Nour El Nil

The centerpiece of our trip is a five day cruise up the Nile from near Luxor down to Aswan. Along the way we’ll stop in more temples and tombs that line the Nile. Like in the Caribbean there are dozens of cruise companies that ply the Nile, and they range from super luxe to basic.

We chose Nour El Nil for a few reasons. The first is that each boat they use is small. Ours holds just 20 passengers in 10 cabins. Most hold around 100 passengers and are fairly sizable boats. Another reason we chose them was because they endeavor to support the communities along the Nile by buying all their food from villagers as the boat sails up the Nile.

Nour El Nil uses only dhahabiyas, which have been sailing the Nile for hundreds of years. They also purposely hire only Egyptians for their 15 member crews. Dining is family style at a single communal table so you really get to know the other passengers on the cruise. We are fortunate that we have a very friendly and interesting group of people from the U.S., Britain, and France.

The net result is a very authentic and personal experience which is ultimately what we wanted. It didn’t hurt that reviews of Nour El Nil have been uniformly wonderful. You can read more about Nour El Nil at their web site https://nourelnil.com.

On our first day we sailed a bit up the Nile to some tombs that weren’t picturesque but appreciated the history. But the star of the show really is just floating on the Nile. So incredibly peaceful.

In Esna we had a walk from a small temple back to the boat and along the way they took us through the souk.

Naturally everything was for sale.

Our guide pointed out the old Egyptian practice of families mounting a Nile crocodile above their front door as a sign of male strength. The custom after marriage was for the groom to catch, kill, and mount a Nile crocodile above the door. We saw one during our walk.

We also made a stop at a small village and walked to someone’s home where we were able to see how a local family lives. At first it seemed intrusive but then you realize that the family is being compensated nicely for the visit and it lasted just a few minutes.

Dinner was on the stove.

Outside the family had Egyptian water purifiers set up outside in the yard. This method of water purification goes back 1500 years in Egypt and today is still recognized as a low tech way ti purify water.

The walk to and from the village was filled with children either playing or riding donkeys.

It was sunset as we walked and the Nile was exhibiting it’s usual seductive behavior.

The children were headed home and were quite friendly.

Tomorrow we reach Edfu and see the great temple there.