Cairo to Luxor – Nile River Cruise

When we were told that we had to wake up at 4.00 this morning to catch a flight to Luxor, we were quite horrified and thought that the guide must really be joking.  We never wake up this early during work days so surely this can’t be happening to us on a holiday.  We soon learnt that we were the lucky ones as others had 2 a.m. wakeup calls for flights that departed earlier.  In a hot place like Egypt, sensibly everything takes place in the morning hours.  The flight was only 50 minutes but it was rather chaotic at the airport, due to the crowds and security checks.

Once in Luxor, our first destination was the Temple of Karnak.  The avenues of sphinxes and halls of gigantic columns were really impressive.

After Karnak Temple, we were transported to our river cruiser.  The boat was very comfortable and our cabin was much more luxurious than I had expected.  We had ceiling to floor glass windows, so from the comfort of our lounge we could see out to the river banks.  The boat took about 160 passengers and interestingly, the major group on board was the Australians. On a sister ship, most of the passengers were Australians as well. Conspicuously missing were the Americans. Once everyone had boarded, we set sale for Dendara.

It was pretty exciting for us as we’ve never been on a cruise before, let alone a river cruise. It was amazing being able to watch live going on the banks of the river right from the comfort of our airconditioned suit. What we especially liked was the fact that you didn’t have to pack and unpack for the next 10 days.

Helen