Antonio and I woke up at 6:00am having left our window blinds open letting the morning sun stream into our room. It was an hour before our wake up call. We packed our day bags and went up on the roof. I stayed up on the terrace at one of the glass tables to write until breakfast at 7:00am.
The food on the boat has been fantastic and I ate my fill of bread, fruit, vegetables and cheese.
We then quickly boarded the bus, receiving our cards as we left. We were accosted by lots of kids as we boarded bus trying to sell us little trinkets. Today we were heading to Edfu Temple, dedicated to the sun god Horus. We drove through the streets of Aswan before pulling up to the entrance of the incredible complex.
This temple was the best one I'd yet seen. The entrance was in the traditional style except the front was guarded by statues of Horus in Falcon form. The walls were decorated with incredible hieroglyphics. Tall, intricately carved images of Horus and the other gods. As we leaned against the stone wall, the courtyard filled to the max with tourists, Amro told us about the importance of proportion and balance in Egyptian culture. Every characteristic, every feeling has an opposite. Osiris the good god of the dead was contrasted by the bad god Set.
We entered the interior of the temple, the best preserved in all of Egypt. I cannot fully describe it, other than my jaw had dropped and I was flat out blown away. These temples made Rome look new. From the floor to ceiling in a dozen or more rooms were exquisite, incredibly detailed hieroglyphics. I took so many photos and kept wanting to take more. The ceiling was held up by incredible columns with huge bases. The tops like papyrus and flowers. Some hieroglyphics still showed their colors which made me imagine what the temple must have looked like in its original form. Some of the hieroglyphics had been destroyed or hacked away by the Christians who had rediscovered Edfu temple.
We had an hour to walk around and the time flew by so fast. I was with Melissa, Jennifer and Veronica. We took a lot of photos but also explored a lot. Realizing we were already late for the scheduled time, we ran back to the bus.
Back on the boat it was only 11:00am. We talked with Amro about doing some of the trips on our own. The visit to Abu Simbel would cost 90 euros to go. Antonio wanted to do it on our own in a taxi. I was down but wanted to plan it out as Abu Simbel from Aswan was three hours away, almost to the Sudan. We decided to think it over and make a plan.
I went up onto the deck in my swimsuit talking to the girls and some of the Spaniards from the group. Absolutely incredible to be looking at the Nile from the boat. The landscape would change so drastically between lush jungle to harsh desert. I jumped in the pool before heading downstairs for lunch and returning upstairs to do more of the same.
At 5:00, we made it into Aswan and our boat did an impressive maneuver and turn into its docking point. The waiter came up with the bell letting us know we had a half an hour before starting our visit to the Kom Ombo Temple. We got off the boat and were once again accosted by vendors.
We walked from the dock, past a touristy restaurant and bazaar, before climbing the stairs to the entrance. A nicely preserved temple, Kom Ombo Temple is famous for its dedication to two gods. Horus the good and Set the bad. The Falcon and Crocodile. It was incredibly lit up at night, with flood lights illuminating the hieroglyphics.
After our quick tour, we had time to wander around. The crescent moon and view of the coast made the temple feel even more surreal. Antonio was recording more footage for our video and I walked around with the girls and Chupi. We had to be back on the boat by 7:45 and headed back in that direction. The young boy who works on the boat was waiting for us (I think Amro had sent him to find us so we wouldn't be late) and help guide us through the bazaar. We were still accosted and I ended up buying some cheap little necklaces sold to me by a five year old kid. I know he won't get to keep that money, but I wouldn't want to be selling that at 5 nor see any other kid selling it. Brought into a world only to be taken advantage of. Jennifer played clapping games with one of the little girls, the other kids looking on, before we went back on the boat.
Dinner was fantastic. I knew I would miss the time here on the boat. Down in our rooms, Antonio and I found that one of the laundry guys had made our towels into swans and created a "mummy" with our clothes, pillows and towels. Whether they like us or not, we've certainly met everyone on the boat. We began talking to him and he showed us the worker's rooms and limited living quarters. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the wealth discrepancy and trying to some how justify it, when I can not.
After hanging out in Chupi's room, we went back upstairs as we had been told that there would be a dance party with the whole group. As Antonio had said "la fiesta empieza cuando llegamos," we got everyone to come into the disco and started a crazy party. We did the Macarena and danced with the workers. We had a conga line going and I alternated from talking briefly to people to helping get them on the dance floor. The workers then had us do "traditional" games that involved us wearing a string with a potato attached trying to knock another potato by rocking our legs. It was hilarious to watch. I failed miserably. I spoke with a cool couple from Estonia in English (our group may be all Spaniards but there are other people on the boat).
Everyone became tired and left, except us. Melissa and I salsa-ed while Jennifer and Antonio went swimming. We all went back down to our rooms after heeding the call of the boat manager.
At 12:00 we left the boat to begin a ridiculous hour of trying to search for a taxi to Abu Simbell, the un-missable excursion to take place at 3:15 am. With the group we'd pay 90 euros each. None of us wanted to pay that price and in the two hours before we had to tell Amro if we were going with him or not, we left the boat to see what we could do.
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