Aswan Travel Forum

Is it better to go on board a cruiser in Luxor and try to get a deal on cruise to Aswan? john

Better in what way? Monetarily? for sightseeing? for smooth sailing? What are you looking for?
Susan

Many people start in Aswan and go on to Luxor. From time to time you can board a ship and see if they have any extra cabins open before it sails. Sometimes you can bargain and get a better rate. I know a few people that have tried this and it seems to work. Keep in mind though, there may be fewer ships at this time of year because SOME not all of the cruise lines send ships to Cairo for maintenance. Ships from the Naggar Cruise Lines does this.

John never mentioned the time of year he planned to visit Egypt.

John, in Egypt high tourist season is kind of mixed up.
For Egypt high season is from April till the end of October. Due to the terrible heath during the summer months.

But on the other side for Western (European) countries high season is from April till October. Many people from the Western countries will plan to visit Egypt during the summer season and Egypt will try to please any visitor at any season.

Touroperators in the Western countries will not encourage people to go to Egypt during the Winter months because in Egypt prices will be more high, while from the end of April the prices will drop in Egypt.

The effect is that they will charge high season Western European charges and pay low season prices in Egypt. Quite a bargain don't you think???

Best to arrange your own trip!

Most touroperators start their cruises from Luxor. From Aswan to Luxor there are much less cabins booked. So better to start from Aswan when trying to get some empty cabins.

The ship will dock at Kom Ombo first stop. The tempel is right on the shore, so you can do it walking. Have a travel guidebook at hand and you can visit the Tempel on your own. What is not mentioned in the guide books and hardly any tourist guide will tell you is to look at the floor of the pavement around the tempel. When you go to the back of the tempel where the inscription of the medical instruments is you can walk on around the main tempel. This is where in ancient times the common people waited in a picket line before entering the tempel. They could wait for days there and they kept themself busy with carving in the floor. You can see hieroglyphics ("Pepi was here") and game boards (Sennet) and such. We discovered that during our last trip to Kom Ombo and it really made the place come alive to us. It is so easy to imagine all those people waiting and abiding their time with carving in the floor. It is just like our graffity.

Next stop will be Edfu. The common way to go to Edfu tempel will be by horse carriage. The carriage holders in Edfu have the most bad reputation and they deserve it!!!! You will be disgusted by the poor creatures of horses that are forced to pull the carriages untill they almost die doing it.
Make a change and refuse a carriage with a poor horse in front of it. Only take a carriage with a well looked after and healthy horse. Its owner invested in that horse and is worth some extra money (If only all the people visiting Edfu would take the time to look at a carriage with a well looked after horse in front of it..... the abuse of horses will come to an end!)

In Edfu or in Luxor take a visit to the Brookes Hospital for Animals! You can see how they are looking after the battered animals there and giving them good care. And advise to the owners of the animals to take better care care of their animals. This way the money invested goes both ways: the animals will have a better life and the owner will have more profit of his more healthy and longer lasting animal. The reason these animals are worn out is ignorence and poverty! The Brookes is doing good effords to change that; both the animal and its owner will profit.

Might be that you will have to wait a long time before the lock near Esna. Esna has a half excavated Chnoum Tempel and a smal tourist market. If you want to buy some souvenirs do it there; not many tourist of the cruiseboats will go ashore in Esna.

Cruising is very nice, though touristy. They will charge you big time!! Mineral water is very expensive on board. Try to buy it outside and have a big backpack to carry all kind of things. There will be gallabeya parties (dress up parties in "Egyptian" clothes. You can buy or hire the clothes on board. Best to buy it on the local markets, when bargaining you can have a costume for less than the rent price on board.

It is expected to give a general tip when leaving the boat (15$ per person one way; 25$ vice versa) That is for all the personel out of sight: the men that look after the engines, do the laundry, the dishes etc.
I have no trouble paying that.