by My father, whose last name is King and who recently turned 79, often grumbles about growing old. In order to put things in the right perspective, I invited him to join a trip to Egypt, where they recorded the names and birthdays of her Kings more than 5,000 years ago.
Surprisingly, it worked. With so much really old stuff to attract his attention, he forgot everything about his own advancing age and revolved around the monuments like Indiana Jones with an iPhone instead of a bullwhip.
We started in Cairo with two nights in the famous Mena house, practically under the paw of the Sphinx and in the shadow of Giza’s great pyramid. Unfortunately, the historic wing of the hotel, in which Churchill was once regular, was closed for renovation. As a consolation, the Grand Egyptian Museum had only opened less than a mile down the street.
The acronym of the museum, Gem, is suitable. It is a jewelry box with amazing proportions and ingenious designs that contain an amazing collection of treasures. Despite the long and widespread delays at the opening, it is still in the works. As soon as it is completely finished, no less than 100,000 objects are displayed, including all around 5,000 artifacts from Tutankhamun’s grave and is therefore the largest collection in the world that is devoted to a single civilization.
My father and I spent an enchanted four hours to hike his 12 main galleries. “We didn’t even scratch the surface,” said Papa Fröhlich when we implemented in the mild glow of the Cairo in the afternoon. “Can we come back tomorrow?”
Unfortunately we couldn’t. The heart of our trip should be a cruise through the Nil from Aswan to Luxor on the Luxury River Boat Oberoi Zahra.
Before I went on board, I wanted to spend a lot of night at the Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan and had slightly manipulated our schedule to press it. Like Mena House, the cataract is one of the most famous Egyptian hotels. Death on the Nile. Christie was able to write a novel in 12 weeks, but remained in a cataract for almost a year. It was not difficult for me to understand why. There is a magic. It is not just the architecture -a charming assembly of the Victorian sterry, Art -deco -angularity and Wild Moorish bargains. There is also a certain perception of its location, on a high bank in a picturesque curve in the river opposite the ruins of Elephantine Island. From the huge, shady terrace of the hotel we saw how the Feluccas drove past and its sails catch the honey sunlight as effectively as they catch the breeze.
Our boat was also a pleasure, even though it is very different. “Zahra” has several meanings in Arabic, including “brightness” and “brilliance” – because the interiors were airy and radiant during the day, shiny and glamorous at night.
We occupied a fabulous suite with two bedrooms, which was newly created at the end of 2024. It was the size of a decent London apartment, although in a configuration that seems strange all over a boat, as it was about the bug of the vessel in a reverse V-shape, with a bedroom to the harbor, another, a sizable, weakened living area in the middle.
The Katy Perry Suite was on the promenadend deck at the opposite end of the boat. This is not the official name, but as I called it because it was the cabin in which I heard that the singer had stayed when she had chartered Zahra on her 35th birthday. Part of me was cautious to keep this suite in mind if she created a violent comparison and comparison reaction. But when I was invited to take a little insight, I couldn’t resist. Great. Especially the huge outdoor deck. Remarkable private, almost hidden, but with a wide 180-degree view. Fortunately, I wasn’t envy. I preferred the suite that I shared with dad.
Overall, the style among the 25 cabins and two suites of Oberoi Zahra is consistent – perfectly crispy and contemporary, really only in position and relationship. Although there are Egyptian elements for the design, especially in art and craft works, they are inconspicuous and reserved.
Maybe that’s just as good. With one or two excursions a day to some of the most famous places in the country, it is not as if they were from Egyptians. On the contrary. The intensity of exposure to such a wealth of history is overwhelming. Our travel route recorded Philae, Edfu, Kom Ombu, the valley of the kings, Luxor and Karnak. All in four days. People spend life with studying these places. Of course, a guide helped a lot. And this is another genius on the part of the Oberoi – guides are assigned per party, not per group, let alone per boat. So if you travel as a couple or as a family, you and your partner or you and your children have the undivided attention of an expert for the duration of your trip, who quickly quickly becomes like an old friend than a guide, even is an unusually well more informed, patient and helpful.
It was only on our third evening that I realized that our daily routine gave a very neatly split, almost symmetrical quality. The time we spent on the boat was cozy and sybaric and included lunch and dinner (exceptionally excellent), spa treatments and looked in a state of blissful ways from a sun into the middle distance. The time we spent on the other hand was intense and cerebral, in history, art, religion, facts, ideas. It’s all about balance.
With a little encouragement by Oberoi (it didn’t take much), we spent a few nights after the cruise in the Oberoi Beach Resort Sahl Hashesh on the Red Sea. It is a large, but flawless and extremely well organized resort directly on the water. On a clear day – that is basically every day – you can see through the fluctuating palms and the beach to Saudi Arabia. In short, a wonderful place where all of these thousands of years of years of temple dust can be settled.
Until then, I have already talked about our next trip to Egypt. Oberoi will start two new luxury dahabayas-fashionable, two-tone wooden vessel melouk and malekat with five cabins and two suites each this year. After we had a good time on Zahra, we would like to try out one or the other of these smaller, nostalgically designed vessels.
One or two days after I returned from our trip to Scotland, I happened to discover a newspaper article about the discovery in Taposiris Magna near Alexandria, which archaeologists believe that it is a bust of Cleopatra. This is the funny thing about Egypt – there is always something new. And in contrast to our parents, it never gets old.
The details
Audley Travel (01993 838 410; audleytravel.com) offers a tailor -made trip to Egypt of £ 6,195 per person based on two trips. This includes international and domestic economic flights; Airport Meet-and-Greet and Visa service on arrival; Transfers; Three nights on the Oberoi Zahra, luxury Nil Cruiser, sails from Aswan to Luxor (full board, including non -alcoholic, but with the exception of alcohol and guided tours); Three nights in the Oberoi Beach Resort, Sahl Hasheesh (B&B); Two nights in the Marriott Mena House, Cairo (B&B); A night in the Sofitel legend Old Cataract, Aswan (B&B); And a full -day tour of the Grandgyptian Museum, the Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza.
