EASTWARD BY WAY OF FOUR ANCIENT LANDS & A CITY OF LIGHT
the fifteenth of October to the third of November, MMXXVI
Set forth
Washington · departing the fifteenth
Chapter One · Egypt
Cairo & the Nile
where the long way begins
Down over the desert at first light. Three days of pyramids and the great museum, a felucca on the river at dusk, and a day carried north to Alexandria and the sea.
Hilton Grand Nile · 16–19 October
Egypt · Giza
The Last Wonder Standing
a camel at golden hour
The pyramids and the Sphinx by day, a camel across the sand, and a dinner boat gliding down the Nile after dark.
17 October
Cairo to Amman · the nineteenth
Chapter Two · Jordan
The Rose City
a facade cut from the cliff
Through a narrow canyon to the Treasury, carved into rock two thousand years past. Two unhurried days among the ruins of Petra.
Petra Moon Luxury · 20–22 October
Jordan · The Dead Sea & Wadi Rum
Salt, Stone & Stars
the lowest point on earth, then the desert sky
Float upon the salt sea and seek the rumored rose-pink lake. Then a night in the red desert, a Bedouin fire, and the Milky Way through the roof of a glass tent.
Kempinski Ishtar · Bedouin Bubble Camp
Amman to Dubai · the twenty-fourth
Chapter Three · Arabia
Dubai, the Exhale
after the desert, the sea
Three nights upon a palm-shaped island. Warm mornings by the Gulf, the tallest tower on earth by night, and nothing at all to do but rest.
Hilton Palm Jumeirah · 24–27 October
Dubai to Istanbul · the twenty-seventh
Chapter Four · Türkiye
Bazaars & the Bosphorus
where two continents meet
A room beside the Blue Mosque. The Grand Bazaar and the spice market, a hammam, and the strait where Europe looks across at Asia.
The Ritus, Sultanahmet · 27–30 October
Türkiye · Cappadocia
A Hundred Balloons at Dawn
a cave to sleep, a sky afire
Fairy chimneys and rock valleys. Wake before the sun, rise above it all in a balloon, and watch a hundred more fill the morning sky.
Kelebek Cave Hotel · 30 Oct–2 Nov
Istanbul to Paris · the third
Chapter Five · France
A Layover in Paris
one last surprise on the way home
A long layover, just long enough to slip into the city, stand beneath the Iron Lady, and raise a glass to the whole long way — before the last flight west.
Charles de Gaulle · a stolen afternoon
Paris to Washington · home by evening
— and so home again, married, sun-worn, and together.