Cruising the Nile

Exploring the Nile, where ancient history comes to life as you sail to some of the greatest sights on earth.

Symbolism was incredibly important to the ancient Egyptians. At Luxor (Thebes), they dedicated the east bank of the Nile to the living and the gods, building their great city of Karnak under the eye of the rising sun.

They buried their dead on the west bank, into the heart of the setting sun. Here, under a pyramid-shaped desert mountain, lie the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens. The mountain they chose was relevant, too, for the pyramid was the symbol of eternity.

The Valley of the Kings
Nile boats of every size and type cluster along Luxor’s busy Corniche. Under a golden dawn, date palms and minarets create dark silhouettes and the muezzin’s call drifts through air as we cross the river by small boat to visit the west bank tombs hidden deep among desert hills. They date from 1500BC, their colours bright, their decoration awe-inspiring. The scale of the rock faces as we pass among them is overwhelming.

As soon as a Pharaoh ascended the throne, work began on his tomb. The longer he ruled, the more impressive his final resting place. Walking down the long, rock-hewn passageway of Ramses IV’s tomb, under a curved roof of blue dotted with golden stars, we’re struck by the intricacy of the decoration, the attention to detail, and the superb craftsmanship of the painters, sculptors and stone carvers. And however did they get the coffin into the burial chamber at the far end? Made from a single piece of red granite, brought from Aswan, 215km away, it weighs over 100 tonnes.

There are over 60 known tombs in the Valley of the Kings, but not all are open. We visited three, and found it interesting to see one that wasn’t completed, for it gave some insight into the stages of work that went into the building and decoration of these hidden ‘palaces’.

The funerary temple of Hatshepsut, dug from the heart of a mountain, dates back to 1500BC, but the architecture looks much more recent. The vast façade has three terraced levels with ramps and two chapels at the sides. The only female pharaoh, Hatshepsut ruled Egypt for 23 years and has her own impressive site, between the Valley of the Kings and that of the Queens and princes.

Returning to our Nile boat for lunch, we’re welcomed with cool flannels and a refreshing lemon drink. Back in the cabin, we find our towels folded in the shape of a daisy flower. On each day of this cruise we will be surprised and delighted by the innovative artistry of our towel-folding cabin steward!

Watching the world go by
It is peaceful and relaxing sailing along the river from Luxor to Aswan, lazily watching life go by on its banks. Lush fields of sharp green are fringed with date palms, square buildings define towns and mud-walled villages. There are glimpses of black-swathed women and white-robed men, and giggling youngsters swimming in the shallows.

On a green island, children play football among a herd of grazing cows while donkeys kick up the dust in a joyful game of tag. Pink-toned sandstone mountains bleach into a white-blue sky.

Past Esna lock, the fertile fields seem to flow into the river. Banana fronds punctuate acres of sugar cane. Tethered cows ruminate, black-headed birds soar above reeds, weaving and diving over a midstream sandbank. Small boats almost disappear under their load of freshly cut cane.

Cows, tails waving languorously, stand pensively at the water’s edge. A donkey, clip-clopping along at a spanking pace, bears a white-robed man and his child towards squat, mud-baked houses. Fishermen splash oars by a promontory where a double-domed Coptic church rises from the sand. A minaret identifies a village hidden among tall palms.

Edfu
Approaching Edfu, the green fields lapse into a forest of pyramidal pylons, smoke and industrial dust. The long bridge crossing the Nile is heavy with traffic. Our transport to the splendid temple is horse-drawn.

The Temple of Horus at Edfu, dedicated to the falcon-headed god of protection, is the best-preserved pharaonic temple in Egypt. The powerful double-faced pylon (entrance) leads to halls of great columns, chambers and antechambers, polished black granite and colossal reliefs of life-sized figures.

All the Nile boats have Galabiyya (Egyptian fancy dress) evenings. Unfortunately we needed to buy the regulation gear at Edfu bazaar, where the traders are far from friendly. The hassle, and the bargaining, is exhausting, and it’s a relief to be back on the boat and sailing peacefully towards Aswan.

From the top deck, we watch a heron standing motionless on mid-river reeds. Back in the cabin, the towels had been arranged in the form of a swan and a lotus flower.

Aswan
The gigantic, 41m (133ft) unfinished obelisk in Aswan’s red granite quarry has lain there for three thousand years. Seeing it puts the extraordinary feats of an ancient culture into perspective.

The Nile is the river of life for Egypt, where desert covers 90 per cent of the country, “and the Aswan High Dam is the key to that life,” our guide explains. It was built between 1960 and 1971 to provide protection against flooding, a means of irrigation and 60 per cent of Egypt’s electricity. It also created Lake Nasser, the world’s biggest man-made lake.

A motorboat carries us over to the majestic Philae Temple of Isis. After the building of the first Aswan Dam at the turn of the 20th century, the temple spent 70 years under water before being rescued by a UNESCO project and reconstructed on a higher island. With parts dating from the 4th century BC, its chequered history includes being used by early Christians as a church.

After lunch there’s a quiet sail in a graceful felucca to Kitchener Island, with a leisurely stroll around the shady botanical gardens.

Moored up in Aswan for two nights, there’s time to explore and shop in the exotically colourful backstreet souks. Optional tours include a visit to a Nubian village and a flight to the amazing temples at Abu Simbel.

Kom Ombo
We leave Aswan in the late evening. On its hill at a bend in the river, the floodlit temple at Kom Ombo looks stunning.

A double temple, dedicated to Sobek, the crocodile-headed god, and the falcon-headed sky-god Horus, it took 400 years to complete.

Although much has been destroyed, the clever lighting shows up exquisite carvings and reliefs. There’s something very special about walking among the tall columns under a starlit sky.

Esna Lock
Negotiating the narrow lock at Esna takes some time but negotiations of another kind take our minds off the real business. As we approach the entrance and squeeze into place, we’re besieged by boatmen selling tablecloths and woven wraps. They hold them up for show, yelling prices and the delights of their wares.

Polythene-bagged packages are flung with sure aim onto the deck, where they’re unwrapped, checked for colour and quality, and bargaining begins. Unwanted packages are thrown back, with less sure aim, several landing short and hitting the water. Price agreed, the boatman flings up another bag. You put your money in the folds of the material in the bag and send it whizzing back. Somehow it all works.

The transition of the lock is completed during lunch. Five metres (16ft) lower on the river, we continue our journey to Luxor and moor in the glow of early evening in front of the impressive Luxor Temple ruins.

There’s just time to stroll along the Corniche and investigate the souks that stretch in long narrow streets behind the temple, before sitting down to the splendid celebration dinner prepared by the boat’s chefs.

Afterwards there’s local entertainment: a whirling dervish is exhausting just to watch; the belly dancer twitches in all the right places but looks bored. A night on the town in Luxor is colourful and lively, the midnight air pleasantly warm.

Luxor
Today’s Luxor is an amalgamation of three ancient towns, an open-air museum sprawling among tourist hotels.

The sheer size, power and scale of Karnak, a collection of temples spanning 3000 years, is mindblowing. Here you walk among 134 giant columns dating from 1350BC, see an original mud ramp that reveals how the ancient Egyptians built the high walls of their towers, temples and pyramids, and simply gaze in awe at giant granite obelisks and fine, stone-carved reliefs and capitols.

The graceful Luxor Temple, impressive by day, is stunningly floodlit at night. It has a minaretted mosque at its centre, and clever lighting highlights statues, reliefs, columns and the avenue of sphinxes.

Out on the Corniche, mane-tossing horses pull black-hooded calèches dripping with silver charms, their drivers irritatingly persistent. Succumb, and your haggling skills will be tested to the limit. A quiet stroll simply isn’t possible, but when the trail of felucca touts, shoeshine boys and small children selling stone carvings gets too much, it’s best to remember that they are simply trying to make a living!

Tip: don’t miss the Luxor Museum.