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Day 1: Cairo to Amman, Jordan, Wadi Rum Desert After breakfast, we'll leave Cairo, as we take an early morning flight to Amman, Jordan. From the Amman airport, we'll drive south towards Petra and the Wadi Rum Desert. Often referred to as the Valley of the Moon, it is the largest “wadi” (valley) in Jordan, known for its unusual rock formations and as the filming site for the Lawrence of Arabia movie. Here, we'll spend some time exploring the wadi, on foot and with friendly Berbers in their trucks, and in the late afternoon we'll drive to Petra and check into our beautiful hotel. In the evening, we'll enjoy a relaxing dinner in the hotel's elegant restaurant. Day 2: Petra Today, we’ll spend the entire day exploring the city of Petra and learning about its historical and archaeological significance. Dating to around 300 B.C., Petra was the capital of the powerful Nabatean Kingdom, and its tombs and temples carved into pink sandstone cliffs earn it its nickname, the "Rose City." The main part of the ancient city is still accessed via a mysterious, narrow canyon called Al Siq, leading to perhaps the most famous structure of Petra is Al Khazneh, a temple with an ornate, Greek-style façade, also known as The Treasury. In the evening, we'll enjoy another elegant dinner at the hotel's restaurant. Day 3: Jordan's Biblical Sites After checking out of the Petra hotel, we'll make our way back towards Amman and the Dead Sea, stopping at several of the country’s most famous Biblical sites. We'll visit Madaba, the city of mosaics, best known for its Byzantine map of the Holy Land of Jerusalem. We'll stop at Mount Nebo, from where, according to the Bible, Moses saw his first glimpse of the Promised Land. Here, we'll visit St. George's Church and the famous Baptismal sites. We'll also tour Shobak Castle, built by the Crusader king Baldwin I in 1115 on a site inhabited since at least the Iron Age and known from the Bible as the city of Moab. In the evening, we'll arrive at our resort hotel, right on the shores of the Dead Sea, and we'll have some time to enjoy the ambiance of this unusual location before dinner at the hotel's restaurant. Day 4: Dead Sea - Day at Leisure Today, we'll be able to enjoy a full day along the stunning shores of the Dead Sea, taking advantage of the resort's relaxing Dead Sea minerals spa, going for a long walk on the beach or swimming in the highly-salt saturated water of the Dead Sea, unwinding in the resort's ornamental gardens and enjoying other amenities. In the evening, we'll meet for dinner at the resort's restaurant to compare notes and share stories from the day. Day 5: Jerash and transfer to Cairo This morning, we'll check out of the Dead Sea Resort and we'll make our way to Amman, stopping to tour the ancient city of Jerash. Often referred to as the city of a thousand columns, Jerash is a walled Greco-Roman town, featuring the 2nd-century Hadrian’s Arch, Corinthian columns of the Temple of Artemis and the immense, highly photogenic Roman Forum with a perfectly preserved oval colonnade. In the afternoon, we'll transfer to the airport and fly back to Cairo to check into the airport hotel in Cairo, before flying back home tomorrow. Day 6: Cairo - Departures After breakfast, we'll have individual transfers to the airport in accordance with our return flights departure times.
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