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Published: June 21st 2009
Carriage Ride ot Edfu Temple
Chester got to drive some. Her butt didn;t fit in the back so she had to sit on top.Day 7
Today we woke early as it was a special day. It was Chester’s B-day. And if any of you have spent a B-day with Chester you know she has to have her day. Thankfully it was a fun filled day thanks to our guide Ahmed. We started with a horse drawn carriage ride to the Edfu Temple. This sounds like a nice quiet romantic thing to do but when every person on every cruise in port that day is doing the same thing, as apparently there are not enough vans and buses, it is a bit hectic and smelly. So with Chester taking the reins, we are off. Upon arrival with the other thousands of visitors, we pushed and shoved our way into the temple. This temple was preserved amazingly well as it had been completely buried in sand for thousands of years with houses built on top of it. This temple, as with many of the others, was built with the same style but the etchings and carvings were in amazing condition and almost completely preserved. With every temple visit our guide gave us more trivial information into the meaning, mythology and stories of the gods in which
Horse Carriages at Edfu Temple
Sure not problem, we can tell our horse and carriage from the next when we come back. they were built. But if you want to know all the specifics, as half the time when Ahmed was speaking we were taking pictures, you will have to buy the book.
As the day was starting to heat up we got back on the horse carriage and headed back to the boat to relax until evening. We sailed to Kom-Ombo Temple. We had some time on the boat to get some sun, in which it was in abundance. We sunned ourselves with all the Italians on the boat, Momar Khadafi was there, too. He does a good job of blending in with the general public. His Italian accent is excellent to complete the charade. We docked at the port and walked to the massive Kom-Ombo Temple. Again, the temple was impressive, very well preserved and full of history and stories from Ahmed. The late day sun is even more brutal than the afternoon so once we walked the grounds we headed back to the boat. The ubiquitous honking of cars is followed by peddlers on the street selling the same stuff: jewelry, scarves, etc. This town however had a serious police presence and rounded up young boys who did
not follow the rules. While we were waiting to board our boat an officer dragged two boys to the small guard post near the cruise boat. Through the windows we could see the officers yelling at the boys and then slapping them around a bit. I guess you don’t hawk your goods on the wrong side of the street in this town. Not 5 minutes later another officer was hauling even 2 younger boys to the guard post. They were already crying, so we figured it would help lesson the beating if you were crying before hand.
Before dinner, there was a traditional Egyptian band performing in the lounge. We headed up there for a little entertainment and to watch the Italians embarrass themselves. As four members played instruments the oldest gentlemen grabbed audience members, wrapped a scarf around their butt and taught them the authentic dance. Chester was the third audience member to get pulled on stage to dance and of course she had to add her own flair to the performance. She shimmied around the Egyptian shaking her shoulders and her back side. We don’t think he was prepared to have someone steal the show from him.
Edfu Temple
Chester killing time Chester was just secretly glad the scarf fit around her ass. The dancing culminated with a basically huge Egyptian Congo line the snaked through the entire lounge. Of course Chester was right behind the leader and Kirsten followed. Where were Betty and Judy? When the dancer started pulling others from the audience, they bolted for the doors and remained outside so as not to be involved. It was quite sad and pathetic, but boy is Betty fast!
We finally had some authentic Egyptian food on the ship. Most all the food we have had at our hotels and cruise has been continental, so it was nice to have something real. A few days before Chester’s birthday, Kirsten informed Ahmed it was Chester’s bday. So after dinner, the lights in the dinning room dimmed and the waiters grabbed their instruments and started singing. Ahmed grabbed Chester and the rest of the girls (even Betty and Judy could not run this time) and danced and paraded them around the jealous Italians. They brought out a beautiful cake for Chester’s birthday and they sang happy birthday in Arabic, English and Italian. These traditional songs when sung in Egypt seem to last for
The gang
Hanging in the shade at Edfu Temple. Judy, Kirsten, Chester and Betty. Inscriptions on the walls read like a novel if you can read them. ever. We were dancing around the dinning room for at least 15 minutes. It was a lovely moment for Chester even as she blew out her candle on the cake that read, “Happy Brithday”. It is the thought that counts and it was very nice while provided a laugh as well. The evening was complete with a few drinks back in the lounge.
Day 8
This was the last full day on the boat. We had 2 excursions this day, one in the morning and one in the early evening. First was, wait for it . . . another temple. It was really cool though, the temple not the weather. For over half of the year, this temple would be half way under water, plus the government was building a dam that would cause this temple to be completely submerged under water. So with a race against the dam being finished, they moved the temple piece by piece to higher ground so it would be saved. It had a great history and was well persevered because it was under water. We also got to see the new damn that was funded by the USSR. When it was completed in
created Lake Victoria which is the biggest man made lake in the world and extends to Somalia. It is the primary water and power supply for Egypt and many surrounding countries.
The afternoon excursion was an extra one that was not included in our original itinerary. The four of us took off with Ahmed by a small motor boat and first headed to a botanical garden. It was very beautiful and relaxing. After the garden we headed to another stop where we would ride camels to the last original Nubian Village. While heading to the camels, a couple of young boys in a small, primitive canoe paddled toward us and hooked onto our boat. They asked if we were Italian, German, and then said English. We said yes and then they sang a beautiful version of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”. They unhooked before we even had a chance to applaud them. I think they are the only ones who didn’t want or wait around for a tip from us.
We made it to the camels and all rode them to the Nubian Village. Camels are not fun, the saddle is not comfortable and they really do not
More etchings
There's a story behind this. Komombo Temple smell good. However, Betty and Judy had a great time, even though Judy had to be coaxed into getting on the animal. The Nubian village was quite primitive and we walked through the school and learned the Arabic alphabet, and Ahmed even taught us how to write our names in Arabic. At the end of the visit, Ahmed took us inside the home of one of the villagers so we could see how they live. It was very interesting and eye opening. They even had crocodiles in a small enclosure in the house. Kirsten and Chester were brave enough to hold the tiny crocs and Kirsten even chased Judy around the room with it. The boat ride back to our cruise was very relaxing and we knew we had had experience the most we could on our days on the Nile. This also signaled the last day of Betty and Judy’s trip. They would be heading back to Nebraska and California early the next day. Which means only one thing for Kirsten and Chester, no more knocking in their door in the morning.
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