well, this trip sounds way more plausible than Troy/Iliad story. And Troy was discovered based on folk tales more or less. So who knows, may be Egyptians did it.
Second this, it is the first thing that comes to mind whenever I hear about this voyage. Gives a very bright picture of the ancient world, and it is also a great story of love and friendship.
ps: for Russian speaking crowd: there is a YA book https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Land_of_Foam which is a fiction version of would-be such a trip.