We cruise from Luxor to Aswan ... and back!

NILE CRUISE on M/V SEMIRAMIS 3

Taxi arrived at 11 and we head to where the boats are parked side by side near Luxor Bridge.

Ours was the Semiramis 3, a friendly looking ship, not the newest but clearly maintained in top condition.

Nile Cruise ships are all pretty much the same … lower deck is the restaurant, middle deck is the bar and some cabins (including ours, in pole position right by the reception area) upper deck, more cabins and top, open deck where you spend all your time on chairs and loungers.

I was accompanied by a friend’s daughter on this trip.

Emilie

Emilie Rosset, whom I have known since she was born, and whose mother was my best friend until she tragically died of cancer, is a bubbly, energetic and Egypt-mad young lady whose presence on-board was only going to enliven things up somewhat!!

Our adjacent cabins were more or less at water level and with their panoramic windows afforded perfect views of the Nile. When I discovered you could actually open them too and lie on your bed listening to the swish of the water as we moved along, Emile and I would pop our heads out of our respective windows and chat away as we slid silently down the river

Our fellow passengers were almost all Egyptians, a fact I greatly appreciated. There would be no unruly and lewd parties organised by the British contingent, which featured rather strongly the last time I did this!

In fact I made myself very unpopular with a rather dreary English lady when commenting on Facebook on how gratifying it was that a heavily tattooed English couple, clearly of the sort I referred to and already the worse for wear when they boarded, were politely shown to a neighbouring boat where Brits of their ilk were already enjoying a jolly knees up on deck.

We leave Luxor

Our progress down the Nile was slow and definitely majestic! The great thing about these cruises is the ability to observe life on the riverbank from a safe (and sanitised) distance.

As someone who has done the ultimate Nile cruise a few times, 4 nights on an open decked Felucca where you pitch up alongside the riverbank every night, your loo are the bushes, and food is bartered from fisherman as you meet as you sail along, I felt the occasional pang of regret that on was not able to stop the boat and meet some of the people, specially the kids, waving enthusiastically to you from the river bank.

But this was another experience completely and one, which I knew I was going to enjoy from the moment we left! Observing life little changed from medieval times from a lounger with a cold beer!

Riverside

Progress was relaxed as we headed towards Edfu, our first port of call and where we would spend the night.  We sailed past villages on the river bank where children playing, mostly dressed in bright coloured clothes that had seen better days would pause their mayhem and shout “Helloooo” at the tops of their voices. Few would wave back from the ship, but Emilie and I always made the effort, which invariably brought a whole lot more children out of the houses who then joined in!

The villages looked somewhat desolate, with the usual rubble, dust and rubbish blowing about, but occasionally a single, or even a whole block, 2 or 3 storeys high, of brightly painted houses, all different colours, would appear which was in stark contrast to the dark brown mud houses that dominated most places we passed.

Each village had a small mosque, with the usual rocket-thin minaret soaring up into the sky and one of the unforgettable experiences of the whole trip was to be sailing at dusk (around 6pm) and to hear the Adhan, or call to prayer reverberate around the river.

Adhan

The call to prayer starts quietly but soon reaches a crescendo which then lasts for about 5 or ten minutes (how the time is judged I am unsure). It certainly has an unearthly feel to it, especially the one that starts at about 4am! In the silence of the night it envelops you completely and is one of the most amazing sounds I know.

The top deck was where we spent most of the day, and one cannot help but think back to the days when a cruise down the Nile would be part of the great travel experience the upper classes would undertake on their way to or back from India!

Tea time!

Afternoon tea was served at 4pm. Maybe not quite the sort of bygone years, but served in china cups with saucers, even if you had to queue up at the bar to have the tea poured out from a thermos flask and the milk was … yikes … hot!!

Tea of course came with cake, and I have to say the Battenberg served aboard was excellent!

A tablecloth 

At about 5 o’clock a noticed a group of passengers congregated on the rail some of them shouting down at something or someone on the decks below. I went to investigate.

A tiny blue rowing boat had tied up alongside, as we moved along, and 2 small kids, aged maybe 12 and 14 were shouting the odds on all sorts of stuff they were flogging. This was wonderful.

If anyone even remotely expressed an interest in anything, they would bag it up and with incredible accuracy hurl it up the 3 storeys to where we were and where it would land almost directly at our feet.

Everything that came up went back down again, and so of course Muggins here started feeling sorry for the 2 jolly little fellows down below and shouted down a question about the rather smart tablecloth one of them was holding. My question drew a crowd and so I felt I had to continue ….!

E£300 came the tongue in cheek reply and up flew said tablecloth wrapped tightly in a plastic bag! 

The tablecloth itself was actually rather nice with Egyptian motifs artfully spaced around it. It was the right size too … so I decided to buy it!

My reaction to start off a haggling process is to say, with mock indignation something like “Don’t be ridiculous…” which I shouted down to the boys. Their faces became serious … and so the process began.

I managed to drag them down to E£130 at which point their attention waned somewhat, so I knew we had reached rock bottom!

“OK” I said, and before I knew where I was the onlookers clapped and at the same time up flew another bag with 8 matching napkins. A result!!

I was instructed to send the money down by airmail .. at which point I pointed out to them that at that precise moment I had their tablecloth, their napkins AND their money … they looked slightly worried.

The process ended by my sending down a weighted bag with E£150 in it … they seemed pleased … I certainly was and am looking forward to recounting the story of the tablecloth again and again … that is if it really is cotton and doesn’t disintegrate in the wash!

The food ... of course

The food onboard the boat was just up my street, though can imagine some wouldn’t like it as it’s a buffet.

Without seeming to be rude, it has to be said that some of the largest people I have ever seen in my life we onboard, clearly captivated by the chance and encouraged to literally eat as much as they possibly could!

For me, a buffet means multiple passes for tiny amounts of most things that takes my fancy. I enjoy putting a few pieces together and enjoying the mix.

The best was the quite brilliant cream cheese type of thing, which makes both Mozzarella and Feta seem thin by comparison! There was always a bowl of fresh tomatoes and to mix these with a bit of salt and some olive oil in a flatbread was the best starter I could think of!

The mains were excellent too. A choice of a meat main course (usually roast or grilled chicken) again my absolute favourite (you are maybe getting the idea that despite my reputation as a foodie I am in fact exceptionally simple in my tastes!)  with some excellent rice or some nice roasted potatoes and vegetables.

Puddings were ample too, with lots of sweet things, such as an excellent Crème Caramel which I am afraid I rather monopolised, it being my favourite pudding and one I have never really tried to make, which I mixed with some fresh fruit salad.

Whilst this all sounds somewhat excessive as I said, I would go and take extremely small servings which is not quite what the others would do, as they would parade through the dining room with the most enormous plates of food, piled high .. only to return to the food tables again for more. This would happen at breakfast lunch and dinner and so the amount of food consumed by some people was truly staggering!

One evening Emilie and I decided to lash out on a bottle of Egyprtian wine.  We chose a white, of indeterminate grape variety … none of the Chardonnay Daahlink stupidity here …. Which was rather good. Its name was Scherezade.

Unfortunately being French it wasn’t quite to Emilie’s taste and so I was left to drink the bloody lot – being quite used to the 2 buck chuck stuff they sell in Italy - and which meant that by 11 at night I was feeling pretty smashed!

By and large the food was excellent and the service stellar … everyone being so friendly. I do think the lack of European tourists made the serving staff more relaxed as ‘we’ apparently do have a reputation for being difficult.

1st night

At about 8pm we arrived in Edfu, the site of one of my favourite and best preserved temples in Egypt. But that particular visit was left to the next morning and we all settled down for our first night on the boat in our very comfortable cabins

Slept like a log with the window open .. yes a few mosquitoes came in but they don’t kill so put up with it just for the sheer pleasure of being able to look out and see the river literally in front of the window.

Breakfast next morning was a mad stampede as we were meant to be off to the temple by 0800. Again absolutely vast quantities of food consumed which was hilarious!

Edfu Grand Prix

By 0800 we were all outside where a battalion of caleches were waiting with the drivers screaming seemingly at each other and at us in no particular order. The sound was amazing but we had absolutely no idea what was going on!

We got onboard a pretty manky looking caleche after the usual haggling on price, which frankly I am not terribly good at at that time of the morning and shot off towards the temple.

It really was like a Grand Prix with all the caleches overtaking and undertaking each other on the road and going as fast as they possibly could. What the hurry was I failed to see.

I am afraid I called a halt to the whole thing on the pretext on wanting to take a photo of something, at which point we warned the driver to calm down and take things easy or there would be ‘no tips!”  He smiled and thereafter was brilliant. He got his tips!

I love the temples and tombs of Egypt but for their visual impact, rather than their history which frankly I find at times tedious.I am not one who overly believes all the fairy stories about "life' in those days .... we can't remember what we did yesterday, and so I suspect some of the stories which are 4000 years old are a little made up! 

Historians I always find rather boring people, with the notable exception of the son of a friend of mine, who went to Eton and then graduated from Oxford in history and whose infectious enthusiasm for the subject is quite amazing. I would go anywhere with him (and indeed have been!) to listen to him talk, but I’m afraid on the whole people pontificating interminably about the history of somewhere usually sends me to sleep, Phyllis Stein that I am and it why I prefer the tombs to the temples as the 4000 year old art to be found in them is wonderful.

But Edfu is different. It’s shere size as it towers above you when you approach it is visual drama par excellence and the carvings and hieroglyphics on the walls, or pylons as they are called are done with such artistry and detail.

We spent a good hour there and I loved it. The weather was sunny but not as yet too hot, the sky blue, the sights amazing and it was nice to see a good number of tourists thronging the place. I am a little dubious about the much vaunted claim that tourism here is 'on it's knees' ... it just isn't!

We posed under the statue of Horus, marvelled at the majestic size of the place, looked closely at the carvings, tried to make out what they meant and then braved the barrage of utter tat for sale in the bazaar on the way out _ China has a lot to answer for - and after an hour and a half were back in our caleche.

Sartorial necessities

On the way back to the boat we stopped for some errands, Emilie to buy suncream and shampoo (girls!!) and me to have my shoes polished.

I have got to the age where I don’t like travelling like a slob (not that I ever did) and so shoe cleaning and shoe cleaners of which there are many and cheap is an integral part of a days’ activity. Sad, I know!

We leave for Aswan

Back on board the Semiramis 3 we were welcomed with hot hand towels and a cooling drink which was a great touch and soon were were heading off into the river again, past fields of crops, sugar and other fields with dairy cows or buffaloes dotted here ad there, headed for Aswan. The whole scene looked like a painting.

The sun came over the proverbial yardarm at about 6pm and so it was time to order a chilled beer, which came in a chilled glass, a few peanuts (well, crisps actually as no peanuts) and to kick back on the rattan furniture (real, not plastic) and pretend we were sitting on the deck of another, more famous, Nile cruiseship called the Sudan, which I had seen in Luxor a few days previous.

It also soon became apparent that we were due something rather special and quite rare this evening an that was a sunset of spectacular proportions.

Sunset aboard

People get very excited about sunsets … almost all sunsets, but the secret of a really good sunset is the presence of clouds. They make an ordinary “going down of the sun” something extraordinary.

The sky slowly put on one of the most spectacular shows I think I have ever seen,  turning a deep shade of red and yellow, which reflected spectacularly onto the wide expanse of river too as well as lighting up the clouds (which were of the ‘fluffy’ sort) 

The whole show was absolutely mesmerising and of course as I had my ‘big ’camera with me I was in high demand to take photos of various people on the boat with the sunset behind them and forward to them on Facebook. At the last count I think I have about 8 people using my photos as their profile photo!

The spectacular show ended after about ½ hour and it was time to go for dinner. Another wonderful offering taken liberal (and it must be said, hilarious) advantage of by the Egyptian contingent. 

It really is not often that I am made to feel in need of a good square meal, but the sight of all these people consuming quite incredible amounts of food made me feel quite self righteous!

DAY 2

Day 2 dawned bright and sunny and lo and behold we had moored up in Aswan. The idea that Nile cruises involve a lot of cruising up and down is unfortunately misplaced as one only in fact spends one night on the river itself. I found (and was annoyed) by this last time I did this, many years ago and the concept does not seem to have changed.

What I particularly dislike is the fact that the boats moor one next to each other sideways on, and therefore when opening your curtains in the morning you are presented with a view into someone else's cabin in the next ship.

But for we were lucky and were moored on the outside of the row of ships and so had a unobstructed view of the West bank at Aswan, which included the spectacular sight of the Mausoleum of the Aga Khan set high up one one of the hills overlooking the town.

Botanical gardens

Emilie and I met at our prearranged time (she is never late!) and wade into the usual morass of hawkers and fakirs trying to sell you anything that wasn’t strapped down.

We headed on a boat (with a worryingly wild looking driver) to the Aswan botanical gardens which is one place I have never been to. It is set on its own island in the middle of the river and which I must to say was just wonderful.

There seemed real order in the place with plants well marked and some of the most spectacular flowering Bougainvilea plants I have ever seen. All colours too, though predominantly red.

There were people sweeping and cleaning everywhere and one got the impression this was one place the people of Aswan took great pride in. We stopped for a rather poor cup of mint tea (for which we even had to haggle!) at a café at one end of the island, before returning to the other and rejoining out boat.

A strange experience

At this point things descended into a form of farce and highlighted to need to understand how the system of pricing works in Egypt.

I have a cast iron rule that I will not hire any means of transport until I have established quite clearly how much I am to pay. There is always the attempt by the person I am bargaining with to say “up to you” or some such idiotic suggestion, which I always dismiss, as at the end of the journey is not the time to be arguing about the price which should have been established before you leave.

But we did ask our skipper to take us on to somewhere else, quite close and when we got there I gsve him what was a perfectly reasonable 50% over and above the price we had originally agreed.

He unfortunately saw things differently and suggested I should pay him a quite absurd sum for the extra ½ mile, which I politely refused.

He took this refusal very badly indeed and proceeded to take the notes I had given him, tore them up in a frightful rage and threw them into the river.

Such shows of petulance these days leave me cold, but I am afraid Emilie was rather shaken and so was pleased when the skipper was roundly berated by a couple of locals standing nearby and so before the situation could escalate, we all left the scene and proceeded on our way. However it highlighted a useful lesson … always, but always agree a price for something beforehand.

We meet Mohsen and have lunch

Our next port of call, in another boat whose skipper spent almost the entire time apologising for his crazy compatriot was what is possibly my favourite hotel in Egypt – the Pyramisis island Hotel – to visit my friend Mohsen who is the artist in residence there and who I met for the first time last year when I actually stayed there.

An incredibly thoughtful soul, Mohsen is both a set designer for Egyptian TV and a gifted artist. We met and looked over his new work which I have to say was most impressive.

Mohsen kindly invited us for lunch at the restaurant which spectacularly overlooks the cateract area of Aswan which includes the historic Old Cateract Hotel set high on a bluff overlooking the whole town.

We remained at out table for about 2 hours chatting about this and that before it was time to leave and return to our ship.

We hired yet another small motorboat and had fun as this one had set up a table and chairs on the roof. It was great to be able to sit up so high and look at the views and so of course the cameras and phones came out for the obligatory selfies in such a spectacular and scenic environment.

Drinks at the Old Cateract and Philae Light show

Our return to the ship didn’t last long and soon we were off again, this time by road for our evening’s entertainment.

First a drink at the Old Cateract Hotel. This hotel, where Agatha Christie and others have stayed over the years is owned by the Sofitel Group, who also own the Winter Palace in Luxor, nad has recently been the subject of a huge overhaul.

It used to revel in its rather faded grandeur which I quite liked, but has been updated to be as razor sharp and blingtastic as any hotel you can imagine.

You can imagine my views on this and so will leave it at that, but what I do think is quite extraordinary is that the whole building has been painted what can only be described as  the most offensive shade of brown one can imagine.

It meant to be what the original building was painted in, but I remember it over the years as being a most wonderful shade of ochre. When I mentioned it to one of the managers and asked where the colour came from, he gave me an old fashioned look as if to say “its rather awful, isn’t it!”

We enjoyed our drinks though very much and took copious photos of Emilie looking very glamorous in various parts of the hotel.

It was soon time to leave our short lived flirtation with luxury and continue on to what would prove to be, at least for me, the highlight of this particular trip.

The Sound at Light Show at Philae island.

Philae I ddnt know is another temple that has been moved from its original location. When Lake Nasser was formed by the  construction of the Aswan High Dam, it was raised from where it was on and moved to an Island.

It is the inly temple that I know of that is located on an island and its sound and light show is very famous.

We arrived bang on time to board a small speedboat that would take us out to the island for the start at 1945

The trouble was that there was no one there! Not a single soul. We were told to wait for a while and soon a couple of American showed up with whom we would share a boat.

We assumed that any others were already out on the island and so set off. When we arrived we were shown into the auditorium only to realise that we were the only people who would see the show this evening!

The show itseld was of course spectacular with Omar Sharif narrating and a sort of dramatized history of the temple blasted out over the loudpeakers. The English was particularly convoluted and so I am afraid I rather lost track of what was being said, but it seemed to make sense to Emilie so maybe they were actually speaking French!

We were moved around the temple as the narration continued ending up at the end in a specially constructed outdoor auditorium which we were told seated 300 people. The four of us squeezed in with difficulty!

After an hour or so the show ended and we headed back to the mainland in our boat. It really had proved a wonderful evening.

And so ended out Nile Cruise, other than it didn’t ….as we were offered a rather good deal on returning to Luxor overnight with the same ship. It was returning to Luxor to pick up some new passengers to then head north to Dandara and Abydos and was making an overnight flit back to Luxor.

We thus extended out journey for another 18 hours and were able to see some of the sight we had missed on the way down as it was dark.

  

  

.