Nile Cruise - Day 5 – May 10

Sight-seeing day: mini bus to the High Aswan Dam – very impressive, past the much smaller one built by the Brits variously between 1900 and the 1920s; not high enough to stop a 40 meter flood, so a larger one had to be built. Big Egyptian-Soviet monument; the most military we’ve seen – the High Dam is regarded as a military installation and appropriately guarded (tanks, Hummers, AKs). Then we took a small motor boat to the island of Agilika, where the lovely Temple of Philae was moved to. This whole area (Nubia) was vastly affected by the creation of Lake Nasser and by the movement of the Egyptian temples to higher ground in advance of the waters. Dozens of temples were saved by the joint efforts of UNESCO and many (40?) countries who worked from the early 1960s to 1971 when the lake reached full depth. The temples were cut onto blocks, each block numbered, a new higher place was found for them – preferably in a comparable location, then they were moved block by block until they look like they had been built there – remarkable!

The Temple of Philae is maybe smaller than many, but in very good condition and quite lovely. Although it’s late period (mostly Roman), during the move they found remains of much earlier temples underneath, showing it had been an important place for worship for many thousands of years. Also interesting, there is a smallish side temple built by Hadrian, completely in the Egyptian style – as opposed to all the many triumphal arches built across the empire by other Emperors – Libya etc. – which are all entirely Roman. Presumably this appreciation of the local architecture shows that the Romans held the Egyptian traditions in some esteem.

Then back to the boat for lunch and a rest. We five decided we wanted to see the “unfinished obelisk” in situ in the red marble quarry, where a fault was noticed before it was completed. Then on to the wonderful Nubian Museum, recipient of the Aga Khan’s architecture award: a museum which tells the story of Nubian culture using photos from late 19^th century/early 20^th century excavations as well as from the 1960s when archeologists struggled to document village life and lesser temples before they were lost to Lake Nasser. 100,000 Nubians were displaced by the waters. In addition to this more contemporary history, Nubians figured prominently in Egyptian history – both as foes (and salves), as a source of gold and ivory, and briefly as pharaohs (for 100 years). You can plainly differentiate between various vanquished foes on the walls of the temples, through hair, nose size and other details.

Back to the boat and we walked along the cornice for a bit: saw a group of very proud, giggly young women celebrating their university graduation (grad caps on top of burqas!)

Our last dinner culminated with the crew presenting us with a huge pink cake and music and dancing again – very nice!

Gerry

Nile Cruise Day 3 - May 8

Breakfast and then on shore to tour the ancient quarry and the temple at Gebel Silsila. Very interesting learning how the huge blocks were cut out with stone and copper/bronze tools and shipped hundreds of miles to Giza, Luxor and other places…The tombs of the architects and workers had been damaged by the flooding Nile and later by Coptic Christians fleeing persecution…

The sails came up as we left and we had a wonderful lazy afternoon of sailing along the Nile, being passed by the big cruise ships (in both directions). We found a sandbank later on for a swim in the surprisingly cold river (no crocodiles south of the Aswan Dam!). Very pleasant. A couple of locals wanted to take a photo of us with them! Sailing slowly northwards we reached Kom Ombo, with its important crocodile temple. There’s even a brand new Crocodile Museum, but it’s closed waiting its official opening by the (former and now under charges of extortion) Minister of Antiquities! Apparently thousands of crocs used to laze about on the nearby island and the temple was to keep the locals safe (or appease the gods?).

We stopped for dinner on a sandy island and a BBQ was set up, our heavy tables and chairs carried down and we ate on the sands, surrounded by surprisingly docile white dogs, the moon and stars overhead (until a bright light was attached to the mast). After dinner the crew entertained us with some raucous Egyptian folk music and dancing – and of course we all joined in the dancing!

Nile Cruise Day 4 – May 9

A day of pure laziness and sailing north to end at Aswan. After dinner we’ll go and explore the souq (“the best outside Cairo”). A little sunbathing, a lot of nothing much! Time to catch up on the log and for Anna and Colin’s stinking colds to (hopefully!) run their course. Just passed under a new bridge outside Aswan and watched some boys “watering”, or tormenting!, a couple of donkeys. So many scenes really haven’t changed in thousands of years…

Well, the souq was nice, but hardly worthy of its reputation – just a long street of booths selling mostly spices and herbs. Nice enough but lacking the variety of other souqs we’ve seen around the Islamic world. Glad we didn’t wait to buy my coffee pot or Anna’s hammer!

Back to the boat and the party that threatened to go on all night (either a wedding or a graduation) actually ended around 11 pm.

Gerry

More about Egyptian antiquities!

Nile Cruise Day 2, May 7

What a way to travel (one might say the only way to travel) on the Nile! The boat is all wood with 10 cabins on the lower deck, plus a dinning room/salon where we haven’t eaten yet. The deck is big and covered with a woven grass awning and has plenty of chairs, divans, small tables and dominoes and cards. There’s a large table in the middle where 9 of us eat: we three, the Americans and our English-speaking guide Ishmael, and the 2 Austrians and their German-speaking guide. The large, motorized cruise boats make the trip in 2-3 days; we are taking 5.

After finishing my log last night I turned off the light at around 10 and was lulled off to sleep until after 5 am! I dozed some more and went up on deck after 6. We departed around 7 once the decks had been swabbed and the furniture polished and the glass tops cleaned! and breakfast was at 8 (a platter of cheeses, tahine, pita, fruit, yogurt…). Still not enough wind to sail, but we’re promised later!

We passed the ancient capital of Upper Egypt, but all that was visible was mud brick walls. Then on to Edfu, where we docked for a trip to the (best preserved Egyptian) Temple of Horus – built in the Ptolemaic period (ie around 300 BC). One reason for its state of preservation is that it was completely buried in sand until it was rediscovered by a Frenchman in the 1860s. We had horse-drawn carriages waiting for us; I went in the front and had to drive for a period! By chance or otherwise, we got to the temple as the early-morning tours were leaving (there were several of the motor cruise ships docked as well (they take from 60 to a couple of hundred passengers), so we largely had the temple to ourselves, except at the end when a large local party arrived. Because most of the temple columns and ceiling is in place, it is much cooler than the open-air temples of yesterday, and although we were there from noon to 1:30 or so, we weren’t as exhausted as yesterday!

Time for a quick freshen-up and then lunch was served: rice and fried Nile perch and tahine which comes with everything and is much nicer than I remember it being at home! Fresh fruit for desert. Then they finally put up the huge sails – one forward and one aft, big triangular sails. At first we kept the tug as well, but later on we went on our own power, until the winds dropped and the tug rejoined us and the sails went down. But so lovely! We’ve spent the afternoon relaxing, reading, a little dozing, taking photos of the Nile and its people… It’s now 6:10 and the sun has set behind the low sandy hills (the strip of fertile land is quite narrow) and we seem to be coming up on an island we might be stopping the night at…Actually, not an island but the ancient sandstone quarries and temple at Gebel Silsila. Colin and Tim went ashore to get a head start on the rest of us by flashlight; we waiting till the next day. Dinner under the sliver of a new moon was pasta and meat and several salads, with a local pudding to follow (rather like soggy corn flakes but nicer than that!).

Gerry