The Garden Ran Down to the Nile

When Thomas Cook opened restrictions to the Nile Valley in 1860, only a handful of travellers had previously ventured into Egypt, a country of unseen landscapes en route to India. Egypt soon became an essential stop in the itinerary of the Grand Tour, often preserved in history by the literary archaeology of Victorian travellers. It was easy to imagine them sitting comfortably in the reading saloons of the fashionable hotels, or reclining in wicker chairs on the decks of their dahabeyahs as they drifted leisurely up the Nile, writing with a flourish their colourful descriptions, without the use of brevity. In the late 1970s, the atmosphere of a vanished era was still in evidence in the European buildings and the few remaining grand hotels of the belle poque. Today, vintage Cairo has all but disappeared under the weight of satellite dishes, a cloud of technology, and a new generation of modern Egyptians. Yet, with all the changes that have taken place throughout the country, it is still possible to relive the charm of a golden era.