4 Nights Luxor to Aswan Nile cruise with Abu Simbel&Air Balloon

This is the second half of our 10 day custom vacation in Egypt, organized and hosted by Egypt Tours Portal (ETP) and in this half we visited Upper Egypt. After being delivered to the airport in Cairo by our ETP driver, we flew to Luxor and were met there by our Tour Guide for Upper Egypt, Walid Alsammam. As a Tour Guide Walid is excellent, providing all of the historical details, relating the most recent archeological finds and their significance, and giving us insight into everyday Egyptian life today and in light of the history we are learning – simply wonderful! Walid and the driver then escorted us into Luxor where we went directly to the Karnak Temple site in order to beat the heat of May. Karnak Temple is a stunning, large complex full of ancient stories, hieroglyphics and impressive construction. Walid was simply excellent as he began to lead us through the complex and explain t0o us the historical significance of thousands of details of pieces of the Temple, including the Obelisks, the Pillars, the hieroglyphics and what they symbolize. The exactness of the culmination of the Temple where the Winter Solstice is perfectly aligned through the eastern door into Ramses II Temple. After finishing up at Karnak Temple we were then taken to our awaiting cruise vessel MS Royal Signature Olivia where we enjoyed a nice lunch while our luggage was ported to our cabin. The heat of the afternoon was left for us to relax after our early morning outings, and then in the early evening we enjoyed a fascinating visit to Luxor Temple. The Temple was lighted to help highlight the critical details and beauty of the edifice – what a stunning visual. We then returned to our ship and enjoyed a delicious late dinner. That night we learned that our scheduled Hot Air Balloon ride for the next day had been cancelled due to forecasted high winds aloft. While that was a great disappointment, Walid immediately went to work to find substitute adventures that we could replace the hot air balloon ride with and perhaps also enjoy. We sailed that night and the next morning we were treated to a tour of the Temple of Horus at Edfu, transported on land in a horse drawn carriage. What an experience! The ride to the temple was incredible in itself, and the temple was fascinating as well. So much history! After reboarding the ship we then had lunch and some tome to rest before arriving at Kom Ombo and the Temple of Sobek, the crocodile temple. It was easy to imagine the activities around the ancient Egyptians and the circumstances that would lead them to construct this temple. Sailing again, we reached Aswan during the night, and left the ship very early to ride by air conditioned motor coach to Abu Simbel and the Temples of Ramses II and Queen Nefertari. These temples are very well restored, and include some interesting details on the history of Ramses II, thoroughly enjoyable. It is also easy to be impressed with the massive engineering work by UNESCO to move these temples from the vslley to the hilltop to preserve them and yet allow the modernization of the valley occur with the implementation and construction of the Aswan High Dam and Lake Nasr. That afternoon after returning to the ship for lunch, we were able to rest for a few hours before our added substitute adventure began. Walid creatively added a trip to a Nubian village on the Nile River where we enjoyed a peaceful small boat ride, a swim in the Nile (the water was surprisingly cold(, and a feast of traditional Nubian foods and a party with traditional Nubian dance and song. Nothing I could have imagined would beat this in Egypt as a last minute change to overcome a schedule problem – great work by Walid! Our last day of tours was packed as we arose that morning, had our last breakfast on the MS Royal Signature Olivia, checked out and said goodbye to the wonderful staff of the vessel, and embarked on three more tours in Aswan. First stop was the Aswan High Dam, an engineering marvel from the 1960s that has provided water and power for Egypt to live and thrive from, followed by a boat ride to the Philae Temple and the tour of that site (another incredible site), and ending with the quarry tour and the Unfinished Obelisk – there were no aliens, no giants, just ingenious people from a time long ago with a desire to work hard and do great things. Seeing and understanding the way the granite was cut, and fractured out of the quarry makes it very clear. Egypt Tours Portal should be your go to for any tour of the Land of the Pharaohs, and Walid Alsammam is the best tour guide for a rich and deep history of Upper Egypt!

A fantastic Nile cruise, great food, serve alcohol, comfortable but carpeted rooms that always bring dirt, the small pool, the views of the banks of the Nile magnificent.

I will tell you about my incredible experience on the 4 day Nile cruise! It was all just perfect, but the real ace up our sleeve was our guide Ahmed. Professionalism and availability in its pure state! He made us discover hidden corners, told us fascinating stories and always answered all our questions with a smile. The trip was magical also thanks to him!