Egypt – Lunch at the Hilton by the side of the Nile – photos

We stopped for lunch at the Hilton. Because of the collapse of the tourist trade it was deserted.

I took myself off to have a wander around to see what I could find. It was an idyllic spot with a cool breeze off the river, palm trees and sand dunes in the background.

A small cruise boat was moored but there were no customers.

I was very taken with a big mosaic on the side of the hotel. It showed an idealised scene of Egyptian life.

As we were eating our way through a sumptuous spread of Egyptian food a cruise ship went past with hardly anybody on it.  Downriver there were hundreds of these ships moored up. Once the river would have been full of them but terrorism and religious fanaticism has destroyed the market.

A shame – the people were desperate.