Serene. Soothing. Relaxing. Our week-long cruise on a Dahabiya was wonderful. This was not a 100-150 passenger boat for tourists, but a comfortable sail boat with eight cabins, each with its own toilet facilities.
Unfortunately the two sails seemed only for show. We were towed by a tug. We and 12 other passengers repeatedly asked our jovial crew when we would be under sail. Finally
they gave in to pressure. One sail was hoisted (quite a procedure) but stayed up for a very short time.
No matter. Now I can relate to a comment by my friend Lynne, who spent much of her youth living on a boat. “There is no place I’d rather be than on the water.”
The Nile is calm. The only sounds for us were the purr of the tugboat motor and the occasional call to prayer from a mosque on shore. Meals, delicious and copious, were on the open upper deck, but under a roof (the Egyptian sun is powerful). Our cabin mates came from six different counties. The Egyptian staff were friendly and helpful.
The Nile is the world’s longest river, originating in the highland lakes of Uganda and Ethiopia, and flowing into the Mediterranean. For centuries civilizations have settled along the fertile Nile Valley. The rest of Egypt is mainly desert as we saw on our long ( four hours) and boring ride from Hurghada on the Red Sea where our charter flight landed.
Descending shafts into this underworld of murals depicting gods, goddesses, kings, queens, symbols, snakes, beasts and battles is a mesmerizing adventure. Guides give lessons on Egyptian mythology, explaining who’s who, but keeping track is a challenge. Hats off to Egyptolgoists.
On our return to Luxor, we visited its other treasures: Karnak and Luxor Temples, as well as it bazaar. In between we made shore visits to the temple of Sobek at Kom Ombo, Esna and its temple of Khnoum, the temple of Horus at Edfu and the temple Philae on the island of Algikia.
From Aswan, an optional tour to Abu Simbel was offered. I remember being blown away by this monumental sight with is gigantic statues on a previous visit to Egypt many years ago. I wanted Bob to see it.
He could have done without it. The trip by car from Aswan is four hours through the desert. To avoid the heat, we had a 4 a.m. wake up call. And, even though we arrived at 9 .m. the sun was already blistering. Throngs of Chinese tourists with cell phone cameras clogged the narrow passageways inside the tombs.
We visited the dam and the impressive Soviet-Egyptian monument honoring cooperation between the two nations in the dam construction.
We had hoped to end our visit to the Nile and its sights with a balloon ride. British passengers on our boat had been enthralled with views of the river, the Valley of the Kings, the desert and more.
More on Egypt – the beach and the Red Sea — coming soon.
Tales and Travel 
Wonderful write up. It was great reading this post. Fantastic pictures by the way. Thanks for sharing.
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And thank you, I am pleased to learn you liked the read and the photos. I hope you will tune in for future posts.
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Must have been a most interesting trip.
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Watch out maledictions’momie
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I’ve been fascinated by all things Egyptian since childhood and definitely envy this trip. Your gorgeous photos and informative text really bring Ancient Egypt to life. Bravo!
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It is all fascinating. And, you are spot on about being on the water. This part of the trip gets A+. The beach, maybe C-. Next post will have more on that, Thanks for commenting. .
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I was happy to be able to read your article and to see your beautiful pics again. Thank you so much. I love being on the water just like you. This cruise on the Nile must have been very pleasant. I am glad you could make it.
I can understand why Robert found your photo interesting in terms of composition.
Love
Christine
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As said, it was a delight. I am happy you liked the photos. It is you, Christine, who has inspired me to get serious about photos.. A big MERCI!
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I love your tales! Egypt is on my bucket list for sure. Alannah & I just attended a lecture and exhibit of mummified animals plus a description of the mummification process. Hi to Bob.
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Now you know all about mummies, you are ready for Egypt. We did not see any. I think they have all gone off to museums, as well as the tomb treasures. . But, the sites are magnificent..Hi to John..
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Gorgeous photographs! I envy you this trip. Anne
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Glad we could make it. Thinking of you and Carl and hope all is well.
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Wow, wow and wow some more! Incredible experience, Leah–you brought the reader there. And stellar photos, as usual. Especially enjoyed the single-sail sailboat on the Nile at sunset.
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It was an adventure. That photo was taken with the artsy/crafts option on the Olympus which has replaced the drowned Canon. Fun for experiments, Thanks for commenting.
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Good trip blog. Our silly Egypt story was getting stranded on shore after a trip to the ATM in Karnak. The boat actually pulled away from its parking spot. We didn’t even have our passports. It turned out to be an afternoon security drill. Lots of soldiers, cops and fire hoses. Jeesh. No wonder the tour guide advised we nap. We located the boat’s new spot and reboarded a couple hours later. We did enjoy the trip, despite temps of close to 120 F.
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We, too, had a scary stranded adventure, at night in Luxor. We were on our own, but a small boat had been arranged to pick us up and take us to our boat anchored somewhere on the opposite shore. It never showed up. There were other small boats with pilots offering a ride, but none recognized the name of our boat, nor had an idea where it might be. We had no phone numbers to call. I was stressed. Finally we threw caution to the wind, boarded a boat and instructed the “captain ” and his mate to take us by all the boats on the other side (many). I figured we would recognize our home. But, I was very nervous, What if these guys were terrorists who wanted to kidnap us? Maybe they were thiefs who would steal our money and cards and throw us into the Niile to the crocodiles (we saw none, but there were plenty of evil germs in that water)? We passed boat after boat. Where was ours? I needed more than a drink. Alas, second to last boat was ours. What a relief..
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