Program 740: Cruising the Nile; Paradise on Earth; Lost Pianos of Siberia

Cruise through five thousand years of history, on the Nile River in Egypt. A tour specialist from Cairo explains how you can do it.

Author Pico Iyer suggests paradise on earth, might be in some of the most unexpected places. He tells us about his sojourns from the Himalayas to Sri Lanka, to experience what South Asia had to show him.

And hear how Sophy Roberts searched for the historic "lost pianos of Siberia," and what she actually found.

It's on the next Travel with Rick Steves.

• Tarek Mousa, proprietor of Egypt and Beyond Travel
• Pico Iyer, author of "The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise" (Penguin-Random House)
• Journalist Sophy Roberts, author of "The Lost Pianos of Siberia" (Grove Press)

• Tarek Mousa operates Egypt and Beyond Travel, which specializes in tours of Egypt, the Middle East, and Morocco.
• Rick's one-hour TV special on Egypt is streaming on demand on the Rick Steves website and on YouTube.
• Pico Iyer writes about how his travels have revealed distinctive views of the world in his book "The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise."
• Pico writes about "The Trouble with Paradise" for the New York Times.
• Pico also spoke with Rick about his search for paradise on Travel with Rick Steves program #717 in June 2023.
• Pico joined us on a number of earlier editions of Travel with Rick Steves. He shared his observations about living in Japan on program #586a in October 2022, and offered a "Beginner's Guide to Japan" on program #576 in September 2019. Pico spoke with Rick on the art of travel writing on program #656 in November 2021, and described how he was faring in pandemic lockdowns on program #611 in August 2020.
• Sophy Roberts describes her search for a decent piano to give to Mongolian pianist Odgerel Sampilnorov in her book "The Lost Pianos of Siberia."
• Sophy and photographer Michael Turek created an exquisite short video to accompany the release of her book. The piano excerpt you hear being played at the end of the program features Odgerel playing on the actual instrument Sophy found for her in Russia.

• CEZ_CET_9065_00201_A_Mighty_Empire_APM
• Instrumental intro to Om Khalthoum, conducted by Ryad El Sonbath, "At Atlal" / Optimum Media (Egypt)
• KOS_KOL_0107_02701_Secret_Cave_APM
• Phil Thornton and Hossam Ramzy, "Sunrise over Giza," Immortal Egypt / New World Music
• DuOud, "Racine d'Enneade," wild serenade / Label Bleu (France)
• Amr Diab, "Habiby Ya Omry," Allem Alby / Mondo Melodia
• * Phil Thornton and Hossam Ramzy, "Sunrise over Giza," Immortal Egypt / New World Music
• SON_SCD_0883_00501_Idyllic Pastoral_A_APM
• Leo Portela, "Bandolero," Buenos Aires-Paris: The Electronic Tango Anthology, disc 1 (collection) / PMB Music (Argentina)
• BRU_BR_0366_00501_Festival_Of_Light_APM
• George Winston, "Night, Pt. 3-Minstrels," December / Windham Hill
• SON_SCD_0637_02501_Kashmir_Vision_A_APM
• Manickam Yogeswaran, "Paradise," Peace for Paradise / beatscience
• B C Smith, "Movienight," Outsourced (soundtrack) / ShadowCatcher Entertainment
• Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner, cond., "Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, op. 18, 3rd movement (Rachmaninoff)," Arthur Rubenstein, Chicago Symphony: Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #2 in C minor / RCA
• * Odgerel Sampilnorov, "Awakened Steppe in C Minor (B. Sharov)," Mongolian Composers Piano Pieces / Hi-Fi Media Group
• Maurice Jarre, "'Main Title' from 'Doctor Zhivago'," Doctor Zhivago (soundtrack) / Watertower
• Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, "In the White Silence: Letter Q," John Luther Adams: In the White Silence / New World Records
• Stephen Kovacevich, "Waltz No. 3 in A minor, op. 34, no. 2 (Chopin)," Essential Chopin, disc 2 (collection) / EMI Classics
• JW_JWV_0386_00301_Siberian_-_Remastered_APM
• Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Kurt Mazur, cond., Jurnjakob Timm, cello, "Variations on a Rococo Theme in A Major, op. 33 (Tchaikovsky)," Schumann Cello Concerto-Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations / Berlin Classics-Deutsche Schallplatten Berlin
• Odgerel Sampilnorov, "Awakened Steppe in C Minor (B. Sharov)," Mongolian Composers Piano Pieces / Hi-Fi Media Group
• Odgerel Sampilnorov, "Nocturne No. 4 (John Field)," (field recording, supplied by Sophy Roberts)

* Indicates filler music used during breaks between segments

• In the open to segment A, Rick mentions that the population of Cairo is greater than 20 million. At 8:18, Rick adds there are 100 million people in Egypt, when asking Tarek what percentage live close to the Nile River. Tarek estimates 70 to 80%, with new cities under construction.
• At 12:20, Tarek estimates Nile cruise tours run from US$200 to 1200 a night, per person.
• Rick calls "The Half Known Life" Pico Iyer's "latest book" in the open to segment B.
• When discussing Kashmir, starting at 29:20, Rick and Pico mention an "intractable" state of war between India and Pakistan, despite its idyllic setting.
• Starting at 32:09, Pico describes his relationship with the Dalai Lama, and describes his visits to Ladakh India "every August."
• In a reset at 33:45, Rick says Pico has written "more than a dozen books" and that his TED Talks have been viewed "more than 11 million times."
• At 36:18, after describing the violent civil war in Sri Lanka, Pico says "it now has subsided."
• Rick notes at 52:15 that a new series of Sophy Roberts' podcast interviews is due to be released soon.