Nile Cruise, days 1-3

We flew from Cairo into Luxor arriving quite late in the evening, met by our next guide quite quickly, but then asked to remain in the mini van to await the other couple who were landing in from Heathrow and also on our boat. We were slightly miffed to say the least as we had purposefully booked private transfers to get us the heck away from the airports as quickly as possible. Just shy of two hours we waited, and patience is not this bunny`s strong point. To say I was a little miffy by the time these others passengers arrived would be an understatement. I bit my tongue, endeavoured to be as pleasant and polite as possible, knowing in my heart that any delay would not have been their fault, and very very quickly indeed realised that this couple were so just so incredibly lovely. I instantly regretted my standoffish huffs, and hope, one week later on disembarkation day, that any first impressions were forgotten. We learned in the mini van on the way to the ship, that we were four of a group of just six Brits who would be touring together.

( please let five and six be nice people, please please please)

I love these guys! Giggles, Zoo, Pooh and Jean2.

Our boat?, river boat?, ship?, cruise ship?, home! The grandly named Emilio Prestige on first glance appeared to be a large off white slightly rusted boatymcboatface affair. Oh my goodness how looks can deceive. The Interior was just beautiful. Marble polished floors, dark wooden walls, brass inlays, and with nothing else to compare it to, simply perfect. Given that it was extremely late, we entered our rooms, I chose 404 (we could have had 405) but the reference to all things computer, a pet hate of mine, was too funny to miss. Two bunnies decided right there and then that we need to dive deeper into the world of river cruises. Our little cabin was a very comfortable, softly lit, little space of comfort. Those few hours we slept so well as the boat set sail and the Nile drifted by.

Breakfast day one, our first meal, and first meeting of our group, and couple three. Bit of a glitch when we went downstairs and below waterline! Mrs B does not like water, and the sight of water running past the window at eyelevel was ridiculously disconcerting and slightly nauseating. Not the best first impression for meeting the third couple. With `giggles and jeantwo` already met the night previous, we then met `zoo and pooh`. Oh my golly gosh were we a happy pair of bunnies! A nicer group of people we could never have hoped to meet. Andrew (giggles), and his wife Shirley (Jeantwo), and Gordon,( Zoo) and Helen, (pooh) My memory for names to faces is terrible, hence my penchant for remembering by reference. Giggles is obvious, not a single word uttered without the cutest little laugh, Jeantwo, the doppleganger of my best friend, so close in looks it never failed to frustrate me when a posh Liverpudlian accent failed to be heard. Zoo, three guesses what this lovely guy used to do for a living! and Pooh, his passionate about her work wife, who told me things I never thought I needed to know, causing the greatest hilarity. Giggles, Jeantwo, Zoo and Pooh would provide us with the best company a couple could ever wish for, the entire duration of the cruise. We thank you all.

Before I add photos, I am going to admit here and now, that I cannot remember which temple is which so apologies if I put the wrong temples within each paragraph. The only one I really know for sure is Abu Simbel.

Day 1. Not entirely sure why I thought we would start our excursions with something small, a teaser before the main events, but I did. So happy to be wrong on every level. Not entirely happy that we got to this first temple via a horse and cart, but that was clearly the most accepted mode of transportation. We both avoid animals for tourists at all costs, but this was a non negotiable. Happy to say it was just the perfect distance to warrant transport, but not a motorised vehicle. Edfu Temple, our first sighting of an Egyptian building and we were stopped in our tracks. I could honestly have cried at the marvel that stood before us. I always thought that the documentaries glorified reality, but not in the slightest. Magnificent is not the word. I was hoping to see `a few of the remaining hieroglyphics` I did not expect inscriptions on every wall from floor to ceiling in the most exquisite detail. From my very first Egyptian temple on day one, to the last on day six, I was continually in a state of awe and wonder. We both were.

To avoid repeating similar events, it would be fair to say that each day would start with either an early 7am breakfast and out touring by 7.30 or 8am, or in the case of our visit to Abu Simbel, a 4am wake up and tour by 5am. Afternoons back on the boat for lunch, the times would vary according to tour group timings, and the same for our evening meal. Mid afternoons usually found our little group, our fluffle of six, either reading, talking or sleeping.

In the afternoon of day one, we went to our second temple of the day, and our first and only museum. Kom Ombo was the temple. A temple whilst as fascinating as the previous one, held special interest for Jean and Pooh as this was a temple that had the hieroglyphs of ancient medical instruments and procedures, (Both ladies work within the medical profession). Childbirth being one just procedure. Both ladies took great pleasure in describing these instruments to me and our guide, amazed at just how little medical gadgets have changed in 3000 years. `We still use those, those those and those!` The only change in the procedures was the format in which prescriptions were `typed` up. Not entirely certain our modern practices would cope with calls of `nurse! another stone tablet and chisel please!

Always a mine of quirky information and photographs, Mish Mish our guide was proud to show us photographs taken of Egyptian mummies showing ancient surgical implants, artificial limbs and surgical interventions.

Crocodile Museum. Located next to Kom Ombo, this little museum especially sparked the interest of Zoo. Though it is entirely fair to say that both Bunnies were also exceptionally fascinated by numerous exhibits ranging from the crocodiles of all sizes that could easily have passed away last week (they didn`t, they were ancient crocs) to mummy wrapped crocs, to croc babies still partially encased in shells. The ancient Egyptians took preservation to another level.

Day 2. A multiple tour day. Starting early we first headed to the High Dam. Land on one side. Lake Nasser on the other. Fair to say this is quite probably the most impressive modern structure for its sheer size, and just how much water this dam holds back. What you cannot appreciate is just how this dam was built. An engineer would stand and marvel at the complexity, for our group, the less than inspiring diagrams and a few photographs failed to move or impress us. This Dam is missing a few tricks. A cinema room with a speeded up video of dam construction for one thing, coloured photos, in your face facts and figures, a whole lot less t.s and more relevant information please. Next stop, The unfinished obelisk. Many countries cling to a snippet of something old to take tourists too, and Egypt is no different, except their idea of something old and interesting is also huge and mind boggling. The unfinished obelisk is situated in a stone yard within sight of the Nile. It would, once upon a time have been on the Nile, ready to be floated to its permanent home but the paths of time have re routed the Nile. This huge granite singular piece of architecture lies unfinished, showing the unswerving skill of the stone masons of ancient Egypt. Carved from the rock face, every chisel stroke visible, the sheer size of obvious dimensions and weight of this thing just stops you in your tracks, and makes you think How?! One can only imagine the despair of these stone masons, when after months of work, finding this particular stone had a flaw. A flaw that caused it to crack. It now lies unfinished, an engineering marvel for anyone to gaze upon and wonder, `how the heck were they going to move this thing`? Leaving the stone yard behind, it was next onto another Tourist Shop. This time it was perfume. Granted it was very well presented, the young girl doing the demonstration clearly knowledgeable and interesting. We were each dabbed with various scents, all pure, free from additives or alcohol, and informed of the healing or source of each scent. Entirely pointless for Mr B and his lousy sense of smell. For a bunny he would truly struggle to sniff out a lettuce, yet somehow never fails to source the beer or wine aisle.... Another shop with clean loos, and hot (or cold drinks) no hassle, but if you really want to buy something these are the prices. Ho hum. Again I have no interest in these kind of products. Occasionally I do feel bad about not buying from these places, but at the end of the day, this was not my choosing, I did not sign up to visit tourist shops. When it comes to buying anything in Egypt, If only the locals could be educated! Leave the tourists alone to browse at will, and you will sell more. Hassle us to death and we will avoid you like the plague. Mish Mish even told us how to walk heads down with zero eye contact and no pauses, quickly and briskly past his `brothers` The products these shops sell, especially the clothing is actually rather nice, but the constant pawing and hassle is no fun at all. I even opted to purchase my cheap naff overpriced souvenir from our ship shop rather than endure the overwhelming persistence. Walking briskly past every shop proved a step too far for booklover Jeantwo. As we passed yet another bookstore, I heard a little hum mmm mimble wimble behind me, and whispered to Mish Mish, I think we really need to let Shirley have a look in this bookstore. Oh what a happy little Bunny she was, coming out of the store armed with every book on Egyptian History. We had already clocked the fact that every single person on our ship had arrived with oversized luggage, and our little fluffle no exception. One book personally would send our humble 10kg cabin baggage into a panic, but for our eccentric fellow passengers and their 23kg overkill, what`s a little book?

Last stop of the day Philae Temple. Yet another temple that was built pre BC and moved 2000 plus years later. Both marvels of engineering. Philae is reached by small boat, an experience in itself. Picture 500 or more small metal craft, simple affairs, two rows of seating and an engine/seat for the driver, and all vying for the opportunity to ferry tourists to the small Island on to which Philae now sits. Quite simple really, hail your boat, he approaches at ramming speed, donks every boat in his way to one side, in you step and off you go, keeping your arms, legs and other appendages in the boat, and preferably your bum on a seat also. A particularly hard ram into another boat plonked Mrs Jeantwo firmly onto her tush on the floor of the boat. Giggles did, so did the rest of us. Philae Temple once stood at a much lower lever and on the building of the dam would have been lost. This incredible structure and the buildings around it were painstakingly moved to higher ground. Every bit as special as every other temple, it was at Philae that Egyptian met Roman and hieroglyphics were no longer used as a means of recording history. I personally found this a little sad, even sadder when we were told that documents were then recorded onto the newly discovered papyrus into paper, but centuries later burned willy nilly by farmers and locals using them as a source of fuel. Arghhhh!!! to think of that history lost forever. Mish Mish casually adding, `oh they used a lot of the old mummies as well, grinding them up...` No !!!

Day Three. A silly o`clock wake up call for a very start on our journey to Abu Simbel. This would be our most tiring day of all, but the one that will stay in our memories forever. Just four of us today, (plus the guide) with Zoo and Pooh, Pooh especially, having terrible motion sickness deciding a four hour mini van journey was not for them. With hindsight, this was a wise decision, and for anyone else with a grumbling tummy, you too should bite the bullet and take the flight option. Even leaving the city is an experience, as every 25 steps, an exaggeration I know, but doesn`t feel like it, a speed bump of epic proportions. Drive, slow, bump, drive, slow, bump, drive, slow bump, repeat indefinitely. All the way to High Dam which for some reasons closes in the evening, and reopens at 5.30am, hence the early start to avoid ( which we didn`t as it happens) the long queue of traffic waiting to start the long haul across the desert. Lulled into a false sense of security and complacency, we sat back and relaxed on this obvious newly tarmacked road. We even slept a little, until Wham! without warning, this singular road across the desert, descended rapidly into a myriad of cratered chaos. Cars, buses, coaches and wagons weaving their way along the `road` trying to find the path of least resistance, one that would allow them to continue with chassis intact and brains unshaken. All we could think was `so glad Pooh isn`t with us` poor woman would have needed therapy. There were pockets of smooth going, there were even small oases dotted along the desert road to our left and right where modern science meets desert challenge. Bordered by countries at war, Egypt is taking self sufficiency to heart and finding ways to irrigate the desert to produce crops and fruit. A nation of proper clever bunnies.

Fours hours later, we arrived at Abu Simbel Car park. Were we the first? Not even close. Shy of 100 or more vehicles were already parked. Tickets in hand we walked to what appeared to be a huge rocky hill around which was a well trodden path. Rounding a corner, the sight of Abu Simbel very nearly stops you in your tracks. This is possibly the most famous sight in Egypt, the Four Kings and Queens of Egypt sat guarding the temple. If you wish to be super picky, you could say 3.5, as one statue has suffered during the passage of time, but considering the age, and the fact that this stupendous edifice was moved onto higher ground, this marvel of ancient engineering is a sight to behold. As a group we wanted to gaze in wonder, take photos and generally just gawp, but Mish Mish, ever observant, hustled us towards the temple, telling us to hurry and go now, before the guides and their tour groups finish their spiel. I for one, did not know there was an inside! I thought, from my limited knowledge, that Abu Simbel was famous because of the four exterior statues that guarded a singular statue on which the sun shone on a specific date. Slap my bunny butt and stick a dunce hat on my head! The interior of Abu Simbel just beggars belief. Statues of incredible height and detail. Walls inscribed with magnificent hieroglyphics and colour. Rooms, floors, ,chambers, and yes, a room, right at the back of the temple, with not one, but four statues, each depicting a different god. The sun shines on these four individual statues one by one as the sun changes position on one particular day per year. Given that the ancient Egyptians got it to perfectly align on the actual day of the winter (summer?) solstice yet the modern architects who moved the temple to higher ground managed to achieve the same, but one day late, is testament to the phenomenally accurate astronomical studies of the ancients.

With a three and half hour bouncing journey back to the ship, the four of us agreed that Abu Simbel was quite the highlight and if you can stomach the appalling roads, a journey worth taking. Personally, If given the chance, I would plan in advance, and opt for the far easier flight version. Two miles from town to the airport, and from landing, two miles again to Abu Simbel. Not cheap, not by any stretch of the imagination, £500 per couple being the average cost of the flight tour this particular year, but worth every penny.

Our Cruise continues.