When Martin and I made the big decision to move to Egypt, Martin’s parents almost immediately bought tickets with the plan to visit us. In fact, they had purchased tickets for Egypt way before we purchased tickets! Their trip was planned over my Christmas holiday, which was great because it was right about the time that I really needed a good dose of family and the feeling of home. It also meant that we had two open weeks available for travel with them.
Shortly after Judy and Steve planned their trip to visit, Martin’s sister Gretchen and her boyfriend John followed suit and bought tickets that overlapped their parents’ stay. During the week that nearly all of the Gilmore clan was in Egypt, we made plans to do a Nile Cruise in Upper Egypt. It was a trip of a lifetime!
It used to be that you could take a cruise ship from Cairo and travel south to Luxor and Aswan. Feluccas and Dahabayas would eagerly await tourists on the shores of the Nile as they would show off their boats and what they had to offer for the trip south. It’s not like this anymore. It is now too dangerous to take this journey from Cairo all the way up. And because of the fall of tourism in Egypt, former luxurious cruise ships now line the shores of the Nile in Cairo. They look dilapidated and tell their stories of faded glory, as is the way of so many things in Egypt. Many of these ships now have a restaurant on the top-level of the ship and act as fancy diners on the river, which give the illusion of an evening amidst a cruise vacation. Some also look to be rented out as some type of living situation.
Let me explain something confusing, which I may have already mentioned. Upper Egypt is in southern Egypt. If you go ‘up’ the Nile, you are traveling south because of the direction of the water flow on the river. The Nile River is one of few rivers in the world that flows from south to north. When you travel ‘up’ the river, you are traveling upstream, which in the case of the Nile, is south.
To take our Nile Cruise, the six of us caught an early cab ride to the airport to take a short flight to Luxor. Martin booked the trip for us through a travel agency who has been outstanding to work with, they are called SeEgypt. In the United States, people don’t often use travel agencies anymore because of the convenience of the internet and other accessibilities. I was so thankful for this organization. It took me a while to be comfortable with letting someone else plan our trip. Americans can be control-freaks. And when it comes to my vacation, you bet I want to take control! The tour company lined up every little detail for us and got us amazing deals on everything. I have no regrets of letting someone else take charge. When we arrived in Luxor we were greeted at the baggage claim by the driver of our minibus that would take us to the ship (Maybe it’s a boat? When does a boat become a ship?).
We got to the ship so early that they didn’t have a room ready for us, so we all half-slept in the lobby of the ship as they brought us coffee, tea, and cakes. We were greeted with such kindness and everyone was so eager to please us.
I’ve never taken a cruise before, and never thought I’d be one to enjoy a cruise, but this trip was truly special. It was a bit like stepping back in time. Our room was on the upper level, so we had great views- you could open up the large window and wave at the locals on the shores as we passed by. The food was amazing and we stuffed ourselves silly. The entertainment was great in the evenings. We were not at a shortage of things to do while on the ship. On the upper deck of the ship was a bar and seating to lookout to the shores, or just enjoy the fresh air. There were people sunbathing. There was a pool, though the temperature was just a bit too cool for anyone to think of using it. There were even a few exercise machines on the upper deck.
Yes, the ship’s amenities were great, but to be honest, we were hardly on the ship because we had so many activities planned for each location that the boat would dock. We saw temple after temple. The magnitude of what we saw was amazing. We would see a site and think that it can’t get any better than this… then we see the next site and it did get better. We saw the Luxor and Karnak Temples, Edfu Temple, Philae Temple, Crocodile Museum, Botanic Gardens in Aswan, the Unfinished Obelisk, the High Dam, Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Nobles,…………
The sites are fascinating and are in great condition considering their age. The Karnak (Middle Kingdom) and Luxor (1400 BC) Temples are the oldest in Upper Egypt, but all the other ones are from the Ptolemaic era (built by the Ptolemy family) though still built in the Pharaonic-style, and still really old! You can clearly see hieroglyphs all over telling story after story.
Another thing that amazes me about these sites is the magnitude of everything. The temples are huge. The statues are huge. The etchings impressive as they cover the whole of the massive walls. The accuracy of which certain details were built to line up with the solstice and equinox days. The ancient Egyptians were so smart, about engineering, science, and the earth in general. I learned too that when they built the dam in modern times they had to move entire temples, piece by piece to remove them from the water that they then became submerged under. The scale of doing this is tremendous, and they did it to preserve this amazing history (with the funding of many countries and donors). A fascinating thing too to see was the graffiti from thousands of years- this creates its own history. It was interesting to see the history through scraped off images, and to see crosses engraved over hieroglyphs, and then too to see etchings in different languages. Society changes over time, and so did the use of their temples, depending on who was in rule, what gods they followed, and what they believed.
It was special to go to the Valley of the Kings because we got to see King Tut’s tomb and his mummy on display inside. His tomb is unique because it is the only tomb (so far) that they have uncovered that had all the treasures there; it had not been looted by tomb-robbers. Tut and his surroundings were just as they were left thousands of years ago. All of those objects are in the Egyptian Museum. It is shocking that they crammed so much stuff inside his tomb. It isn’t that large of a space! The Valley of the Kings is run really well. To help preserve the site as best they can, they alternate what tombs are open. They also only let a certain number of people in the tomb at a time. Guides are not allowed inside because it is additional, unnecessary wear on the site. It is shocking how beautiful it is inside the tombs. They are much more impressive than what you see inside the pyramids. The paintings are amazing. That the color is still intact is unbelievable.
One of my favorite things that Martin and I did along with Gretchen and John, was get up in time to catch a mini-bus, to catch a Nile taxi, to catch a bus… to ride a hot air balloon for sunrise! It has been something that has been on my bucket-list forever. Something that I always imagined would be so romantic, peaceful, and perfect. It was amazing… but it was a bit more adventurous than I imagined! The first adventure was in watching the air balloons attempt to fill up. It was so windy this morning! So windy that when they attempted to fill up the balloons, they couldn’t keep them in place to fill without them blowing across the field sideways. So, we waited to see what would happen with the weather. It is too dangerous to ride if it is windy. We waited over an hour and saw the sunrise, with our feet on the ground. The workers said that there was less than 1% chance that we would take off. Then suddenly the workers are yelling for us to come over, as they got the go-ahead to load the balloons and go. The first balloon took off. We were loading in the second. The wind was still gusty, so they had a hard time holding the basket still as we climbed in. Getting in was CRAZY! With the help of others, we were half thrown-in, while attempting to climb into the baskets. Then from the inside we helped others in, all meanwhile the workers are trying to hold the basket close to the ground so it doesn’t take off yet. Finally our basket is loaded and we are off! The sound of the flame is loud and intense! It was beautiful to look up into the inside of the balloon, but more beautiful were the sights around us! The wind did continue; we were the only two balloons that left the ground, as the others weren’t allowed to take off after us! The hot air balloons took us by the Valley of the Kings and other ruins from Ramses. It took us across the Nile to the East side (which rarely happens though did with us due to the wind), and then further along over the desert sands. We watched the sun rise over the desert and the city of Luxor come to life. It was so amazing. I do have to say that one of my favorite parts was the landing! We were over the desert by this point and there were many dunes. We had an abrupt stop into the side of a dune, and then in slow-motion our basket tipped over! Some people were scared, though I was laughing because I thought it was the funniest thing that we were tipping over so slowly. It was like we were in a cartoon or something! Once we had safely tipped over we unloaded our basket and waited for our bus to retrieve us. Martin has a great way of describing a hot air balloon ride- he describes it as, “serenity punctuated by chaos.” It was the perfect adventure. My tip to you is that if you do this, let your guide do the negotiating to get you the best possible price.
As the cruise ship continued down the Nile, we would see all types of things on the shore. We saw many kids playing football (soccer) on any clear strip of sandy area they could find. I saw women washing clothes, people working in the fields, water pumps pumping up Nile water to the fields and the houses, and dogs running. We also saw significant ancient things, including the carved out walls where stones were taken for the pyramids and other monuments and holes in hillsides where ancient tombs have been excavated.
I had heard amazing things about Upper Egypt, and they were all accurate, especially those regarding its beauty, though with the decline of tourism, it was sad to see so many closed-up businesses and so many desperate vendors hoping to get a sale or horse carriages following us hoping for share their ride. We did find some treasures from the vendors. Judy was pleased to find a man weaving beautiful scarves. Martin got his hands on a rubaba, which is a local instrument- it has only one string and is played with a small, arched bow. We often hear a man walking down Road 9 in Maadi playing this instrument. He plays the same tune over and over. I can hear the tune in my head as I write this! Oh, and by the way Martin also bought a rubaba from this man. My favorite takeaway from this trip though was a carved stone tablet that we bought from Ahmed the Artist. Our tour guide knew about him and led the way to show us his masterworks. He is near the Valley of the Nobles, and works outside of a small shack that we would never have found our way to otherwise. I guess that we were lucky he was there, as sometimes he is gone for months at a time. He does amazing stone carvings like the ones that are seen all over the temples and in the museum. From what I understand he even does professional reproductions for the museum. He uses very simple tools and seems to live a very simple life. (I suppose this is no different from most artists anywhere.) It was a treat to see the artist at work. Later, on the boat, our tour guide (also named Ahmed) talked us through the meanings of the images etched into our work of art. This was a special treat.
Another recommendation of something to do that is off the path is to get tea (or a nice cocktail!) at the Winter Palace in Luxor. Dress nice, as it is an upscale place. It is right on the Nile and was a special treat to share with my family.
I look forward to venturing to Upper Egypt again and next time I would love to add an extension on the trip to see Abu Simbel.
As a side note, at our house in Maadi, we did treat ourselves to a Christmas tree to feel more festive and excited about the season. Martin surprised me with it. One day I came home and it was there! He got it from one of the local plant shops. It was setting in a large pot of sand and we kept it watered to keep it nice throughout the holiday season. We decked it out in lights and a few simple ornaments. By the time the family arrived there were gifts scattered under the tree, all wrapped in plastic bags. It was perfect the perfect way to celebrate a Christmas in Egypt.
Thanks to the Gilmore’s for sharing in this trip of a lifetime!
Stacey Stories from Around the World 