Aswan to Luxor

Cairo was amazing, Luxor is incredible, but for position on the river, old-school charm and birdwatching, I’m going to say that Aswan is my favourite town on the Nile – so far. I was very lucky and got taken to the Old Cataract Hotel for a sundowner.

A few things. First, a cataract is the fast-moving water around a rock in the river, nothing to do with failing eyesight. Second, the Cateract Hotel was built by Thomas Cook in 1899 as a colonial-era stay for travelling Brits, then did service as a palace for King Farouk – Egypt’s last reigning monarch, who stepped off the throne in 1952 – and it's now a five-star hotel of the sort where the carpeting swallows up the sounds of any footfalls, the hard flooring is either marble or teak, and suites are named after their most famous inhabitant. For this reason, when you walk down a corridor and read ‘Winston Churchill’, ‘Aga Khan’ and ‘Omar Sharif’, you’re learning a bit of history as well as getting to your accommodation.

Our lovely guide, Elia

We were given an extra-special treat: a private terrace above the Nile, looking across Elephantine Island (named for the large boulders rather than actual animals) to the Aga Khan’s mausoleum on the hill opposite. Below us, feluccas – the traditional sailboats – as well as one brave soul paddling across sitting on something that might have been a tea tray, plied the water. Graceful white herons, something that looks like a speckled pigeon and egrets did their thing and, slowly at first, then suddenly speeding up for the grand finale, the sun slipped behind the hills. What a magical experience. I know, none of this comes cheap (the Winston Churchill suite costs US$10,000 a night), but if you can splash out for a G&T to get a ringside seat, it’s worth it.

So, back to the cruise and where were we? Since last writing, I’ve been to a place that’s on many people’s bucket list: Abu Simbel. This is the collective name for two temples – one belonging to Rameses II, and the other built for his favourite and the most beautiful of his 67 wives, Nefertiti. What makes these structures so remarkable, aside from their size (huge), decorations (many statues and hieroglyphics with their original colours) and location (60 clicks from the Sudanese border) are two things. One is that when they were first built, their architect figured out how to position them so a statue of Rameses inside was struck by sunlight twice a year: once on his birthday in February and again on his coronation day in October. The other is that the entire constructs were moved 300 metres up in 1961 when the Aswan dam was built and Lake Nasser created. But? The modern minds couldn’t quite get the position right and now the sun hits the Rameses statue one day later than his birthday and coronation.

Lake Nasser, the world's largest man-made lake

How, you keep wondering, did they do it? It’s all part of our collective fascination, wanting to know the secrets these places aren’t quite ready to serve up.

If you think the three-hour drive through the Sahara to get there might be too long or dull, let me disabuse you of this. It’s fascinating. Along the way going – because you leave the ship while it’s still dark – our lovely guide Elia had the bus stop so we could watch (and take pictures of) the sunrise in the desert. This is another memory that I’ll never forget for its majesty and beauty. And, on the way back, we stopped again, this time to see (and take pictures of) the biggest mirage in the Sahara. It’s an extraordinary thing and amazing how even the rocks and hills are reflected in it. You can easily imagine weary, heat-exhausted travellers endlessly heading toward it… We also passed what I think was a French Foreign Legion camp, with round, white tents, tanks and a French tricolour up a flagpole. Fascinating.

Also, a word about the whole driving at breakneck-speed convoy thing and armed escorts this trip had a reputation for, because all that is in the past. You travel at a perfectly reasonable speed, in an air-conditioned bus with onboard toilet, the lovely Royal Esadora serves breakfast before you go and provides a lunch bag which you can fill with sandwiches, danishes, juice and water for the trip, so it’s all very comfortable and safe. There is no convoy and no police escort, because it’s not needed. In fact, a brief word about safety here in general: I've never felt anything but safe and relaxed in Egypt. Really. And remember, I'm a solo female traveller. If you've ever wanted to visit this fascinating, welcoming country, really, do it now before the hordes start coming back.