I’ve just read a great account of a family’s first experience of a Nile Cruise.
They are the Leonard Family who are travelling around the world and describing their experiences on their blog.
Here’s their description of Day 38 – Luxor. (Thanks and credit to the Leonard Family)
Day 38 Luxor
Saturday January 12, 2008
I am writing this entry (and the previous) Sunday morning sitting on the top of our Nile River Cruise Ship – The King of Thebes. I just watched the sunrise. It was spectacular. We are cruising up the Nile towards Aswan – Upper Egypt. As the Nile runs south to north Northern Egypt is called Lower Egypt and Southern Egypt is Upper. East is Sinai and west is well – desert.
We are rabidly closing in on the half way point of the trip. The dates are really blending together – I am glad I am keeping blog’s. Each time I make an entry I have to look at the calendar to see what day it is and what day of the week.
It is a little chilly on the deck of the ship so I might end up finishing this later.
I have so much to write about as we did so much yesterday. It was an exhausting day and a little overwhelming – I am so proud of the kids – they were real trooped being up so early – so much walking and so much to see and learn. Allysha crashed when we got back to the ship last night – no dinner even so I am sure she will be very hungry this morning. It is 7:15 am Sunday morning and breakfast is server at 8 – I could really use a cup of coffee. Earlier someone came out of the Cockpit – he did not speak English but offered me the tea he was drinking. I accepted – I hope that was not a mistake from a manners or gastronomical perspective. It was thick and very sweet. There were leaves at the bottom –I actually quite enjoyed it.
The ship set sail this morning at 4:30 am – I woke up at 4am but forget to turn on the GPS until 5am. We are making a steady 10kms and hour. We slow occasionally as the ship moves from one bank to the other – to avoid sand banks I imagine. I am not sure what the depth of the Nile is or our draft on the ship I will have to find out. The ship is quite large and fairly comfortable. Our rooms are bigger than the rooms we had on the cruise to Mexico a few years ago.
We are passing other ships moving downstream – mostly other cruise ships but some barges and feluccas.
So yesterday –
Early wake up – 2am. Put bags outside the room by 2:30. A cup of coffee and then a transfer to the airport via large bus at 3am. We were also provided a boxed breakfast – pastries and an apple and some juice. I ate it on the short bus ride to the airport.
One nice thing is they handle the entire check-in luggage -we placed it outside our hotel room and it shows up in our room on the ship. I noticed other tour groups who were handling their own baggage.
The flight was short – about an hour and the plane was in very good condition. Egypt air was the carrier and all of the seats – business an economy class were leather.
There was a bus waiting to transfer us to the ship where we boarded for a coffee. There were 30-40 cruise ships in at the Luxor port. They were tied off ten deep and we had to cross 5 or six to get to our ship. All of the ships had beautiful marble reception rooms.
We quickly verified our bags were onboard, frank our tea and boarded a water taxi that took us to the west bank where a bus was awaiting us. I think there were about 35 people with us and a few extras – the guide Hanan who met us at the Cairo airport, Hany, a driver and what I was to find out later were security personnel. The first stop was the Valley of the Kings. We entered 3 to tombs – Ramses IV, IX and III. It was phenomenal – walking through the tombs thousands of years old – the reliefs covering the walls with colors that were applied thousands of years ago. Thinking about the people that conceived and created these resting places. The valley itself is indescribably desolate -almost as I had imagined it. The opening scene of The Exorcist kept entering my mind. Throughout the valley there are seemingly random holes with thick metal gates. Some are open and some are not. The ticket allows entry to any 3 tombs that are open except to King Tut’s tomb which required and extra ticket – 100EP for adults 50 for students. A couple of people on the tour purchase them. I debate it but decide not to as Hanan says the Tut tomb is very small – he was a minor King that died after ruling for only a few years at age 19.
The valley has 65 sites of which about 25 are identified by who they were created for. One of the largest more recent finds the Tomb of the Sons of Ramses II is the largest but not open to the public yet. There is still excavation work in the valley were they are hoping to find more tombs. I wonder why they cannot use sonar to uncover all of the tombs. After going through the 3 tombs I begin to regret the decision not to enter Tut’s tomb. I tell the girls to run back to the entrance and get a ticket and Allysha and Aria go through the tomb. It turns out that His mummy is still inside so I am very glad they got to see it -I only wish Pam and I did too. Right then I decide to more carefully consider the optional activities that might occur on this trip.
Cameras were not allowed inside the tombs but I tried to take some non-flash photos – not sure how they came out. Words and even photos will be hard pressed to replace the actual experience – the scale, the intricacy of the reliefs, the colors – all not to be missed in this lifetime.
The next was the Valley of queens – smaller scale but similar. We go through 2 different tombs here. I also am becoming more aware of the large number of armed security police. The tombs here are smaller but no less impressive. There is actually a tomb of boy who was not old enough to be buried in the Valley of the Kings.
Next we stop at the Palace of Hatshepsut. Amazing – columns and reliefs that have been exposed for years. It is carved out of the side of a mountain and there are still colors visible on many of the frescos. We are often approached by helpful Egyptians showing us where to take pictures but mostly asking for tips. Even using a washroom will inspire the request for a tip.
As you exit and enter the sites there are tourist bazaars with some very pushy hawkers asking greatly inflated prices – if you do buy anything in these settings bargain hard.
The next stop is a Alabaster factory – I quickly figure out this is the same thing as India – the guides take you to a local shop where there is a brief demonstration of a local craft and if you buy anything I am sure there is a commission. I resign myself to this and enjoy looking at the alabaster creations. Allysha purchases a small statue.
There is one more stop where we take some brief pictures of statues and then back to the ship for lunch via a water taxi.
As we are boarding there is a small shop with beer and soda and Pam stops to get some for out room since all drinks onboard – even water we later find out, are extra. I take the girls onboard and get the keys for our rooms. They are nice with sliding door that opens directly to the river below – there are a few guard rails but that is it. After a fairly lengthy period Pam shows up exasperated. She had a lot of trouble getting change from the vendor.
After a quick lunch – buffet style – it turns out all meals will be buffet style on the cruise and it is best to be on time as some of the dishes will be gone otherwise we board a bus to the Karnack complex. This is a large complex with very famous columns. The scale is difficult to imagine and it is very impressive. There are a number of temples on the grounds, a man-mad lake. Several statues and obelisks – and everywhere reliefs and hieroglyphs. Beautiful. As we are wandering about an armed security guard points to a small rise where we get a great panoramic view of the complex. He takes us to a relief of Ramses II and has use touch out hand to it and then our heart and forehead three times and then has Pam and I kiss 3 times -“for good luck”. Of course he asks for a tip in a very subtle manner and I oblige – he is armed after all.
I am amazed at the number of people at all of the sites we visited. Hundreds of tourists – we always seemed to be in a hurry to beat the crowds.
The final stop for the day is the Luxor palace. The sun is setting and the place is beautiful under the lights. I hope the pictures do it justice.
We skip the sound and light show at the Karnack temple and hear from some that attended that we did not miss much, pretty much what the guide book states.
We have dinner and shortly after retire to the room – can hardly believe how much we accomplished in a single day and I am very anxious to get it documented before I forget.
My knee is quite swollen this evening and I decide to start one the steroids regimes,
Posted by Brian Leonard at 9:03 PM
