By Graham Howe
Cape Times
June 01, 2007 Edition 1

Old Cataract Hotel

You can travel back in time at the Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan. The Victorian hotel has led many lives.

The bartender points out where Agatha Christie took high tea on the terrace when she was staying here, researching and writing Death on the Nile.

Later, the manager shows me the famous suite which is named after her - as well as the Winston Churchill suite which commemorates another celebrity guest.

The spectacular view of the Nile hasn't changed much over the years. A scene from Death on the Nile was filmed on the Moorish terrace, overlooking a romantic archipelago of granite islands, palm trees, temple ruins, tombs and golden sand-dunes. From our suite high above the river, we watch the sun set over the timeless scene.

The lobby, Old Cataract Hotel

The scene is more like "Life on the Nile". We watched the feluccas, the traditional sail-boats, tacking to and fro across the river. The drums, tambourines and chant of Nubian troupes floated over from colourful villages on Elephantine Island. The sweet scent of cherry tobacco from a sheesha swirled from the terrace; the old black telephone in the Victorian booth jangled loudly in the Arabesque lobby. Conversation drifted up from diners in the draped King Fouad pergola on the very edge of the cliff.

Our room with a view overlooks Elephantine Island. In ancient times Aswan was called Abu, a frontier town named after its trade in ivory, gold and slaves. Worshippers came to pay homage to the Temple of Khnum, the ram-headed guardian of the Nile flood. We spend hours exploring the ruins, trying to spot Hapy, the androgynous God of Nile fertility, who always wears a headdress of aquatic plants. We scramble down a stone stairway to see "the Nilometer" used to measure flood levels and to predict the harvest - before the damming of the river at Aswan.

We had taken the overnight sleeper train from Cairo to Aswan on the main north-south railway line which runs along the Nile. Sitting in our first-class compartment, Egypt passed by through the train window. While staying in Aswan, we caught local ferries to the island temple of Isis (relocated stone by stone from flooded Philae), the botanical gardens on Kitchener's Island, the ancient ruins on Elephantine Island - and also visited the Nubian Museum, the High Dam and the town's magical night-market.

View across the river to the hotel.

The Nile, the world's longest river, is like a green artery, bringing life to the barren, thirsty desert. The ancient Egyptians compared the Nile to the sacred lotus - the river valley is the stem, the oasis of Al-Fayoum the bud and the Delta the flower. The spirit of the river has captivated travellers for centuries. On two recent visits, I've followed the course of the Nile all the way from Abu Simbel in Upper Egypt on the Sudan border to Alexandria on the Mediterranean near the river mouth at the Delta.

Aswan and Luxor are the arrival and departure points for most river cruises. A Nile cruise has been a popular way of travelling to the tombs and temples of Egypt ever since Thomas Cook, an English entrepreneur, organised the first package tour by steamer in 1869. Today, a flotilla of 300 riverboats, dahabiyyas (grand old wooden boats) and feluccas cruise between Aswan and Luxor and on Lake Nasser on three-day and six-day trips. You can even cruise on the M/S Sudan, the antique boat once owned by King Fouad, used as the main set in the making of Death on the Nile.

Following the clip-clop of the horses-and-carriages, we join the throng of tourists boarding the riverboats on the corniche in Aswan.

We spend the next few days aboard The Sonesta Star Goddess, the new flagship of Sonesta Cruises - and one of the most luxurious boats on the river. We check into our suite - one of 33 deluxe cabins, each with a private terrace, elegant lounge, main bedroom with panoramic picture windows and all mod-cons down to wireless Internet and plasma satellite television. Who could ask for more?

Graham Howe was a guest of American Express, Egypt Air, the Sonesta Star Goddess and Egypt & Beyond. To contact Cecelia Amory at Egypt & Beyond, call 011 678 6165, or e-mail cecelia@championtours.co.za