Journey down the Nile
You are a romantic, imagined yourself as a child traveling in a chariot, if lying on the beach is not a vacation for you. Then take a cruise on the Nile.
That's how it all turned out for us, we spent the first days of married life on an exciting journey. And the Egypt that we saw then is that fabulous country where history comes to life.
Our choice fell on a Nile cruise - in my opinion, the most intense of all existing trips in Egypt, but still could not solve the problem of choosing an operator and finding the most profitable solution. And as they say, whoever seeks will always find! Our friends advised us to seek the help of Ibrahim, an Egyptian who works in an Egyptian travel agency and has the greatest gift of organizing such trips at an affordable price.
In fact, my romantic journey began on the plane, because, to my shame, I flew for the first time, and now I can say with admiration that it was not scary, but on the contrary - I really liked it, although my husband did not appreciate my affection, honestly speaking.
Upon arrival, I was struck by a sharp breath of hot Egyptian air in the evening, which you get used to very quickly. Ibrahim himself met us at the airport in Hurghada - a pleasant young man who speaks Russian perfectly (as for an Egyptian), and simultaneously has two completely opposite qualities - a certain shyness and talkativeness, he will tell in detail not only about the program, but also about all issues of interest.
We were taken to a 4 * hotel on a comfortable bus, but at first glance it seemed to us a paradise, since we did not yet know what lay ahead of us.
Early in the morning we set off on a journey, the end point of which was Luxor - the beginning of the excursion program, which consisted of visiting the "City of the Living", as well as visiting the Karnak Temple - the most grandiose ancient Egyptian temple. In Egyptian temples, everything is amazing - both beauty, and the art of construction, and grandeur, as well as mysterious methods of constructing such architectural structures !!!
Also on the first day we visited two huge statues of Amenhotep III - the Colossi of Memnon, against which we seemed to be insects, and which are called singing, because when the wind blows into the cracks of the pebbles of the statues, they emit frightening for someone, and for someone romantic singing sounds.
We also managed to visit the "City of the Dead", the Valley of the Pharaohs - the tomb of the pharaohs. Everywhere in the tombs it was not allowed to take pictures, but after giving baksheesh you can safely take any photo.
But most of all I was struck by the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, carved into the rock, the stories about which I was insanely impressed, especially with regard to family intrigues. The queen was a wonderful ruler - the only female pharaoh who always wore a beard in recognition of her power. An amazing temple with many steps carries an amazing story.
Further, after a tiring and such a busy day, the bus brought us to a magnificent 5-star ship with comfortable cabins, a restaurant, bars, boutiques, promenade decks, and even an equipped swimming pool on the upper deck and a relaxation area with awnings and sun loungers. I was very pleasantly surprised not only by the helpful staff, but also by the fact that mostly Italians, French and Poles rested, which also indicates a high level of service.
The restaurant had a buffet with a wide variety of dishes, and there, by the way, later we met a company of young people who were from Yekaterinburg and also came by agreement with Ibrahim. Then it began to seem to us that Ibrahim was known to many tourists and everyone was satisfied with his professional work with clients.
Our cabin was located on the first deck and we, as newlyweds, were allocated one of the best rooms in the bow of the ship, which was a wonderful surprise for us, since we had a great opportunity to be the first to observe the beauty of the Nile with its green banks. This river in the literal sense of the word was and remains a source of life for the Egyptians, because almost the entire population of the country lives in a narrow river valley, taking advantage of its immeasurable wealth.
So our path lay towards Edfu, but we were also lucky to see the passage of the ship through the locks near the city of Esna - an interesting sight.
We just enjoyed being on the ship - swimming in the pool and sunbathing (my husband liked diving so much that the spray began to fly across the deck and foreigners started shouting “Olympic champion! ”), And also fooling around in the jacuzzi near the pool.
It was a great pleasure to admire the views of the Nile banks and take pictures against their background, but the excursion program continued ...
On the waterfront of Edfu, we moved into small carriages and horses took us along the narrow winding streets to the main treasure of this town - the grandiose temple of Horus, the best preserved monument of ancient Egyptian architecture. I was struck by the courtyard, surrounded by many columns (more than 30) and the giant Khor-falcon, sculpted from black granite, which guards the entrance to the hall of columns.
After the tour, we returned to the ship for lunch, and then again on the road ...(some tourists, already tired of excursions, remained on the ship, sunbathing and roasting under the sun, but this is not about us ... )
Temple of Kom Ombo surprised us with two sanctuaries - one dedicated to Horus (bow falcon), the other to Sobek (crocodile god). Forgive me, but there was so much information that it is simply impossible to remember it the first time, although only magnificent impressions remain in memory as solid essays.
After such eventful days, we always slept like the dead, but we looked forward to the next day, and what will happen next ?!
And then there was Aswan - the final point of our route. Aswan is a very beautiful city of Egypt, and its beauty lies in the fact that on one side of the Nile the Libyan desert spreads, and on the other - green groves of gardens.
Here the main sights are the unfinished obelisk, which is the largest in Egypt, and the Aswan Dam, which the Soviet people helped to build at one time. According to the guide, there are also crocodiles in this part of the Nile.
The most interesting for us was yet to come, because, at no additional cost, we also went to the largest botanical garden in Egypt on an island in the middle of the Nile. There are at least 200 species of palm trees alone here! It is probably impossible to see such a variety of tropical plants anywhere else, and it is even more pleasant to hide in their shade in the heat. There is also a cafe where you can relax and enjoy the indescribable creations of nature. Amazing place!!!
We also did not deny ourselves the pleasure of visiting the Nubian village, where for the first time we smoked a hookah, and holding small and very quirky crocodiles in our hands, took pictures with them.
Of course, it is clear that in such villages everything is indicative, but we got a rough idea of the life of the Nubians.
On the ship, a celebration awaited us - the so-called masquerade ball, where they welcomed and congratulated birthdays and newlyweds - there were 3 couples of us, and there was a disco with traditional Egyptian music. It was very interesting to look at the disguised tourists, especially if the costumes were not rented, but were homemade: either a twisted towel fell off their heads, or a sheet flew off their shoulders, and someone eventually could not stand it and removed unnecessary details clothes, laying them on a chair ...They laughed!
But unfortunately, this was our last evening on this fabulous ship, and the next day Hurghada and our hotel were waiting for us, which, compared to a chic ship, no longer looked like paradise, but there was one very important highlight - the magnificent sea, which bewitches and beckons with its beauty, forcing you to return to Egypt again ...
We are very grateful to all the organizers of our trip, who turned it into an unforgettable romantic trip, which has everything - the beauty of the Nile with endless banks, and the mysterious history of Egypt, and a floating ship worthy of carrying princes, and the banal - SUN and SEA!
