Egypt, the Jewel on the Nile.

In March 2008, I spent my honeymoon cruising the river Nile. This was my absolute favourite holiday, and I would love to do it again.

Although it is generally associated with Egypt, only 22% of the Nile’s course runs through Egypt, it also flows through Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan and Burundi.

I romantically imagined a scene from an Agatha Christine novel, without the murders, of us being the only boat meandering down the river. How wrong I was, it was like the M1 at times, especially when we docked. We had to make our way through various boats to reach the shore.

We visited some of the most breathtaking temples, totally in awe of the the fact that these were all constructed without modern machinery.

Temple of Hatshepsut.
The Temple of Deir El-Bahri was built for the great Queen Hatshepsut to commemorate her achievements. It was built of limestone, not sandstone like most of the other temples of the period.

Temple of Philae.
Philae Island in the middle of the River Nile, also known by the Greek “Elephantine”, because it was an important centre of trade, especially for ivory. The Temple became submerged after the first Aswan dam was built in 1906. However, with the help of UNESCO, the Temple was dismantled and transferred, stone by stone, from the submerged Philea Island to the redesigned Egilica Island. This work took 9 years from 1971.

Temple of Karnak.
The Temple of Karnak is the largest Temple in the World. Outside the entrance, you pass a ram-headed avenue of Sphinxes, which was built to protect the Temple.

Valley of the Kings.
Situated on the ancient site of Thebes, on Luxor’s West Bank, the Valley of Kings is the ancient burial ground of many of Egypt’s New Kingdom rulers, including the tomb of Tutankhamun, which was discovered almost intact in 1922.

Due to politics and religious differences, Egypt is not as accessible as it once was, however, I long for the day when I can once more cruise down the worlds longest river.