by Mac
Arriving at Luxor
Arriving at Luxor (which was initially Thebes, the ancient capital of Egypt during the time of the New Kingdom), you have almost too many options of sites to visit. Saving the best to last, see the Valleys of the Kings and Queens on the West Bank. Start with the great temple complexes of Karnak and Luxor. Start your tour early in the morning as the sun steadily becomes stronger and hotter as the morning wears on.
CRUISING DOWN THE NILE
Happy, somewhat wilted and footsore, you will board your vessel for an afternoon departure. Settle yourself down on the upper deck and watch Egypt’s panorama unfold!
Endlessly on both banks, daily life shows itself to you. It seems much as it has been over the past hundreds of years. Agriculture, of course, predominates. It still requires all the efforts of man and animal to take full advantage of the rich alluvial soil. With the advent of the dams at Aswan, seasonal floods are now a thing of the past. But it is clear to see the dramatic and sharp divide between green cultivation and stark desert within 500m of the river bank – and that contrast is stark!
Past other cruise ships, darting Kingfishers, triangular-sailed feluccas with patched and grubby sails, bizarrely flaming palm trees, the quarries and tombs of the quarry masons and the communal tricycle delivery cart washing places, the whole of life unfold before you. Then you arrive at another river-side temple.
Ombos Temple
In the late afternoon, you will reach the Ombos temple, or the Crocodile Temple, on the Nile’s east bank. This is a magnificent temple. The frieze of the Pharaoh being anointed by Gods with the life-giving waters of the Nile. Around the temple are many other friezes of fascinating interest, including one that shows a range of medical instruments of the period. Others show the bound prisoners brought up from what is now Sudan in the south.
Aswan High Dam
Overnight, the cruise passes through locks and heads further south towards Aswan and the High Dam. The dam was built between 1960 and 1970 with Soviet aid to the Egyptian government. This massive dam replaced the older “Low Dam” built in 1902, which was much less successful in controlling the floodwaters of the Nile.
On the dam is a large and futuristic edifice built by the Soviets as a tribute to the project. It is fanciful and very much ‘of the period. It projects itself to the skies and beyond. Close to Aswan, we see the first of the temples that were meticulously relocated before the waters of the new dams could flood them. The lovely Philae temple is a wonderful example of the technology of the period. The Germans moved it, stone by stone, to another higher island just some 300 metres away from its original site.
And so we arrive in Aswan, the furthest navigable point before the High Dam. From here, some courageous souls can continue to the beautiful temple at Abu Simbel, which was relocated with fantastic precision before the construction of the High Dam. The trip to Abu Simbel requires an army convoy to protect the coaches in their 3 hour trip south across the desert. The convoy will usually assemble in the early morning – probably 3-4 am, arriving at Abu Simbel in the cool of the early morning.
The lazier of us (we had visited Abu Simbel previously) preferred to investigate Aswan, which has much to offer. The highlight is probably the tomb of the Aga Khan, beautifully built on the West Bank. West is where the sun sets, hence the bank of death and the afterlife.
Back to Luxor
After Aswan, the cruise turns north once again and travelling with the Nile’s current swiftly takes us back to the north and Luxor to investigate the Valley of the Kings and Queens.
Currently, the waters of the Nile are sufficiently deep to allow us to progress north of Luxor to my personal favourite temple of Horus at Edfu. Restoration work has revealed some of the most beautiful ceilings in Egypt.
Finally, upon returning to Luxor, a brief trip should be made to the old Winter Palace hotel perched on the banks of the Nile. Built in 1886, it has been the hotel of choice for many Kings, Presidents, artists, and celebrities. Now in a state of elegant decline, its grounds remain beautiful for a few brief hours.
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Story and photos by Mac. Nile River cruises are available from Thompson tour company in England with direct flights from London to Luxor. A side trip to see the pyramids in Cairo is not included but could be arranged separately.
Check the Guest Blogger category for other stories submitted to My Thatched Hut by other people. If you have an exciting travel or nature story, you can also be a Guest Blogger. Contact us.
Security in Egypt
Warning! Security conditions in Egypt change rapidly. Check with your government website for current security warnings. At the time of writing, the Canadian government is warning to avoid all travel to Egypt except for the Red Sea coastal resorts of Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada and the area along the upper Nile, from Luxor to Aswan. Travel is everyone’s own choice and responsibility. This story is for information purposes only. My Thatched Hut is in no way responsible for your choices. [