Pilgrimage to the Ancient Temples of the Nile: Sailing Day

Continuing my Egypt trip, where I visited Cairo, Giza Pyramids, and Aswan historical sites.

Sailing from Aswan to Luxor

The boat started sailing very early in the morning and we woke up already somewhere on the way between the cities. It was refreshing to observe the lush Nile shores from the water and be properly hydrated. We were not the only ones that were complaining that the drinking water was not included in the full-board plan and some nice fellow traveler family got us ten bottles of it from the store last night. We were quite lucky with the food so far, and after a tasty breakfast with coffee (which was also free during breakfast only), we were greeted by our Star guide. He guided us to two temples on the way to Luxor and in between, we had a nice conversation on the deck of the boat. I think this was the most honest and non-selling conversation we had during the whole trip.

The Temple of Kom Ombo

The boat docked within a short walking distance of the entrance of Kom Ombo Temple. We were of course met by some sellers straight away but walked past them with loud and firm “no, thank you” which was repeated like an echo a few times behind us. The temple was just opening and so there were not too many people yet. Besides that the temple looked beautiful, I do not remember any other details. Not even looking back at my multiple photos of hieroglyphs. Hilarious. There was a crocodile museum just before the exit which had a lot of mummified crocodiles. And the best part was to finally find a nice cup of coffee at the souvenir shop next to the museum.

The Temple of Horus at Edfu

It was our next stop that day and this time there were a lot of carriages and taxis waiting at the dock. The Horus Temple was a 20-minute ride away. We agreed with the guide that we rather take a taxi than ride the carriage. I was not comfortable supporting animal abuse. And from the car, it is also more convenient to snap some photos of daily life incognito. This temple was spectacular! It was also a huge one in comparison to what we saw by now. The walls and the colons were well preserved and you could wander around it between the inner and outer walls. There were many hieroglyphs. Yes, so that is about it. After we were taken back to the boat we said goodbye to our guide.

The Temple of the Nile

There is no such temple, of course. But the rest of the day spent on the rooftop of the boat was very calming and spectacular. Everyone, except the massage guy, left us alone and we just stared at the shores. They were mostly growing palms and some tall grasses. From time to time a person sitting by the fire showed up. Kids were shouting “Hello, hello”. The climax was the sunset. The sun was getting red and it really seemed that the scarab was rolling it down to the horizon. As in one of the myths. As in one of the hieroglyphs. The final touch was an evening prayer that filled a part of the sunset with beautiful reciting of the Quran.

After dark we heard “Hello, hello” just nearby our windows in the middle of the Nile. Some sellers were chasing our cruise ship with a small boat and selling souvenirs by passing them in a bag hanged on a long pole. As our guide explained, there is this unwritten rule in the tourism business to support locals by letting them do their sales to the tourists. It means, that if someone asked our guides to offer some souvenirs to us, he would definitely do it. And so the boat sellers were not pushed away from our boat either. We didn’t have to buy anything, though.

What is Egypt?

I wondered all the time what is Egypt. Was it all those myths and temples from Pharaoh’s times? Or was it Muslim culture that overtook the ancient? Is it just another tourist trap of making money off the rocks with pictures that don’t make any sense nor are sacred to anyone anymore? Or was it everyday life in the streets to be observed and noticed? The next part of the trip was even more shocking.