Experiences · thrills and crafts
Egypt by fire, stone, water and sand
Go down inside a pyramid, dive to a wartime wreck and walk a Bedouin trail. Blow glass, carve stone and sit at a loom. Choose an element, then how much nerve you bring. Every experience is arranged around your route, and nothing is promised until it is confirmed.
1 Choose an element
- All four13 experiences
- Fire2 experiencesFurnaces and solder: glass gathered hot, and a lantern made for Ramadan.
- Stone3 experiencesDown inside a pyramid, into a tomb's evidence, and a chisel in calcite.
- Water3 experiencesA war wreck on the seabed, one breath in Dahab, and a first kite.
- Sand and thread5 experiencesDunes and mountain trails, and the looms and needles of the people who live there.
2 How much nerve do you bring?
Curious: anyone. Bold: steep, tight, deep, hot or remote. Qualified: a certificate first.
Showing 5 of 13 · Show everything
Dunes and mountain trails, and the looms and needles of the people who live there.
The edge of the Great Sand Sea
From Siwa into the dunes by four-wheel drive, a board down a slope, and dusk at a spring.72,000 km² of dunes between Egypt and Libya
Nerve: BoldHalf day to sunset
Open the layerswhat happens · what it asks · what we confirm
What happens
- Leave Siwa with a local driver who reads the dunes.
- Crest the first ridges and see the sand sea open to the horizon.
- Try sandboarding down a slope you choose.
- End at a spring or a high dune as the light goes.
What it asks of you
A strong stomach on the dunes and tolerance of heat. The ride is rough; tell us of back or neck trouble.
Before you go, we confirm
- A licensed local driver and a vehicle in sound condition
- That the route lies within the areas the UK government's travel advice excepts: Siwa and the Marsa Matruh–Siwa road are named; the open desert beyond is not
- Any desert permit needed for the route
- Water, shade and a safe return time
A Sinai Trail day
A day's walk in the high mountains with a Bedouin guide whose tribe knows the route.About 550 km of trail, run by Bedouin tribes (340 miles in the source)
Nerve: BoldFull day
Open the layerswhat happens · what it asks · what we confirm
What happens
- Set out early from St Catherine with a guide from the tribe whose land you cross.
- Walk wadis and passes, with stops at gardens and springs your guide knows.
- Eat as the guide's family eats on the trail.
- Return before dark, or arrange a night out.
What it asks of you
A full day on rough ground, climbs at altitude, and heat or cold depending on the season.
Before you go, we confirm
- A registered guide from the tribe whose section you walk
- That the section lies outside the area north of the St Catherine–Nuweiba road, where the UK government advises against all but essential travel
- The section, its length and height gain
- Season, water and a way down if the weather turns
The looms of Naqada
A hand loom on the west bank north of Luxor, and a craft UNESCO lists as in urgent need of safeguarding.2020 the year UNESCO listed Upper Egypt's hand weaving as needing urgent safeguarding
Nerve: CuriousHalf day
Open the layerswhat happens · what it asks · what we confirm
What happens
- Sit beside a weaver at a hand loom and watch a shawl grow thread by thread.
- Learn how the loom is set up, which takes longer than the weaving.
- Throw the shuttle yourself for a few rows.
- See finished pieces and hear who still weaves, and why fewer do.
What it asks of you
Patience and a steady rhythm. No skill is assumed.
Before you go, we confirm
- A weaver or workshop that welcomes visitors, and how they are paid
- Transport from Luxor and the time it takes
- Whether pieces can be bought directly from the weaver
Bedouin embroidery
Cross-stitch with the women who keep the Sinai's designs, in the mountain town of St Catherine.1 Sinai tribe, the Jabaliya, is described as making non-geometric designs
Nerve: Curious2–3 hours
Open the layerswhat happens · what it asks · what we confirm
What happens
- Meet embroiderers and see the pieces a tribe is known for.
- Learn a traditional stitch and motif on a small square.
- Hear what each design means, and which are the Jabaliya's own.
- Buy, if you wish, directly from the women who made the work.
What it asks of you
Good light and a steady hand. No skill is assumed.
Before you go, we confirm
- A women's group that welcomes visitors, on their terms
- Whether men in your party may join
- How the women are paid for their time
Khayamiya with the tentmakers
Appliqué by hand in Cairo's covered Street of the Tentmakers, where a panel takes weeks.c. 1650 when Radwan Bey built the covered street the tentmakers still work in
Nerve: Curious2–3 hours
Open the layerswhat happens · what it asks · what we confirm
What happens
- Walk in through Bab Zuwayla to the covered street.
- Sit beside a maker: the shape cut, the edge turned under, the stitch.
- Stitch a small motif of your own on a practice square.
- Look through finished panels and see the hours in them.
What it asks of you
Patience with a needle. You will be slow, and that is how you learn why a panel costs what it does.
Before you go, we confirm
- Which workshop and maker hosts
- Whether your motif can be finished and framed or sent on
- A time when the street is working, not closed
How an experience earns a place here
- A story, a skill or accessIf a marketplace already sells it as a ticket and there is nothing more to it, it is not here.
- Licensed people, checked before you goDivers, drivers and guides are confirmed for your date. Every page lists what we confirm first.
- Makers named when they agreeNo host appears here until they have agreed to be named. Every experience is a concept until then, and the page says so.
Ask about an experience
Tell us which ones and where you will be. Concept · on request means we still confirm the host, the date and the terms with you before anything is booked.
Your Egypt, your pace
Request a quote
Tell us your dates and party size. A quote will confirm the itinerary, total price, inclusions and cancellation terms before you decide.
Sending a request does not make a booking or reserve availability.
Photography credits (13)
FischerFotos, CC BY-SA 4.0; Alaazzpov, CC BY-SA 4.0; Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0; Zezinho68, CC BY-SA 4.0; David Dennis from Scotts Valley, CA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0; Wikicomman, CC BY-SA 4.0; Lars Plougmann, CC BY-SA 2.0; Marc Ryckaert, CC BY 3.0; Roland Unger, CC BY-SA 3.0; Mohamed kamal 1984, CC BY-SA 4.0; Ahmed Emad H, CC BY-SA 4.0; PMATAS, CC BY-SA 4.0; Hatem Moushir, CC BY-SA 4.0
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