While the Nile does not flow only through Egypt (It goes through Ethiopia and Sudan), it is difficult to separate Egypt and the Nile because without it, life would be hard, if possible at all, down here.

The ancient Egyptians were even more dependant on it than today’s Egypt. The Nile would rise and drown its banks leaving sediments indispensable for agriculture when retiring. The highest the Nile, the highest the harvest and, of course, the highest the tax! Strange rooms named Nilometers were used at this effect and can be seen close to the temples located on the shores of the Nile like on Elephantine Island in Aswan or at Philae Temple.

Anyway, I am starting to sound like an history teacher here! The Nile was central to ancient Egypt and hence all the monuments and major cities of that period are close to its shores. So, while visiting, you will see the Nile often. And it would be incredible if you never end-up navigating on it. I actually got on it many times and the felucca is definitely the best experience.

A felucca is a nice wooden sail boat. It is mostly, if not only, used as a tourist attraction in Egypt. The feluccas are plenty in Aswan and Luxor and after having got in one at Aswan and Luxor, my favorite time was in Aswan where you are navigating amidst the many islands present there.

If you are really into sailing, you can easily hire a felucca complete with captain and crew (1 or 2) to take you from Aswan down the Nile to Kom Ombo (2 days), Edfu (3 days) or Esna (4 days). And then, you can hire a cab to take you to Luxor in a question of hours.

As I was leaving Aswan to Luxor, I evaluated the felucca as an option but I finally decided to go with the big boat cruise direct to Luxor in 2 days with stops in Kom Ombo and Edfu. I did not feel like being stuck on a 15 meters long boat with 6-7 other persons I just met for 2 days. I think it is a good option (way less expensive than the cruise) if you are a small group of friends.

Hence, for the reasonable price of $120, I ended up on a big cruise boat with swimming pool, restaurant and bar/disco leaving last Saturday 2PM. It was my first experience on a cruise boat. Since it was only two days, it was a perfect opportunity to try something I had been criticizing in the past as being too passive.

Well, the boat was OK, definitely not showing anymore the 5 stars of when it was constructed sometime in the mid 70’s but reasonable for a 2 day-cruise. Life on the boat revolved between the restaurant and the upper deck close to the small swimming pool. Food was good. Drinks were expensive so BYOB. I brought water and some Brits I met had brought beers so we were OK ;).

Luxor is so close from Aswan that we could have done it in a bit more than a day if not for the 7 hour wait for the lock at Esna.

I also had the opportunity to visit the temples of Kom Ombo and Edfu. They are two very nice temples. Edfu is actually a very impressive temple that has been very well preserved with its original ceiling and a lot of murals that still have quite a lot of paint left. It is definitely on my top 5 list so far. The only issue is that it was the complete opposite than my experience at Abu Simbel. It seems like all the boats on the Nile are in Edfu at the same time so the temple was so crowded that you could not move close to the main chamber. Definitely not my favorite style of visit, more like a train station hall than a sanctuary :(. My advice would be to try to get there after 9-10AM when all the boats are gone. It must be quite an experience.

All in all, it was a good experience. I relaxed for 2 days, had some interesting conversations and enjoyed the view of the shores. I also had a bit too much sun but nothing really bad.

I am now in Luxor since yesterday and already enjoying the monuments around here. I will post about what I have seen so far tomorrow or the day after.

[Edited on 4/12/2006 to add links to related pictures]