Posted in 1999, Archaeology, Egypt, Nile Cruise, Travel on March 24, 2008 | No Comments »
Journal: Sunday 17 October 1999
The ‘Lotus Boat’ was an ideal way to enjoy a short cruise on the Nile while visiting Dendera Temple at the same time, without the hassle of the convoy. We had an early start at 6.45am while the sun was still struggling to rise above the river mist. Everything was bathed in [...]
Posted in 1996, Archaeology, Egypt, Nile Cruise on September 6, 2007 | 3 Comments »
I was sad. This was my last day in Egypt. I had been in the country for two weeks and it felt like months. Time in Egypt has a strange quality, the days rush by in a flurry of activity but seem at the same time to stretch on for eternity. I could not imagine [...]
Posted in 1996, Archaeology, Egypt, Luxor, Nile Cruise on August 28, 2007 | No Comments »
Although we had been in Luxor for two days, I was still staying on the cruise boat and on our last day aboard as part of a tour group, we had a lot to get through. At 7.00am we were already on board the tourist ferry bound for the West Bank, with its towering rose-tinted [...]
Posted in 1996, Egypt, Luxor, Nile Cruise on August 28, 2007 | No Comments »
It felt very good to be here in Luxor again after waiting for almost a year to come back. Our first visit today was to Karnak Temple, at that time my favourite place. I did the tour with my group and as we had time to ourselves afterwards I followed the walls around to the [...]
Posted in 1996, Archaeology, Egypt, Nile Cruise on August 27, 2007 | 2 Comments »
Sailing between Edfu and Esna is always a joy. It is a peaceful countryside where little mud brick hamlets crouch beside the river, hardly changed since pharaonic times. Straw or fodder for animals is stacked on the roofs, along with peppers or whatever herbs and vegetables are suitable for drying. Most of these tiny villages [...]
Posted in 1996, Aswan, Egypt, Nile Cruise on August 27, 2007 | No Comments »
Named after the first Nile cataract, the rocky un-navigable part of the river, the Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan is probably most famous to the English as the place which is said to have inspired Agatha Christie to write her novel ‘Death on the Nile’ in the 1930s. Later the early scenes from the movie [...]
Posted in 1996, Archaeology, Aswan, Egypt, Nile Cruise on August 26, 2007 | 2 Comments »
The storm of the previous night had cleared by morning and we had had a fine day. I went to Philae Temple with my group, my second visit there, and saw much more than I had last year, with a slightly greater knowledge of what I was looking at. The sheer magnificence of the setting [...]
Posted in 1996, Egypt, Nile Cruise on August 23, 2007 | No Comments »
Each Nile cruise I’ve been on has had some sort of entertainment in the evening. Tonight was the weekly ‘galabeya party’, when we passengers were expected to dress up in newly purchased ‘Egyptian dress’ - galabeyas and head-gear - and generally make fools of ourselves - all in the spirit of good fun. After dinner [...]
Posted in 1996, Archaeology, Egypt, Nile Cruise on August 23, 2007 | No Comments »
My morning began with me wrapped in a blanket and sitting up on deck at dawn to watch the sun rise. I had at first been a little disappointed to learn that we were not going to Luxor at the beginning of the cruise, as I was eager to see Karnak again. But a cruise, [...]
Posted in 1996, Egypt, Nile Cruise on August 22, 2007 | No Comments »
For a whole year all I could think about was getting back to Egypt. Meanwhile, I had begun to take a course in Egyptology in order to understand more of what I had seen. To be honest, I’d never really left the country, or at least, I felt as though I’d left my heart there [...]
Posted in 1995, Egypt, Nile Cruise on August 13, 2007 | No Comments »
Friday morning. A whole week had gone by and we had arrived at the last day on our cruise boat. By yesterday, three of my five friends and many more from our boat had come down with an attack of ’Pharaoh’s Revenge’ - a very unpleasant tummy bug which many people seem to suffer from [...]
Posted in 1995, Archaeology, Egypt, Nile Cruise on August 13, 2007 | No Comments »
Sometime during the night we docked at Edfu, though I didn’t know it until I woke next morning. After breakfast we sailed on towards Esna, arriving at 11.00am. The air was cold with mist and cloud covering the sun and Salah told me that Esna is considered the coldest place in Egypt because the agricultural [...]
Posted in 1995, Egypt, Nile Cruise on August 13, 2007 | No Comments »
After a short walk along the Corniche and lunch on the cruise boat we were once more steaming down the river, this time going north, back towards Kom Ombo. Another lazy afternoon watching the fascinating life on the river banks. Every now and then I saw groups of black-clad women at the water’s edge balancing [...]
Posted in 1995, Aswan, Egypt, Nile Cruise on August 12, 2007 | No Comments »
My sixth day began with another of those clear mornings when the air is very fresh, even though there had apparently been no rain for several years and all the trees and flowering plants along the Corniche were shrouded in a thick mantle of dust. A large felucca had been hired to take us sailing [...]
Posted in 1995, Aswan, Egypt, Nile Cruise on August 12, 2007 | No Comments »
In the evening my friends and I visited Sharia el-Suq, the main bazaar in Aswan. It was dark by 6.00pm. at that time of year but even late in the evening I could still feel the lingering breath of the day’s heat, though the Egyptians were wrapped up in thick scarves and shawls - after [...]
Su's detailed descriptions and photographs of Egyptian Monuments
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