterside Temple of Kom Ombo. Arrive Aswan late evening. Lunch, dinner and overnight - Nile cruiser.

Day 7: Aswan, Philae Temple & the High Dam
Sunday 21 Feb 2010. Nile cruiser/Aswan - Abu Simbel - breakfast. Today, we visit the Philae Temple - dedicated to the goddess Isis and the mighty High Dam – a modern feat of engineering. This evening relax and watch an amazing sunset in Egypt's southern most town straddling the River Nile. Just after midnight, we check out from our Nile Cruiser and travel due south toward the Temples of Abu Simbel. Our bus journey will take approximately 3 hours, arriving well before sunrise. Lunch, dinner and overnight - Nile cruiser/ bus to Abu Simbel.

Day 8: SUN FESTIVAL – TEMPLE OF KING RAMSES II – ABU SIMBEL
Monday 22 Feb 2010. Abu Simbel – Aswan - Cairo – breakfast box. As dawn breaks the magic will unfold and here, we’ll witness the spectacular Sun Festival of King Ramses II

Possibly the most awe-inspiring temple of all ancient Egypt, with its gargantuan rock-cut façade, the great Sun Temple of King Ramses II at Abu Simbel was created to revere the mighty Pharaonic ruler King Ramses II. Guarding the entrance to the temple (built between 1290 and 1224 BC) and hewn into the side of a mountain, are four famous colossal statues of the pharaoh himself, which sit majestically, staring out across the desert, seemingly since time began. Over the centuries, the desert sands imperceptibly shifted until the temple was all but lost to humanity. It was rediscovered by chance in 1813 by a Swiss explorer called John Lewis Burkhardt. The other rock cut temple at Abu Simbel is the Temple of Hathor, which is fronted by six massive standing statues. Four of them represent King Ramses II, whilst the other two are of his beloved wife-Queen Nefertari.

In a fit of precision and architectural egotism, Ramses II had the entire temple carefully angled in order that the sun’s rays would align twice a year on the date of his ascension to the throne (21 February) and on his birthday (21 October) and illuminate the inner sanctum of the temple.

This incredible natural phenomenon provides for a most spectacular sight, which has come to be referred to as the Sun Festival of King Ramses II. Crowds pack in to the temple before sunrise and watch the shafts of light slowly creeping through the rock hewn inner Hypostyle Hall (replete with further statues of the king) and through to the Sanctuary. Significantly, the sun illuminates statues of Amun-Re, Re-Herakhte and Ramses the god, whilst the statute of Ptah - the god of darkness - remains in the shadows.

Famously, the temple was re-located in a multi-million dollar operation in 1972, further up from the shoreline of Lake Nasser, which had threatened to erode the foundations of this monolithic temple complex.  For this reason, the sun now strikes a day later than Ramses had originally planned, though the event this morning itself is no less stunning.

After the grand finale, we’ll explore the site in depth with a fully guided tour of the Sun Temple of King Ramses II and also the Temple of Hathor. You’ll have time to independently explore and take plenty of pictures, before returning to Aswan. Upon arrival to Aswan day use rooms have been arranged offer some R&R and a chance to freshen up.

Later this afternoon we’ll take a felucca boat journey on the Nile. Sailing around the islands of Aswan, we’ll disembark at Kitchener Island to stroll the gardens of British Lord Kitchener and at Elephantine Island - a trading place for Ivory. Elephantine boasts some impressive ruins dating back to the Second Intermediate Period (1650 - 1550 BCE) and the Temple of Khnum, the ram-headed god of the cataracts, who guarded and controlled the waters of the Nile from caves beneath the island. Later this evening we take the overnight sleeper train service to Cairo. Alternatively opt for an extra night in Aswan and flight to Cairo tomorrow, see box text further below. Light dinner and overnight – sleeper train.

Day 9: Cairo
Cairo - breakfast aboard sleeper train. Arrival to Cairo and hotel check in. Today offers free time for you to relax by the pool, enjoy hotel facilities or maybe head to Khan el Khalili market for a little last minute souvenir shopping. Overnight - Cairo

Day 10: Cairo
Wednesday 24 Feb 2010. Cairo - breakfast. Our tour ends after breakfast and onward departure transfer to the airport.  

Looking to travel sooner?
We also offer the opportunity to attend the Abu Simbel Sun Festival, celebration King Ramses birthday on our 10 day Jewel of the Nile Sun Festival tour departing Friday 15th October 2009 or our 9 day Chase the Sun and 13 day Sun Chasing tours departing Sunday 18th October 2009.

 

Bolt-on: Aswan to Cairo by air

Forsaking the overnight sleeper train journey from Aswan to Cairo on day 8, you can opt to upgrade and return to Cairo by air. The option includes 1 additional night accomodation in Aswan, all hotel/ airport transfers and economy class flight from Aswan - Cairo on day 9. Price per person - USD $269 Single room Supplement - USD $89 Flights are highly sort after during this period and as such please all reservations fo this bolt-on need to be made in advance. Please advise your reservation consultant at time of booking.