The great Egyptian adventure: exploring Egypt’s ancient grandeur

Thus began the planning of the trip for my group of adventurous friends. My tip is to work with a reputable travel company such as Scott Dunn when crafting the itinerary.  The Nile cruise being the keystone of the journey, I booked a three-night stay on the five-cabin yacht for our group of ten. Then I began planning the days before and after the cruise to complete the trip.

Getting to Egypt is quite easy today. The Middle East carriers fly from Manila to their hubs and then onto Cairo. We chose to take Qatar Airways, even spending an entire day in Doha to do a pre-game visit. We went to the Museum of Islamic Art, the final project realised by IM Pei, and to the National Museum of Qatar by Jean Nouvel. After a day of museum culture and a lovely Lebanese lunch, we headed back to the airport to continue on our journey to Egypt.

Cairo is the gateway for most visits to Egypt. It is a city of 22 million people, a vibrant metropolis with layers of history everywhere you look. We chose to stay at the Four Seasons Nile Plaza, recently renovated, which overlooks the Nile and is well situated close to downtown Cairo. On our first day, we headed out towards Giza to visit the newly opened Grand Egyptian Museum. The museum’s opening had been delayed for years, and we were fortunate to visit when it was finally open.

The GEM is said to have a collection of 120,000 antiquities. Walking through the museum, the quality and quantity of ancient objects that are displayed are truly astounding. Our guide was an Egyptologist who spent years studying her people’s history, and relayed to us facts and stories that helped navigate the sheer volume of artefacts around us. 

After the museum, we proceeded to Khufu’s, a nearby restaurant for lunch. I was expecting a tourist trap, but was pleasantly surprised to be proven wrong. The restaurant had a gorgeous outdoor terrace with the most magnificent view of the pyramids. We dined on Egyptian fare such as mezze and tagines, including a delectable dish of stuffed pigeon. Days later, we found out that Khufu’s is ranked as one of the top five restaurants in the Middle East/North Africa. Energised by lunch, we then headed off to visit the pyramids.

As expected, there were many tourists within the pyramid complex, creating a cacophony of sounds and scents. But the enormous size of the grand pyramid and its massive stone blocks were what struck me. The peak of the pyramid appeared to be as tall as a 40-storey building. As a builder myself, it boggled my mind to think how this gargantuan structure could have been built over 4,600 years ago. Our tour operator had arranged a private tour of the Great Sphinx. We were led through a metal gate and we walked down to the paws of the Sphinx. All other visitors were fenced off a considerable distance away. Our guide gave a talk about the Sphinx, with us standing right below the head, and for about an hour, we had it all to ourselves. It felt both surreal and exciting to be in such proximity to this ancient mythical icon.

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The next day, we took an early morning flight to Abu Simbel, close to the border with Sudan. It is a historic site composed of two massive rock cut temples on the bank of Lake Nasser. These temples were built by Ramesses II in the 13th century BC. Again, the scale and beauty of these monuments are simply astonishing.

We wandered into the temple interiors and admired the hieroglyphs that have been there for thousands of years. As I walked through these monuments, I also noticed very old graffiti carved into the stone, such as Gordon 1804, Drovetti 1816, JW Amberg 1898. Seeing these inscriptions made me realise that I am among a long line of travellers who have made pilgrimages to these sacred sites.  

What I did not know prior to visiting Abu Simbel was that the complex was relocated in 1968 to higher ground to avoid being submerged by the higher waters of Lake Nasser created by the Aswan High Dam. A multinational team of archaeologists and engineers under the Unesco banner worked together to cut, dismantle, lift and reassemble the stone monument in a new location 65 metres higher and 200 metres back from the lake, in one of the greatest archaeological engineering challenges in history. It cost the equivalent of US$400 million and took four years to build.

From Abu Simbel we ventured towards Aswan, where we stayed at the Old Cataract Hotel. This historic property was built in 1899 by Thomas Cook to house European travellers to Aswan. The hallways are decorated with portraits of its illustrious visitors such as Tsar Nicholas II, Winston Churchill, Howard Carter, Princess Diana and Agatha Christie. Christie set portions of her novel Death on the Nile at the hotel and a large suite is named after her.

At Aswan we embarked on Set Nefru and began what would be the highlight of the trip. Most of our meals were served on the deck. Our journey began with a beautiful lunch served on a lovely table setting with locally crafted ceramics and embroidered linens. The cabins below deck were elegantly appointed with Egyptian cotton sheets and vintage pieces and featured en suite bathrooms. And so began our leisurely cruise on the Nile. Each day started with a lovely breakfast buffet served on deck.

As we were travelling in winter, early mornings could be quite chilly, so we would be bundled up and warmed up with coffee as we had our morning meal. As we enjoyed breakfast, the yacht would proceed to sail to our next destination, and we would stop at a historic monument such as the Kom Ombo temple. We would then disembark, walk ten minutes to the temple, and our Egyptologist would proceed to guide us through the monument.

After an hour or two, we would return to the boat, and a delectable lunch would be served, and we would cruise further along the Nile. In the afternoon, we would make another stop, perhaps at another temple or to visit a village. Then we would head back to the boat for an aperitivo or a nap if one desired. In the evening, dinner would be served in the cosy salon, and after dining, we’d be given the option to screen a classic film. It was certainly something to be watching Death on the Nile, as you were cruising on the Nile. Over the next few days and nights, we settled into this gentle rhythm of leisurely travel. This must have been close to what it was like to travel in Egypt a hundred years ago. It was this transportive nature of the cruise that was just so magical. No traffic, no obligations, no deadlines. We were simply gliding between the banks of the Nile, ensconced on a beautiful old boat with a wonderful group of friends, waiting to experience yet another magnificent monument.

After three days on Set Nefru, it was time to end our cruise. We had such a delightful time on the yacht that it was difficult to leave the vessel. We could easily have spent another day or two on board, but the show had to go on, and so we ventured into Luxor. Our next home was a spectacular hotel called Al Moudira.

This property was the creation of a Lebanese-Italian woman named Zeina Aboukheir. Her exquisite taste and hard work resulted in an oasis of tranquillity on the west bank of Luxor. The resort was designed in a mix of North African, Ottoman and Mediterranean styles and extensively landscaped with beautiful local plants and trees. We had booked a five-bedroom villa with expansive rooms, our pool and a butler at our service. The food at Al Moudira is superbly executed, using their farm to provide vegetables, dairy, poultry and more. There were three restaurants on site, and all of them were excellent.

Every night, the restaurant manager would set up a special table for us each in the various restaurants. On one special night of my wife Kim’s birthday, we dined at the Winter Garden. Entertainment was provided by Egyptian musicians and a Sufi dancer who surprised us with a spectacular spinning glow light costume. The kitchen even made a birthday cake for Kim in the form of the Great Pyramids. 

With Al Moudira as our base, we explored Luxor. On our first morning, we set forth towards the Valley of the Kings. Again, our tour operator arranged for a special access, this time to King Tut Ankh Amun’s tomb. As we drove into the complex at dusk, we saw many tourists leaving. Our group of ten were the only visitors remaining in the complex. We entered the tomb and walked down a narrow passageway.

Suddenly, there we were, literally face to face with the mummy of Tutankhamun. I didn’t know that his mummy would be there, feeling surreal to be so close to someone I had only read about in history books. Without hordes of tourists jostling around us, the experience was truly solemn and significant. We spent a few more days in Luxor, visiting other places such as Queen Hatshepsut’s temple. Some of us went shopping at a local alabaster shop, others attended an Egyptian cooking class at a popular restaurant downtown. On the last day, however, we decided to just relax and enjoy Al Moudira. There was a small boutique hotel that members of our group would raid about twice a day. It carried the most beautiful locally made craft items such as ceramics, alabaster, Egyptian linens and the like. The poor shopkeeper was subject to all ten of us repeatedly visiting, messing up the store and asking if he had more stock of his goods.

From Luxor, we boarded our flight to Cairo for our outbound journey. We decided to stay two more nights to cap the trip with some shopping. There is a boutique called Malaika in the Zemalek district that carries an extensive selection of locally made linens and ceramics, basically the main store of the hotel boutique that we ransacked. Malaika is part of a social enterprise that was founded by Ecuadorian émigré Margarita Andrade. She founded a school that teaches embroidery to female refugees, who would then work from home to produce goods for the shop.

There were also several antique shops in Downtown Cairo that we were able to visit. Everything in Egypt is astonishingly affordable—meals at good restaurants, well-made crafts in well-curated boutiques. Even antiques are inexpensive if you visit the right shops. I had imagined that one visit to Egypt would be enough, but this first trip has left me wanting to return. Apart from the places we visited, I’ve learnt about more destinations that I have yet to see in this fascinating country. There is the mystical Adrere Amellal at Siwa Oasis and the resort town of El Gouna on the Red Sea. But most of all, I dream of sailing once again on Set Nefru. One day, I hope to return to this magical land.

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