Angela Rogers is describing a boat trip which she took with her husband down the Nile.
It was the summer of last year when we went. It was a special package holiday which included three days in Cairo, and a week cruising down the Nile. It sounded lovely in the brochure. Relaxing, luxurious, delicious food—all the unusual things. And the boat looked nice in the picture. In fact when we got there, and on the boat, it was exactly the opposite of luxurious. It was positively uncomfortable. It was too small to be comfortable. And too hot. The only air-conditioning was from the wind, and inside, in the cabins, it was too hot to sleep, and the dining room was stifling.
My husband and I paid the special rate for the best cabin. I’m glad we didn’t have to stay in the worst one. The cabins were very poorly equipped; there wasn’t even a mirror, or a socket for a hair drier, or even a point for the electric razor. There was a shower, but the water pressure wasn’t high enough to use it. The cabin was badly designed as well. There wasn’t enough room to move. The beds took up three quarters of the space.
The brochure also talked about the mouth-watering French cuisine available on board, but you could hardly call it food. It was boring, and practically inedible. There was nothing to do, really. There was a table-tennis table, but one bat was broken. In the daytime the decks were so crowded, there wasn’t even enough room to sit. We did stop now and then for a swim, but who wants to swim in that filthy river I certainly didn’t.
