Boats, boats and more boats ... and that means lots of tourists, temples, bazaars, beers and cruising the Nile..

Having departed Cairo 3 days ago and flying to Aswan to meet the cruise ship, I've been pleasantly surprised to see how many tourists there are in Egypt at the moment. It's great news. Having met with my supplier whilst in Cairo, they had mentioned that from September the tour numbers are increasing to at least 15 people per group and groups now going regularly. 

Our cruise ship, MS Miriam is full. There are 60 cabins and all are occupied (it makes for a long wait at meal times if you're not there on the dot).

Before we meet our cruise ship, we made a short boat trip on Lake Nasser to Philae Island.

 Philae Island is a temple complex dedicated to the Goddess Isis and is one of the site relocated when the Nile was dammed to create Lake Nasser. Other temples and shrines were dedicated to other deities such as Hathor and Harendotes.

Philae Temple

Philae Temple

Yesterday we headed to Abu Simbel. One can either take a bus (that departs at 3am in the morning from Aswan) or take a short flight (much more civilised).

The Abu Simbel temple complex was originally carved into the mountain side in Nubia, southern Egypt on the west bank of the Nile. The twin temples were built during the reign of Ramesses II in the 13th century BC. The first temple is a monument to himself and the second to his queen Nefertari.

Between 1964 and 1968, the site was cut into small blocks, relocated and re-assembled 65 metres higher and 200 metres back from the river. This was to prevent the site being floated when the Nile was dammed to create Lake Nasser.

Pharaoh Ramesses II's temple

 

Queen Nefertari's temple

On arriving back on board, we set sail (or cruise) from Aswan. Our first port of call was Kom Ombo.   Wow!  And so many cruise ships. It was the busiest spot we had arrived at.

The Temple of Kom Ombo is an unusual double temple. The southern half of the temple was dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek, god of fertility and creator of the world with Hathor and Khonsu. Meanwhile, the northern part of the temple was dedicated to the falcon god Haroeris, also known as Horus the Elder, along "with Tasenetnofret (the Good Sister, a special form of Hathor) and Panebtawy (Lord of the Two Lands)." The temple is atypical because everything is perfectly symmetrical along the main axis.

After visiting the temples, it was time for my favourite Egyptian passtime... Can you guess? .... Shisha, Turkish coffee and a cool local beverage, Lemon and mint juice.

 And to go with it, a little local music to enhance the atmosphere.

 Alas, not enough time to stay for longer than 30 minutes as we had to get back to the ship and depart for Edfu.

Back on board it was our Egyptian themed night. Egyptian food whilst dressed up in traditional Egyptian garb, galabeas and some Egyptian dancing. (pics to come)

About midnight we arrived in Edfu.

This morning we set off at 6:45am departure (with only coffee and sweet bread cakes for to break our fast) in horse and buggies to visit one of my favourite God's temples. The Temple of Horus.

After a 10 minute ride, the temple appeared. And after a short walk (well ahead of everyone), I found myself for a brief moment in the courtyard with the entrance all to myself. Perfect photo opportunity.

Well I wasn't quite alone. A local ran over to say hello and rub me up.

And then I found him..... Horus himself.

Time to have another look future inside the temple.

And then it was time to head back to the buggies and back to the ship for breakfast.  As usual, I'd wandered off on my own and found I had to run the gauntlet of the bazaar on my own. I'm an old hat at this, so I now find it an enjoyable and friendly experience. I was compared to Angeline Golie, Sofia Loren, Nefertari and Nefertiti.. :)

So now it's back on the cruise ship and I have 3 minutes left of battery so time to sign off for now. I haven't spell, grammar checked this so please forgive any and all typos.

We arrive in Luxor in about an hour.  Time for a swim in the pool and some worshipping of Ra and indulging in the local beer, Sakara

So where are the updates you ask .......

EO is currently in Egypt and I had plans to post every day to give updates on the travel situation for tourists.... I'm having so much fun and not at all worried. I've seen nothing to make one think it's not safe to travel here.
So if you don't hear from EO for a week.... it's because there's so many sights to see and so little time to post..
But I promise to make some time whilst cruising to Kom Ombo tomorrow...
Abu Simbel tomorrow so one must go to bed for an early wake up call. 
Salem!