"Welcome to Amwaj."

As soon as those greeting left the speakers on the lounge, a whirlwind of Chinese tourists with cameras hanging on the neck and a group of middle-aged Brits with an Egyptian tourist guide began to rush by. I looked to my travel partners, Uja and Carmen and asked somewhat frantically, "Where is the room?"

Uja scanned the row of rooms near to the lounge and looking for our room number. Carmen was talking to one of the staff, asking about the Wi-Fi. Apparently, we have to pay USD25 for 250MB of Internet connections. 

Expensive. Crazy expensive.

Three personalities and three-days on a luxurious cruise with only USD15 for a night resulted in a memorable journey in one of Egypt's most iconic landscapes.

After we tore through the streets of Luxor, the sudden honk of Amwaj Cruise took us by surprise and the three of us settled by the window at our room. It felt like seconds later that we were staring at a bucolic scenery along the Nile River, smoothly cruising as we waved to the locals and some kids taking bath and playing cannonball onto the water. We were heading to Aswan with hopes to have incredible gateway within the land of Pharaohs.

The beauty of the Amwaj Cruise as it takes you through a review of what to expect throughout your journey. They have stationed a few of guides that were expert with the old histories of Luxor and Aswan as well as the guide of the cruise itself. 

The cruise slowly cutting the water beneath, providing huge glimpses of small villages by the bank of the river as well as small city as we passed by. Huge chandeliers hanging by our head as we climbed the stairs to the upper deck.

As we walked to the dining hall, there were lots of people from different countries. I could hear accents from all over the world - everything from a loving Russian couple that were on their honeymoon, a band of middle-aged Brits, two families that were speaking in fast French language as well as a few groups of Chinese by the food tables. The assortment of different languages hovered in the humid air and left me feeling a sense of contentment.

The hot summer days are easy to enjoy when you're on a cruise. I spent my afternoon in the room, while Carmen and Uja went to the upper deck along with some people that we met along the journey.

The cruise provides an easy and rather long journey to our intended place but it's an experience for me while I am in Egypt. As the birds flew high in the sky and the cruise went smoothly in a steady pace, I found myself taking another deep breath to face the upcoming three days in anticipation. 

See ya, Aswan.