[John A. West] August 2005 Eg-update 17.0

[Amy]

2005-2006 MAGICAL EGYPT TOURS - The New Look
 

I am reformulating my tour.  

 

Too many people (especially Americans) have said they can't go because they can't afford to take the 18 days door-to-door that the trips require.  Since 911 I've had huge problems making the trips run at all, and am inclined to think that the 18 days is to no little extent responsible - since as of last winter the Americans were back in Egypt, but not with me. 

 

I've therefore decided to reduce the package to 11/12 days door-to-door and make it a Cairo/Luxor intensive.  This both shortens it and reduces the price by about $1000 and at the same time (if you look at the old itinerary, you'll see) still includes about 75-80% of the sites.  

 

The cruise is out and that is in a sense a considerable 'miss'.  There is no doubt that the two days (of the four days/ five nights advertised) actually spent sailing are a delight. But the fact is that there are now over 300 boats plying the river, and the result is that the two sites we visit en route to Aswan (Edfu & Kom Ombo) are a human zoo when we get there and the 'experience' is a long way from the Egypt I like to present.  

 

The same applies to Abu Simbel.  It's next to impossible to see and enjoy this wonderful place with huge crowds there and it is now also next to impossible to engineer the trip in such a way that Abu Simbel can be truly enjoyed.  Moreover, they've now made it illegal for anyone to lecture inside the temple so my own presence there is hardly necessary.  (People can get all essential information from my guidebook). This makes the only really serious miss Philae, which is also a zoo all day long from opening time on -- except, as I've just discovered, during lunch when it empties out. But there's no practical way to include it and still keep the trip within the shorter  period.  

 

That said, there's nothing stopping people who have the time and money from signing on for a cruise option which could also include Abu Simbel if desired.  I wouldn't be along but given the logistical problems involved, my presence is less of a plus than it used to be. 

 

(Note: At this formative stage, I have also not ruled out taking the 11/8-11/19  2005 and the 2/28-3/11 2006 trips and converting them back into my standard 18 day format if enough people express interest in doing that.)  

 

 

 

THE MAGICAL EGYPT NO-FRILLS INTENSIVE SUMMER SPECIAL
 

Over the years, quite a few people who can only get away in the summer have asked if I do summer tours.  

 

My standard reply has been that unless people come to me with a pre-formed group, I prefer not to try to assemble people to go during these very hot months.  Moreover, many people who can ONLY go during the summer (teachers, students, certain kinds of professionals) tend not to be able to afford the money for my usual tour.  I've long thought of trying to put together a no-frills package but up till now the lesser hotels have really been either so much lesser, and/or so awkwardly located that I've been discouraged from trying such a trip.  

 

In the last few years, however, a number of really quite delightful and strategically located places have opened up (rather like good European pensions or nice B&B's) that make such a plan pretty feasible and I'm going to try it in the summer of 2006. It will be an 18 day student/teacher/ professional package that should come in at around $3600

 

I have done a few summer trips and it IS doable, as long as the pace is slowed down a bit, and the air-conditioning works. Unless you live in the Northwest, most of America is plenty hot in the summer anyhow and unless you really can't handle the heat, there's no commanding reason to avoid Egypt.  On the plus side, it's considerably less crowded in summer. Since the trip is long and there's no cruise -no point to that in summer since it's really too hot to be on the deck when we're sailing- we'll be able to fit in everything we normally visit despite the slower pace.  Those interested should email me and I'll send more details, a projected itinerary, and a definitive price. 

 

Schedule for Oct/Nov 2005 is: 

 

2005

Oct 25th-- Nov 05th 

Nov 08th - Nov 19th   

2006

Feb 07th - Feb 18th 

Feb 28th - Mar 11th 

Price (based on double accommodation) ....$3695

(Note: If you've been to Egypt with me already, and like so many, regard that trip as one of the peak travel experiences of a lifetime, please tell your friends!!  Thanks.  JAW) 

 

PS. If you would like to join my Egypt email list and get Eg-updates periodically please go to http://lists.jawest.net/listinfo.cgi/jawlist-jawest.net and enter your email address.

 Breaking News
 
 'Walter Cruttenden has developed an extremely interesting and potentially revolutionary re-interpretation of the Hindu Yuga cycle -  the doctrine that holds that human civilization does not 'progress' in a straight line (from early primitive to contemporary advanced) but rather follows a long slow rise and decline analogous to our cycle of the seasons. 

 

It goes a long way to understanding human history as it has actually unfolded, as opposed to the fabricated and misleading version we have all had drummed into our heads in our schools.  This link is to an article presenting a resume of the thesis that has been expanded in a much more comprehensive fashion in Cruttenden's upcoming book, LOST STAR OF MYTH AND TIME, St Lynn's Press, scheduled to appear October 1, 2005. 

 

http://www.binaryresearchinstitute.org/AboutPrecession.pdf 

 

www.carolinedavies.com 

 

 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: /pipermail/jawlist-jawest.net/attachments/20050819/1b7a7034/attachment.htm