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Published: March 12th 2008
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Sailing up the Nile was very relaxing and it gave me a chance to chill out and spend some time going through photos and writing the blog in between temple visits. Also, the further south we got the higher the temperature became and we were able to start spending more time out on deck watching the world go by. Drifting upriver, we passed through small towns and cities that were always preceded and followed by several kilometres of industrial buildings - factories, brickworks etc. But, as soon as these had passed by the landscape gave way again to farmlands and small villages where people lived beside the Nile in a manner very similar to those that lived here thousands of years ago when the Pharaohs ruled.
Not too long after leaving Luxor, we passed through the Esna Lock - this was quite interesting as the lock can take very large boats and the rate at which the water level rises and falls is incredible - the other interesting things is the "water markets" that materialize as soon as a vessel stops to wait it's turn to proceed - thirty or forty rowing boats with local guys selling everything from scarves,
rugs, towels and other trinkets attach themselves to the boat and throw their wares up to the passengers on deck while yelling out their prices and spiels - inevitably things get accidentally thrown into the river when the tourists try and "return" the unwanted goods which always leads to a response worth watching from the seller.
That night we moored at Edfu, but didn't leave the Melodie as we would be visiting again on our way back to Luxor. The next morning had a late breakfast and a lazy day before heading out to Kom Ombo Temple for a self-guided tour just before sunset. The temple of Kom Ombo was built by the Ptolemy line of Graeco-Roman Pharaohs (the first Ptolemy was a general in Alexander the Great's army) and is interesting for a few reasons; firstly it is dedicated to two gods - the falcon god Haroeris and the crocodile god Sobek - as such, everything comes in twos - two entrances, two halls and two inner temples. It is also in a particularly beautiful location as it sits right on the bank of the Nile and is surrounded by farmland; and finally it has some very interesting
hieroglyphs - one of which shows evidence of some very early surgical tools and medical instruments.
After walking around the temple we made our way to the riverbank where a number of stalls were selling all sorts of souvenirs, costume jewelry and other junk - as we had a fancy dress party that night, we decided to take a look and spent some time deciding what we should wear as costumes. After deciding on a "local" theme, I began haggling with the store owners to get the best deal I could - after forty five minutes beating them down from their exorbitant starting point we headed up to a local cafe for a sheesha (water pipe) and ice cream. Later that evening we had the fancy dress party and Janice looked fantastic!! Several of the Egyptian crew commented that Cleopatra had returned.
The next morning we arrived in Aswan, a strategically important city since Egypt's wars with the Nubians in ancient times and now a very laid back and picturesque place that serves as a jumping off point to one of Egypt's star attractions; the incredible Temple of Abu Simbel. Our first stop was the Temple of Philae,
one of the monuments saved from flooding through a remarkable feat of modern engineering. During the construction of the Aswan High Dam, the government realized that many of Egypt's historic sites would soon be underwater and went to the international community for help to assist in their preservation, Thanks to financial donations and the engineering skills of many countries, monuments such as Philae Temple, Abu Simbel and many other sites were saved - the story of the project to deconstruct and reconstruct these amazing structures thousands of years old is incredible in and of itself.
Also a temple from the Graeco-Roman era, the most remarkable thing about Philae is that it was the site where the last Egyptian hieroglyphics were carved in Hadrian's Gate on 24th August, 394 A.D. Leaving the crowds at Philae, we headed back into Aswan to pay a visit to the Nubian Museum. This very well laid out and organized museum was created by the Egyptian government as a "thank you" to the 800,000 Nubian people who were displaced and whose homeland was submerged with the creation of Lake Nasser in 1971. While it was a very good museum, I'm not sure that the Nubians
Crocodile God Sobek
Sobek was the local crocodile god in this region of the Nile would consider it adequate 'payment'....... Decided to take a stroll along the corniche and watch the feluccas make their way up and down the Nile between the cruise ships and river boats making their way in and out of port. Then it was time to check out the bazaar - this pedestrian area in Aswan is filled with all manner of stalls and the shop owners try every trick in the book to get you inside - including grabbing you and forcibly dragging you into the store. As we weren't really in the mood for this we made our way back to the boat for dinner so we could get an early night and prepare for our 3.30am wake up call and trip to Abu Simbel.
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Craig Goldsmith
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Another great entry
Great stuff Dan, nice collection of photos and commentary, you've put my to shame I've only managed one published entry and that was the flight over, I need to get my act together!