Feb half term 2009

This is an amazing week learning bellydancing with Egyptian women who have been listening to the music all their lives! Your fee pays for taxi transfer to hotel, 7 nights B&B in a hotel with rooftop pool, group sight-seeing trips, group taxis, group bellydance lessons, 2 male escorts, historical tour guide, UK facilitator.

During your week, you'll be going sight-seeing in and around Luxor in the mornings, relaxing/ swimming/ sunbathing/ reading in the afternoons, and then 5 x 1.5 to 2hours' of lessons with Egyptian women in the evenings. After the lesson, off for a local group meal, then to the souk (market) for shopping, and then out to various venues in the late evenings.

The Egyptian teachers include the last (publically dancing) Ghawazee Kharriya Mazzin who is AMAZING and can shimmy for literally hours. We interview her after her lesson. The other teachers include Luxor cabaret dancers Dinah/ Nazreen/ Fatima, a local village woman Du'a, and a young village girl 'wedding dancer'..... Du'a also cooks for us and shows us bellydance DVDs in her family home. The village girl dances with us amongst the chickens and goats and donkeys, and her mum makes loads of Egyptian tea, and her dad gives us a discount at his CD/ DVD shop ;o) This unassuming girl is a truly inspirational dancer!

Then, after your lesson and a local dinner, you can visit the local souk and buy all the bellydancing clothes, music and accessories at LOCAL prices, which you can sell on to friends should you wish to. If you buy stuff to sell on, you can recouperate the cost of your holiday!

Sightseeing trips included in your fee include:
Luxor Temple, Karnak Temple, a sunset Felucca trip on Nile, Valley of the Kings, Luxor Museum. You can also explore on your own with a guide book as much as you like, and there is a free day scheduled.

There will be an optional extra day-trip to Cairo, to visit the Pyramids & Sphinx, then go to Khan Al Khalili bellydance shops and then the designer costumiers. After this, the Cairo Museum, and, if time permits, a 2 hour Nile Cruise with Cairo bellydancer. This daytrip costs the air-fare plus entry fees c £100pp total.

Other optional extras include:
an Arabian evening (£8pp), massage (£10pp), henna tattoos (£5pp), daytrip to Dendara/ Abydos (£30pp), Arabic lessons (£5pp), private lessons (£tba)

You'll have an AMAZING week!! You will learn with 'real' rootsy Egyptian women, experience the Egyptian culture, make new friends.

Discounts available for people who recruit colleagues/ students onto the holiday. Please contact me to discuss 'bespoke' holidays with dates to suit your group...