Spiritual Retreats In Egypt

Egypt is one of the cradles of Western civilization, and one of the earliest examples of organised human thought into spirituality. Egypt has always been a center for spiritual retreats, dating from the pre-Dynastic eras, through the Ptolemies after the Alexandrian conquest, and even into the relatively young religions of Judaism, Christianity (particularly in the Coptic tradition) and Islam, where Egypt is home to the Fatimids and revered among the Druze and Sufis.

Because of its deep spiritual history, which runs through the soil of the country as the Nile runs from Niger to the Med, it has long been a destination for pilgrimages and those seeking to reach communion with the divine; Egypt is, after Israel and Palestine, the home of the largest number of Christian shrines and Biblical-era sites in the world, many of them established as spiritual retreats for penitents and ascetics, and some of which have been continuously in use since the dawn of Christ.

This tradition of taking pilgrimages to Egypt for spiritual wellbeing is still in practice in the modern world, and pilgrimage tours are an excellent opportunity to explore this deeply historical land. If you are planning on going to Egypt for spiritual retreats and divine sustenance, it is worth your time to book your trip through a packaged tour to cover the country in depth with similarly minded seekers after the eternal truths underlying all religion.

There are a number of benefits in taking up an Egyptian tour package covering spiritual retreats. The first is simple logistics. A tour package can handle the notably bureaucracy needed to get you to your intended destination with a lot less hassle than you can on your own – they’ll handle all the forms and papers on behalf of all of their clients, and Egypt prefers to deal with tours because it makes their life easier, with only a single point of contact, and it makes your life easier.

The second benefit of using a packaged tour in Egypt stems from arranging where you stay. The tour companies, knowing well that a lot of people don’t wish stay like poor people, book very high quality accommodations, and get a deep discount rate for buying a lot of rooms at once; this is where they make their profits on the trip (beyond what you pay for the service) and how they save you money on the trip as a whole.

Finally, the tour packages provide a knowledgeable native, someone who knows what you want to see and can set the itinerary. If you want to see the monuments from the Dynastic period, to contemplate the spiritual retreats of worshiping Aten, or see a Coptic monastery that’s still in service, or see Druze dancers attempting to reach spiritual communion, this is easier for the tour to book than for you to arrange on your own.

Tour packages of the shrine sites and spiritual retreats will also let you see more of the country – they’re more efficient, and they can often times arrange exclusive visits for your tour group.

That being said, it’s easy to get overwhelmed on a trip to any foreign country – and Egypt can strain the serenity of travelers more than most, spiritual retreats or not.

When there, be sure to budget time for getting over jetlag – Egypt is 8 hours ahead of New York time, and your first could be tiring until your sleep cycle adapts. It is very hard to appreciate the little details of a spiritual retreat when you’re dozing off on your feet.

Understand that local customs vary; take the time to study them and to appreciate them. Don’t be the obligatory clueless tourist who expects Egypt to be “just like Disneyland, but with Pyramids.” While searchers for spiritual retreats are less likely to fit this mindset, even there, it’s worth taking the time to read up on local customs and observances.