Epic Egypt
I’ve just come back from an amazing educational trip with Red Sea Holidays. I spent three nights on the MS Grand Rose, boarding at Luxor. From stepping foot in the boat the service was impressive, the staff were attentive, happy and thoughtful. The ship is rated by Red Sea as 5*. I’m not sure how the ratings work, but I would say that it was comparable to a character 4* hotel, and MS Grand Rose has character by the boatload!
It was a great little boat, not too big but with plenty of everything you needed: a pool, sun terrace, pool bar, two shops, great restaurant and plenty of sunbeds. The food is worth a mention, I’d heard things about food in Egypt, and none of it was true on board the MS Grand Rose. The food was fresh, varied and well cooked, I ate well and often; I certainly didn’t lose weight! The boat was all inclusive and so as well as alcohol, there was plenty of bottled water to help me cope with the heat. Another revelation was that not only do the Egyptians make wine, but it’s quite drinkable!
Our trips and excursions were unreal. The sights we saw felt like film sets not pieces of history 40 centuries old. In fact some of the sights were film sets, Indiana Jones, James Bond and Agatha Christie all featured on our itinerary. Our guide was a fountain of knowledge and worked part time at the temples supporting the research. His English was super, he could even tell a good joke. Apparently in Egypt you need three things to drive a car; a good horn, good brakes and good luck. A licence - not so much!
We were educated, protected and entertained. Hady guided us through the chaos to the beauty and history of Egypt. I could list the sights but the pictures show the awesome temples we visited. The museum at Luxor is calm, cool and wonderfully collected. It has mummies, pieces from Tutankhamen’s tomb and other ‘epic’ exhibits, all clearly labelled and laid out almost in a minimalist style, just showcasing the artefacts.
We were on board for the first three nights of a seven night cruise down to Aswan. We overnighted in Luxor which gave us the opportunity to see the temples by day, and party on board Egyptian style by night! ‘The spy who loved me’, was brought to life at our visit to the sound and light show at Karnak temple. The following day after braving the heat at Hatshepsut, we sailed slowly to Esna passing the banana plantations, the fishermen and children waving and swaying palm trees. We were surprised and entertained by two small boats attaching themselves to our larger boat and attempting to sell their beach towels and Egyptian dress, by throwing them on board. Not easy to imagine but amusing to see!
Three days wasn’t enough, I’d love to see this cruise through and make it all the way to Aswan and even making the trip to Abu Simbel. I know that I’ll go back and finish this awesome cruise in epic Egypt.
A couple of tips from my trip:
- Drink three to five litres of water a day, dehydration is the biggest cause of an upset tummy - If you do get an upset stomach, the local pharmacies are great and understand sign language! Whatever they give you; take it, drink lots of water and stay out of the sun - Clear out your random bits of currency: local traders offered prices in euro, USD and sterling. You can certainly use 1 dollar bills, 1 euro and pound coins. - Ladies should cover up when out and about, not because they will upset locals in a religious way, but because she will attract adverse attention, and zero respect.
