Egypt: Gently Flows The Nile

Isn’t Cairo overcrowded, noisy, polluted, not a clean city at all…? Why then am I selecting Egypt as one of the five destinations I am recommending in this issue, to travel to, as soon as it is relatively safe to do so? Two reasons; The Nile and Mena House.

Text & Photographs: Farzana Contractor

Going on a cruise is the most relaxing way to holiday. It offers privacy, quietude and super quality time to catch up with yourself. You could argue that the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have given you ample time to be by yourself, but you know what? That was being cut off, being lonely not alone, a stressful time indeed, forced to be by yourself. Now I say, “Go, be free!’ Sit on the deck of a boat, sing with the wind or listen to its songs. And what better place that The Nile… a river so special, Egypt itself is attributed as a ‘gift of the Nile.’ Egypt wouldn’t be, if the Nile wasn’t.
So, do what I did, almost 12 years ago. I planned my itinerary a bit differently. Yes, I was going to Egypt to cover it as an UpperCrust Destination and I was fully aware of the gruelling task ahead. Dozens of interviews, hundreds of pictures to shoot – of people, food and restaurants, and of sights and sites. Overworked and under-relaxed as I was with back-to-back assignments, I thought why don’t I go on the Nile cruise straightaway on landing? So I flew Bombay-Cairo-Aswan and drove straight from the airport to the pier where my boat was moored on River Nile. It was four days of bliss on the Oberoi Philae, the luxury cruiseliner. My whirling mind was settled, my body rested and relaxed, it was happiness personified.
The best part was the cruise includes docking at Aswan and Luxor so one gets to see the incredible monuments and temples, too. Kom Ombo and the Temple of Sobek and The Philae, Edfu and Esna and The Temple of Horus and The Temple of Kanark.
What was fun then, and should be more fun now, was the dressing up for dinner on the boat. In the past one year, I have spent 99% of my time in track pants and I am simply yearning to get into a nice, slinky evening gown now. So head straight for the Nile I say!
And then once the cruise is done, fly from Luxor to Cairo and dive straight into The Mena.
There isn’t a better place to gaze at the Pyramids than from the kingsize bed in a suite at Cairo’s best located hotel, The Mena House. The hotel is part of Egyptian history which you should really read up on the internet. My experiences here were unforgettable. When I was taken to my suite I walked straight to the verandah to check out the view as any decent traveller would. And guess what! I almost bumped onto a pyramid! Seriously it appears that close. Aw! What a sight!! I stood there a long while, just absorbing the feeling, soaking in that beautiful vision. It was after all one of the ancient wonders of the world!
Mena House is located just 20 minutes from the centre of the town, but set in 40 acres of jasmine-scented grounds, you wouldn’t get that feeling. There are tennis courts and an 18-hole golf course right under the watchful eye of the Sphinx. The hotel itself is ornately decorated with opulent banquet halls and lavish restaurants. Food is incredible, the whirling dervishes divine.
If you do decide to go somewhere outside The Mena, then the place to go would be the souk. The Khan el-Khalili market. It may be a pick pocket’s paradise, but what shopping! And eating and drinking. Buzzing with people and activity, at all times then – I don’t know now!!

The Bedazzling Mena

Canteloup Basil Sherbet

The Luxury Nile Cruiseliner