In 1997 one of the greatest adventures of my life began - the trip to Egypt which would give birth to my novel "Whispers in the Sand". I am no expert photographer but with subjects so photogenic one cannot really go wrong!
AS you read the book you will see that my 2 heroines, Louisa and Anna, follow the route that we took on our cruise up the Nile in common with millions of tourists over the years.
We sailed from Luxor to Aswan and these snaps will, perhaps, give you an idea of the fantastic places we -- and my characters -- visited on their adventures.
We started in Luxor and I woke at 6 AM on the first day to this view of the Nile from the cabin window.
The first place a tourist visits, whether in 1860 like Louisa, or 1997 like Anna, is the Valley of the Kings. A page from my album:
Eventually we returned to the boat and cruised on up the river - a magical experience. This chap's little boat was full of alfalfa which he was taking across the river to feed his animals.
This was fun! The caleche in which we travelled to Edfu Temple.
That's me at the reins and behind me in the white hat my travelling companion Carole Blake (Literary Agent Extraordinaire).
The temple of Edfu is vast - look at the scale of the carvings on the walls.
The god Horus as a falcon.
Feluccas moored near our boat at Edfu.
After Edfu we went on to Kom-Ombo
A page from my scrap book of river views.
Both Louisa and Anna go to visit the quarry on the way towards Aswan, and there they see the huge unfinished obelisk lying abandoned.
Our arrival at Aswan.
Arriving at Aswan was in a sense sad as that was the most southerly point of our cruise, but it was also a stepping off point for the next part of the journey.
From Aswan to Abu Simbel we went by bus leaving the boat at 4.00am in order to experience sun rise in the desert. I can't resist including here my description of this moment from my novel.
"The loom of light in the east was very bright, increasing every second. Above them the stars, which earlier had seemed close enough to touch, had all but disappeared.Two or three small flatclouds reflected a touch of red for a moment, hanging motionless over them, then first the colour and then the clouds themselves vanished.
Anna reached for Toby's hand. She was shivering. "It's as though the whole world is holding its breath."
He nodded. "Watch. Any minute now."
They stood in silence, their eyes fixed on the increasing brightness as around them more and more features of the desert came into focus and the light grew stronger. There was something inexorable, almost menacing in the inevitability of it all as suddenly the rim of the sun erupted blindingly over the horizon.
Anna caught her breath, inexplicably moved to tears by the beauty of the moment as it rose visibly highter. WIthin seconds she could no longer look and she turned instead to stare around as the light flooded towards them and on across the desert towards the far horizon."
By now I was almost overwhelmed with the excitement, romance and inspiration of the journey, my notebook and camera constantly in my hand. But arriving at last at the temples of Abu Simbel was another extraordinary experience. I was aware of course, that they had been moved, but as you can tell from the novel the atmosphere inside was amazing and, to my mind, in spite of the crowds it was sinister. Sadly I have no pictures of the inside, but this is what you see as you approach:
At the end of the book Louisa and Anna arrive at Philae.
Louisa seeing the temple of Isis and the Kiosk of Trajan in their original setting, Anna viewing them where they have been repositioned on higher ground, safely above the glittering blue waters.
