So - here I am, sitting aboard the sundeck of our Nile Cruiser, M/S Zeina, an hour before midnight, as our boat slowly saunters towards the beautiful city of Aswan. On the approach to Aswan you come upon this beautiful suspension bridge, for a lover of bridges like me, it is worth staying up to watch as the boat approaches, which should be in around one hour from now.
Aswan Suspension Bridge
It has been a slow, leisurely journey from Luxor, passing through the towns of Esna, Edfu and Kom Ombo on route. Many of the guests on board are on their first Nile Cruise and eagerly disembark at each town to visit the temples on route, but having done this 3 times already, this time both Pat and I are staying on board to relax and take it easy, lounging in the sun, and in the shade, alternating between the two, as is recommended with the high temperatures. Reading and taking pictures are the most strenuous things I have done in the past two days, though incidentally, today the sun melted the glue holding the pages of my book together, ah well, such is life.
The boat is beautiful, the staff are very friendly, which is of course to be expected, this is Egypt after all. My favourite person, the chef, not only does he have a warm welcome for everyone every day, he also presents us with delicious food each meal time, and perhaps a little too much choice, oh I can feel the waistline creaking already, and it's only been two days, 5 more to go ......................... I can diet tomorrow, and at least I don't have to worry about Christmas, so I will look at this as my Christmas week of gluttony :)
As is customary on Nile cruises, the Maitre D allocates guests to tables in the dining room to enable those who speak the same language as each other to dine together. On this particular cruise, most of the guests are German speaking, there are 4 other Brits and a young English speaking Swiss couple, so we make up a minority in numbers but a majority in mirth and frivolity. Our new friends are lovely, the brits are our age, so we are happy with great company to add to the merriment of our holiday.
The beautiful boat however does not take away my longing for the boat that Pat and I first sailed on, and which we booked again for this cruise, but were unable to board due to a change in itineraries, but it sailed past us today, heading back to Luxor as we were heading south to Aswan and there was a slight tug of the heartstrings. Le Scribe will always be my boat, and hopefully one day I will get to sail on her again.
But, the Nile is the Nile and the journey down it is the same regardless of the vessel, the views from either side of the boat are amazing and you need eyes on stalks to really take it all in, even having done the journey 3 times in each direction, there is still so much to see that is new, and I am sure that no matter how often this journey is undertaken, it will always be a new experience.
I will upload some photos and add the link to them tomorrow, now I am going to enjoy watching the approach on the last leg of our journey to Aswan; having just passed the bridge, it will be very soon. Goodnight friends, wherever you may be :)
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