Both my wife and I have been looking for an opportunity for a trip to Egypt for most of our married life - we finally found that with Viking. This was our first trip with Viking - after this experience it will be difficult to find another cruising company to measure up. We spent the the first 11 days of the trip on the "Pharaohs and Pyramids" tour - 3 days in Cairo included a trip to the Cairo museum (amazing despite the fact it was being prepared for renovation and much of the collection in storage waiting for the new antiquities museum to open), to Saquarra, and the Giza plateau. Then a short flight to Luxor to board the Ra for 7 days on the Nile. There was not a dull moment on the trip - incredible walking tours of temples and tombs, a felluca sail on the Nile, so many memories and sights that will stay with us the rest of out lives. It is a distinct thrill to realize the glyphs or frescoes many with color still adhering, are 3 or 4 thousand years old, and all that those walls and columns have witnessed since their creation. Our guide was an egyptologist, and his commentary and depth of knowledge made the tours and the sites we visited so much more enriching. Evening on the boat included an excellent menu for dinner, and entertainment was locally sourced and quite interesting. Staff on the Ra were exceedingly professional and personable and focused on our safety and comfort. There was as you might guess quite a bit of COVID testing over the course of the trip, and the Viking staff were quite firm about masking requirements. We also included a 3-day post-tour trip to Jordan/Dead Sea and Petra every bit as exciting and amazing as the Egypt segment. We watched the sunset from a point about 400 meters below sea level and could see the lights of Jerusalem across the Dead Sea. We toured the ruins of a second century Greco-Roman settlement just outside the modern city of Jerash, and walked the valley that includes the 4th century BC city of Petra. The brochure had characterized this cruise as "demanding" - by my count we averaged a bit more than 5 miles on foot each day - mostly over uneven and in some cases very hilly terrain - so bring your walking shoes.