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]

• Taxi ride from the hotel to the bus station and from Abu Simbel town to the temples: 13 EGP
• Round-trip ticket Aswan – Abu Simbel: 41 EGP
• Entrance ticket to the Abu Simbel temples: 70 EGP
• Spend 2 hours completely alone around the great temple of Rasmses II and the temple of Nefertari: PRICELESS

Yes, it cost me a bit more than going with the organized tour. Yes, it was longer and more difficult than going with the organized tour. Yes, I did not have police protection like the organized tour where all the buses form a convoy that is escorted by the police.

But it was more than worth it :). Alone with Ramses II and Nefertari. Nobody on my pictures. Pure. Quiet. Awesome. The way it should be. Thanks “Guide du Routard”.

This was yesterday’s highlight. I woke-up at 6:45, made my way to the bus station and lurked around until I found the 8AM bus to Abu Simbel. 4 hours later, I was in front of the two temples and I got almost 2 hours to enjoy them for myself in between 2 plane loads (the organized tour buses had left for almost 2 hours already). I then made my way back to town where I waited 2 hours for the 4PM bus. I was home for 8:30PM. A bit exhausted by so much traveling but with great memories and pictures.

Backtracking a bit more, my train trip went very well. I boarded at 10PM on Monday night and arrived arround 11AM in Abu Simbel. In the train, I ended up seating with two French people, Nadine and Bernard, who were going to Luxor. Nadine is an Egyptolog and Bernard has visited a lot so we had a lot of things to talk about. They also gave me a lot of pointers about many things to see, places to eat…

I found a nice hotel with my own bathroom and a view of the Nile in the middle of the Corniche. The staff is kind of clueless and unable to answer any of my questions but the room is ok and cheap.

I then visited the Nubian museum. Very nice museum that is very well presented. Unlike the Egyptian museum.

Today, I took it kind of easy visiting two temples around Aswan: Kalabchah temple and Philae temple. Philae temple is very impressive! The only caveat is that it cost me a lot to get to these temples. The cab to go around was fairly priced but since each temple is on an island on the lake Nasser, you have to take a small motor boat to get there. And they try everything they can to get the most money out of you trying to charge 3 or 4 times the normal price of the boat. I was visiting alone so I had to pay for the full boat but bargained hard until I was kind of ok with the price. I heard other tourists say they had to pay half what I paid each while they were 5 on the boat! This whole thing needs some clean-up for the best of the tourist industry.

Since it was only 3PM when I was done and I had enough hassling with the locals, I decided it was time to take it even easier and enjoy the sun and the hot weather. I spent the rest of the day at the Club Med hotel situated on a small island in the middle of the Nile. Their swimming pool and hamman are great and cost almost nothing to use (40 EGP but you can use 37 of them to buy drinks and some food). Definitely worth every penny I spent :).

Oh, and I heard it was rainning in California, sorry to hear that… here it is more like 85F. You should come ;).

[Edited on 4/7/2006 to add some info on Philae and Kalabchah temples and Club Med]
[Edited on 4/12/2006 to add links to the related pictures]

My trip from Paris to Cairo was uneventfull so we will just not talk about it much. Just a note for my vegeterian/Vegan friends: do not fly Austrian airlines if you are hungry. There was only once choice for lunch and it was not vegetables! It was very good but just wanted to make a note.

Actually, one more thing. If you fly early from Paris CDG, do not bother arriving too early. Nothing happens before 6 or 6:30 AM. Next time I will know better than wake-up at 4AM ;).

Now, My first impressions of Egypt and Cairo.

Astonishing view of infinite land of sand 5 minutes before landing. I knew there was sand here but I did picture it like this.

And then, I already experience most the things I had been told/warned about:

• A lot of women wearing the veil.
• Life and business following the rythm of the prayers. With the call for prayer as well.
• Men walking arm under arm or even hand in hand in the street.
• Omnipresent army and police all over town.
• Crazy driving and jay-walking. I have seen crazy driving in Lima, Hong Kong or Paris but this is one order of magnitude worse. Also, most cars do not turn on their lights at night since it could bother the people coming in the other direction :).
• People hassling me at the airport and everywhere I go to either get me to an hotel or a papyrus shop . And they don’t go away as easily as in Peru.

I checked-in at an hotel downtown. It is very close to the Egyptian museum and everything else.

I am seeing Karim, the friend of Jacques Alexandre and Raphaele, very soon. Hopefully, he will give me some pointers.