The term chic cruise may sound like an oxymoron, but if such a thing really exists, then the MS Kasr Ibrim is it.
Though the luggage being brought up the gangway at Aswan consisted of pull-along plastic suitcases rather than old leather trunks, and although the passengers were dressed in Bermuda shorts and polo shirts rather than layers of linen, boarding the MS Kasr Ibrim was like stepping into an Agatha Christie novel.
The boat itself is a replica of the sort of steamer Christie’s characters journeyed down the river Nile on. Unlike most modern cruisers on the river, it is compact (55 cabins plus a handful of suites) and tastefully decorated in 1920s style (curved wooden furniture and pristine rows of cream cushioned steamer chairs on deck).
The Kasr Ibrim’s itinerary is a gentle jaunt around the man-made Lake Nasser, taking in lesser-known temples and tombs rescued from the area flooded by the creation of the Aswan dam, before culminating in a stop at the magnificent Abu Simbel.
It’s a less-travelled route and certainly less hectic than the traditional Nile cruise from Cairo to Luxor.
While the 240km stretch of Nile between Aswan and Luxor is packed with some 250 cruisers, Lake Nasser is a spacious 496km long and accommodates just eight boats. Admittedly, there’s a lot less to see than on the river, but it is perfect for those who prefer the tranquil to the exciting — those who enjoy cruising for cruising’s sake.
And while the marketeers are getting excited about the younger profile of cruising clientele, this is still very much the preserve of the (affluent) retired.
The first port of call was an island just west of the High dam, to visit the temples of Kalabsha, Beit Wali and Kertassi. We were taken across in two launches, guards standing astride the bow touting sub-machine guns, an indication of how seriously the government takes the security of tourists.
It was the same story on land, with guards dotted about with various weapons. This is meant to reassure rather than alarm you, but it is hard not to be distracted while you are meant to be checking out antiquities.
Cruising, you soon realise, is based around drink. The days are punctuated by it: Mid-morning? Here’s a pot of coffee. Crossing the Tropic of Cancer? How about a cocktail? 5pm? Time for tea.
Nothing prepares you for the sight of Abu Simbel approached from the water. Only by taking a five-day cruise are you truly able to appreciate the massive temple dedicated to Ramses II and the slightly smaller, but no less awesome, one to his wife, Nefertari.
We had been told to start looking out for Abu Simbel half an hour before we were due to reach it. I was unimpressed by the grey hulk on the horizon until I borrowed binoculars and focused on the four colossal figures hewn from a mountain of rock that marks the main temple’s entrance. From then on in, I was hooked.
By staying overnight at Abu Simbel we were able to visit the temples in daylight and darkness. And by staying aboard a boat rather than at a hotel, there was the added, if slightly surreal, pleasure of an alfresco candlelit dinner as the boat moved back and forth in front of the floodlit temples.
Most of our fellow passengers left on the crack-of-dawn flight to Aswan the next day, but we were booked on the more civilised (and massively oversubscribed) mid-morning plane. By this point, I was feeling a little templed-out, so a few days in the colonial splendour of the Old Cataract in Aswan was a welcome prospect. It did not disappoint. We were warned not to expect unadulterated luxury, and it was actually a relief to have old-fashioned, slightly-beaten-at-the-edges grandeur rather than the antiseptic, corporate blandness that five-star hotels sometimes provide.
The place oozes character. It is a cocoa-powder-coloured sprawl with terraces, verandahs and balconies, shutters, drapes and latticed woodwork providing shady retreats from the sun. Even the corridors are designed on a grand scale — over-sized to cartoonish proportions with great swathes of draped fabrics at the entrance ways.
It is easy to imagine Christie here, drawing inspiration from the well-heeled “wintering” guests and concocting the plot for Death On The Nile (the hotel is name-checked in the book and the exterior was shot for the 1978 film version).
You could easily enjoy Aswan without ever leaving the Old Cataract. You can even peruse a good deal of it from the hotel — from the cool, canopied terrace there is an unprecedented view of the Nile, Elephantine Island, and the desert beyond.
But it is hard to resist taking a felucca from the hotel’s dock to explore one of the Nile’s islands, or just for the pleasure of sailing on one of these graceful vessels. — Â