After the overthrow of the Egyptian government this year, tourists have been slow to return, fearing that the tensions still simmering in the country might boil over again.
In this time of relative uncertainty, one of the best ways to see Egypt safely is by cruise- Helen Raine
Travel advice remains confused; the British Foreign Office currently has no restrictions on travel to Egypt but advises travellers to advise all demonstrations and large gatherings, while the Maltese Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised against non-essential travel to Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor and Suez in January and has not updated the web advice since.
However, those travellers brave or foolhardy enough to visit are enjoying an astonishing Egypt; for ludicrously low prices, they are wandering almost alone through awe-inspiring temples which are usually heaving with chattering tour groups.
They are also providing a much needed source of income for the local people. The country’s former vice president announced that during the initial nine days of the conflict Egypt lost $1 billion in tourism revenue; disastrously for the economy, the losses just continue to grow.
In this time of relative uncertainty, one of the best ways to see Egypt safely is by cruise. I drifted magically down the Nile on one of these trips before the current troubles and was enthralled by the combination of exotic countryside, expert guides and incredible service.
So whether you choose to risk Egypt now and take advantage of some of the lowest prices in years, or book for later and hope the simmering tensions ease, choosing a cruise could be a smart move.
Getting aboard
Like most cruise passengers, I flew into Luxor. Within a couple of hours of landing, I was sitting out on the deck of the boat soaking up the warm December sun.
The cabins were spacious, the boat was spotlessly clean and dinner was a buffet of extraordinary proportions, with staff hovering anxiously to make my slightest wish their all-inclusive command. But with Luxor Temple on the cards for the next day, a hangover was out of the question and I retired early.
Crash course in Egyptology
Luxor Temple was a great introduction to the grandeur and complexity of Egypt’s history. The entrance to the temple is several storeys high and flanked by astonishingly well preserved statues. Despite their grandiose size, they are dwarfed by the Ramesses II Colossus, which is, well, colossal. The sheer scale of building and the elegant craftsmanship of the temple left me in no doubt of just how advanced this ancient civilisation really was.
The end of the road from Luxor to Karnak temple is still guarded by dozens of stone sphinxes. It is the largest ancient religious site in the world, redeveloped over an exceptionally long period of time.
Our Egyptologist gamely tried to reduce the twisting lineage of the ruling pharaohs into bite-sized tourist chunks, but to truly get to grips with the place I had to slip away from the well-worn tourist lecture to admire the hieroglyphs and wall friezes alone.
Buried kings
Our boat glided across the river and we moored near the Valley of the Kings. For 500 years, the pharaohs were buried here to await the afterlife in palatial splendour.
Ironically, the valley’s most famous occupant, Tutankhamun, has one of the least interesting tombs. He died so young that building had barely begun before he needed to be buried. It is the treasure found in his undisturbed mausoleum that generated his fame, now on show in the Cairo museum and including a full size coach made entirely of gold, which looks as if it were produced yesterday.
Cairo was not included in my package but if you have your heart set on seeing the pyramids and the museum, you can usually buy a two or three day add-on.
When a pharaoh had lived long enough for the builders to complete his or her mammoth tomb, the detail of the layout, decoration and carving is just astounding. Some have metres of corridors covered in hieroglyphs and paintings depicting the Book of the Dead.
Many of the wall paintings are perfectly preserved in the desert atmosphere and some tombs still contain the sarcophagi, mummies and everyday items that the pharaohs would have needed in the Other World, right down to the grain they would have sowed and their mummified pets. Most have twisting passages, traps and curses for tomb raiders.
In full sail
After a fairly hectic sightseeing schedule including the temple of Queen Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon, temple fatigue was in danger of setting in. Luckily, it was time for more sailing and it’s quite impossible to feel anything other than entirely relaxed while sitting on the deck, watching the beautiful countryside and mud brick villages of Egypt drifting slowly by.
From the vantage point of the cruise, the limits of the Nile’s bounty were clear. For a few hundred metres from the river, there’s a strip of incredibly fertile land, full of biblical scenes of villagers trotting along on donkeys and women collecting water in buckets. Beyond that, there’s only desert. In some areas, children ran alongside the boats, shouting for pens and sweets but generally, there was quiet tranquillity.
Locked in
We sailed on to Esna lock which was created after the Nile was dammed at Aswan. Here, Egyptian enterprise is at its very best. The lock can take several hours to navigate as only two cruisers can pass in either direction at a time. Consequently, the local vendors have taken to the water.
Selling everything from table cloths to full length Egyptian robes, they bellow at the passengers several storeys above them. I only had to point at an item to find it being tossed up to me in a plastic bag. After a yelled exchange, we agreed on a price; payment is taken via plastic bag, this time thrown down to the beaming salesman floating below us.
Soon, the air was thick with the shouts of buyers and sellers, and dozens of plastic bags were flying up and down; brilliant fun.
Abu Simbel
Via Edfu, Kom Ombo Temples and the temple of Philae, we arrived at Aswan, and the highlight of the trip; Abu Simbel. In 1968, as the Aswan Dam was being built, archaeologists and engineers cut the cliff side temples of Abu Simbel into blocks and moved them out of reach of the newly forming Lake Nasser. Consequently, like me, most people now arrive by bus from Aswan, a four-hour trip each way under heavy armed guard. The journey is well worth it.
The great temple is guarded by four statues 20 metres high; they could not fail to strike awe into the most jaded traveller and every time I think of Egypt, I see them. My guide was expert at teasing out layers of meaning from the statues and hieroglyphs of the temple and as we walked around, mesmerised, she conjured the story of Abu Simbel out of the warm stones.
The sanctuary inside the temple revealed just how important the celestial bodies were to the mythology of the Egyptians. They built it so that twice a year, the sun would reach inside and illuminate the deities carved on the sanctuary wall in a celebration of solar energy ... all except Ptah, the God of the Underworld, who remained forever in darkness.
After Aswan, we glided serenely back down the Nile and were transferred seamlessly to Luxor airport. My mind battled to keep the competing pharaohs in chronological order but Egyptian history is both fascinating and baffling in equal measures and I had to content myself with remembering the best of the architecture instead.
This vast wealth of archaeological treasure is the key to Egypt’s future prosperity, with tourism absolutely essential for the economy. Future visitors and local people alike will be hoping that the current events don’t keep tourists away from this fascinating country for too much longer.