Rolling on the River

  It seems that almost all of our trips involve a cruise of some type and this one was no exception. Coming all the way to Egypt it was obvious to us that a Nile cruise was a must do. This was a great decision.

   We booked our cruise on the Sonesta Star Goddess, a beautiful ship with excellent service, food and accommodations. We had a top floor suite with an extended balcony. It included the excursions to incredible ancient sites as well as visits to reputable vendors for papyrus, alabaster, essence and

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cotton.

  This is the best way to see the real country. The ship took us through villages where people live as they did centuries ago. Clothes were being washed in the river, homes were mud and straw and donkey cart was a major mode of transport. We even went for a sail on a falluca, an Egyptian sailboat.

  Our tours took us from the tombs of pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings to the Aswan Dam.  We visited temples of the Egyptian gods during the day and early evening. Some of our tours required buses to get to the sites, sometimes we walked and one morning we had a somewhat harrowing ride in a horse drawn carriage while another required a motor boat to reach our destination.

 Under watchful eyes, our guide Hani led us to each destination He was incredibly knowledgeable about both Ancient Egypt  and modern human nature. While providing vast information about each sight he kept his eyes on all of us. The ladies from Lebanon  were celebrating their 70th birthdays and were more interested in shopping and selfies than history. Alex and Gina and their family from Canada were experiencing a lifelong dream to visit Egypt, especially Alex. He was like a kid in a candy shop and his enthusiasm was infectious. Hani always made sure that Alex and the British guys had a chance to take every photo they could have wanted. As for us Hani quickly realized that sending us ahead to a meeting point would give him the opportunity to move along those who were slow or easily distracted. He showed us the best places for photos, warned us of overly aggressive vendors and coordinated all of the transportation requirements of each stop. He even offered us a private evening tour out of Aswan that would have included a visit to a Nubian school and home but we had to decline as the next morning we had to be up early for a car ride back to Luxor.

  The crew of the ship could not have been nicer. We were greeted with damp towels,a drink and a welcome back after each excursion. On the last morning  breakfast was packed for us to take on our drive back to Luxor and a car was arranged by the ship. A member of the crew even waited with us outside to be sure we were safely on our way. I don't know if we will ever return to Egypt but I would definitely return to Sonesta.