What took me so long? All my life I’ve wanted to visit Egypt and now I’m finally on a plane enjoying an aerial view of the Nile snaking across the Sahara.
This is a destination where ancient history has been preserved like nowhere else in the world.
It’s where great Pharaohs once ruled and 3,000-year-old temples and tombs still stand impossibly intact. The prospect of seeing it all up close is thrilling.
I’m travelling with TUI River Cruises, which has just launched a new adult-only ship, the 141-passenger Al Horeya.
It’s the company’s first vessel to sail down the Nile, offering week-long, all-inclusive, round-trip voyages from Luxor, with flights and transfers part of the package – at £1,799pp, which is excellent value.
You can either explore independently or there’s an extensive range of (reasonably priced, some free) guided tours available in each destination, all leaving directly from the ship.
This is Egypt made easy and will appeal to anyone anxious about travelling around Africa alone.
The ship itself isn’t new – it was built in 2005 for the Egyptian Jaz hotel chain – but it’s undergone a major refurbishment and my cabin is modern and roomy, with a French balcony.
Jo Kessel (pictured) boards TUI’s new river cruise ship, the 141-passenger, adult-only Al Horeya, for a seven-night, round-trip voyage down the Nile, starting and ending in Luxor
The Al Horeya (pictured) is TUI’s first vessel to sail down the Nile
The ship is the first in TUI’s river fleet to have a swimming pool
The top deck has hot tubs, as well as a swimming pool (the first of TUI’s river fleet to have one) and the ship has a bar and restaurant both outside and in.
Al Horeya is far grander than the boats illustrated in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and, if Cleopatra were alive today, she’d no doubt approve.
Most visitors come to Egypt for the culture rather than the food, but the ship’s main restaurant serves tagines, roasts and rice, which set you up perfectly for a day of exploration.
Luxor is home to the world’s most impressive cluster of antiquities and the ship has resident Egyptologists to guide its tours.
The Valley of the Kings is a must and is where ancient Egyptians (obsessed with the afterlife) buried Pharaohs in lavishly decorated, treasure-filled underground chambers.
The treasure is long gone, but the rest is still intact and every tomb sees me neck-craning in wonder. The craftsmanship, detail and colours of the 3,000-year-old hieroglyphics are mind-boggling!
Jo stayed in a ‘modern and roomy’ cabin room with a French balcony (similar pictured)
The Al Horeya has a bar and restaurant both outside and in, reveals Jo. Above is the outdoor eatery, Felucca
Pictured is Lazeeza, Al Horeya’s indoor bar and restaurant, serving ‘tagines, roasts and rice, which set you up perfectly for a day of exploration’, says Jo
Every inch of the ceiling and wall has a new image or cartouche telling a different story – a King, a Queen, a bird, a cup and so on. Interpreting them is another matter. Rameses VI’s tomb has a sarcophagus inside… thankfully empty. Not so in Tutankhamun’s place of rest.
His whole mummified body is on display, gory extremities and all. I can’t stop staring at his 3,300-year-old feet!
Afterwards, we visit Hatshepsut Temple, with terraces rising dramatically from the desert, sculpted from the surrounding limestone cliffs.
Built for a former Queen, it’s such a masterpiece of ancient architecture that I fear nothing else I witness or do can match up.
How wrong could I be?
On subsequent days I continue to be wowed by each new experience.
Jo says: ‘The ship itself isn’t new – it was built in 2005 for the Egyptian Jaz hotel chain – but it’s undergone a major refurbishment.’ Pictured is the ship’s atrium
Above is the Al Horeya’s observatory, where guests can have a drink. Jo says: ‘Drinks are included, though wines are Egyptian. The Shahrazade rosé won’t win any awards, but it slips down nicely – dry, moreish and perfect in the heat’
The ship’s wellness area (pictured) includes a gym with treadmills and cross-trainers with a view of the Nile
One’s a ride on a Felucca (a traditional Egyptian sailing boat), where I even learn how to steer. Another is a visit to Karnak Temple. Its 134 towering pillars were built 1,250 years before Christ (that’s hard to fathom), and not only are they still standing, but they were also used as a location in James Bond’s The Spy Who Loved Me.
There are obelisks here, too. According to our Egyptologist, there would have been more had Egypt not offered them as diplomatic gifts.
‘One was presented to France and is now in the middle of Paris’s Place de la Concorde, and one was given to the UK,’ he says. ‘Anyone know where it is?’
It’s Cleopatra’s Needle, on the embankment near Waterloo Bridge in London. Who knew?
A cruise down the Nile is as much a culture vulture’s dream as it is a sun worshipper’s.
After 48 hours, the ship leaves Luxor and, as we sail 150 miles south to Aswan, there’s time to hit the pool and hot tubs, and chill with a book.
The top deck’s the perfect place to soak up the rays, ogle the palm-fringed river or ask an Egyptologist to write your name as a hieroglyphic.
In contrast to the rest of Egypt (96.5 per cent of the country is desert), the Nile and its surrounds are lush and fertile.
Cows graze along its riverbanks – donkeys too – and locals have come for a stroll and to wave. The most alarming moment is when a boat trader zooms up, attaches his vessel to our moving ship and tows a ride while he tries to flog merchandise.
‘Who’d like a tablecloth?’ he calls, brandishing what resembles a sarong.
He sells at least a dozen, a tenner a pop!
Drinks are included, though wines are Egyptian. The Shahrazade rosé won’t win any awards, but it slips down nicely – dry, moreish and perfect in the heat.
Evening entertainment is fun too, from competitions involving mummifying others with loo roll (yes, really) to watching natives perform a whirling dervish.
Jo visits the Luxor Temple (above), where she’s given a guided tour by one of the Al Horeya’s resident Egyptologists
One of the sights on Jo’s tour is the Valley of the Kings (pictured), which she says ‘is a must and is where ancient Egyptians (obsessed with the afterlife) buried Pharaohs in lavishly decorated, treasure-filled underground chambers’
Aswan is Jo’s ‘favourite destination’ on the cruise, with her highlights including ‘the engineering marvel that is the Aswan Dam’, pictured
Jo visits the Old Cataract Hotel (above) for a sundowner – Agatha Christie wrote Death on the Nile at the property
Jo ends her trip with a hot air balloon ride that’s ‘a fitting finale to an enriching cruise’
Aswan is my favourite destination and takes us from ancient to more modern history.
Here, highlights include visiting the engineering marvel that is the Aswan Dam (construction started in 1960 to stop the Nile from flooding), as well as an island inhabited by the Nubians, a people who have their own language and culture separate from Egyptians.
I also drop by the infamous Old Cataract Hotel for a sundowner – not only is this where Princess Diana once stayed, but it’s also where Agatha Christie spent a year writing Death on the Nile.
This is a cruise where you have to pace yourself – book too many temple visits and you might hit overload.
But there’s one excursion which leaves everyone on a high once the ship has returned to Luxor: a hot air balloon ride.
The flight only costs £79 and drifts over the city’s temples and tombs at an altitude of 1,500ft (457m) before floating down to land in the heart of the desert.
It’s a fitting finale to an enriching cruise that’s packed with adventure from start to finish.
It may have taken me a long time to come, but my goodness it was worth the wait.
For more from Jo visit her Youtube channel.