I promise to post a lot of pictures when I have high speed internet. For now , words

As we cruised the Nile for 5 days we mostly moved with a tow boat pulling the Asyia which is mostly a barge with two masts, one in the bow and the other in the stern.  Altogether a strange looking craft. The days generally started no earlier than 8:30 or 9 following a sumptuous breakfast buffet. WE would make a landing or debark from where we had landed the previous night and visit a village, or a site that seldom sees any visitors since there is no landing stage for the big boats. Often we would be met with a smaller boat to convey us to shore or walk a plank from Asyia to the shore. Each day had several hours of cruising, time to read, converse, watch the shore go by. The activities ashore usually required that we shower upon return to the boat, the heat has been in the 40 C range except for evening when it drops into the high 20’s ( 40 C= 104 F 25 = 77 F).  We are content to sit out the midday sun in the shade of the boat or even in the air conditioned lounge. One day they put up the sails and we boarded the tow boat to get pictures of Asyia under sail. This link should get you those pictures.

Upon landing in Aswan we debarked early with our luggage, underway by 7 AM. This gives the crew the time to ready the boat for the down river cruise boarding later that day, and gets us under way to Abu Simbel, a 3 hour drive, in time to see it before the worst heat of the day. The usual tour is a a 2 or 3 AM departure, maybe 2 hours at the site and immediate return to Aswan. We stayed over at an Eco lodge, Esakel,  And were able to return to Abu Simbel at sunset for the sound and light show. 

A word about accommodations. The Cairo Marriott is a grand old hotel with new wings and clearly isThe  among the top hotels we have stayed at. The Winter Palace in  Luxor is a reminder of the era of travelling English Lords and Ladies. The corridors are wide, the rooms most pleasant the lifts are old fashioned but the grand staircase makes up for them. The public rooms have sign admonishing that proper dress is required, no casual wear, certainly not shorts. We avoided them! The boat was far more comfortable than I expected, of course having opted for the “Suite” we had plenty of space and were able to entertain our entire entourage on our aft deck. We all agreed that the stay at Esakel of one night was enough. It was at the primitive end of the spectrum with only 10 rooms and limited resources. We do hope they succeed and continue to provide a fine service permitting groups to stay over in Abu Simbel. Our current hotel, The Old Cataract in Aswan is in a class by itself. When t, incdluding Agatha Christyhe y renovated the building we are in they converted three rooms into one. The basic plan is approximately 35×40 feet  and incorporates 5 rooms! plus q split bathroom, one is just double sinks with room to dance and the other houses a large tub, a shower room and a separate room for the toilet.  This is about the square footage of our apartment in Rochester. The grand halls in the main building amagnificent and later today we a invited to a private tour of the antique rooms where the greats stayed including Agatha Christy.

I seem to have run on a bit, but locomotion has also been varied. The common has been boats, buses and planes. We have also traveled by Tuk-Tuk (three wheel motorcycles with a cab for 2 -4 passengers) Pickup truck, horse drawn cart, and just today camel back. All that remains is the train from Alexandria to Cairo at the end of our trip.