Nile in Style by Devanshi Mody
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Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at the First Residence
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Après tout, this all-suite, ultra-luxury cruiser is the only glamour boat on the Nile. Other boats look like oversized tin cans about to sink under the weight of the hundred million guests aboard. Luckily, only 54 guests are allowed on the exclusive 27-suite Zahara.
The Boat
Its sexy streamlined exterior stuns. The seduction continues as I enter the marble floored reception and am shown around the boat’s swank lounge and bar, library and cigar lounge and private theatre. After passing crocodile-hide coffee tables and rich cowhide carpets, I arrive at my très smart suite. An air of slick sophistication pervades. It is very James Bond.
The Team
The manager materialises, and I hiccup. He’s about 30. And the chef? He looks 16. I’m beset with trepidation.
“Two boys are running this boat?” I ask. But, these “boys” are to do a splendid job. Indeed, the expressly picked dynamic young team make for much of the Zahara’s charm and uniqueness, which is a refreshing change from other cruises where the staff members look as old as the boats do.
Sacred Rituals
My day begins like all of the others for the next seven days on this voyage from Luxor to Aswan. The spacious suite accommodates all of my yoga positions, sparing me head-to-cupboard and leg-to-bed collisions. With yoga safely over, it’s time for ablutions.
No milk bath, Cleopatra style – only an invigorating shower in my glass-encased marble and mosaic bathroom with magnificent river views, which, of course, modesty compels me to block out during the showering process. But, don’t feel obliged to do the same.
Next, it’s time for one of the day’s most sacred rituals: breakfast. I’m not a breakfast person, but the Zahara’s breakfasts with exotic fresh guava juice and pomegranate yoghurt have me addicted. No sprawling, substandard buffet here. The Zahara is about quality not quantity.
After the first day, the impressively attentive waiters remember my preferences. My favourite cheeses and fruits appear at the table as I arrive. The Egyptian chef tries to pile my plate insisting, “You should be fat like Egyptian women!” The endearing staff members joke amongst themselves about who makes the best ice coffee.
Pharaoh-cious: Tête-à-Tête with the Animal Headed Gods of the Pharaohs
Breakfast finishes by 9 a.m., because sightseeing starts early to avoid the crowds. A well-designed itinerary based on extensive research and private docking facilities ensure near-exclusive visits of monuments. This brings us up close and personal with the mythic world of ancient Egypt.
The leisurely programme schedules about two sightseeing expeditions per day. We convene at the reception at the appointed hour where each guest receives a bottle of water. Tapan, the manager, sees us off almost like a mother watches her children off to school. Instead of a school bus, slick black vans equipped with their own guide dispatch us in style to the monuments.
The first visit on the Luxor-Aswan itinerary is the Luxor Temple of Amun Ra with its proliferation of statues of Ramses the Great. Clearly, Ramses loved himself. The Roman and Muslim conquests of Egypt are manifest in the frescos and mosque respectively whilst horribly mutilated statues are courtesy of Christians trying to efface paganism.
With the visit over, we’re driven back to the boat where a reception party welcomes us back with refreshing jasmine scented towels (the fragrances change daily). Tapan is there, as always, to ensure that nobody got hijacked, and all was fine.
The same steps are repeated as we’re conveyed to and from the Karnak temple for the evening’s sound and light show. When we return to Karnak for sightseeing, we’re floored by the magnificence of this monumental construction, which starred in the Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. Even if Karnak isn’t the world’s oldest and largest temple as guides claim, it is one of the most astonishing.
Our cruise includes visits to museums, the Valley of the Workers and the famed and fascinating Valley of the Kings where Tut Ank Amun’s mummy is displayed for the first time in his tomb.
The most comprehensive tour of temples includes the temple of Ramses III and Egypt’s most famous queen Hatshepsut who declared herself king. Her recently identified mummy confutes intriguing conspiracy theories that her stepson “eliminated” her. She probably succumbed to obesity.
Nocturnal visits to the temples of Hathor and Horus with their labyrinthine recesses and hieroglyphics-adorned walls and pillars mesmerise. We gasp at Komombo’s mummified crocodiles and at our guide’s contention that Egyptian women walked on crocodiles to be cured of infertility! We’re awestruck at Philae’s relocated island temple, transposed stone by stone like in Abu Simbal.
For a week, we rub shoulders with or, more appositely, have an intimate tête-à-tête with the pharaoh-nic animal headed gods: the cow-headed Hathor, falcon-headed Horus, jackal-headed Anubis, crocodile-headed Sobek and lioness-headed Sekhmet. The Zahara even has the Temple of Hathor hired out for a private cocktail. Wild? Pharaoh-cious!
The juxtaposition of the most ancient civilisations with the ultimate in modern luxury is very surreal. The Zahara brings legend to life. And, our Egyptologist guide Ahmed makes it larger than life. According to him, “the ancient Egyptians were very clever” and invented astrology, astronomy, mathematics, the “0,” cures for dandruff, infertility, obesity and cancer.
Ahmed’s never short for an answer to awkward questions flung at him, although he cannot quite explain the apparent lack of evolution in Egyptian art and architecture over a 2000-year period. His allusions to Dante and Milton impress. But, when at the Colossi of Agamemnon he says that Achilles slew Agamemnon, those of us who have read Homer’s Illiad begin to chuckle.
Spa Time
Massages whilst sailing are sensual, and the cruise daily allots ample spa time. But, for some guests, all time is spa time. The Banyan Tree Spa manager enquires of a guest making lengthy spa appointments, “What about sightseeing, sir?” The guest replies, “If I go sightseeing, I’ll need to book a massage for 24 hours.”
Some are onboard to languish around. No, they aren’t seen working out in the gym. Fortunately for those who get too large for the Jacuzzi, the Zahara has the biggest pool on any boat on the Nile.
Room & Board
The Zahara’s boardroom gives a whole new meaning to this expression. For once, attendees won’t be bored at a board meeting with the myriad distractions streaming by the glass façade: breathtaking flora, water fauna, fishing boats, temples, mosques, villages and, if the meeting runs over, astounding sunsets or even sunrises. But, it is much better to wine and dine one’s client on the cruise and clinch a business deal in style!
Gastronomic Voyages
The Zahara is as much a culinary journey as a cultural one. As the day progresses, Egypt’s wonders are revealed off-board, whilst onboard we discover Chef Siddhartha Chowdhry’s gourmet creations. The daily changing includes Egyptian, Indian, pan-Asian and continental fare. From spicy Kerala coconut curry and homemade pasta to super spring rolls and top-notch tahini and dolmas, the talented chef has perfected it all.
Unforgettable is his Continental menu degustation: the clear courgette and carrot soup that I’ve christened “Yum Yum” soup. His sublimely textured gnocchi and polenta are also amongst the finest I’ve sampled. Supper begins with a dainty amuse bouche and is punctuated by tangy lemon palate cleansers and ends with innovative desserts like avocado parfait and orange-pistachio charlotte. The Egyptian desserts are curiously luminous yellow custard-filled, though.
On the last night, we hear a guest, remarkable for his sartorial flamboyance, explode in rapture: “The cuisine is excellent! More than excellent!”. The gentleman who changed his clothes six times a day might not have been able to get into any of them by the end of the cruise!
Standard Service
The Oberoi delivers its standard shockingly slick service. Headed by Mohammed, a swirl of waiters and the adorable waitress Shirene anticipate our every need. And, the ubiquitous, ever vigilant Tapan surveys all. From the corner of his eye, he notices if a guest flinches at a spicy curry and dashes to the rescue. Impressive!
On the last day, over the gala feast on Mango Island, guests rave about the attention to detail and outstanding service. Full marks are given to Tapan. The enigmatic lone ranger manager in quasi safari attire with quirky humour has an almost Captain Marlowe-like air about him. He imparts a Romanesque feel to the Zahara experience.
As for the exceptional standards, someone reveals that they have long been deterred by Nile cruises due to horrifying stories about Nile boat standards, which were considered deadlier than the crocs in the river. The Zahara has revolutionised Nile travel.
I was told before embarking on the cruise that I’d surely perish of ennui on a seven-day trip. But, I find myself longing to get back on the Zahara, even if it’s just to decide who makes cooler ice coffee – Mohammed or Shirene.