Boarding our Egypt Air flight to Aswan.  Domestic airfare was ridiculously inexpensive.  The one hour flight to Aswan was only $20. 

Leaving Cairo, a city of 20,000,000, for the relative calmness of sailing down the Nile was starting to sound pretty good after some very busy days touring the city.  We boarded our US$20 flight to Aswan early one morning and arrived in Aswan before 9AM.  We were on the boat and in our cabin by 9:30 and felt like we already had a long day.  The boat was designed to carry just over 100 guests, but only 15 were on our cruise so crowds were never a problem.

This was the staircase that took us down to the dining room.

Coming down for the costume dinner.  I was not too thrilled to wearing this green outfit at first, but I quickly changed my mind after finding out how comfortable it was.

This was our first cruise so we were not sure what to expect.  By the end we found out that a cruise is all about service and food.  The Oberoi Philae was no different than any other Oberoi hotel; it was a perfect home away from home.  The boat would be home for the next four nights as it sailed downstream from Aswan to Luxor with one stop in Edfu.

While we were still in Aswan we boarded a small sailboat and sailed around Falucca, the largest island on the Nile.  This was a view from Falucca looking west into the beginning of the Sahara Desert.

Cooling off in the Nile.

Hoisting the sails on our way to Falucca.  The sailing around Falucca and the visit to the gardens was one of my favorite excursions.

Muslim man at prayer in Aswan.

This was the first temple we saw on our cruise.  It was a remarkably well intact temple in Edfu.

Here’s some of the heirogliphic writing on the walls of the temple in Edfu.

 

We loved watching the sunsets on the Nile.  The extremely hot days would quickly go away as the sun went down.  The evenings were surprisingly comfortable.  Cruising the Nile is a perfect way to see the slower pace of life outside of Cairo.