I apologize for the lapse in travel updates. We were on our Nile Cruise and the boat had just undergone a renovation (we were the 2nd cruise) and they didn't have the internet hooked up yet. So where to begin... so much!! I have no idea what today is. All I know is that it's October. When did we go to Abu Simbel? Tuesday? Sure.
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| Abu Simbel |
On 3 Oct we flew from Cairo to Aswan,
then continued on Abu Simbel. This site is on Lake Nasser, just 25km from the Sudan border in a region known as Nubia. As we landed in Abu Simbel, we circled and flew over Lake Nasser, built as the result of the construction of the Aswan Damn by Abdul Nasser in the 1960s (this damn was constructed with massive assistance from the USSR. Nearby the damn stands a monument to the Soviet's assistance). As the Nile backed up and formed a lake behind the dam, many ancient temples were covered with water and now rest at the bottom of the lake (in addition to thousands of Nubians who were displaced when their villages were swallowed by the rising waters). Only a few temples were moved to higher ground - Abu Simbel (temple of Ramses II and
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| Aswan High Damn |
Nefertari) and the temple of Philae were among those saved. Another temple that was saved from the inundation now resides in reconstructed form in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Abu Simbel was a must-see on my Egyptian itinerary. The village only has one airport of which the terminal is not much larger than my apartment. As we landed, we saw bunkers in the dunes along the runway, and from within them came the Egyptian air force flying fighter jet patrols over the southern region of the country.
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| Sun Boat IV Lounge |
As for Abu Simbel, holy cow - it was HUGE! And I had no idea how beautiful the inside was. From Abu Simbel, we flew up to Aswan where we boarded our cruise boat,
the Sun Boat IV. In the afternoon took a felucca ride on the Nile. SO RELAXING! The boat was newly renovated. They had a staff of 70, and we were only 20 guests!!
This is what we get for traveling during tourist off-season. We were paired into 2 groups, mostly by age. Our group rocked. We toured everywhere together. We met a couple from LA in our hotel in Cairo, then saw them again on our boat. We hit it off immediately. then we became friends with a couple from London. We were all roughly in our 30's, and a couple from Mexico in their 40s maybe. There were 2 other guys from Atlanta in our group.
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| Temple of Philae |
Our guide was in his 30s, also, and he was fantastic and funny. We've been on lots of cruises, but this was the first time we ever exchanged email addresses to keep in touch and swap photos. The couple from LA are staying in our hotel tonight
(back in Cairo at the end of the trip), so we might meet for a drink later before their late night flight back,
as we decided to stay an extra day in Cairo to unwind.
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| Felucca ride in Aswan |
So on Wednesday we visited the Aswan High Dam
in the morning, then on to the temple of Philae.
This was one of the temples saved from Lake Nasser and placed on an island near the dam.
After Philae, we set sail for Kom Ombo. Cruising down the Nile in the afternoon with the wind in our hair and sun on our shoulders was amazing. Along the shore we saw water buffalo, donkeys, and kids swimming in the river. The river backdrop was palm and date trees set against starkly contrasting desert cliffs.
It was at this portion of our trip that I experienced the most beautiful moment of my life. Standing alone at the helm of the boat, the hot sun
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| Nile shoreline |
beating down on my shoulders, a slight breeze, silence all around, nearby date and palm trees along with tall green grasses growing on the shoreline, starkly set against the fine desert cliffs behind them. Green-on-yellow. Immediately I felt transported back 4000 years. This is the place I've dreamt of my whole life, the experience I wanted, the feeling that I was alone with my thoughts, and that unique scent of Egypt air filling my lungs.
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| Fishermen |
We really began to feel how dependent the entire country is on the river. 97% of the population lives on 3% of the land, all along the Nile. We passed farmers in galabeyas riding their donkey carts, children playing along the shore, and fishermen bringing home dinner. It felt as if things have never changed in 6000 years.
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| Kom Ombo |
Wednesday afternoon we docked at Kom Ombo just before sunset.
Kom Ombo was dedicated to two gods, and the walls were filled with stories and instructions about the practice of medicine in ancient Egypt. Where some of the stones had fallen away, we saw dovetails of 2500-year old wood in between the stones that helped hold the temple walls together. From Kom Ombo we watched the sun set over the western cliffs, then set sail for Edfu.
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| Cleopatra |
Thursday morning brought us to a tour of Edfu, the best-preserved temple in Egypt. So far, Philae, Edfu, Kom Ombo, and later Esna, were all built during Greek rule
under the Ptolemys,
including some of the 7 Cleopatras.
It was at Kom Ombo where I was able to successfully read my first hieroglyphs right off the temple walls. It's where I took a picture of some of these glyphs which later became one of my tattoos. My left wrist holds the cartouche of Cleopatra, which marks the occasion at Kom Ombo. It isn't until we reached Luxor and Karnak were we saw pharonic temples (aside from the pyramids of Saqqara, Giza, Abusir, and Dashur).
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| Horus at Edfu |
After Edfu (which was amazing)
and where I ran into some bats hanging over my head in an entryway, we had lunch and set afternoon sail for Esna. This temple isn't on many cruise itineraries, so when we arrived, we were the only group there. I think it was one of my favorite temples because the colors were still so bright and the entire temple full of so much amazing detail.
In Esna is where I captured some of my favorite photos, as well as video footage of the athan from a nearby mosque echoing off the empty temple walls. It was a haunting yet beautiful sound.
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| Esna |
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| Docking at Luxor |
These temples don't look like much from the outside, but inside they've been shaded from the sun and many are still vibrant with color. After visiting Esna, we sailed through a lock on the Nile, then up to Luxor. This is where we'd spend all of Friday and then this morning (Saturday).
Karnak is the site of Thebes, the former capital of ancient Egypt. The east bank holds the major temples and site of city government and daily life, and the west bank holds the funerary temples and New Kingdom burial grounds, such as the Valley of the Queens, Hatshepsut's Temple, and the Valley of the Kings (including Tutankhamun's tomb).
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