Biblical History

Re: Biblical History

Hello

I apologise for the late reply. I am afraid that your email request had been mislayed as we recently moved offices.
I have now been able to look into the itinerary of the 'Jordan and Egypt Adventure' tour and have found the following information.

Day 2 - visit to the Citadel
Day 3 - Visit to the Dead Sea, as mentioned in
the Book of Genesis.
Visit Wadi Musa, where Moses led the
Israelites on the way to the Promised
Land.
Day 5 - Visit the Red Sea, supposedly crossed by
the Israelites (as told told in Exodus
13:17--15:21).
Day 6 - Extended stay at the Red Sea.
Day 7 - Visit Mount Sinai, where Moses was said
to be handed the 10 Commandments by God.
Day 8 - Early hike up Mount Sinai
Day 12 - Visit Kom Ombo, an ancient Roman
Catholic town (known by them as 'Ombos')

I hope that this gives you a good idea of the rich mix of religious history experienced in the 'Jordan and Egypt' Adventure tour itinerary.

Please feel free to email back if you have any other questions.

Re: Biblical History

"Day 3 - Visit to the Dead Sea, as mentioned in the Book of Genesis."

Depending on your time and flexibility, you might have a chance to visit Bethany, the Baptismal site of Jesus, near the Dead Sea, or Mt. Nebo, associated with Moses's last days in Genesis--also very nearby. But the Dead Sea itself is fun.

"Day 7 - Visit Mount Sinai, where Moses was said
to be handed the 10 Commandments by God."

If it's at all possible, visit St. Katherine's monastery, not just to see what they believe to be a descendant of the Burning Bush, but to visit the chapel and the great little museum.

And one possible use of your free time in Cairo is to visit Coptic Cairo, an area of neat old Christian churches and a beautiful synagogue. We had no luck finding the regular boat that went down there, but we did easily take the subway back.

Re: Biblical History

Hot tip - it seemed, during my visit at Christmas 07 that there was NO boat to Coptic Cairo - not out of season anyway and I'm not sure if/when there is a boat season that route!!!! It's a myth that Lonely Planet let me down on...

I got to Coptic Cairo on the Metro, no probs at all, blissfully spending 10 mins or so in a women only carriage. It drops you off right outside the coptic area.

For fun, I decided to get 'the boat'mentioned in LP back and asked bravely for directions. After 3 hours, yes 3 hours of walking up and down the Nile, in an area where I was the only western person and attracting a lot of attention, some friendly but some not so nice as it was a busy main road, I finally hailed a cab back to the downtown area....

A fab day overall though and well worth the trip. I tipped three different people who showed me the three different sites where Moses was taken from the bulrushes, so believe what you will ....

Re: Biblical History

"[QB] Hot tip - it seemed, during my visit at Christmas 07 that there was NO boat to Coptic Cairo - not out of season anyway and I'm not sure if/when there is a boat season that route!!!! It's a myth that Lonely Planet let me down on..."

We tried taking the boat from the other direction. It was supposedly called the Nilebus (and some other names), and there should have been a terminal for it near the Egyptian Museum. But we had no luck. We only tried for about 30 minutes, after which we just hired a boat of our own, which was a lot more expensive. I would rather have gone with the locals.

We weren't exactly sure where we were when we got off the boat, but when we asked about Coptic Cairo, a local guy walked us about four blocks to show us the way. He would not accept a tip!

"I got to Coptic Cairo on the Metro, no probs at all, blissfully spending 10 mins or so in a women only carriage. It drops you off right outside the coptic area."

Folks on the metro were very friendly and helpful, I thought. We could not get back to our hotel (the Salma), but the Doqqi stop was nearest. Unfortunately, on purpose or not, the cab driver took us from there back east across the Nile and way out of our way before I got him to realize that our hotel was not out in that direction.

"A fab day overall though and well worth the trip. I tipped three different people who showed me the three different sites where Moses was taken from the bulrushes, so believe what you will ...."

I believe Moses was picked up by pharooh's daughter, and the pharaohs lived in what became Luxor, so I was more than dubious. I also don't know that the Holy Family actually lived in that cave. But the church (St. Sergius) built over the cave is beautiful, so I didn't care.

We, too, had a great day visiting Coptic Cairo. (The boat was also mentioned in another guidebook I had, whose map showed it docking in the area we were looking--you might be right about it just being off-season).