Trips & Tours: Cruise Egypt and Western Desert

On arrival we will transfer to our comfortable hotel and look forward to the next 10 days exploring exotic Egypt, her temples, souqs and the Nile.

We start with a journey to the Giza plateau where from time immemorial the Pyramids and Sphinx have gazed out over the city. The massive stones were heaved into place some 4,500 years ago and are one of the world’s truly jaw-dropping sights. After our visit we head into town in search of Tutankhamun’s gold in the fabulous Egyptian Museum.

Tonight we board our sleeper train, heading south as we follow the green ribbon of the Nile to Luxor.

On arrival this morning we are transferred to our comfortable cruise boat for the first of 4 nights on board. Accommodation and facilities are comfortable and generally consist of twin cabins with en-suite facilities, air conditioning, a small swimming pool, deck bars and restaurants. The boats are perfect for families, with pools to splash around in after a day’s sightseeing.

The rest of the day is free to explore. A wander down into the main souq or market is a must – a heady atmosphere of tourist trappings, fruit and veg, local shops and the traditional coffee-houses thronged with be-turbaned men smoking hubbly-bubbly sheesha pipes.

Luxor, ancient Thebes! For those that wish to there is first the opportunity to take an optional hot-air balloon ride, the perfect way to get your bearings of this ancient capital and a thrilling ride to boot.

Later we take a horse-drawn carriage called a calesh locally as we ride the 3km to Karnak Temple. Once an avenue of sphinxes linked the two great temples of Karnak and Luxor and a project is ongoing to re-link them. We enter through this famous avenue to explore the vast interior of the temple. Highlights include the grand Hypostyle Hall, where dozens of massive pillars once held aloft the roof, Hatshepsut’s obelisk and the Sacred Pool.

As the sun climbs into the sky we cross the Nile this morning to join our donkeys for the ride to the Valley of the Kings. The donkeys follow the path taken by the original workers who built the tombs those many thousand years ago.

On arrival we can choose to enter 3 of the tombs currently open and descend into the earth, past stunning scenes painted on the walls of the shafts, deep into the tombs of the pharaohs themselves. The detail and quality of the artwork is amazing, made more so by its antiquity. This is truly a highlight of any visit to Luxor.

Our return journey takes us down to the wonderful temple of Hatshepsut, Egypt’s only female pharaoh. Here we see the famous frieze which shows the trading expedition to the Land of Punt.

Later we set of south towards the temple-town of Edfu. This is the perfect way to see the Nile Valley as small villages slip by as you enjoy sunsets much as the early Victorian travellers before you did.

If not done yesterday we start with a visit to the temple at Edfu, to enter the great pylon gateways of the massive Horus temple. Later we continue south passing fields of sugar cane and lush green vegetables grown in the fertile silt deposited by the Nile over many millennia.

We arrive at Kom Ombo whose temple is unusual in that it is dedicated to two gods, Haroeris and the crocodile-headed god, Sobek. Our time aboard the boat is a great opportunity to relax, enjoying the evening as the sun sets behind the palms as you sip a sundowner. Later we arrive at Aswan.

This morning we have the opportunity to visit Abu Simbel, Ramses the Great’s vast temple complex close to the Sudanese border on an optional trip. The trip by road takes several hours; that by air just one hour, indicating the extent of ancient Egypt’s borders. Once at Abu Simbel we gaze in wonder at the size and splendour of these massive temples, testaments to his power and designed to impress invaders heading north.

Later we return to Aswan and this evening cross the Nile by motor launch to join a Nubian family for dinner. This is responsible tourism at work, both breaking down barriers between cultures as well as providing a valuable income to the family. They love meeting visitors and the time spent with them is usually a highlight of a visit to Aswan, especially when visiting as part of a small group of friends or family.

This morning we set off by boat for the west bank and climb aboard our ‘ships of the desert’ to make the half-hour or so camel trek to St Simeon’s Monastery, located on the fringes of the vast Western Desert. This is an atmospheric visit made all the more enjoyable by the antics of its eccentric guardian who explains the history in his own, unique way!

This evening we board the train for Luxor, 3 hours to the north and look forward to our desert adventures to come.

Leaving Luxor we turn our attention to the desert lands to the west. We head first for Dakhla, a long, full day’s journey away. On arrival we rest a while whilst our camels are prepared and then, as the sun gets lower, we set off for the hour and a half ride into the desert where we pitch camp. This is the very best way to appreciate the desert, under the stars with no light pollution to spoil the carpet of stars above us.

Our journey next takes us back to Dakhla. Here the history of the region and its people can truly be appreciated. Inhabited for millennia the crumbling mud brick town of al Qasr is only the latest of many settlements that litter the region. We wander its quiet streets seeing the carved door lintels and taking in a town that dates from Ottoman times.

Next we head north passing through the oasis town of Farafra where again water enables life to survive and even prosper in one of the world’s harshest environments. The people here were once Bedouin but have since become settled, though they still proudly claim the title. We pause to visit the museum created by Badr, a local artist and ‘cultural historian’ whose little museum has become a popular stop amongst visitors to this remote oasis.

The amazing and hauntingly beautiful White Desert lies to the northeast of this settlement and is made up of strangely eroded chalk massifs that jut our of the desert floor in amazing shapes. A night under the stars here is one you are never to forget.

Bahariya is the name given to a vast green oasis that makes its commercial centre the small town of Bawiti some 185km north of Farafra. We spend time exploring the basin, travelling to the Valley of the Golden Mummies to see the small museum and where the superb Roman-era mummies with incredibly lifelike faces reminiscent of what is called Fayoum portraiture were found.

It’s clear from our visit that the oasis has been a centre of civilisation for millennia, people drawn to the fertile land watered by underground springs. We’ll make our way to such a spring for a bathe in waters that emanate from deep underground, then on to Pyramid Mountain and the Black Desert before pitching camp.

This morning we make our way out of the desert heading northeast back to the capital. The first sign we are drawing near are the famous Pyramids that stand like sentinels on the western outskirts of Giza, a suburb of the capital. After our time in the isolation of the last few days the city’s pace and noise comes as something of a shock, outing into context the life of those in the oases.

Our last full day is spent at leisure. You may like to shop in the souqs of Islamic Cairo for oriental souvenirs and visit the dramatically located Citadel. Cairo is overflowing with attractions with several museums, such as the Beit al Suhaymi, to discover along with the Cities of the Dead, countless mosques, the Street of the Tentmakers and Fishawi’s coffee-shop – the perfect end to a journey with many highlights.