Day 1 - Fri nov 23	Depart USA
Day 2 - Sat nov 24	Arrive Cairo. Transfer to hotel.
Day 3 - sun nov 25	Tour of Pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis & Sakkara.
Day 4 - Mon nov 26	Fly Cairo to Luxor for Karnak Temple & Valley of Kings & Queens. Embarkation. Luxor Temple.
Day 5 - TUE nov 27	Cruise to Denderah
Day 6 - WED nov 28	Cruise to Esna & Edfu & Kom Ombo
Day 7 - THU nov 29	Cruise to Aswan. Visit Philae Temple
Day 8 - FRI nov 30	Fly to Abu Simbel then Cairo. Farewell Dinner.
Day 9 - SAT DEC 1	Cairo’s Egyptian Museum & Islamic Cairo. Farewell Dinner
Day 10 - sUN DEC 2	Fly Cairo to USA

Day 1 – Fri, Nov 23 -- USA
Depart the USA on any regularly scheduled flight to Egypt.

Day 2 – SaT, nov 24 -- Arrive- CAIRO
Upon arrival in Cairo, transfer to the Oberoi Mena House hotel.
Hotel Oberoi Mena House
Room Pyramid View
Meals Breakfast

Day 3 – SUN, nov 25 -- CAIRO
Buffet breakfast at leisure at your hotel.
Founded around 3,100 BC during the Old Kingdom, Memphis is the legendary city of Menes, the King who united Upper and Lower Egypt. According to tradition, he first created dikes to protect the area from Nile floods and then started building. Much of what we know of Memphis comes from its necropolis, texts and papyrus from other parts of Egypt, and Herodotus, who visited the city. Early on, Memphis was probably a fortress from which Menes controlled the land and water routes between Upper Egypt and the Delta. Later, this great city became the administrative and religious center of Egypt, was home to a cosmopolitan community and most likely one of the largest and most important cities in the ancient world.
Across the Great Court of the Pyramid Complex of Zoser in Sakkara, stands the Step Pyramid, the oldest known of Egypt’s 107 pyramids, which was built by Imhotep, one of the world’s most famous historical figures. This architect of the world’s first freestanding stone structure, which you will visit today with your Egyptologist, is often also recognized as the world's first doctor, as well as a priest, sage, poet, and astrologer. Although the original structure was a burial chamber 28 meters underground, Imhotep enlarged it several times to eventually reach a six tiered rectangle 60 meters high. Sakkara seems to have been the first area where limestone was employed, not only for the outer casing of the pyramid but also to cover interior walls.
Coda Tours offers a special entry to a tomb of much debate as it may be of two lovers buried together, the only one of its kind. Subject to availability, we will enter this tomb today.
Lunch today will be at the historic Mena House Oberoi Hotel, our hotel. Built as a palace for the Empress Eugenie, during her visit to Egypt for the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, the Mena House “Khan El-Khalili Café” has floor-to-ceiling windows with views over the lush gardens of the hotel, and out onto the Great Pyramids themselves.
Embark on an unforgettable tour of the Great Pyramids of Giza built for the Pharaohs Cheops, Chefren and Mycerinus. They were constructed about 2500 BC with blocks of limestone from the plateau and from the Turah hills on the outskirts of Cairo The Great Pyramid of Cheops alone, the only present-day survivor of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, required over 2,300,000 blocks of stone, each weighing about 2.5 tons. At its base, it covers 13 acres of land. Millions of visitors come each year to ponder the fascinating mystery of their existence and explore the ancient burial chambers within.
Visit the Solar Boat Museum. The solar boat measures 43.3m long, 5.9m wide, has a draft of 1.48m and an estimated displacement of around 45 tons. It resembles paintings and models of boats which have survived since ancient times, with a large central paneled cabin, 9m long, an open canopy supported by poles and a smaller one at the fore which was probably for the captain’s use. It was steered by five pairs of oars plus one pair at the stern to act as a rudder. It’s stem and stern were fashioned in the form of papyrus stalks, as though intended to represent the type of papyrus boat used throughout ancient Egyptian history.
Visit the Valley Temple, housing the mysterious Sphinx, located in what was once a quarry to the east of Chephren’s pyramid. One theory suggests this Pharaoh’s workers shaped the body into a lion and gave it their king’s face, as a guardian of the necropolis. Almost a thousand years after its construction, King Thutmose IV placed a stela between the front paws. It describes how the Sphinx had spoken to the then prince in a dream, promising him kingship if he cleared away the desert sand that was choking the Sphinx. Explore this and the many other legends surrounding this timeless regal figure.
Return to your hotel. Dinner at the hotel. Overnight at Oberoi Mena House.
Hotel Oberoi Mena House
Room Pyramid View
Meals Breakfast, Lunch

Day 4 – MON, nov 26 -- CAIRO
Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to the airport for the flight to Luxor. Upon arrival, begin a tour of Karnak Temple, built over more than a thousand years by generations of Pharaohs. The great “Hypostyle Hall” is an incredible forest of giant pillars, covering an area larger than the whole of Notre Dame Cathedral. After the tour, drive to the pier and board your 5-star deluxe Nile cruise boat, the “Sun Boat IV”, moored in Abercrombie & Kent’s private dock in Luxor. On board, you will be welcomed by the reception staff, who will offer you chilled fruit juice while assisting with your check-in. Lunch will be served on board.
This afternoon, visit the West Bank of Luxor to explore the Valley of the Kings, a vast City of the Dead where magnificent tombs were carved into the desert rocks, decorated richly, and filled with treasures for the afterlife by generations of Pharaohs.  You will also have the chance to visit the Valley of the Queens and the Worker’s Tomb.
Rising out of the desert plain in a series of terraces, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut (Ancient Egypt’s only female Pharaoh) merges with the sheer limestone cliffs that surround it, as if nature herself had built this extraordinary monument. On the way back to the river Nile, your road passes by the famed Colossi of Memnon, known in Ancient Greek times for their haunting voices at dawn.

Tonight you will be greeted by your Boat Manager, who will introduce you to the boat staff and review on-board facilities and your cruise program for the next few days.  Complimentary cocktails and a selection of canapés will be served. Gourmet menu on board. On board in Luxor.
Ship Sun Boat IV
Meals Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 5 – TUE, Nov 27 -- CAIRO – LUXOR
Very early sailing to Qena.  Breakfast buffet on board while you cruise northwards to Qena, a particularly alluring part of Upper Egypt's landscape.
Visit the Ptolemaic Temple of Goddess Hathor in Denderah. This wonderfully preserved temple complex is a rare sight to behold, complete with a massive stone roof, dark chambers, underground passages and towering columns inscribed with hieroglyphs. The main Temple of Hathor is almost intact. Hathor was the goddess or pleasure and of love, usually represented as a cow, or a woman with a cow’s head. She was the beneficent deity of maternal and family love, of beauty and light; the Greeks associated her with Aphrodite. Return to your boat for lunch while sailing back to Luxor.

Afternoon tea will be served while you cruise to Luxor. Our Egyptologist will guide us on a tour of the East Bank of Luxor, to the strikingly graceful Temple of Luxor dedicated to the God Amun. Gourmet menu on board followed by a belly dancer, accompanied by a whirling dervish show.
Ship Sun Boat IV
Meals Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 6 – WED, Nov 28 -- LUXOR – QENA
Early sailing to Edfu passing by Esna. Breakfast buffet on board while you cruise to Edfu. The morning is aboard ship to enjoy the pastoral, Nile River scenery. Lunch on board, while you continue cruising to Edfu. This afternoon, explore the largest and most completely preserved Pharaonic – albeit Greek-built – temple in Egypt, the extraordinary Temple of Horus at Edfu.
Afternoon tea will be served while you cruise to Kom Ombo. Visit the Temple of Kom Ombo, dedicated to the crocodile-god Sobek. The temple stands at a bend in the Nile where in ancient times sacred crocodiles basked in the sun on the riverbank.
Tonight’s dinner on board will be an “Egyptian Night” costume party for all guests, with a chance to dress up in traditional Egyptian “galabeyas”.  Dinner will be a lavish buffet of Egyptian specialties, followed by oriental music and dancing for everyone.
Ship Sun Boat IV
Meals Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 7 – THU, Nov 29 -- EDFU & ESNA
Breakfast buffet on board while sailing to Aswan. Take a short motorboat ride to visit the romantic and majestic Philae Temple on the Island of Agilka. Next we proceed to the Granite Quarries, which supplied the ancient Egyptians with most of the hard stone used in pyramids and temples, and still hold a huge unfinished obelisk. Lunch on board. In the afternoon proceed  (weather permitting) by taking a ride on a felucca, a typical Egyptian sail boat, around Elephantine Island, Lord Kitchener’s Botanical Gardens, and the Agha Khan Mausoleum (life jackets will be provided). Enjoy your afternoon tea served in the lounge with a trio of authentic Egyptian musicians. Tonight’s farewell dinner will be a gala dinner, with white-gloved waiters serving gourmet cuisine.
Ship Sun Boat IV
Meals Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 8 – FRI, Nov 30 -- ASWAN– ABU SIMBEL – CAIRO
Buffet breakfast on board, and debarkation. Transfer from Sun boat IV to Aswan Airport to board a flight to Abu Simbel. Tour the world-renowned site where Ramses II ordered two sun temples carved from the limestone mountains at Abu Simbel, between 1290-1124 BC. Board your flight back to Cairo via Aswan. Arrive at Cairo Airport where we will transfer to our hotel. Overnight at Four Seasons First Residence.
Hotel Four Seasons First Residence
Room Superior
Meals Breakfast

Day 9 – SAT, DEC 1 -- CAIRO
Buffet breakfast at your hotel. Our Egyptologist will escort us today on a fascinating tour of 7,000 years of Egyptian history with a visit to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, open since 1902. The Museum exhibits over 120,000 objects in its 107 halls, comprising the world’s greatest collection of Ancient Egyptian artifacts. Two grand halls containing countless artifacts and one room reserved for the golden treasures, all from the world-famous tomb of the boy-king Tutankhamun astound and delight visitors. More than 2 million people flock to this magnificent site each year. Enter the Mummies Room, a specially built area dedicated to the well-preserved mummies of 11 Royal Kings and Queens of Ancient Egypt, including the Great Ramses II, Egypt’s longest ruling pharaoh. Return to hotel. In the afternoon, tour Islamic Cairo, including the impressive Mohamed Ali Mosque and the 12th-century Citadel, fortified by Saladin to protect against the Crusaders. Today it is an expansive complex of museums and two mosques. Afterwards visit Khan el Khalili bazaar. Overnight at Four Seasons Residence. Enjoy a farewell dinner this evening at the hotel.
Hotel Four Seasons First Residence
Room Superior
Meals Breakfast, Dinner

Day 10 – SUN, DEC 2 -- CAIRO - USA
Buffet breakfast at leisure at the hotel. Transfer to Cairo airport for your return flight to the USA.
Meals Breakfast

Oberoi Mena House Hotel — 5-STAR This palatial hotel in the shadow of the Great Pyramids in Cairo has enchanted guests since 1869. Located in forty acres of jasmine scented gardens, Mena House Oberoi has played host to kings and emperors, Heads of State and celebrities. Its royal history is reflected in luxurious interiors that are embellished with exquisite antiques, handcrafted furniture and rich textiles.

four seasons first residence — 5-STAR A gracious sanctuary of Four Seasons hospitality and service, with impressive views of the Great Pyramids over the old-growth canopy of Cairo’s ancient Zoological and Botanical Gardens. The Hotel is at the center of the First Residence apartments and shops on the west bank of the Nile.

Rates

TRAVEL DOCUMENTS
A single entry visa for Egypt is required for American/Canadian passport holders. Renewable, 30-day tourist visas may be easily obtained on arrival at Cairo International Airport. The cost is currently $15 for each visa, payable in U.S. dollars only. Visitors arriving overland and/or those previously experiencing difficulty with their visa status in Egypt should obtain a visa prior to arrival. For obtaining your visa in advance, for current costs and downloadable forms, we recommend using Zierer Visa Service. To speak directly to ZVS Customer Service, call 866-788-1100 (toll-free in the U.S.). Please note that visas cannot be processed more than 90 days prior to departure and processing may take several weeks to complete. You may also apply directly with an Egyptian Consulate in your area. For information, google the Egyptian Consulate nearest you (e.g. Egyptian Consulate New York). You must have a valid passport that remains valid six months past your return to the U.S. You should also have a minimum of two empty passport pages.

SHOTS
None required or recommended. It is recommended you have your regular vaccinations up-to-date before traveling. For further information, visit the Center For Disease Control website.

INTERNATIONAL AIRFARE
Delta Airlines, British Air, Air France, Lufthansa, Egyptair are among airlines that can be used for this trip. We recommend booking at least 7 months in advance if you want to try to use Frequent Flyer Miles for free tickets or upgrades or the American Express Platinum card 2-4-1 program.

MINIMUMS
All departures are guaranteed on a minimum of 4 participants. A Coda Tour Manager accompanies the tour on a minimum of 10 participants. This tour can be operated as a Private Tour, can be customized and repriced based on final itinerary.

INCLUSIONS

• Accommodations as listed in the itinerary on bed and breakfast basis.
  4-nights in deluxe hotels & 4 nights aboard the Sun Boat IV.
• Intra-tour flights
• Abu Simbel excursion (an option of other itineraries, but included on ours!)
• Meals as described in the itinerary
• Arrival and departure transfers for those who purchase international air through Coda Tours. If air is not purchased through us, transfers may be charged additional for them.
• Sightseeing tours as described in the itinerary
• Expert, English-speaking Egyptologist guide to conduct the sightseeing
• American tour manager on minimum participation

EXCLUSIONS
International & intra-tour airfares. Visa and passport expenses. Meals not mentioned in the itinerary. Drinks with meals unless specified. Trip interruption & cancellation insurance. Personal expenses such as laundry, telephone calls, faxes, wireless service and gratuities to guides and drivers.

AVERAGE TEMPERATURES / AVERAGE RAINFALL

		Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Cairo	High	66	70	75	82	90	95	95	95	90	86	75	70
	Low	48	48	52	57	62	64	72	72	68	18	64	52
Luxor	High	74	75	84	95	104	106	106	106	102	95	86	77
	Low	41	45	52	61	70	73	75	75	72	64	54	46
Aswan	High	75	86	95	102	108	106	106	104	97	86	77	77
	Low	46	48	55	63	70	75	75	75	72	48	57	50
Sharm El-Sheikh	High	73	79	84	91	97	93	93	93	91	82	73	73
	Low	61	63	64	70	75	79	81	81	79	73	68	61

ABERCROMBIE & KENT's SUN BOAT IV  • 5-star deluxe, 80-guest capacity

Sun Boat IV offers a cruise experience unlike any other - with private docks in Luxor and Aswan, our own feluccas and uniquely tailored sightseeing to help avoid the crowds, accompanied by a fully qualified Egyptologist. An Egyptology lecture will also be arranged during your cruise. Experience our quality of service, entertainment, on-board facilities, food and beverages with gourmet menus or lavish buffets every evening. We also operate a non-smoking policy throughout all internal areas of the boat and a no mobile phone policy throughout the public areas of the boat for guaranteed relaxation. The public areas feature attractive and elegant furnishings and plenty of space to relax.

Dine in the fine restaurant with picture windows to make the most of the views. Enjoy a sundowner in the elegant bar and lounge area or visit the small fully equipped gym. Take a dip in the pool and relax on the spacious sun decks. Our inclusive drinks package makes life a breeze as it includes premium local wines, local beer and soft beverages.

Accommodation
Stylish accommodation comprises 36 cabins and four suites, many offering twin beds. Two Royal Suites with balcony are located on the Promenade Deck, two Presidential Suites are located on the Main Deck and the 36 Luxury Cabins are located over all four decks. All are fully air-conditioned, with panoramic windows and have private bathroom with shower, hairdryer, satellite television plus in-house movies, direct dial international phone, safe and mini-bar.

View Deck Plan

PRE-TRIP EXTENSION TO JORDAN — nov 20-24, 2012

4 day/3 night trip to Jordan's Petra
Day 1	Tue, Nov 20	USA
Day 2	Wed, Nov 21	Arrive Amman. Transfer to the Intercontinental Hotel. Welcome Dinner.
Day 3	Thu, Nov 22	Drive to Petra via the Dead Sea. Check in to the Movenpick Petra Hotel (The only hotel conveniently located across the road from the entrance to Petra and in the town of Wadi Musa.)
Day 4	Fri, Nov 23	Tour Petra
Day 5	Sat, Nov 24	Drive to Amman for the flight to Cairo. Transfer to the Oberoi Mena House Hotel.

Rate: $1795 per person, double occupancy; $2250 single occupancy
Hotels are subject to change.
Airfare: $300 approx. (Subject to change until ticketed.)

POST-TRIP EXTENSION TO ST. CATHERINE's MONASTERY— NOV 19-20, 2012

2 night trip to the 4th-century St. Catherine's Monastery
Day 1	Sun, Dec 2	Fly from Cairo for Sharm El Sheikh. Check in to the Hyatt Hotel.
Day 2	Mon, Dec 3	Free day
Day 3	Tue, Dec 4	Drive to St. Catherine’s Monastery and tour. Transfer to airport and fly to Cairo. Transfer to and check in to the Fairmont Hotel at the airport.
Day 4	Wed, Dec 5	Transfer to the airport for your return flight home.

Rate: $1295 per person, double occupancy; $TBA single occupancy
Airfare: $200 (subject to change until ticketed)
If an overnight is required upon return to Cairo, due to flight schedules, the cost of hotel and transfers is additional.