Tour Guides

Your trip to Egypt includes a diverse group of professors and tour leaders.  As well as two licensed Egyptologists (English-speaking tour guides) who will be joining us on the trip, your tour leaders include Nakula and Nischala Cryer, Byasa Steinmetz and Celia Alvarez.

Byasa Steinmetz has been lecturing and writing on the Yuga cycle teaching of Sri Yukteswar (author of “The Science of Religion”) for more than a decade. His background in astronomy, engineering and yoga contributes to his insights about the yugas and the ancient cultures of India and Egypt.  He is currently a Professor of World Cultures & Consciousness at the Yoga Institute of Living Wisdom.

Celia Alvarez, PhD, has a doctorate in Linguistics and is currently Professor of World Cultures & Consciousness at the Yoga Institute of Living Wisdom.  She has an extensive background in higher education and consciousness studies and has served on the staff and college board of several alternative universities including Antioch and Hampshire College. She has traveled extensively and been instrumental in facilitating crosscultural dialogues among diverse communities globally.

Nakula and Nischala Cryer are co-directors of the Ananda Meditation Retreat and on the board and teaching staff of the Yoga Institute of Living Wisdom.  They are both long-time practitioners of Kriya Yoga and members of Ananda, the spiritual organization founded by Swami Kriyananda, direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, author of “Autobiography of a Yogi”.  They have been traveling on pilgrimages to India since 1987 and have lead the Institute’s “Study Abroad” programs for several years.

Tour leaders (l to r): Celia Alvarez, Byasa Steinmetz, Nakula & Nischala Cryer.

Paramhansa Yogananda (center on camel) on his 1935 trip to Egypt.