Egypt, the wonder of travelers for thousands of years, calls us for our annual pilgrimage to the treasures of this fascinating land. We offer an intimate experience for inquisitive travelers who wish to delve deeply into the history of civilization. From the finest accommodations in Cairo to our own luxurious ship on the Nile, every detail is designed to offer our guests the most memorable experience possible.

We invite up to twenty-five guests to join us as we sail down the Nile on the ss Karim, a traditional paddle steamer built for kings. From our comfortable home on the water, the riches of antiquity become our backdrop as we leisurely cruise through the land of the pharaohs and visit the famous sites to explore their treasures.

In Cairo we spend three nights at one of the city's finest hotels, next to the pyramids in Giza. From this elegant base we first visit the pyramids, then cross over to Cairo to tour the lauded Egyptian Museum. En route we’ll see some of the Pharaonic, Classic, Early Christian, and Arab monuments built in this ancient land over the course of five thousand years of civilization.

From Cairo we fly to Aswan where we board our ship. For one glorious week, we cruise slowly on the Nile between Aswan and Luxor in our privately chartered, historic paddle steamer, watching village life virtually unchanged for a millennium. Each day we go ashore to visit major archeological sites including: the Karnak and Luxor Temples, the Valley of the Kings in Western Thebes, and the splendid Ptolemaic Temple of Hathor at Dendera. Fabulous as these sites are, our journey is made truly meaningful because we refuse to rush you. As our ship cruises along the Nile, we take plenty of time for relaxation and contemplation between our busy days of sightseeing. Previous tour members particularly enjoyed our forays into the countryside where they could establish a friendly rapport with the courteous Egyptian people who have welcomed our groups of men for over twenty years. Travelers returning home directly after the cruise will spend the night of November 27, 2006 at a Cairo Airport hotel, and fly home anytime on November 28, 2006. (The corresponding dates for December 2006 are December 11 arrival in Cairo and December 12 departure for home.)

Travelers on the Aswan Extension will spend two nights at the historic Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan with a morning flight to Abu Simbel to see the tombs from the kingdom of Rameses II and then a visit to the Philae Temple, on an island above the Low Aswan Dam. After two days of exploring Aswan and the Upper Nile region, we will return to Cairo to spend the night of November 29 at an airport hotel and fly home anytime on November 30.

Siwa

In the spirit of adventure, which has been a hallmark of Hanns Ebensten Travel for over thirty years, we have added an extension to Siwa based on a recent expedition by our founder Hanns Ebensten. He recently wrote, "I went to Siwa on my own in January 2005, and although I am a devoted admirer of Easter Island, the monasteries of Mount Athos, and the Inca and pre-Inca remains in Peru, Siwa appealed to me, even far more than those magical places. It was the most moving and stimulating travel experience of my life."

The beautiful, fertile oasis is without doubt one of the world's most romantic and unusual places. It is the most remote and isolated oasis in Egypt's Western Desert and was celebrated in antiquity for the Temple of Ammon. Alexander the Great visited the oracle of the Temple in 331 BC, guided across the desert to the oasis by crows.

This special trip will begin after the Aswan Extension of our November Nile in Style trip, on November 30, 2006. We begin the journey with a two day drive across the desert, a total of about nine driving hours, arriving into Siwa by descending from a desert pass into the lush greenery of the oasis. We then spend four nights in an authentic 8-room lodge in the main town of the oasis, and venture out each day to explore this unique environment. We will be privileged to meet some of the zagallas, or datepickers, who live among the date palms with each other until their early 40s, when they return to the town to get married. After a two-day drive home, we finish our tour on the night of December 6 at a Cairo Airport hotel, allowing for departures anytime on December 7, 2006.

Highlights of this trip include:

• Clamber through a narrow passageway, right into the heart of one of the great pyramids.
  
• Gaze at items from King Tut's tomb at the Egyptian Museum.
  
• Enjoy a week of luxury aboard a chartered yacht built for kings.
  
• Explore the ancient temples of Dendera, Karnak, Luxor and Queen Hatshepsut.
  
• From Aswan, cross the Nile on an ancient sailboat known as a felucca to visit an abandoned monastery.
  
• Hone your bargaining skills in the bazaars of Cairo and Aswan.
  
• Optional two-day post-tour Aswan Extension, featuring a visit to Abu Simbel.
  
• Additional one-week post-tour Extension to the unique Siwa Oasis in the Western Desert (November departures only).
  

Dates:
Nov. 17 to 28, 2006: $5,235.00....A trip for gay men.

Rebate: $75.00 (E-mail tralvgrrl@aol.com for more info)

Travelling Alone?
So are most of the people who travel with us. You do not need to pay extra to travel by yourself. Prices are per-person, and the single supplement applies only if you'd like a room by yourself.

Location: Starts and ends in Cairo, Egypt

Price includes: Accommodations at fine hotels for four nights in Cairo, and on our chartered ship for seven nights, in double occupancy; All transportation by motorcoaches, cars, horse-drawn carriages, and boats, during the trip; Airport transfers if arriving in Cairo and departing from Cairo on group travel days; All meals; Wine or soft drinks at the Welcome and Farewell dinners; Services of a knowledgeable Hanns Ebensten Travel tour director and an Egyptologist; Meal, hotel, and driver gratuities; porterage; gratuity for the Hanns Ebensten Travel tour director; Admissions and guides.

Not included: Airfare between home and Cairo; Airfare between Cairo and Aswan (usually booked as part of international ticket); Optional extensions in Aswan and Siwa Oasis; Tips to Egyptologist, local guides and hotel and ship staffs; International departure taxes; Personal items such as alcoholic beverages, telephone calls and laundry.

1-2: Cairo

We arrive at Cairo Airport at 4:00 PM local time and drive across the Nile. We stay two nights at the lovely Mena House Oberoi Hotel with its attractive gardens, terraces and fine restaurants, situated close to the pyramids at Gizeh. Our Welcome Dinner will be enjoyed at our hotel as we begin our journey into Egyptian history and culture.

The next morning after breakfast, we drive to nearby Gizeh, its landscape dominated by the pyramids of Cheops, Chephren and Mycerius, and by the Sphinx. For those who are not claustrophobic, exploring inside one of the pyramids is an awesome experience. We also inspect the beautifully restored solar boat of King Chephren and enter the Valley Temple in which the mummified body of the king rested before being interred in his pyramid.

In the late morning we enter the bustle of Cairo, the greatest metropolis of the Middle East. Luncheon is at the Felfela restaurant in downtown Cairo and in the afternoon we tour the Egyptian Museum, including the fabulous jewels of King Tutankhamon.

In the evening, we attend the spectacular Sound and Light performance at Gizeh, unforgettably set against the backdrop of the three great pyramids and the Sphinx.

3: Aswan

After checking out from our Cairo hotel, we take a morning flight to Aswan, where we will first take a small motorboat to the island of Philae with its graceful temples. For many years they were submerged, but have now been raised and re-assembled on the Nile above the Old Aswan Dam. We then drive to the harbor and embark on the ss Karim for our 7-day cruise, with full breakfast, luncheon, afternoon tea and dinner daily.

4-8: Cruising the Nile

During our week’s cruise we enjoy our ship’s amenities and the ever-changing river scenery of hills, sand dunes and cultivated land. We’ll pass several villages where, from the ship’s sundecks, we can view the activities on the riverbank. There are also splendid opportunities for bird watching. We also go ashore to visit the temples of Kom Ombo, Esna, Edfu, Dendera and the pyramid of El Kula.

In the temple of Kom Ombo, we inspect the Roman double temple dedicated to Sobek, the crocodile god, and to Haroeris, a form of the sun god. This temple is most picturesquely sited on the riverbank.

We anchor near the village of Nag' el Mamariya and walk past fields and palm groves to the curious small pyramid of El Kûla that has its corners, not its sides, oriented to the cardinal points of the compass. This uniquely interesting pyramid is rarely seen by tourists, as the larger cruise ships are unable to dock here. At Esna, we visit the temple of Khnum, the creator god; and at Edfu we drive in horse-drawn carriages to the enormous and best preserved temple in upper Egypt, dedicated to Horus, the sacred falcon god.

Our ship will anchor for two days at Luxor, the modern name for ancient Thebes, once the capital of Egypt, which consists of two cities lying on the west and east banks of the Nile.

Here we cross to Western Thebes early in the morning for a busy day of sightseeing, starting with the Tombs of the Nobles where their custodians hold up mirrors to throw light onto walls painted with amazingly bright, lively scenes of everyday life in Egypt 3000 years ago. We drive on to the grand Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, and then to the Valley of the Kings. For those tour members who would enjoy an hour's hike, we recommend the dramatic cliff path: you will be rewarded by a magnificent panorama of the Nile valley below, revealing the narrow green, cultivated strip of fields and the surrounding desert. Hikers will rejoin the rest of our group in the Valley of the Kings and then inspect several of the tombs, including that of Tutankhamon.

A typically Egyptian luncheon is provided at the inn near Medinet Habu. In the afternoon we stop to see the two vast Colossi of Memnon and the Ramesseum, then return to the ss Karim. In the evening, we enjoy the sound and light show at the magnificent Karnak Temple.

From Luxor we travel by bus to the Ptolemaic Temple of Hathor at Dendera. This is one of the best preserved of Egypt's ancient temples, built in the 1st Century B.C. on the site of an earlier Old Kingdom temple. Columns with capitals bearing heads of Hathor support the large Hypostyle Hall. Of special interest are staircases that lead onto the roof, where we find several chapels, one with a famous zodiac ceiling, and a kiosk that is a shrine to Osiris. On the south outside wall of the temple are large reliefs, including one depicting Cleopatra, and said by many to be a true portrait of the queen with Caesarion, her son by Julius Caesar.

After lunch back on the ship, we visit Eastern Thebes with its immense Temple of Karnak, the largest religious building in the world. Ancient Egyptians came to present petitions at more than twenty sites within the temple complex, the most impressive being the vast Hypostyle Hall of Seti I. It has been said that the pyramids are more stupendous, the Coliseum in Rome covers more ground, and the Parthenon of Athens is more serene, but for sheer majesty, this hall with its gigantic columns exceeds them all. It is truly one of the wonders of the world.

We also visit the ruins of the impressive Temple of Luxor before returning to the ship for a special Thanksgiving dinner. During dinner we will sail back upstream to Esna where after waiting our turn, the ss Karim is raised through a lock some forty feet to the upper level of the river.

9: Aswan

We reach Aswan in the morning for a restful day in this enchanting town with its near-perfect, dry climate. You may wish to stroll through the bazaar where Nubian spices, handicrafts and charms are for sale and where gallabiya outfits are custom-made overnight. We will make an excursion by felucca sailboat across the river to see the abandoned 6th Century Coptic monastery of Saint Simeon, and the fine Aswan Botanic Garden on Kitchener Island. Before dinner we have a festive party - with prizes for the best and most authentic Egyptian costumes. Then in the evening Nubian dancers and musicians come on board to entertain us.

10: To Cairo or Begin Extension

For those flying home tomorrow, we disembark from the ss Karim after breakfast, then drive to the Aswan Airport for a morning flight to Cairo. We transfer to the nearby Hotel Moevenpick Heliopolis where rooms are reserved until late evening or early morning, depending on your flight departure times. In the afternoon we visit Cairo's famous Khan-el-Khalili bazaar and have dinner at the hotel, after which we transfer back to the airport in time for our respective flights.

Members of the optional extension will check in at Aswan's famous Old Cataract Hotel. From its terrace, you can sip tea while gazing out at the rich orange dunes across the river, the white sails of the feluccas, the lush green island in the middle of the river, the brown water of the river, and the luxuriant bougainvillea and other flowers in the gardens and around the swimming pool.

11: Abu Simbel

This morning we take a 30-minute flight to Abu Simbel to view the rock tombs that were raised from the riverbank so they would not be inundated as Lake Nasser filled up behind the High Dam. They rank among the most stupendous monuments of ancient Egypt and mark the most southern extent of the kingdom of the Pharaoh Rameses II. The afternoon is free to wander the bazaar of this vibrant city.

12: Kalabsha Temple

Today be one of the first in recent times to visit the Kalabsha Temple, about 30 miles from Aswan, and just reopened to the public after a 40-year renovation project. After driving back to Aswan, the rest of the day is free to enjoy your last day in Upper Egypt, in our legendary hotel or shop in the bazaar.

13: Cairo

We check out of the Old Cataract Hotel after breakfast, then drive to the Aswan Airport for a morning flight to Cairo. We transfer to the nearby Hotel Moevenpick Heliopolis where rooms are reserved until late evening or early morning, depending on your flight departure times. In the afternoon we visit Cairo's famous Khan-el-Khalili bazaar and have dinner at the hotel, after which we transfer back to the airport in time for our respective flights.

14: Departure Day or Siwa

Those of us on Egyptair to New York transfer to the airport for our 9:00 AM nonstop flight, which arrives at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York in mid-afternoon. After clearing US Immigration and Customs, tour members with destinations in other parts of North America may make suitable connections. (Please confirm flight times with us before making onward reservations.)

15-21: Siwa

Our journey takes us to one of the most remote and isolated of Egypt’s oases in the vast Western Desert, 300 miles from the Nile. Siwa was celebrated in antiquity for its Temple of the god Ammon, to which people from all over the Mediterranean region, Asia, and Africa traveled to consult its oracle. Alexander the Great visited it in 331 B.C., guided across the desert by crows, and the temple priests crowned him with the rams’ horns of Ammon. We will explore the temple as well as many historical sites; we will ride into the desert to watch sunset over the majestic sands and experience a culture practically unknown to American travelers in the moderen world.

The oasis is extremely fertile and its 300,000 date palms and extensive olive groves and fruit orchards have made its inhabitants prosperous. Its main town, Shali, used to be fortified but the oasis tribe of warriors, the zaggala—their name means “club bearer” in the Siwa language—defended it against desert raiders. For many centuries, it has been the custom that these stalwart men may not reside in town and may not marry until the age of forty, and they live a carefree bachelor life in the palm groves, cultivating the dates and olives. Homosexuality is totally normal and natural for them, and their weddings to boys were celebrated with lavish feasts, much drinking of loubki, the highly intoxicating liquor made from the hearts of palm trees, and boisterous dances and songs. Since the 1940s the prudish Egyptian authorities have forbidden these uninhibited ceremonies (which are reputed to continue in secrecy) but the oasis still is an all male enclave: all the staff in the hotels, restaurants, cafes, shops and offices are men, most of them wearing the traditional robes and all are extremely courteous and polite to strangers. Women are sequestered in their houses and only very rarely does one glimpse a figure shrouded from head to feet in a blue cotton tarfottet. Even the donkeys that draw the oasis’ hundreds of ubiquitous two-wheeled carts are all male!