The glorious Nile! The lifeline of all of ancient and modern Egypt. It's the aortal vein of the country, for millenniums providing life and nourishment to the people living alongside the river. For just beyond the river banks, desert. Sand dunes, arid hills and a lot of nothingness. The perennial blue sky. And what infatuated me the most, the brilliant, crisp, soft desert light.
Cruising down the Nile you realize just how important water is for life.
The cruise on the Nile starts on the last day of 2010, in Aswan, a romantic city on the river banks. The river here has several small islands in its stream, housing small Nubian villages, botanic gardens, and the traditional Egyptian feluccas sailing amidst.
On one side of the river lies the city of Aswan, on the other lush gardens spreading along the banks, Tombs of the Nobles and Aga Khan flanking the rising hill, and beyond, the reddish yellow desert sand. Stretching for hundreds of miles towards the edges of the country.
What you don't realize is that slightly upstream from Aswan is now the second largest dam in the world. As the population of Egypt grew, there became a need for more agricultural land which was only possible by regulating the flow of the Nile. And thus the project for the High Dam was born. As you can imagine, it's an engineering masterpiece that has created the 510 km long Lake Nasser behind it, for now the largest artificial lake in the world. The High Dam in profile is built in the shape of a pyramid, where the base is 900 meters wide and stands more than 180 m high. Six km from the High Dam is the much smaller Aswan Dam, that was built in the 1890's and is now more or less relegated to being a tourist attraction.
The dam brought a lot of advantages to Egypt, yet the giant lake that was created behind it also buried most of Nubia. The old kingdom of Nubia was the gold quarry for ancient Egypt, thus was very important for the pharaohs. The Nubian people are very distinct from the Egyptians. Dark skinned, rather tall, live in big family communes and even today, do not intermarry. It was no accident that Ramses II married a beautiful Nubian girl to make her his queen. Besides marrying beauty, it was a smart political move. It kept the peace between the Ancient Egyptians and the Nubians.
We walked into a Nubian village on Elephantine Island, one of the little islands across from Aswan, where we met a local who charmed us into taking a felucca ride with him at sunset. I still don't get the point of sailing! All you do is zig-zag, like a ping pong ball, bouncing from one side of the river to the other. Yet it was charming and peaceful in the setting afternoon sun. After our boat trip he invited us to his simple home for tea. His friend that was with us was peacefully rolling a cigarette, while our guide was boiling water for our tea. And then I noticed it. What was he rolling? It was a joint?! They had a small marijuana plantation on the island, hidden amongst the crops. Rebel! This explained the perennial smiles and glazed over looks that we had seen.
We later found out from our guide that hash is quite common here. After all, it keeps people mellow and calm, in an environ where admittedly there is not much to do. An unoccupied mind can become restless. Supposedly, this kills that destructive urge that one can get with too much time on their hand.
They opened up a lot to us. Explained how it was very expensive to get married. Talked about the tension between the sexes, for prior to marriage the two are not allowed to bond. Yet the wide-spread use of mobile phones has somehow facilitated a secret connection between romantic couples. Texting and whispers over the phone have replaced the much more dangerous secret rendez-vouzs in hidden courtyards. Technology comes to the rescue in what is otherwise a very conservative environment.
After cruising 225 km down the Nile, passing a few temples and seeing the desert scenery float by, we reached our destination Luxor. In the morning mist, in the deceptively cold air, you can see the red mountains outlined in the distance of the west bank.
Some call Luxor the grandest open air museum there is. They could be right.
Driving towards the Valley of the Kings, you are reminded how fertile the land is around the Nile. This is sugar cane country, field after field of growing crops. And no sooner you get used to the greenery and lush wide roads you enter the desert and mountains bordering Luxor. Behind the imposing rock mountains, the mysterious necropolis, hiding 63 magnificent tombstones of former kings. It's a giant cemetery, except you cannot see it for all the chambers are under ground. The pharaohs and the priests soon realized that due to their conspicuousness, the grand pyramids often succumbed to invasions from tomb raiders. They thus decided to bury their royalty deep inside the pyramid shaped mountain on the outskirts of Luxor, along with all their treasures, in hidden chambers with no visible entrance to the tombs. The kings were thus lost in time and immortalized in the rocks and sand. There are 68 royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings, each decorated very differently.
Closer to the city centre, on the East Bank, are the grandiose Temples of Karnak. The scale is tremendous, temples that were built over 1,500 years, scattered over 2 square kilometers. Besides the many columns and obelisks, you will find here the Temple of Amun, the largest religious building of the Ancient Egyptian civilization. This was the home of god Amun. The 3 km long Avenue of the Sphinxes connects the Temples of Karnak with the Luxor Temple. Gracing the entrance to the much smaller and more intimate Luxor Temple are two colossal statues of Ramses II, the god that loved himself too much.
Luxor is astounding. Steeped in history, rich in culture, amidst its lush green setting on the beautiful Nile. However, as you take off from Luxor airport and gaze at the desert mountains and the rivers of sand just on the periphery of the city, with the Valley of the Kings below, you cannot help but imagine what else is concealed there, hidden from the naked eye, covered over by millenniums of the ever-shifting red sand.
There must be more!
Sights in ASWAN
> visit Aswan and the impressive Hydro Dam
> temple of Isis on island of Philae: located in between the two dams, this ancient temple site would have been fully submerged if it wasn't for UNESCO again, that moved the temple site to a nearby, higher lying island.
> unfinished obelisk from the Northern Quarries: Aswan quarries provided the granite for all of the ancient pyramids, obelisks and temples. Here you will also find an unfinished obelisk, which would have been the largest in the kingdom if it hadn't cracked before it was finished.
> Sharia as souq: wide-laned souq parallel to the Corniche, where you can find everything and anything. Like one shopkeeper said, all we want is your money.
> felucca ride on the Nile
> visit Nubian village: if you want to visit a less touristy one, walk past the perimeter of the Movenpick Hotel on Elephantine Island.
Aswan Hotels
> Movenpick Hotel: situated on Elephantine Island, the hotel is perfectly positioned for some stunning views of both banks of the river. On one side the city of Aswan, the other pointing towards the botanic gardens, the Tombs of the Nobles and Aga Khan, and the desert beyond the banks. Besides the great view from the rooms, you can have afternoon tea from the elevated lookout tower which will give you sweeping 360 views of the surrounding landscape. Its location is truly the main asset of this property, for the hotel per se is a bit dated. Yet comfortable enough for your sojourn in Aswan. We had a large two-floor suite which was very comfortable with a great view. They are building a new addition to the hotel, which should be finished by the end of 2011.
> Sofitel Old Cataract Hotel: perched on top of a cliff overlooking the Nile, this is where Agatha Christie reportedly wrote parts of her novel Death on the Nile. The hotel is under renovation now but should be opened in 2011.
NILE CRUISE
> Sonesta Star Goddess: there are 280 different types of boats cruising the Nile. This one is an all-suites boat and intimate, with only 34 rooms. The suites are a good size for the boat and all have a separate balcony, which is perfect for watching the passing landscape as the sun sets into the desert. The balconies are a very unique feature for we didn't see them on any other boat. The upper deck is large, yet could be better furnished. Some great lounge furniture would be perfect, as we saw on some of the Abercrombie & Kent boats. The problem is that when the boats are docked, and they dock a lot, they park them all side-by-side, so balcony or not, all you see is the neighbouring boat right next to you. I recommend a room facing west, for when you're cruising, you can bask in the late afternoon sun on your balcony. Also beware that there are three options for cruises: a 3-day cruise from Aswan to Luxor, a 4-day cruise back (for you're going upstream), or the combined 7 day trip. We did the 3-day trip, which in reality, due to the way they time the sailing, is only one full day cruising down the river. For the rest of the time you’re docked in various places. Don't ask me why!!
> Abercrombie & Kent: this was the other recommendation that we received. I saw the boats and they look great. They're also more intimate, have great lounge areas on the multi-leveled decks (I would most probably say the best I'd seen), yet the rooms are not that big and they don't have balconies. And keep in mind, that over Xmas, it's still very cold and you can't really hangout on the decks all day long, unless you like to be cold :-)
Sights between ASWAN and LUXOR
> Kom Ombo: temple right on the Nile, named after the crocodile god of the region
> Temple of Horus, Edfu: one of the largest and best preserved temples, dedicated to the falcon god Horus, is impressive to see at sunset. Too bad that the Christians defaced so many of the reliefs in this temple (and many others that we've seen), trying to eradicate images of any living being in the name of paganism.
> Esna locks: although it was 3 in the morning, it was fascinating to see our boat go through locks and drop down 10 m. Now why don't they do this part during the day??
Sights in LUXOR
> Valley of the Kings: graveyard of the ancient kings, dug deep into the mountains on the West Bank of Luxor
> Temple of Hatshepsut: heavily restored temple carved into the mountain dedicated to one of the few female pharaohs. Although the story goes that during her reign she was always dressed as a man.
> Colossi of Memnon: two giant faceless statues standing solitary, marking what was once the largest temple in Egypt.
> Temples of Karnak: the grandest complex of temples there is in Egypt. Beyond impressive!
> Luxor Temple: New Kingdom temple right in the heart of the city, where Avenue of the Sphinxes begins.
Luxor Hotels:
> Old Winter Palace Hotel: the grand hotel where Agatha Christie stayed, located right next to the Luxor Temple
> Four Seasons Hotel: coming soon
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