Nile cruises

...up to go on a Nile Cruise with our tour operator, Thomsons. It was for four days and three nights and cost £330 all inclusive this included an outside cabin, (a window cabin), all meals some buffet some a la Carte, our own guide, (English speaking Egyptologist), all the trips and entrance charges to the temples and museums. We were so excited as we had not planned to do a cruise before we came to Egypt, but we were shown a short film and given all ...
...centuries up and down The Nile the mind wonders at the romance and history of it all, and we were a part of that history, nothing spectacular I know, but still a part. We were told to be up for five o'clock Tuesday morning ready to go on our journey, we had arranged with the hotel, The Movenpick Jolie Ville, to have three packed breakfasts to go and sure enough they were there at reception waiting for us.

There was only six of us altogether ... more

During one of our holidays to Crocodile Island at Luxor in Egypt we signed up to go on a Nile Cruise with our tour operator, Thomsons. It was for four days and three nights and cost £330 all inclusive this included an outside cabin, (a window cabin), all meals some buffet some a la Carte, our own guide, (English speaking Egyptologist), all the trips and entrance charges to the temples and museums. We were so excited as we had not planned to do a cruise before we came to Egypt, but we were shown a short film and given all the details at our welcome rep meeting when we first arrived. They made the cruise sound so exotic and beautiful and yes they were right it was everything and more. We were advised on what we should wear and that we would need plenty of water as all the trips to the temples and museums would be at the hottest time of the day. Plenty of sun block for my wife and daughter and hats or caps for us all. I'm just thinking now how much has happened over the centuries up and down The Nile the mind wonders at the romance and history of it all, and we were a part of that history, nothing spectacular I know, but still a part. We were told to be up for five o'clock Tuesday morning ready to go on our journey, we had arranged with the hotel, The Movenpick Jolie Ville, to have three packed breakfasts to go and sure enough they were there at reception waiting for us.

There was only six of us altogether from our hotel so a mini bus was waiting outside for the start of our exciting adventure. The first step of our journey only took ten minutes when we arrived at the quayside where the Nile boat was tied up. It was called Nile Symphony and it looked very big for a river boat but very majestic and stylish. We only had one suitcase between the three of us and this was off loaded from the mini bus and taken straight away onboard by one on the boat hands. We quickly followed him up a very rickety and narrow gangplank to reception, exactly the same as a hotel reception but smaller, we signed in and we were given the key to our cabin. We were lead along the centre of the boat towards the aft end and halfway along the corridor we let in to the cabin. First impressions were that it looked a bit cramped, but then they had to put an extra single bed in for my daughter. It was clean, neat, tidy and well decorated and had a shower room with toilet which was immaculate and surprisingly spacious, and fitted wardrobes as well. A television in one corner on top of a very small fridge that we filled straight away with our bottles of water. The window was quite large with curtains and gave us a very good view at this time of the West bank. We unpacked quickly and ate our breakfasts while putting our cloths away so we could go and explore the boat, we went up the wide steps to the upper deck and made our way aft to where the main area of the deck was and where there were fifty or so seats and sun loungers set out in a very uniform manner.

Not many people about at this time as they were probably still unpacking, we did notice a swimming pool though, only small but a very welcome sight. We decided to sit for a while and take it all in and within thirty seconds a waiter came over and asked us if we wanted anything. This was the life I thought and we ordered one tea, one coffee and a fanta. Tips, ( bacsheesh ),make up and add to a waiters wages, which are about £3 a week so we always work on a 10% of the bill this gives us peace of mind and the waiter normally gives you a better looking after if that's at all possible. The whole of the area that was the upper deck was under shade and that made it more comforting as there was no breeze at all. It was not long before the bell rang out telling us that lunch was served so we made our way to the dining area where there were at least twenty tables laid out beautifully with shining cutlery and sparkling glasses. We were shown to our table, which seated six of us, this being where we had to sit for the duration of the journey, the other three on the table were from Mansfield and we made good friends with them over the next few days.The food was brilliant and there was plenty of it and it was laid out buffet style this is what we preferred as we like bits and pieces of everything rather than a lot of one thing.

The waiters were always on the ball, maybe due to the fact that the head waiter kept whispering in each of their ears now and then, and were always asking if we wanted any more to drink. After our scrumptious lunch we headed back up top to lounge about for the afternoon and it was not long before we were casting off and moving to our first destination. This turned out to be about ten miles north of Luxor, and this is where we ended up staying over night, our pace at this time was just so slow you could of swam faster. We were not the only boat that was heading in that direction there must have been another six or seven. The upper deck at this time was slowly getting more busy with some even trying out the pool and others snoring away their over indulgence of lunch. It seemed that the boat was only half full which meant better and quicker service if that's at all possible. Anyway we went back to the cabin and after forty winks, a shower and a change of cloths we were in time for dinner. Not as formal as we thought everyone was dressed smart with some looking a bit red in the face obviously not expecting to have caught as much of the sun as they did. This meal was more the a la Carte type than the buffet and it again was superb. Drinks had to be signed for and were assigned to your cabin number and the bill had to be paid at the end of the trip, you could pay this bill buy credit card, Pounds Sterling, Euro's, Dollars or Egyptian Pounds.

We ended the evening in the bar where you could get all the usual drinks including bottled or draught lager, all the main spirits and all the usual soft drinks, tea and coffee could be had at anytime. Getting to sleep was easy after the hard day we had eating and drinking and sunning ourselves, oh and the gentle sway of the boat from the slow current of the Nile tied up alongside the jetty. The next morning we awoke early and were first to the buffet breakfast, this is when we were given the itinerary for the rest of the journey, and after that we had to meet in reception and we were put into our groups this is when we met our guide. He was an Egyptologist from Cairo and could speak better English than me, it took him no time at all to introduce himself and to tell us that he would not have too much time for stragglers so please stay together at all times and try to keep an eye on him up front waving his Indiana Jones style of hat aloft. He told we were off to the valley of the Kings and Queens and promptly led us down to the awaiting coach that whisked us off to the valley. On entering the start of the valley of the Kings there is not a lot to see as this was one reason why the Pharaohs picked this valley as security against robbers. We had to go from the coach on to a tractor road train with four open air carriages that took us the final half a mile to where all the tourist would congregate a short walk away from the tomb entrances.

There are about sixty tombs uncovered not all of them are open at any one time as excavation work carries on all the time, some tombs are not very impressive and look the same as any other you can't just look in any or all of them because your ticket which was bought for us was for only five tombs, one of them being that of the boy king himself Tutankhamun. This was the only tomb found that was intact in 1922 by Egyptologist Howard Carter, another tomb that was recently discovered was the Tomb of the sons of Ramses ll this is still being excavated and has had 110 chambers found up to now and is the largest in the valley of the Kings. Please remember your water as the tombs don't have very good air supplies and are very stuffy with hundreds of hot sweaty people walking in and out daily. After here we were taken to the valley of the Queens, about fifteen minutes from the Kings, only a few tombs open here but still worth visiting. Over seventy Queens and Princesses are buried there, one famous queen was buried there and that is Queen Nefertari favourite wife of Ramses ll. Only one hundred and fifty visitors a day are allowed in this tomb as the humidity is damaging the wall paintings and murals.

On the way back we stopped at an Alabaster factory, in the town called Qurna, where there were dozens of children scattered around the place covered in fine white dust from head to toe all with hammers and chisels in their hands trying to form various statues and Pharaoh type busts from various sized lumps of marble like stone. In the shop it was stacked from floor to ceiling with all kinds of historical figures and animals, no prices though you are expected to haggle. After about an hour here it was back on the coach and back to the boat, in the shower, get changed and then back to the upper deck for a lounge and drink. A camera is a must because there was a photo opportunity every five minutes, like the train of donkey's with extremely large quantities of sugar cain on their backs, or the small mountains of the West bank with all the caves cut out deep in to the rock and the other boats that kept passing us and then us passing them and everyone waving back at each other in a very friendly manner. We were on the way to Esna that was situated on the west bank of the Nile and about forty miles south of Luxor. Here the temple is for the ram headed god called Khnum, the so called god of cataracts. Then it was off to Edfu approximately seventy miles south of Luxor on the west bank of the Nile.

The temple of Horus at Edfu is the most impressive of all that we seen especially the colossal stone Falcons that are sacred to Horus. The temple was only completed in 237 bc in the time of Cleopatra's father. Both the inner and outer gateways are lined with giant columns covered with inscriptions of the god in communion with the Pharaoh, this then leads into the inner sanctum of the falcon-headed god Horus. Back on the boat just in time for afternoon tea and biscuits and then a pint. It was not long before we were away again and we soon came to a giant lock which coupled up as a road bridge connecting the West and East banks. This did slow us down somewhat as we were bottled necked with about another ten or twelve boats, this was to the advantage of the locals who took to their boats and were whistling at us all to make a purchase of their towels, cuddly camels and Galabaya's. If you held out your hands they would, very trustingly, throw you their wares for you to examine and then the haggling would start. Once you agreed on a price you then had to screw up the right amount of money, no change given, in to a ball and drop it back to them. We then made our way south to our next town of interest called Kom Ombo, this is twenty five miles north from the end of our adventure at Aswan. Kom Ombo hosts the Temple of Sobek and Haroeris this was built in the 2nd century bc.

This was now our last night on board the boat, it was Thursday and we were all to dress up for our final dinner but this time it was on the Upper deck. While we were at the temple they had cleared the whole of the upper deck and put the table and chairs from the dining room in place of the loungers it was a great sight to be seen. Down the centre of the tables was a very long table where all the food was to be laid out. We new about all this when we first got our itinerary which gave us ample time to plan and buy whatever we fancied dressing up like. They wanted us to dress traditionally Egyptian style and luckily there was a small shop onboard that catered for this, how handy was that then. All three of us picked Galabaya's as our attire for the evening one because they were cheap second because they were light cool and third because you could wear them over anything. Everyone that we could see were all very much enjoying themselves, they were all getting their photo's taken by some of the waiters and the shop owner was going around taking pictures of everyone to sell the next day. There was plenty to eat and drink and it was of the highest quality. We all then ended up in the bar where we played games for hours, I got wrapped in toilet paper and looked like a mummy but we did not complete the game quick enough and got beat by a French couple who must have had better quality toilet paper than us, damn cheek.

Next morning we were off to see the great Aswan Dam, this dam stops all river traffic from going any further and holds back the largest of fresh water lakes in Egypt the 300 mile Lake Nasser. The high Dam is 3600 metres long and 111 metres high and contains enough concrete and stone that would be able to build twenty great Pyramids. It was built with help from Soviet Engineers and is about ten miles south of Aswan, there are at least forty towns and villages vanished beneath the waters of Nasser. With its banks very baron and virtually uninhabited it is in sharp contrast of the lush greenery and hundreds of miles of irrigation channels cut in the banks of the Nile like arteries flowing into veins and feeding the many fields of differing types of local produce of what we had seen along the very populated and industrious banks of the River Nile. The dam was awesome but not touristy it has some splendid views but with lots of industry around it. Security was tight for what reason I don't know why but you were allowed to take pictures but no videos. We were hurried back on to our air conditioned coach for our last stop off which was at a perfume and oil manufacturer. We were all ushered in and seated beneath a room full of fans and then given tea or coffee before being lectured about all the different oils and scents that was put together at this small factory.

They bragged that they could mimic all the great perfumes of the world and all the great names of the world were mentioned. They came round everyone painting a small sample on different parts of our arms and then asking us who they thought made this scent. It did go on for a while and it was good that they had all them fans as it would of been very hot. At the end of the lecture, by the so called Doctor of Perfume we were asked which perfume we wanted to buy at a fraction of the cost of high street prices, all major credit cards accepted, oh and cash. Back to the boat for the last time this is when we all said goodbye to our wonderful guide who looked after us all extremely well and guided us with distinction, he was well tipped by all and gave a short speech on how we were the best group he had led, yeah ok. Then we had our last lunch before joining our coach for the long four and a half hour journey back to Luxor. When we got on the coach we had to join a very long convoy of over fifty coaches, mini buses and cars that were travelling north to Luxor that had to be escorted by the army for security reasons, thing is we have always felt very secure and welcome in this country.

The whole experience has left us nearly speechless as we did not plan this excursion, sorry adventure, so that we would recommend this cruise to you all. For the price and what you got for your money as well as the experiences, entrance fees and friends that we made along the journey then this must of been a bargain. I would go again tomorrow because there were loads of things that we did not do, only because of time restrictions, the heat and that most of what we did was already mapped out for us as a group. Got back to Crocodile Island safe and sound all in good time for the odd pint or two.
Some tour operators do weekly cruises:-
http://www.nilerivercruise.com
http://www.lastminute.com/site/travel/holidays/cruise
http://www.archersdirect.co.uk/nile_cruises.php 

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