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 …
Aswan is at the northern end of the first cataract (waterfall) that marked what most historians understand to be Egypt’s southern frontier. However, in very ancient times, there were people living and trading around this town and it is from the remains of their domestic artefacts that we can understand how these peoples provided the …
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 …
Today we travelled by train from Manchester to London and stayed overnight in readiness for the flights to Cairo and Aswan tomorrow.
Our next adventure sees us cruising the River Nile from Aswan to Cairo.