30 April 2007 saw us fly out to Luxor, Egypt to join the Star of Luxor for our first riverboat cruise.  We had booked a suite (one of only two) on this fabulous river cruiser and the facilities, while certainly not in the same league as the big ocean-going cruise ships, were nonetheless very good, and I would highly recommend them.

The cruise took us down the Nile from Luxor to Aswan and back up again, stopping along the way to allow us to visit the various temples and other places of interest, such as the Papyrus Institute.

Luxor:  25° 42' N, 32° 38' E
Edfu:  24° 58' N, 32° 52' E
Kom Ombo:  24° 28' N, 32° 56' E
Aswan:  24° 05' N, 32° 54' E

View my 'Ancient Egypt' photo album in my gallery

Of course, no trip to Egypt is complete without a visit to Cairo, and the Pyramids.  Despite their being one of the most famous landmarks in the world, nothing can prepare you for actually being there, seeing them, feeling the hot desert sun beating down, and gazing in awe at these enormous structures built 4,000 years ago.

We actually went inside the second pyramid (King Khafre's pyramid) but I would not recommend it for the claustrophobic; you have to go along a narrow, low tunnel, bent double and the air inside is dank and unpleasant.  If you don't mind that though it's definitely worth doing!