Egypt: Whispers of the Nile

Meet at 06:00 at Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), 4th floor, at the Oman Air check-in counters.

• 09:00: fly to Muscat, Oman on WY818, arriving 12:10, with a stopover of about 2 hours 10 minutes.
• 14:30: fly to Cairo on WY405, arriving at Cairo International Airport (CAI) at 17:15.

Check in at the hotel in Cairo.

Drive about 3 hours to Alexandria, founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC and once home to the Lighthouse of Alexandria and the Library of Alexandria.

• Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa: a Roman-era underground necropolis blending Egyptian, Greek and Roman art.
• Citadel of Qaitbay: a 15th-century fortress built on the ruins of the Pharos lighthouse (viewed from the outside).
• Bibliotheca Alexandrina: the new library, opened in 2002, carrying on the spirit of the ancient one.

Drive back to Cairo, about 4 hours.

Visit the Cairo Citadel, built by Saladin around 1176-1183 against the Crusaders, and the 19th-century Ottoman-style Mosque of Muhammad Ali.

• The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, including the Royal Mummies Hall.
• Go to Cairo airport, check in at 16:00 and fly to Aswan on MS084, departing 18:15 and arriving 19:40.

Note: visitors must wear long trousers or knee-covering skirts, and women should bring a scarf for head or shoulders.

Stop to photograph the Aswan High Dam, built 1960-1970 for flood control, power generation and farmland.

• Travel to Abu Simbel on the shore of Lake Nasser, a UNESCO World Heritage site, with the Great Temple of Ramesses II, fronted by four seated statues 20 metres high, and the Small Temple of Nefertari.
• Return to Aswan, about 4 hours, and check in to the Nile Capital Cruise.

Visit the Unfinished Obelisk in the ancient granite quarry, which would have been about 42 metres long and 1,200 tonnes had it not cracked during carving.

• Philae Temple, dedicated to the goddess Isis, dismantled into more than 40,000 pieces and rebuilt on Agilkia Island in a UNESCO rescue project.
• Begin the cruise on the Nile and visit Kom Ombo Temple, the double temple of Sobek and Horus.
• The Crocodile Museum, displaying Nile crocodile mummies.

Visit Edfu Temple, one of the best-preserved ancient Egyptian temples, dedicated to Horus and begun around 237 BC under the Ptolemies, with reliefs telling the myth of Horus and Set.

• Ride a horse carriage from the pier to the temple, passing local life.
• Sail through the Esna Lock, which works like a water lift for boats passing between different river levels.

Optional extra (not included): hot-air balloon over the West Bank of Luxor at dawn, 155 USD per person.

The West Bank of Luxor, the City of the Dead: the Valley of the Kings and Queens, burial grounds of the New Kingdom, and the tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62), discovered by Howard Carter in 1922.

• The East Bank, ancient Thebes: Karnak Temple, a vast complex expanded over more than 2,000 years.
• The Mummification Museum and Luxor Temple, linked to Karnak by the Avenue of Sphinxes.
• Abu Haggag Mosque, built within Luxor Temple.
• Check in at 19:00 and fly to Cairo on MS069, departing 21:40 and arriving 22:50.

Visit the Giza Plateau, a World Heritage site: the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure and the Great Sphinx, guardian of the royal necropolis for more than 4,500 years.

• A camel ride is included. Entering the Great Pyramid of Khufu is optional at an extra cost (about 900 EGP per person).
• The Valley Temple of Khafre, built of huge limestone blocks lined with red granite.
• The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), displaying the complete Tutankhamun treasures together for the first time, including the golden mask.

See the Fortress of Babylon, a Roman fortress from about AD 300 (viewed from outside), and the Hanging Church, a gem of Coptic architecture.

• Al-Azhar Mosque, founded in 970 under the Fatimids, and Al Moez Street, an open-air museum of Islamic architecture.
• Shop at Khan El Khalili Bazaar, a market dating back to 1382.
• Check in at 22:30 and fly to Muscat at 01:15 on WY408.

Arrive in Muscat (MCT) at 06:55 for a stopover of about 2 hours 5 minutes, then depart at 09:00 on WY815 and arrive at Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) at 17:45.