Another dream come true

Something we had always wanted to do together was to take a cruise along the river Nile. This year (2009) in March we finally managed to fulfil this dream and it was a fantastic experience. The sights along the banks of the River Nile are spectacular, taking us back in time to some 2000 years ago.

Never before have we seen such magnificent palm landscapes. The sandy mountains in the background and the Nile in the foreground resulted in the most picturesque of scenes. Men working in the fields with their bare hands using donkeys or camels for transport, women washing clothes or utensils in the river and children playing on the banks were scenes that could have been taken at any time during the last 2 to 3 thousand years.

The journey's start

Our cruise started at Luxor, whereby we flew from Frankfurt to Cairo and then on to Luxor arriving late at night and boarding the ship, which would be our home for a week - the MS King Tut I. The very next morning we took our first sightseeing tour of the Temple of Karnak. Later in the afternoon an orientation journey by bus took us through the city of Luxor and in the evening we again visited the Karnak Temple to see the sound and light show at night.

Our second day was a 6.00 am start travelling by bus to Theban West to visit the Temple of Queen Hatschepsut, the Valley of the Kings and the Colossi of Memnon. A few free hours in the afternoon meant that we could wander along the Luxor promenade. Our ship set off for Edfu in the evening.

More sleep than usual

Tuesday morning was the only morning during the entire week when we could actually sleep until 8.00 am - a luxury as we later found out. On this morning we visited the Horus Temple of Edfu, subsequently enjoying the Nile landscapes while our ship voyaged slowly towards Kom Ombo. We viewed the Temple of Kom Ombo at night, allowing for an impressive light and shadow display of the temple pillars and walls. Over night our ship completed its voyage to Aswan.

Another 6.00 am rise on Wednesday and we travelled by bus first to the unfinished obelisk in Aswan and further to the very impressive Isis Temple on the island of Philae. Completing this days bus journey we viewed the Aswan dam, built to prevent the river Nile's flooding. One of the highlights of the week was the trip by motor boat to the botanic garden on the Lord Kitchener Island. There we were met by a wonderful array of palm trees flowers and birds. Obligingly the hoopoes didn't seem perturbed by our cameras and many a minute was spent admiring and photograhing these pretty birds. In the evening we visited the famous bazaar in Aswan which, due to the obtrusiveness of the merchants, was an experience in itself. Nevertheless the people were willing to be photographed in exchange for a little baksheesh - usually one or two Euros.

The earliest rise

Thursday morning was a 3.00 am rise, which we did not find easy! At 4.30 am began the 280 Kilometre bus journey to Abu Simbel, where the temples of Ramesses II and Nefertari can be found. Not only were the temples themselves incredibly impressive but the fact that they were relocated in the 1960's to the other side of the river Nile is almost unimaginable. The afternoon was a very enjoyable, leisurely journey on board back along the Nile towards Esna.

The 6.00 am wake-up call on Friday morning almost seemed like a luxury in camparison to the day before. Early morning we visited the Khnum Temple at Esna. The most impressive fact of this temple being that it was buried for centuries under over 9 metres of sediment and has been painstakingly excavated. This temple still has much of the colour in the elaborate hieroglyphics. Apart from that Esna is an extremely unimpressive location. We needed to be back on board by 8.00 am in order to pass through the lock on time and then we were on our way back to Luxor. Many hours were spent that morning breathing in the magnificent views and taking as many photographs as possible. Late that afternoon we had the opportunity of viewing the Luxor Temple and taking in the sights of Luxor one last time.

Our 4.00 am wake-up call on Saturday morning meant that our wonderful holiday was over and we had to start the over 5,000 Kilometre journey home.

A big hello to our new friends we made while on the cruise!