Luxor4u

GREAT CANAL JOURNEYS was on CH 4 tonight on the Nile Repeated on More 4 on Wednesday at 9 00pm

A review of this episode:

Great Canal Journeys, Sunday 7th October, 8pm, Channel 4


The days are getting shorter, we’ve all had to stick the heating on and Brexit continues to drive the nation apart, but Tim and Pru are back, so all is right with the world. This time, they’re off to Egypt, to sail along the Nile.

Feel the dry desert breeze from the Sahara and contemplate 5,000 years of human history in the magical land of the pharaohs.

Our heroes are sailing along a 150-mile stretch of the Nile. It might be pushing it a bit to claim that a 4,000 mile river qualifies as a ‘canal’, but when you’re surrounded by this much culture, history and beauty, who’s going to quibble. Besides, I don’t care if Tim and Pru sail back-and-forth from one end of Dingle Reservoir to the other for a week, I’d still watch them.

Pru, whose gentle decline into memory loss has been sensitively documented in previous series, seems as perky as ever. “Some days I don’t know if it’s Monday or Lewisham,” she quips. Meanwhile Tim frets as to whether it’s fair to take her on these trips. But the mention of Egypt seems to enthuse both of them, which is Tim’s cue to start quoting Anthony and Cleopatra. He does love a good quote, our Tim! He promises Pru a ‘poop of beaten gold’. I did one of them once. I think it was a surfeit of carrots.

It may not have a poop of beaten gold, but the Nour El Nil barge they are travelling on is positively regal in its splendour; a huge, flat-bottomed floating palace with a crew of 12 and 70-foot sails. First port of call is Karnak, with its fabulous ancient temple. Mind you, you get the impression every hamlet in Egypt has its own fabulous temple. They’re like Egypt’s version of Pret a Manger.

Then it’s on to their hotel for the night, The Winter Palace. It seems an odd name for a hotel in the middle of endless scorching desert, a bit like building a hotel called The Palm Oasis in Antarctica or Sunshine View in Manchester. Mind you, if you have a room with a balcony overlooking the Nile and the Valley of the Kings, I suppose you can call it whatever you want.

The programme sees them visit some spectacular temples (natch!) including one which is filled with mummified crocodiles, who have hung on to their air of brooding menace despite having been dead for 2500 years. They visit Aswan, where they try a shisha pipe (“I’m rather enjoying it. Can you give me another toke,” says a cheerful Pru). Meanwhile, in the nearby bazaar, a trader offers Tim some Egyptian herbal Viagra. “Fifteen minutes, you’re like a horse,” claims the enthusiastic retailer. Thankfully, we don’t then cut to a shot of Tim on all fours, in a field, enjoying a meal of grass and hay.

As ever, among the history and humour, there is a pervading heir of gentle melancholy which gives this series such beauty. There are references to how much longer they can keep going on these magnificent trips, and after giving us a lifetime of entertainment, they have earned their rest. But oh, not yet, Tim and Pru. Not yet.

https://www.saga.co.uk/magazine/enterta ... l-journeys

I've just watched this using Channel Four's catch up All4. I have to say it's one of the best programmes on the Nile I've ever seen. Plenty of detail and history with expert guides. I was amazed how open Tim West was about Pru's dementia.

I'll post the You Tube version when it becomes available.

It certainly won't do any harm to the Dahabiyas' looking for punters.
That's travellers with deep pockets....

Who2 wrote:It certainly won't do any harm to the Dahabiyas' looking for punters.
That's travellers with deep pockets....

Unless a TV channel is picking up the tab, I doubt many could aford a dahabiya all to themselves

Nice way to do the Nile though. Avoids those naff galabeya parties!

Nice way to do the Nile though. Avoids those naff galabeya parties!

Oh I don't know about that the 'traditional' boatman’s song performed by the crew sounded exactly like the 'traditional' song performed by the hot air balloon crews to me I suppose they apply the term 'pilot' very loosely

Was a great program. I think they are a lovely couple. We have watched all the earlier series and were very pleased to catch this one.

I always cringe when Tim is steering the barges, he must have hit every lock gate between the Trent & Mersey to the Kenet & Avon canal and everything in between.

I loved the programme when then entered my home turf, the pool of Little Venice on the Regents Canal.
As they passed 'the bucket of blood now renamed
The Waterway 'Bistro-style gastropub with Modern European menu, terrace and large windows overlooking the canal.

They both stated that they felt worried upon entering London "and they both live in 'wait for it' .....'Wandsworth! lol.
They had already passed through Hayes, Southall, Harlesden hardly our W2 & W9.

And let's be honest here, The Nile is a rather 'large canal, by any stretch of.....'imho...
'Zambezi rapids next!