Ancient Egypt - Down the Nile

Cruising down the Nile, Cleopatra-style 

3 May 2007

We took a bus to Cairo, then a taxi to the Marriott Hotel, romantically set in an island on the River Nile in the middle of Cairo. We checked in and spent a blissful night in a luxurious room with large bathroom and an enchantingly comfortable bed. Pai and Natalie’s flight was delayed and they, poor souls, only arrived at about 4 am and then had to get going early in the morning on the first of many tours over the next ten days. The whole tour was amazing and we all had a marvellous time. It was somewhat exhausting and we struggled a bit with the pace, but there was so much to see and do in such a short time, so it had to be.

On our first day we explored the Pyramids at Giza and the inscrutable Sphinx.  There aren't enough words to describe how impressive the pyramids are, and so close to Cairo!  After a wonderful sound and light show that evening, we spent another luxurious night at the Marriott Hotel.

The next day we travelled by bus to Luxor, visited the temple and then checked on to our cruise ship.  The ship was comfortable, the service was good and the food, usually in the form of an extensive buffet, was excellent. We had a guide who took care of us for the duration and made sure we were not too bothered by locals trying to sell their wares. The next five days were spent drifting down the Nile, often at night, not quite in the comfort and style of Queen Cleopatra, but we felt pretty special all the same.

Each day we stopped and were bussed off to visit the many and so very varied treasures of the ancient Egyptian civilisation.  No matter how many photographs you see, nothing prepares you for how beautiful and absolutely gigantic everything is.  The fact that all this was created many centuries before the age of the power drill and crane beggars belief.

When we reached the Aswan Dam, we flew to Abu Simbel and visited the Temple of Ramesses dedicated to Re-Harakhte and the Temple Nefertari dedicated to Hathor. These two magnificent monuments were historically moved in the sixties, piece by piece, 280 kilometres from Aswan to their current site when the building of a dam at Aswan threatened their safety.

One evening, an Egyptian dinner was organised and everyone bought a Galabea, the traditional Egyptian garment. The entertainment included Egyptian music and singing, a belly dancer and Whirling Dervishes.

At the end of our official cruise, we flew back to Cairo and then took a day trip to the fascinating city of Alexandria. We visited the museum and saw the fabulous tomb of KingTutankhamen and some of the ruins of Cleopatra’s palace. 

 We all struggled with the heat. May is not the best time to visit Egypt and it was exceedingly hot – the mercury hit 45° in Abu Simbel! Our cabins were blessedly air conditioned, but when the ship was moving we’d switch off and open the windows to get a fresh breeze. This particularly suited Pai as she is a smoker and could blow her smoke out the window. There was a swimming pool on the top deck of the boat, but it was so hot no one could really go up there until the evening. We often went up at sunset and enjoyed the cool night breeze. Almost everyone on the ship got the squits and our guide was kept busy handing out pills. Notwithstanding the heat, the squits, a broken toe and a few bruises, we all had a wonderful time. We laughed a lot, ate and drank too much and met a few nice people. Egypt was not a disappointment in any way at all and for Mike and me it was a wonderful change to get right into a country and really explore. Pai was extremely generous as always. She paid for the entire trip and gave us spending money, which I am ashamed to say I spent, all of it, on t-shirts and souvenirs, drinks and tips - in fact, nothing in particular. What can I say? We had a good time.

After fond farewells, they flew out and we bussed back to Ishmailia on Saturday the 12th. We paid the marina, did our shopping and on the Monday we transited the second half of the Suez Canal to Port Said with an efficient, more mature pilot. There was nowhere suitable to spend the night so we just kept on going straight through and out into the Mediterranean once again, heading for Turkey.