This morning we arrived at the Giza Plateau just as it opened at 8:00 a.m. to visit the impressive Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. The Great Pyramid is the only survivor of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Nine kilometres from the river, the pyramids sit on top of the desert-covered West Bank …
Another early start and in the early morning mist we left Beni Suef to drive to the Pyramid of Meidum (Maydum, Maidum) on the edge of the Fayoum Depression to the north of the ship. The pyramid is the ruin of the first true pyramid attempted by the Egyptians. The Step Pyramid at Saqqara was …
After another early start (just after sunrise) we visited the large Egyptian cemetery site at Beni Hassan upriver from Minya on the East Bank. This is a superb location as the fertile plain abruptly ends at the steep desert slope leading to towering escarpment. It is just below the summit where there are 39 tombs belonging …
With an early start, Hermopolis was our first site on the exploration of more of Middle Egypt’s antiquities. This was the site of a capital of the 15th Period (around 1600 BC) and according to legend translates as “8 town” with references to four pairs of snakes and frog gods in a creation myth. This …
Around 3:00 a.m. we set sail from Sohag. We took breakfast as we continued northwards to Asyut. During the morning we had an opportunity to visit the Galley and Engine Room. The Galley was small, in fact many kitchens in British houses were built of this size, so it was clearly a juggling act to …
We left Nag Hammadi during the early hours and by 05:30 a.m. had arrived at the Abu Homar Barrages. The British built one had an open lock to allow the Nile to flow unhindered up to the new barrage. The road across the barrage crossed the lock by swing bridge. This was opened by the …
We left Luxor at 7:30 a.m. this morning and slipped past the Luxor and Karnak temples as the East and West Banks were waking up. We sailed northwards to Qena. This is an important location in the events that lead to the formation of the modern Nile river system. Around 6 million years ago the …
We were eating breakfast just after 5:00 a.m. in order to beat the heat (40C) and any crowds on the West Bank. Tour buses from the Red Sea resorts generally arrive by 11:00 a.m. and ones from Luxor even earlier. Our mission was to avoid the crush. We did!! We have never seen empty coach …
We had an early start today to visit the Edfu Temple. We awoke as the sun was rising over the Nile. This early visit enabled us to see the temple in its best light and empty of visitors. It is excellently preserved and construction started in 237 BC and took two centuries to complete. Again, …
Our journey along the Nile starts in earnest today. As our ship is small it reminds us of the early days of Nile cruising when a steamer like ours would take 3 weeks to reach Aswan from Cairo. A sailing boat of that era would take 6 to 12 weeks because it is against the …