Having departed London Heathrow at 3:00 p.m. it was after midnight when we arrived in Aswan and transferred to the Steamship Misr which is our base for the 600 mile journey down the Nile to Cairo. We noted that our very first arrival in Aswan was by overnight sleeper train from Cairo, the journey taking 12 hours. Our ship will take 12 days but tonight the journey lasts 1 hour 20 minutes by air.
Our ship is small with a length of 62.9 m and a width of 13.8 m and carries up to 44 passengers. It was rebuilt in 2006 having been originally constructed in Preston (UK) by the Royal Navy in 1918. Later the Misr was purchased and luxuriously outfitted for King Farouk who sailed the Nile as far south as Sudan. It is today a floating 5 star hotel but the decor throughout the vessel reflects the period of its use in Egypt. We are on the port side of the lower deck close to the bow with the waters of the Nile beneath our balcony.
