Five days from Luxor to Aswan, four of them on a traditional wooden sailing boat, the slow way the Nile was travelled for centuries.
A dahabiya has two tall lateen sails, a shallow hull and just a few cabins. Large Nile cruisers carry more than a hundred guests and tie up side by side at busy docks. A dahabiya carries a small group, sails when the wind allows, and moors at quiet islands and villages. You take breakfast on deck as palm groves and desert cliffs drift past, and in the evening you hear the river instead of engines.
Your journey begins with a short drive from Luxor to Esna, where you visit the Temple of Khnum before boarding. Sailing south, you reach sites most visitors never see: the painted tombs of El Kab, the ancient sandstone quarries of Gebel Silsila, and the camel traders of Daraw. You also stop at the great temples of Edfu and Kom Ombo. Between the temples you spend time with the people who live along the river: a farming family at El Hegz, fishermen on Bisaw Island, and a Nubian village near Aswan.
On the last day you disembark in Aswan and visit the High Dam, the Unfinished Obelisk and the island Temple of Philae before your transfer.
Your own private Egyptologist travels with you for the whole journey, from Esna to Philae. All meals and soft drinks on board are included.
