Published on Jul, 2024
We booked the 4-day, 3-night Nile Cruise from Luxor to Aswan with Here Egypt Tours. The itinerary was jam-packed, taking us to Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple, Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut Temple, Edfu Temple, Kom Ombo Temple, the High Dam in Aswan, and Philae. We also paid for add-ons - the morning balloon ride over Luxor, and the day trip to Abu Simbel.
All these sites were made meaningful and exciting for us by our tour-guide, Ahmed. Over the course of 4 days, he taught me how truly to see. When we started, I didn’t know much about Egypt’s history and monuments, and the first few temples and tombs were impressive for their sheer vastness and ancientness. Quickly I realised that each one had something unique and precious to teach with distinguished master scenes adorning the walls. I came to understand why some figures were chiseled out of the stone/redacted, to recognize which figures were royal and which were gods, to distinguish between the 22 crowns worn by the royalty, to spot the tell-tale changes in colour which indicate where a site was submerged in sand/water before being excavated, and even to read some of the hieroglyphics. With each site, Ahmed built on our knowledge, repeated and consolidated what we had already learnt, and responded to our questions, often going off-script to tell us (very excitedly) about other features of the site. Overall, the impression I have of Ahmed is that he is someone who really knows his stuff. And who really genuinely cares about it too. As we got to know him better, a real affection developed, and we felt like he was someone we could trust to advocate for us, to guide us with the logistics of getting around Egypt, and to share with us his knowledge and expertise. I suspect we only just scratched the surface of all he had to teach.
Touring Egypt in the off-season has its advantages - the sites are quieter, you don’t have to queue, entrance fees are discounted, and tour groups are smaller. But it’s not for the faint-of-heart. Most days you wake up before the crack or dawn and all your touring is complete by lunchtime in order to avoid having to be anywhere un-airconditioned during the heat of the day (most days it got to 43 degrees Celsius). This meant lots of time wallowing in the pool on the sundeck of the boat or watching the Nile slide by through the cabin’s floor-to-ceiling window.
Our cruise ship was the Princess Olivia Signature, and seemed to be one of the nicer ones on the water. The food was really high-quality. I’ve never been so thrilled by the variety and freshness of a salad bar - seriously. It took a lot of self-control not to overeat on the Egyptian and more Western dishes, which included soups, breads, salads, pastas, meat, chicken, fish, and desserts. Drinks are not included, and the overly-solicitous wait-staff and barman consistently hustling to upsell you on drinks (even when you’re clearly immersed in conversation with friends) can get a bit annoying.
The only negative part of our experience was that we got put in the room at the front of the boat, which smelled horribly of cigarette smoke (probably because it was right next to the captain’s control room). When we complained about it, the manager totally gaslighted us - “that can’t be, this is a non-smoking cruise”, “it must be your fault because you opened the window”, “we will spray some air freshener to make it go away”. It was only after the fourth complaint, when I went to desk and, with regrettable and uncharacteristic aggression, demanded that they give us a different cabin, that we were begrudgingly relocated to a delightful room that smelled constantly of freshly baking bread. Definitely an upgrade. I realise now that, if we had texted Ahmed immediately and told him of our complaint, he would have pulled some strings and fixed the problem with no hassle. I guess the lesson is to let your tourguide be your ally.
Also, the daily towel creations were one of my favorite parts. I have included a picture of the elephant!
