Relaxing Amid the Ruins

27.03.2018 - 27.03.2018 

 

View When We Woke Up

The distance between Aswan and Luxor on the river is only about 120 miles, and as we were traveling with the current, there was not much ground to cover. As such, the riverboats that ply between the two cities spend more time moored at each end than on the water. In port, travelers use them as hotels, and base land tours out of them. This day, however, would be our only true day on the river. We departed Aswan around 3:00am, but none of us knew it, as it was so quiet. When we went to bed, we had been moored along side another ship. Whereas Barbara's cabin faced the river and a beautiful view of Elephantine Island, we were butted up against a stateroom on the neighboring side, complete with a Chinese man who had not bothered to close his curtains. I looked out before bed the night before, and he was there in his underwear for the world to see. Well, when i woke up this morning, I opened the curtain and was very pleasantly surprised to see an idyllic Egyptian scene roll by, with flat vistas of papyrus fields, cows, and and palm trees. We had been told to try and get up to watch us pull into our first port before breakfast, which was Kom Ombo. As if on cue, we started to turn toward the small town, and we had perfect views onto the temple there, which is directly alongside the river, across from the small port.

Arriving at Kom Ombo

As soon as we were done with breakfast, our group assembled with Friday, we disembarked, and walked essentially across the street and into the temple complex. It is dedicated to the gods Sobek and Haeroris. We were the only ship in port, as well as the first group off the ship, so we had the place to ourselves for a while. Friday continued to show that he was an excellent tour guide, and did an outstanding job of trying to expand upon our basic understanding of Egyptian history, particularly how many temples we would be visiting -- such as this one -- which were actually built by the Greeks, in the Egyptian style, when they occupied the area after the fall of the pharoahonic dynasties. This stop also included a separate museum dedicated to crocodile mummies, as the temple is partly dedicated to the god of crocodiles. Go figure. Though small, it was well done and neat to see. No pictures, however, were allowed.

Temple of Kom Ombo

As was and would remain the routine, upon exiting, we had to run the gauntlet of souvenir vendors. Here we also encountered a man with cobras, who had been "charming" them when we arrived. He was offering -- for a tip, of course -- to let people hold and "wear" the snakes, and Anna did not hesitate. She again said, "when will I get this chance again?," and matched right up to do it. Aside from taking pictures, I had no desire to get involved, however. Our boat was going to depart as soon as all the groups were back on. I had eyed a t-shirt or some trinket, and elected at the last minute to go back. As I quickly retraced my steps, I saw that almost all of the stalls had already shuttered. We were obviously the only tourists, so as soon as we left and until the next boat, there was no reason to remain open. When one man saw me returning, he quickly raised the alarm, and almost comically all of the shops miraculously sprang back to life. Alas, all I wanted was a t-shirt or two. The man didn't have the size I wanted, and I knew the ship was going to be waiting solely on me before too long. He sent a boy off to find the right size while I unsuccessfully tried to get the man to agree to a price. I started back toward the ship, afraid of holding everyone up. The man followed behind me, shortly followed up by the young boy, who had sprinted back with the correctly sized shirt. I offered the man a price for two, well above what i thought they were worth but far below what he was asking, which started somewhere around $50. As I approached a tourist police checkpoint, outside of the port area, he pleaded with me to stop, saying he couldn't go any further. I repeated my price and walked away. In desperation he called back one last time and agreed to my price. As I handed him the money, he tried to raise it again. I turned to leave, but he handed me the shirts. Even though I'd bought something, I still felt guilty. Friday was waiting for me at the entry door, and I hadn't been back on board for more than a couple minutes before they pulled in the gangway and we were off again.

We had a new towel sculpture everytime we left the room

On the Nile, Between Kom Ombo and Edfu

Our next stop would be after lunch, so we had the remainder of the morning to lounge and enjoy ourselves. The girls sat around the pool, while the three adults decided to get massages, which were given in a private cabana erected at the rear of the top sundeck. Barbara and K went first, and I followed for a full-hour, full-body massage, which I have to say felt quite decadent but imminently relaxing after all our activity to date.



While eating lunch, we moored in the small city of Edfu, with its large temple complex dedicated to the god Horus. Edfu was far, far larger than Kom Ombo, and we had to take horse-drawn carriages to reach the temple complex, situated above the city, above the ancient flood plain. Friday prepped us before we left, telling us that our carriage drivers would expect tips, but only at the end of the return trip. He also cautioned us against the aggressive salesmen. The closer we got to Luxor, which proved to be the center of tourism, with the most aggressive vendors, the harder it was to deal with all the people hawking wares and asking for tips. The dock area was crowded with a long line of carriages -- most of them very old and in varying states of repair -- pulled by small horses. As we were surrounded by people trying to sell us various things or offer various services, Friday quickly lined up carriages for us and assigned us numbers. The three of us had our own carriage, with K and I sitting in the covered part while Anna sat up front with the driver, who didn't look much older than she. Before long, he handed her the reigns and she "drove" us the remainder of the 10-minute-or-so ride through town to the temple. It provided us our first chance to see, truly, how the local were living. I laugh in hindsight, as when we were loading up into the carriage at the dock, a salesman leaned into the carriage and started telling us about his wonderful shop up at the temple. Telling us which stall he occupied, wanting us to promise to visit, and then forcing his card into my hand. As soon as we reached the temple area, and pulled into an unloading area for carriages, that same man immediately reappeared and said, "hi, remember me?" I'm not sure how he managed to beat us up there, but he was nothing if not persistent. I had already left his card on the floor of the carriage. He picked it up, forced it back in my hand, and told me I must have forgotten it.






We had to walk through the vendor area to reach the ticket area. It was one salesman after another, and none of us were relishing the walk back through afterwards. It was, too, extremely hot by now. Another 100-degree-plus afternoon. Friday had equipped us all with plenty of cold water, and he found every available area of shade in which to walk us through and give us a tour of the temple complex. We had about 45 minutes on our own, afterwards, to explore, which was just perfect. Our walk back through the vendors, however, was not difficult at all. I think they all had given up on us, and were instead focused on new round of Chinese tourists, who were pulling up in other carriages, while we boarded our own.

Temple at Edfu

On the ride back, with the same driver, we passed a polling place, as the presidential voting was still going on. There was a tank and armored personnel carrier positioned outside the building where people were voting. We did not chance taking any pictures, nor did we see anyone lined up to vote. As is known now, the current president won in a landslide, with 97 percent of the vote. Turnout, however, was less than 40 percent, despite the governing party outright paying some people to vote.



As before, the ship left very soon after we reboarded, and the afternoon was at our leisure. We had tea served in the early afternoon, and then relaxed until dinner. Despite the heat, I remained up on the sun deck, under cover, until the sun started to come down, and then I had a truly memorable time watching the sun set. It could not have been a more idyllic setting, I have to say. Friday had already told us that we'd be passing through a series of locks on the river shortly before dinner, for which I remained up top to witness. We passed through the old English-era lock, and then onto the more modern lock just beyond, which can handle two ships in each direction at a time. As we sailed into the lock, a small power point whizzed past us and positioned immediately in front of us. The ship just fit the lock, with about 1 foot of clearance on either side. Along the sides of the lock, vendors were lined up and were yelling up to people up top, trying to sell their trinkets. For people down on the cabin decks, they could open their cabin doors/windows and buy things if they wanted. Meanwhile, the man in the small boat ahead of us started to get out trinkets. Whereas I thought he was simply someone looking to use the lock, he was in fact a salesman. He started throwing up various items to us on the top deck. If anyone wanted what he threw up, they could put money into a small jar and throw it back to him. If not one wanted the item, they just threw it back to him. There was another man in the small boat, who was helping catch the items thrown back down, as well as fishing out those items that fell into the water. That was almost a more impressive sight than the lock itself, through which we moved quite rapidly.

Going Through the Old English Lock

Approaching the New Lock

Plying His Wares From His Boat

We docked in Luxor proper not long after dinner, and would remain docked for the next two days. The highlight of this night was a special party given for the guests, during which we were supposed to wear traditional Egyptian garb. We didn't know in advance, but many other guests had come prepared and arrived in elaborate outfits. There were drinks and traditional music and dancing. We all retired after not too long, but we could hear the music for another hour or so from our cabins.