5-Day Nile Journey on a Dahabiya Cruise from Luxor to Aswan

The Memphis team members lead by Mr. Na sr was exceptional. Their knowledge of this amasing historical country

My wife Romelia and I spent five days on the Dahabiya Orient Star with Ahmed as our agent, our guide, our teacher and our new friend. Egypt 24 travel is Ahmed's business and he personally organizes and leads each excursion. Ahmed is a formally educated Egyptologist who has spent over 20 years leading and teaching others about the history of Egypt. Ahmed is easy-going, extremely knowledgeble, energetic, enthusiastic, often animated and sometimes philosophical in his presentation. Our Dahabiya adventure started after spending a couple of days in Cairo. Our Saturday evening flight from Cairo to Luxor was delayed. Ahmed ended-up waiting 3 hours for us at the airport in Luxor - nevertheless, he took us downtown for a tour of the city (and to find me a pair of sandels) and then stopped to show us the Luxor Temple in it's night-time splendor prior to boarding the launch to take us across the Nile to the Dahabiya. The next day (our first full day) was by far the busiest of all. After an early breakfast we set off to see all of the most important sights on the East Bank and then the West bank of Luxor. Ahmed was great, and by the middle of the day both Romelia and I felt that we had won the lottery with Ahmed as our guide. The Orient star was very comfortable with a friendly crew and excellent buffet-style meals each day on the upper deck. The three of us were the smallest group onboard. There was also a group from Germany and a group from France for a total of fourteen guests. It was obvious to Romelia and I that Ahmed was the best of the three guides. It eventually became apparent to the other guests as well, we were asked more than once how we had found our guide Ahmed, my response: "lots of reading reviews on Tripadvisor/Viator". On each day of the trip, the Dahabiya would spend some number of hours travelling upstream on the Nile and then there would be one or more stops for sightseeing, or for activities, such as swimming in the Nile, visiting a small island village, or enjoying a shoreside dinner with dancing to live music from local musicians. The relaxing upstream pace of the boat, combined with the wonderful natural scenery, was just incredibly nice and enjoyable for both of us - the only thing that could have made it better is if it could have lasted for a few more days. Before wrapping up - and now that I understand much more about cruising from Luxor to Aswan, I'll pass on some perspective and a few tips. 1. Luxor to Aswan is the better direction of travel. It is a longer slower trip and allows more time both for enjoying the time on the water, and for stops along the way. 2. A Dahabiya is relaxing, intimate, and quiet. I highly doubt that we would have enjoyed a much-larger, powered vessel, nearly as much as we did the Dahabiya. 3. Hearsay from a guide I know (who has been on all of the Nile cruise ships many times) is that only a handful of the powered cruises have good food. I'll repeat that the kitchen staff and the food on the Orient Star were exceptionally good. 4. WhatsApp is the preferred method of communication in Egypt. If you're American and don't know what I'm talking about then get it installed on you're phone and learn how to use it prior to booking tours or activities in Egypt. 5. The Egyptian pound is losing value compared to other currencies. When tipping - think of a fair tip in dollars and then convert. Don't rely on published tip recommendations in pounds as they are likely out of date and way too low. Remember that Egyptian workers depend on tips for their living and that what may seem like a few bucks for you can make a big difference for them. 6. Try to learn as much as you can about Egyptian history before you go. Ahmed is a great teacher and was patient with us in our ignorance, but we feel that we could have learned much more from him if we had studied more in advance. 7. Egyptian ATMs are currently limited to dispensing a maximum of 4000 Egyptian pounds. Plan ahead and exchange larger quantities so that you don't end up with international fees for multiple transactions at ATMs. US dollars are negotiable in Egypt but remember that locals cannot exchange $1 bills. I carried lots of 50 and 100 pound notes for tips.

We sailed on The Orient Star Dahabiya for six days from Luxor to Aswan and enjoyed every minute of it. We had one of the two suites at the back of the boat and especially enjoyed the balcony, although in late afternoon, the sun was directly shining on it, so we didn't use it then. Our room was a very good size, the beds were comfortable, the bathroom a good size with a glass wall enclosing most of the shower so nothing got wet in the bathroom when we showered. The water was hot, a great shower, with shampoo, gel soap, etc., provided, plus a hair dryer. There was room for storage and drawers provided. The crew on board were very helpful, friendly and pleasant, especially Assad our housekeeper, who made beautiful, elaborate animals with our towels each day. He also made sure we knew when meals were being served. The meals were excellent with plenty of food, a variety of dishes (two or three meats at each meal), fresh vegetables and fruit, and desserts. We also had snacks in between meals. It was very pleasant sailing along the Nile which was broken up by tours into the various sites. One evening we had a lovely dinner ashore and music and dancing afterwards. Swimming was offered one day; however, we choose not to swim because of warnings about bacteria in the water. This was a smaller ship with twelve passengers. I am so happy that we choose to travel this way versus one of the large ships. There was plenty of room for activities on deck. A word about tipping. From the time I started exploring our trip until we actually went, the Egyptian pound to the US dollar was only worth half of what it was. The travel books you probably read or the articles you read about tipping are vastly out of date. Bathroom tips are at least 5 Egyptian pounds per person, drivers should be tipped the equivalent of $20 US dollars per day and guides $40 per day. We followed the same guidelines on the ship, doubling what we had read about tipping. You would enjoy traveling on this ship and the food and crew.