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Egyptian Cruise


"Oh, Nile!"

25 April - 5 May 2007



Map of Egypt

[Basic map from "The Map Library"]
Cairo Giza Saqqara Theban necropolis Karnac Edfou Luxor Aswan Philae Kom Ombo Nile Abu Simbel
[Note by John] Back when I was still young (12 or so), I discovered the marvels of archeology, the vicarious and real joys of discovering a tomb forgotten in the mists of time. I devoured books like "Gods, Graves and Scholars", by C. W. Ceram, and dreamed of seeing with my own eyes the pharaohs' monuments and their tombs, hidden deep in the Valley of the Kings.

But reality intruded in the form of the terrorist attacks of a decade ago, which dampened those dreams. Then, one day, a couple of friends made this trip and convinced us it was possible.  (Merci, Alain et Danielle! Ted and Margeret, too.) Which just goes to show ya, you mustn't give up on your dreams.

Unless you're just looking for the sea, which is not unique to Egypt, any trip there must concentrate on the Nile Valley. Indeed, Egypt itself would be impossible without the Nile. This great river, the world's longest, has nourished civilization for over five millennia. Although it represents only about 4% of the surface area of Egypt, the Nile is host to about 90% of the country's population.

Our organzied tour, a first for us, consisted of two full days in Cairo followed by a one-week cruise on the Nile between Luxor and Aswan. It was quite simply wonderful. The tour was well organized, though somewhat dense; the hotel and boat were excellent; the cuisine delicious (and there was enough of it!); the other members of the group (the "lotuses") were extraordinarily sympathiques (not a single jerk in the group) and the magnificent monuments of the pharaonic past were all there waiting for us.

We hope you will derive some pleasure from reading the tale of our trip and -- especially -- from looking at our photographs. You can choose a place from the above map or from the following list.

Bon voyage!

lotuses The lotuses
Kon-Tiki et le Nile The Nile



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