An award Winning Journey in Remarkable Times with Zegrahm

Voyage through the Red Sea

Zehrahm's brand-new Voyage through the Red Sea expedition has been named one of National Geographic Traveler magazine’s “Best Tours of a Lifetime” for 2011. The tour explores Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, including first-time visits to the lesser-traveled countries of Sudan and Eritrea. The November 6 – 22 itinerary is the perfect time to explore this seat of the world’s earliest civilizations with pleasant temperatures ranging from 55 to 85°F and a stable, yet fascinating political environment where a new chapter in the region’s history has literally unfolded within the last year (plus, this comes with the added bonus of fewer crowds at some of the region’s most popular tourist sites).

This voyage combines the Red Sea’s best cultural attractions along with several opportunities to engage in the region’s natural history with snorkeling and diving excursions. Among the many highlights of this award-winning expedition, you will have the opportunity to:

• Explore the rose-colored wonders of Petra, the capital of the ancient Nabatean Empire and now a World Heritage Site—even enjoy a candle-lit nighttime walk through the Siq to the Treasury, if you so choose;

• Overnight in Luxor, often considered the “world’s greatest open air museum,” to explore its various monuments, temples, and tombs;

• Cruise along the Nile in a traditional felucca sailing vessel, savoring lunch and views of the countryside along the way;

• Enjoy a walking tour of Jeddah’s well-preserved old city, considered the gateway to Mecca;

• Take in traditional daily life as we wander the pathways connecting the old, coral-block buildings of Suakin, Sudan—a major trading stop en route to Mecca;

• Snorkel and dive in the shimmering waters of Eritrea’s Dahlak Archipelago, an area renowned for its rich marine life and scenic beauty.

For more details visti www.zeco.com

Petra, Jordan

For most people Jordan means the ancient city Petra and if you are going to visit the country you should really go there, as it is an incredible experience, why on earth it isn’t one of the Seven Wonders of the World is totally beyond me. A city of palaces, theatres and tombs that has been carved from the solid rock, to see it at night is truly amazing.

There are many relatively cheap and comfortable hotels, as well as some expensive ones, right next door in the town of Wadi Musa. You can then walk down into Petra through the Siq after you’ve bought your ticket at Petra Gate. Take a bit of advice here and don’t take the horses as the men who operate the trips often ask for a personal tip as well as the traditional tip and can get quite shirty. The walk into the city is about half an hour down the road laid by the Romans, I took my sandals off for a bit to try and get closer to the legionaries who laid them, whilst the huge walls of the canyon towered above me.

The site of The Treasury as you enter the city is one that will stay with you forever but you will need to bring some water with you as the size of the city is huge and you can explore paths that take you high up into the hills to see other tombs and monuments. Do make an effort to climb up to the Monastery (above), the biggest tomb where there’s also a small café, the bushes outside inhabited by Palestine Sunbirds, tiny birds of a vivid iridescent green with a curved bill almost as big as they are.

It is the incredible patterns of the vast range of shades of reds, yellows and oranges found in the rocks here that stick in your mind. There are only two toilets in Petra but they’re worth looking at for the amazing patterns on the roof of the cave. It was rather bizarre holding the gent’s door open so a group of Swiss ladies could photograph the roof in there! There are two cafeterias/restaurants in the city where you can get traditional Jordanian and western food and some small stalls serving snacks however I combined the two by buying food in Wadi Musa before hand where it’s a lot cheaper!

Have a great day now.