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Nile & Lake Nasser Cruise

"There is as a magic of soundless silence prevailing over the Nile Valley's landscape. Today there is no puff of air to feel apart from what our motion itself produces. The flood flowing wide and full between its double edges of palm groves. Behind them the land elevates up to distant mountain rows on both sides. All what the Nile is not able to reach - all the yellow, the boundlessness that glimmers and throws reflections in the air - that's the desert..."

From Henrik Ibsen's Nile journey in 1869.

Oberoi Philae Nile Cruise with Luxor West bank in the background. See larger photo

When Ibsen was invited to Egypt for the grand opening of the Suez channel he was also taken on a Nile cruise south to Luxor.

Apart from the standard of cruises, the difference then and today is the New High Dam in Aswan which was finished hundred years after Ibsen was here. Today there is the Nile, but no river in Egypt south of Aswan as the dam has made the whole area into the huge Lake Nasser. Many of the monuments here were rescued in a joint Egyptian and Unesco effort, but most of these are only accessible through a Lake Nasser cruise.

What are called "Nile Cruises" are therefore cruise ships normally sailing the distance between Luxor and Aswan (and vice versa).

Kasr Ibrim Lake Nasser Cruise docked in front of Abu Simbel temple.

A Lake Nasser cruise take you to the Kalabsha temple, Ramses III's rock cut temple known as Beit el Wali, the Roman temple of Hathor known as Kertassi. Further south Ramses II's temple know as Wadi El Seboua temple, the Meriotic and Ptolemaic temple called Al Dakka, the unfinished Serapis temple called Al Meharakka. Visit to the saved temple of Amada (built during ThothMoses III and Amenhotep II), the rock cut temple of Derr and tomb of Penout (deputy under Ramses VI). On the east side of the lake is the ancient Fort now called Kasr Ibrim - and furthest south the two famous temples in Abu Simbel.

For visits during a Nile Cruise, please find this below.

There is dinner in style at a cruise. Here from Oberoi Philae. See larger photo

On a high standard cruise the food is a fairy tale in itself, from breakfast to lunch and dinner - all included in the price of the cruise. In the afternoon, tea and coffee is normally served on deck.

Every good cruise ship got a pool. Here from MS Eugenie on Lake Nasser

There is good time to enjoy the Nile, the landscape one pass by with villages and smaller towns. When one feels for a dip, the pool is a blessed place. In the evening the bar and lounge are places to enjoy good company or to read the book you never found time to read at home.

Standard cabin at Oberoi Philae Nile Cruise, note the private veranda. See larger photo

The cabins are luxurious, minibar, telephone, television and a nice bathroom is standard. If you are looking for more, most cruises got suites in different size and price as well.

The sun boat in Edfu temple. Copyright©GeorgeMicheal2002/03 See larger photo

Visits during a Nile Cruise includes normally:
In Luxor the Luxor and Karnak temples on the east bank and on the west bank the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut's terrace temple, the Valley of the Queens or the Habu Temple and the colossus of Memnon.
In Aswan the Philae Temple, the High Dam, the unfinished obelisk and a sailing tour on the Nile with the traditional Nile sailboats.
Between Luxor and Aswan included visits are the crocodile temple in Kom Ombo and the falcon god Horus' temple in Edfu. For individuals guides in main languages are part of the cruise, but we can of course arrange for your own Egyptology guide.

The Nile does have its own fairy tales, as the god Horus who lived in the Edfu temple and his wife the goddess Hathor who lived in the Dendera temple. Once a year the priests had to sail Horus down the Nile to meet his wife, and once a year Hathor had to sail up the Nile to visit Horus.

Try to imagine this happening 3000 years ago while you sit on deck one evening. Maybe you end up saying as Henrik Ibsen did in 1869:

"In such a time one only wishes reconciliation with all human beings and asks ones self; how is it that you deserved to see all this glory?"

turer - hotell - ekspedisjoner
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OUR BACKGROUND   

The four of us who is responsible for Egyptmyway.com have a collected experience of more than half a century in management positions within Egyptian tour operations. Holding lectures in Egyptology as the modern culture, guided special journeys and been responsible for television and film productions. Hotels, luxury tour operators as Abercrombie and Kent, American Express Travel and European charter operations to this destination.

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MAPs OF EGYPT  

We provide you with maps of Egypt, a full map including the Nile valley, the deserts and Sinai. Map of Greater Cairo and a very special Nile Valley map with the original Ancient Egyptian names. More maps will be added including plan drawings of important monuments.