Nile River Cruise: MS Mayfair

Today you board your Nile Cruise Ship, your floating hotel for the next 4 days.

Aswan is the best winter resort in Egypt. On its eastern bank are mosques, bazaars, Ferial Gardens, Nubian Museum, Fatimid Cemetery, the Unfinished Obelisk of Queen Hatshepsut, Kitchener's Island, and Elephantine Island, which is the largest in Aswan. As for its western bank, there are tombs of local Pharaonic nobles and dignitaries, the tomb of Aga Khan, the Coptic Monastery of St. Simeon, and the Old Aswan Dam.

Just north of the border between Egypt and Sudan lies the Aswan High Dam, a huge rock-filled dam which captures the world's longest river, the Nile, in the world's largest artificial reservoir, Lake Nasser. The dam, known as "Sadd El-Aali" in Arabic, was completed in 1970 after 10 years of work.

A short trip on a motorboat to the temple of Philae will bring you to a magnificent vista of the island, before landing at what would have been the ancient quay on the south side. The temple was dedicated to the goddess Isis and has many legends connected to it. The most well-known legend tells the story of how Isis found the heart of Osiris here after his murder by his brother Seth.

This morning sail to Kom Ombo where you will visit the Temple shared by two gods: Sobek and Haerois.

Kom Ombo is located on a bend in the river Nile about 50 km north of Aswan. Located on the east bank, Kom Ombo is home to an unusual double temple built during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. The temple is dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek and the falcon god Haroeris (Horus the Elder). Despite being badly damaged, the temple is a beautiful sight as one approach from either direction on the river, particularly as sunset nears and the colours change.

Return to the vessel to sail to Edfu where tour the Edfu Temple, dedicated to the god Horus. The temple is perhaps the best-preserved in all of Egypt and ranks second behind Karnak, simply because of its immense size of approximately 230 by 400 feet with a pylon measuring over 100 feet high. At the temple's entrance stand two large black granite statues of Horus depicted as a falcon. The elaborate carvings on the walls of the temple are as beautiful as if they were carved just yesterday. Inside the temple is a small sanctuary where the priests of the day offered the best parts of the animals to the gods.

After returning to the ship, sail to Luxor Esna before continuing to Luxor. This evening, enjoy an Egyptian Galabeya Party onboard.

Today after breakfast, visit the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at El-Deir, El-Bahari, and the Colossi Memnon.

Luxor is a major attraction for tourists in Egypt. It is considered the world's largest open-air museum with its various temples since the Pharaonic era until the Greco-Roman era, most famous of which are Karnak and Luxor Temples dedicated to the triad of Thebes. The West Bank of Luxor is known for the famous tombs of Seti I, Tut Ankh Amon, Tuthmosis III in the Valley of the Kings, and also Queen Hatchepsut's Temple.

The Valley of the Kings in Upper Egypt is home to many pharaonic tombs of the New Kingdom, including those of King Tutankhamen and Ramses the Great. Each king's formal name and title is inscribed in his tomb, which is also adorned with his images and statues. Most of the tombs were cut into limestone following a similar pattern: three corridors, an antechamber, and a sunken sarcophagus chamber.

The mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut of the 18th Dynasty was built just north of the Middle Kingdom temple of Mentuhotep Nebhepetre, amid the bay of cliffs known as Deir El-Bahri. In ancient times the temple was called Djeser-djeseru, meaning the sacred of sacreds. The female pharaoh chose to build her temple in a valley sacred to the Theban Goddess of the west, on a direct axis with the Karnak Temple of Amun on the East Bank.

After lunch onboard your ship, visit the Luxor and Karnak Temples, a holy city of pylons (monumental gateways), hypostyle halls, colossal statues, shrines, and obelisks built over centuries and dedicated to the God Amon-Ra, his consort Mut and their son Khonsu.

This morning, disembark after breakfast.