A Soothing Aromatherapy trip on the Nile

It was in the Eighties that we went in for making fragrant gifts. We had been to Florida and while there my wife had bought a fragrant rope for the kitchen made with cinnamon, we started making fragrant gifts based on the same idea, and we were very successful.

This led to an interest in aromatherapy and we looked into the subject with the possibility of selling different natural oils to soothe and relax. The answer to our questions seemed to be in the advertisement for a trip on the Nile studying oils and there usage. It was a more expensive trip than normal, three times more expensive! But we were to have a professor with us all the time, to give lectures and explain everything. To visit factories, and have business drinks meetings etc.

One day I will blog about the aromatherapy, but this is about being soothed? And studying and learning in a calm atmosphere. First the company we were going with went out of business, but we were saved by a major holiday company who took on the responsibility of four men and twenty seven women studying aromatherapy oils. Now I should have heard the warning bells at that point but I didn’t.

The trip started in Cairo at the Hilton - and we were to go to the Cairo Museum to view the Egyptian Artefacts on the first full day. For this trip we needed to have an 6:00am breakfast and be in the coach by 7:30am. I am interested in everything as well as oils but I didn’t quite see the link. By 8:30! We were assembled and in the coach. We were early for the museum and had to wait outside for twenty minutes for it to open at 9:00am. Possibly at this point you might be doing a little maths! Yes, the museum was ten minutes walk from the hotel. Actually we went around a square as the museum was next door – a keep us all together plan! – Needless to say we walked back. Again I should have heard the warning bells but I didn’t.

We had come to study aromatherapy oils so we flew to the Aswan Dam (a bit low on water – mentioned for a reason). One of its claims to fame was that the interior was used for a James Bond film, to create the inside of a volcano or something. Then embark for a cruise down the Nile visiting places of interest. This was to be very restful and informative, and we were on the very latest Nile Cruise Boat. We saw plenty of birds, Green Herons, Senegal Thick-knees, Black Kites, Egyptian Vultures, these last seemed to have an eye on me, A couple of stops to go ashore, and then through the Luxor locks.

Now when the water is low in the Nile and you are on the biggest and newest Nile boat things can go wrong! We got stuck. ‘Would everybody please go to the back of the boat,’ we obliged. ‘Will everybody now go to the front of the boat,’ everybody obliged. ‘Please don’t use the swimming pool as we are going to empty it!’ – ‘We are now filling the pool,’ the Nile does smell a bit and they used it to fill the pool. By now the crowds had gathered on the lock side giving helpful hints!

Eventually we got through and went to the quay at the river side; here we disembarked onto a coach. We were not sure why, and some of our ladies decided to remain on board, they joined us at the Luxor Hilton lounge. They announced. ‘The boat sank!’ That wasn’t exactly true, it had settled on a sand bank with the prop shaft leaking, and the lower decks were flooded. My wife and I were on a top deck so nothing was soaked in Nile water. But they put us all on another boat moored beside the Luxor Hilton to await our luggage the next day!

The next morning I was eventually told we would be sent to different hotels, however by this time the group had already gone on a trip to visit the Valley of the Kings and Queens. Fortunately by now I was learning more than the use oils. I had stayed in the hotel to check what was to come. By the time I had finished with the management our group was to remain in the Luxor Hilton. Margaret and I had a superior room, with Nile views, a large balcony with access to the garden and the river, also a large bowl of fresh fruit in our room, at no extra cost. Our luggage was finally delivered to our room. I resolved to go to the places we didn’t see the next day; done simply by going on our own tour of the sights of two days in one day. Quicker than a coach loaded with thirty odd people.

I should say we had very attentive staff from then on. I’ll blog more another time.