Magic on the desert and along the Nile

As we arrived in Egypt, our first welcome drink was of exotic Hibiscus. We had a busy itinerary and many places to cover in ten days from the north to the south of the country. The entire civilization thrives on either side of the beautiful Nile river as the rest is more desert.

We had many days of visiting temples and were awed by elaborate rock carvings, the pyramids which are the tombs of the kings (Pharaohs), the statues of kings and queens, the camels, the horse carriages we rode in, the donkey carts on the streets, the colourful galabeyas (the traditional Egyptian dress), the scores of coloured stone jewellery like the hematite, the intricate silver jewellery, and the oh! so beautiful ornaments – especially the metal carved vases, candle-stands of marble and metal, boxes and lamps like Aladdin’s just to mention a few.

The bazaars were an experience by night and day and one had to bargain to bring the price down more than fifty percent! It was a busy place, and a riot of colour especially the way the things were displayed. Quaint articles ranging from genuine camel leather wallets, clothes of Egyptian cotton, pistachio nuts, dates, other exotic sweets, key tags, chains, miniature Pyramids in stone or steel, statues of the famous Tutankhamen, (the 19-year-old Pharaoh) and many more lovely things were available.

But my most unforgettable experiences were around the blue Nile, the most beautiful river I’ve ever seen. It is so wide that many cruise ships can pass at a given point. We went on a Felucca ride, the Felucca being a sail boat, with an enormous sail. Our Nubian boatman steered smoothly across the lovely blue waters. With the wind blowing in our faces, across the blue expanse we looked to the golden sandy desert and the sand dunes and our boatman’s assistant took his little hand drum and started to sing some melodious Nubian songs. It was magical. Later our Sri Lankan group “borrowed” the drum and an inevitable baila session followed. This was in Aswan. In Aswan we also saw the famous Aswan dam.

The next day, we left in a convoy of buses at 3.30 a.m. on a 330 km journey through the desert to visit the world famous Abu Simbel Temple. This temple faces Lake Nasser and the main feature is the four statues of Pharaoh Ramses II and his queen Nefertiti. These are gigantic, carved from rock. Inside, one finds many carvings in stone and on the other side another temple made for the queen.

The most memorable experience was yet to come. This was when we got on board for our cruise on the Nile on our boat the “Hapi5”. Our travel agency ‘Continents & Oceans’ in Colombo had arranged a very helpful and jolly guide by the name of Hussein, an English-speaking Egyptian who looked after us very well indeed and kept us entertained all the time. The food was sumptuous, the cabins (they were more like plush hotel rooms) were so comfortable. The bar-deck which was more like the lounge of a hotel had a plush interior and the uppermost deck, which was the “Sundeck” had lounging chairs. We just lounged around and watched the scenes pass by.

We passed the date-palm fringed desert and some places of historical interest like the Valley of Kings.

At dawn, many were going hot-air ballooning and it was a very beautiful sight -the red and green balloons in the air, in the backdrop of the golden desert and blue sky across the blue of the Nile. We enjoyed the vistas of the sugarcane plantations, the villages, the towns and streets and the domes of the mosques and the birds that flew past at very close range.

At breakfast on the boat, the chef who made the omelettes would smile and ask “One egg? Two eggs? Or one and a half eggs?

On the second night on the cruise was a “Galabeya party” where we all had to wear the traditional Egyptian costumes, the men in the galabeya and the turban and the ladies in costumes like Cleopatra’s.

All in all as one member of our group commented, “It was like an experience from the “Arabian Nights”.