Viking Cruises

60 | Viking Explorer Society News The world's longest and greatest river, the Nile, radiates a mythic quality, packing centuries of history into each of its meandering bends. This mighty, cerulean waterway is often referred to as the lifeblood of Egypt—ancient civilisations used it as a natural barrier against foreign invaders, a vital trade route between north and south, a powerful economic source of sustenance and a place of hushed worship. Sailing along this legendary river provides ample opportunity to take in the country's major cities and ancient tombs and temples—relics of a bygone past that once unfolded along its palm-fringed banks thousands of years ago. Although the Nile is most famously associated with Egypt, it flows through or along the border of ten other countries in northwest Africa and empties 6,695-kilometre to the north of its origin point. Forking into two tributaries, the White Nile rises at Lake Victoria in Tanzania and crashes dramatically through the narrow gorge of Murchison Falls before reaching Khartoum, Sudan, where it converges with the Blue Nile. The first voyage to set sail here occurred in the early 1870s when Thomas Cook & Son built a fleet of steamships that transported wealthy travellers between Cairo and Aswan. To this day, the river's final stretch to the Mediterranean Sea in Northern Egypt continues to be the most spectacular route, sailing close to the cultural treasures of childhood history lessons. Among these is Luxor, a UNESCO World Heritage Site which many historians consider to be one of the world's greatest open air museums thanks to the scale and magnificence of the mudbrick relics that have remained intact since the 18th to 20th pharaonic dynasties. The Temples of Luxor and Karnak on the city's east bank are among the largest and most impressive ancient temple complexes in the world, with their 6.5-metre-tall columns and majestic, sphinx lined avenues. It is here that the Ancient Egyptians constructed the Valley of the Kings, the royal burial site of Egypt's great pharaohs, including the boy-king Tutankhamen. Drifting south from Cairo, Egypt's dramatic historical sites give way to scenes of everyday life on the Nile, from fishermen in white cotton robes humming excitedly over a bounty of silverfish and water buffalo cooling themselves in the arid heat to farmers and their ox-drawn plows working in crop fields and traditional feluccas with their cream- coloured sails billowing in the warm breeze. In the distance, the hazy backdrop of hone-colored limestone cliffs contrasts with the verdant fertility of the Nile's plant-rich shores. Qena is a charming market city and a gateway to the magnificent ruins of the Dendera Temple. Its hieroglyphic-adorned crypts and columns are some of Egypt's best-preserved structures. Enjoy an exhilarating morning on a hot air balloon ride across the Nile's west bank for spectacular sunrise views, before admiring the temple's many examples of Ptolemaic Egyptian art back on solid ground. Sailing further along the riverbank lies the pretty town of Esna. Its glorious Temple of THE ENDURING NILE A voyage along the fabled Nile River uncovers the many secrets of Eg ypt. Trio Camels, Giza

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