Qena

The big day has arrived for our sailing trip up the Nile!

Eleven people were picked up in Luxor and we were driven 50 km south to Esna, where our Dahabiya sailboat, the Loulia, is moored. We are sailing on the Nile for four days from Esna to Aswan on this beautiful boat.

A Dahabiya is an old-fashioned, Victorian, 2 sail sailboat that has 4 cabins and 2 suites, so room for 12 people. These are the same sailing vessels used during the nineteenth century by many archeologists, who counted on them as sailing houses, and even royalty who viewed them as the most comfortable way to tour the Nile. We were advised to travel up the Nile rather than down so that we could actually sail. If there isn’t a wind, the boat is towed by a tugboat. I think that there are at least 8 crew members, a cook, Mohamed, and the guide, Abdullah.

The plumbing and water filtration systems are good. During the day, when we aren’t visiting a site, we can curl up in a corner on the deck to read, talk to others, play games or just watch the scenery. All meals are provided and the food comes from farmers and markets on the way. What luxury.

So who are we travelling with? Our Egyptologist guide, Abdullah, who studied the history of Egypt at the university of Alexandria for 7 years. A Dutch vice principal and her mechanic husband, Marit and Chris. Two lawyers from Brooklyn Hilary and Sal and their two delightful teenage daughters, Anna and Sarah. A French gynaecologist Silvie, and her two daughters, Johanna and Emily as well as one daughter’s husband, Ahmed, who is Egyptian. So an eclectic mix.

Before setting out, we walked a short distance to the Esna Temple of Khnum. A short while ago work was done on this temple to clean the walls and ceilings. Archaeologists were amazed to find that under all the dust, dirt and soot there were vividly painted coloured figures that covered the walls, columns and ceiling. Backgrounds were left white. Archaeologists had long believed that the colours had been lost to time.

Returning to the boat we walked through the bustling local market. It is actually overcast and quite cold today, maybe 6C. It is the first day that we haven’t had the sun. We needed our jackets and a couple layers today.

We were supposed to sail to El Kab and Qessia today but there was a sandstorm there so we moored on the banks of the river and did a walkabout around a little farming village. The kids loved entertaining us by singing, showing us their bikes and trying to speak English.

Our lunch and dinner were delicious and gave us all an opportunity to get to know each other a bit.Read more