Nile Cruise days 4-6

Esna we sailed a long way to reach Esna, and very pleasant it was too. No early start, just a leisurely breakfast followed by a day of sailing. Our enthusiasm for all things Temple not even waning in the slightest, we were keen to see our next ancient delight. Walking distance from the boat we were told. In the middle of the town. Easy to see how this particular temple could have been lost quite literally to the sands of time, it stood as it was below the level of the surrounding town houses. A large excavated area, a lot of masonry, a temple almost obscured by scaffolding. First thoughts? old ruin, rebuilt, preservation in progress? Not far off, until you go inside, and yep, they did it again! Quite honestly my love of the Sistine Chapel and the skill of Michaelangelo went poof, ha! amateur ! Our first temple with a mass of stunning colours, the blue especially, a colour so rich even Dulux would be hard pressed to compete. And yet more hieroglyphs, but these were on a ceiling so high you were craning your neck to see them all. The very lovely Mish Mish, a mine of information, lost me yet again, as my ears closed and my eyes opened as I wandered this simple, but stunning temple. A lot of these glyphs were devoted to the solar system and the signs of the zodiac. Within our group of six, and including Mish Mish, we were each able to see our own star sign. Obviously Sagittarius was the nicest, but every sign was portrayed.

Day 5. The Valley of the Kings and Queens. From the days of the first burial this area has remained unchanged. A rough hewn sandy oversized quarry of high walls and rocky sandy floor. Nothing whatsoever remarkable about this whole valley, until you pass through a selection of random steel doors dotted here and there into the tombs beyond. To stand at the entrance to the Valley of the Kings, all you see are little doorways dotted about. No fantastical entrances, no sign posts, no pillars or statues of grandeur, just a `scruffy` unloved looking valley. I would assume therefore this is the reason that in later centuries, after the initial pillaging of early grave robbers, this place could easily have been overlooked. However it was behind one of these unassuming rocky entrances, carefully placed above another tomb entrance, that the greatest treasure ever known to man, was found. The tomb of Tutankhamun. With his treasures safely tucked away in the new Cairo museum, his tomb is one of the many you can visit. Your visit to the Valley of the Kings includes specific tombs, they are carefully rotating the tombs access so that no one tomb takes too much foot traffic and heavy breathing. Tutankhamun was a separate ticket, and as the tomb was described to us as small, stuffy and claustrophobic, it was not high on our list of must sees, we had after all seen all his treasures including the mask at the museum. Whilst I was not disappointed by the Valley of the Kings, how can anyone be disappointed by anywhere so incredible, I really did feel that it was a little, `see one tomb and you have seen them all`. Go and see one by all means, go armed with the knowledge that there will always be a little something blocked off, but hand your phone to one of the ever so willing `guides` they will happily take a large selection of photos for you, for a tip, naturally. Ditto outside, or any temple for that matter. Wherever you are, there is always a convenient guide or security guide, happy to take your money in exchange for a few photos. They know full well its a friendly `scam` a bit of a hustle, as often they will say ` saving your money?` or `all tipped out?` or similar. Its up to you, your phone is safe enough, the photos are full length happy memories for you, not just a selfie and they earn a few pence.

Valley of the Queens. Am I allowed to say, same same and different? smaller tombs, a little less impressive? My only `another tomb` happy to leave now, experience on the whole trip.

The Tomb of Hatshepsut so pristine it almost looks newly built. In another Valley of rough hewn stone walls, unmade surfaces and rock strewn sandy floors, there stands this gloriously stunning, precise looking structure with its back to the valley. A perfect contrast of textures. With walls so perfectly smooth, carefully laid stone bricks, and perfect stone columns, this stunning temple looks like it was built entirely in the wrong place, which of course, being Egyptian it was not. I could tell you the story of Hatshepsut, but I wont....Go to the temple. Stand in wonder, and learn her story for yourself.

What I will confess is that I wrote my mums name on a piece of paper, and stuffed it deep inside a wall of the temple. One day maybe someone will find my paper and wonder who the heck ET was, but that`s for me to know. A Queen of my heart, lying with a queen of Egypt.

Our last tour today, one that for its very nature had me cringing at the blatant lets put on a show for the gullible tourist act, was a visit to an alabaster/marble shop. Met by a guy outside with a hunk of stone ,a hammer, chisel and wheel. Let me show you how we chip the stone ` Chip the Stone` chorused the seated men. Look at how the marble glows `Glows, ooooo` another chorus. You get the picture. One `teacher` 6 `students` all aimlessly bashing away at pieces of marble paying no attention whatsoever to what they were doing, repeating random words, to tourists. Guys, this is the 21st century, not ancient Egypt, please don`t try and humour me that the 1000s of pieces in your store are all `handmade`. Call me cynical, but I just don`t buy in to it. But, guess what? Hot drinks and clean loos!

Day 6. Luxor Temple and the Temple of Karnak. without a doubt, the largest set of temples of our tour to date, and infinitely the busiest. With Luxor and Karnak available as day trips from Hurghada, this was always destined to be busy. A short drive away, we were taken in our little bunny bus first to the Temple of Karnak. As per every other amazing sight on our tour, this was yet another Temple with a wow factor. After a week of jaw dropping, stupendous, breath taking sights, I am actually at a loss as to how I could describe this temple any differently. The same actually for the Temple of Karnak a week of sightseeing, and I am still so excited by yet another temple. Here in Luxor you also find the Avenue of Sphynxes, all 1060 of them. Not all intact, in fact for the most part just the bases remain. 1060! even the number is just crazy. 1060 sphynx type statues, all hand carved. Egypt, you do not disappoint.

Our tour has come to an end, and I for one am very sad. This was the most wonderful trip we have done in a long time. We had the best small group anyone could hope for. Our guys in Cairo were equally lovely, and our guide Mish Mish exceptional. The boat was stylish and comfortable, the food lovely, puddings so yummy, and cups of tea to rival any British tea house. Exceptional staff hospitality. Tiring? Yes, very much so. As for the Nile itself? Very, very clean. Personally I wouldn`t swim in it, but with few exceptions, the river itself was clean, rubbish free, oil free and relaxing. Our last boat tour was Halong Bay, Vietnam, quite frankly the most disgusting rubbish filled stretch of water we have encountered thus far. The Nile? Allowing for pockets of wind blown trash, was a sailors delight.

Egypt, hassle aside, you have been a delight to visit. Thank you for your kind hospitality. We will return.