Need a spiritual fix? Try Egypt

by Jamie Rhein on

For every type of person, there’s a travel experience that’s a perfect fit. For people who are interested in a spiritual uplift, Egypt offers an opportunity to experience pyramids and ancient sites with a different lens. Instead of walking through a pyramid thinking mostly about how old it is and how it was built, people on tours with a spiritual focus hone in on the mystery and power of such landmarks.

Chanting, meditation and holding hands are part of tours that are designed to help people make spiritual connections when they visit locations that were central to religious practices way back when. Tours that specialize in spiritual travel take people to sites like The Temple of Karnak, used for religious ceremonies centuries ago. Aswan, the Pyramids of Giza, and Saqqara are some of the included ancient history treasures.

Tours typically include a cruise on the Nile and accommodations. According to this AP article by Jessica Desvarieux, that clued me into such trips, the U.S. based company Heartlights Sacred Journeys pairs up with the Egyptian tour company, Wonder of Egypt Travel to offer spirituality focused experiences. If you’re interested in sacred travel, the book Sacred Places Goddes 108 Destinations by Karen Tate may give you insight into what makes certain sites special and other places to head.

Egypt bound Aircraft fails to take off not once, but three times

by Scott Carmichael on

What was supposed to be a fun holiday flight from Gatwick to Taba in Egypt turned into a bit of a nightmare for the passengers.

During its take off procedure, the pilot of a Monarch Airbus A300 had to slam the brakes and return to the gate.

Now, I’ve experienced this a couple of time before, and while it isn’t exactly fun, it’s not a life altering experience.

What makes this event different is that the plane went through this takeoff and abort routine another two times.

That’s right – the poor passengers went through the hassle of an aborted take off THREE times!

Each time, the plane went back to the gate, got a part replaced, and tried again. Eventually, after an eight and a half hour delay, the passengers were on their way to their destination.

One of the passengers reported that “People were really scared because we had come so close to taking off, which could have been disastrous”.

Egyptian Pyramid to Open to the Public

by Kraig Becker on

Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, has announced that the 4500 year old “Bent” Pyramid will soon open its inner chambers, allowing tourists to venture inside for the first time. He also says that others may follow suit soon afterwards.

The Bent Pyramid is located in Dahshur, which sits roughly 50 miles south of Cairo, and is believed to have been built by the Pharaoh Sneferu. Hawass says that the Pharaoh’s tomb has yet to be discovered, and he believes that it is still somewhere inside the structure.

The pyramid gets its name from the fact that its upper portion slants at a different angle from the lower portion. Egyptian archeologists believe that as the structure was being built, engineers changed their design out of fear that the whole thing would collapse. As a result, the bottom part of the pyramid rises up at a 55º angle, then transitions to 43º as it nears the top.

The Red Phyramid, which sits closely to the Bent, is already open to the pubic, allowing visitors to venture inside. Hawass promise that more are scheduled to open next year, including one that is described as having “an underground labyrinth”, that dates back to the Middle Kingdom, some 4000 years ago.

While I was in Egypt a few years back, I had the opportunity to go inside one of the Pyramids at Giza. It was dark, cramped, and the passage was narrow. Once you got inside, to the inner chamber, there wasn’t anything to see either, and certainly nothing like the amazing artwork inside the tombs at the Valley of the Kings.

A&K and Fairmont Earth Hour ideas will have tangible results

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Earth Hour is on Saturday, March 28 at 8:30 PM. The hospitality and travel industry seems to have embraced this commitment to environmentalism. There are plenty of noteworthy initiatives out there intended to show support for a planet that could probably use our help. Of course, some are more interesting than others. I’m pretty interested in what’s going on at Abercrombie & Kent and Fairmont.

Upscale travel firm A&K is taking action at each of its 62 offices around the world. Outdoor signs will be turned off, and only emergency lighting will be used indoors. This will save 620 light-hours of electricity. And, they’re going to shut off the air conditioning for 90 minutes before the end of the work day, lowering power consumption for this period by 18 percent.

The company is also turning its corporate social responsibility gaze outward. Sanctuary Camps & Lodges are going to host stargazing parties, thanks to the dark skies. They are also planning to turn off generators and cut power consumption by 50 percent for Earth Hour (at 13 properties in Africa).

A&K’s Sun Boat III and Sun Boat IV will turn off their generators, as well, operating only with emergency lighting. Guests will be able to enjoy the bright stars – because of the desert air – in Upper Egypt. Eclipse in the Galapagos will host a presentation on the Sun Deck and reduce the use of power by 30 percent.And, the company hopes that Earth Hour goodwill is contagious. Employees have pledged to save 2,960 light-hours, and A&K’s suppliers, including restaurants and hotels, have been encouraged to support Earth Hour, with hundreds agreeing to do so.

I’m also pretty impressed with what Fairmont is doing for Earth Hour (which you can track via Twitter). This company’s made it a habit to stay out in front of the market when it comes to corporate social responsibility, and it’s ready to play from Dallas to Dubai – at all 56 properties. In addition to its usual environmentally sound initiatives, some Fairmont properties are taking specific, unique action.

At the Fairmont St. Andrews, guests can choose at check-in the power they want to use: nuclear, solar or wind. They’ll also receive compact fluorescent light bulbs. But, this is just the beginning. If you decide to sweat it out in the gym’s spin class, the energy you create will be converted to kilowatt hours to show just how much power you produce. The class is sponsored to provide a cash donation to the World Wildlife Fund. Kids will be able to plant their own saplings. The initiatives at the St. Andrews property are designed to have lasting results.

In Alberta, the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise will light up its side of the lake with ice luminaries. Guests will be invited to gather around a fire and enjoy some old-fashioned storytelling under the stars. This hotel is committed to Earth Hour year-round, with 50 percent of its power coming from a mix of wind and run-of-river electricity generation.

Over in Kenya, at the Fairmont Mara Safari Club, the lantern-lit Boma will be a place for guests to gather and listen to a local naturalist discuss conservation and the environment – the “Maasai” way. It won’t be just lectures, though, as Maasai dancers will provide entertainment.

The Fairmont Zanzibar, Tanzania will celebrate Earth Hour for the entire day. Guests will be invited to sail on historical dhows on clear Indian Ocean waters. Chef Ric and his team will use charcoal grills to prepare seafood on the beach, delighting palates without disrupting the environment.

Are you doing anything for Earth Hour? Let me know at tom.johansmeyer [at] weblogsinc.com or http://twitter.com/tjohansmeyer.

Ten Must See Monuments

by Kraig Becker on

BootsnAll brings us another excellent list, with the intention of adding yet more destinations to our ever expanding “life lists”. This time it’s their selection of ten magnificent monuments, amazing structures from around the globe, that inspire us to travel thousands of miles just so we can take them in ourselves.

Some of the selections on the list are centuries old, such as the Nubian monuments found in southern Egypt or Stonehenge in England. Others are relatively recent in their construction, like the Washington Monument in D.C. or the Brandenburg Gate in Germany. These monuments were built for a variety of reasons, some religious in nature, like the Reclining Buddha in Thailand, others to commemorate a particular person or event, like the Monument to the Revolution in Mexico. Each of the places on the list include a photo and a nice description of why it deserves your consideration as a travel destination.

One thing that I like about this collection is that not everything on it is well known. For instance, the obvious choice for Egypt is the Great Pyramids or the Sphynx, but BootsnAll went with the temples located in Abu Simbal, far to the south, and far less visited by tourists.

For the traveler who has been everywhere and seen everything, perhaps this list will give you a few new ideas for future adventures. For those just setting out on their travels, this is a great list to start with.