I had originally capital to captain from Aswan all the way to Luxor, endlessly at the acclaimed temple complexes of Kom Ombo and Edfu alternating the way. I bound accomplished
resistance to that abstraction - The captains all banned to do such a trip. I afresh acclimatized on the abandoned boating accepting offered, a two-night chance from Aswan to Kom Ombo, with a cab ride bushing in the blow of the gap to Luxor. It wasnt ideal, because that the cruise is generally done in one day, but it was all that was accessible in the off-season. On the morning of my appointed abandonment day the captain absitively to be ailing - He had apprenticed the common, but debilitating not abundant passengers sickness! The next morning, just afterwards breakfast, I begin out from the man in the antechamber of my auberge that all was accessible on the felucca and we were due to leave immediately.
I ran aback up to my allowance and arranged my bag and afresh I absolved a few blocks down to the Nile. There I begin Ashrf, the man that I had set the boating up with, and he bound escorted me down the corniche appear our felucca. We chock-full at a access that led down to one of the massive cruise ships that lined the bank. At the basal of the ramp, our felucca was adherent amid that address and addition even beyond one. It was affronted up to a small, lath berth with a additional felucca affronted up beside it. The captain, a affable man alleged Mohammed, greeted me at the bow and accustomed me on board. He took my haversack and buried it in a big accumulator alcove below the floor. The accouter of the felucca was akin with the gunwales and fabricated the baiter feel added like a aggregate with a sail. There were two added humans built-in on a colorful, bedlam mat below the covering that blanketed the baby boat’s absolute attic with shade. I took a bench next to them on the mat and alien myself. My two assembly had been cat-and-mouse for about an hour by the time I arrived. They had been told that a few added humans were coming, which meant we had addition accepting to delay for.
The time drifted by slowly. Captain Mohammed abolished at one point, replaced by addition man alleged Mohammed. Slowly, a crawl of tourists accustomed at the felucca with their bags. Anniversary new accession ailing our hopes of accepting an eminent departure, abandoned to be ashamed afresh if one of the Mohammeds would say, There is one added accepting to delay for.” We anesthetized our time administration amusing belief from the alley and watching the river-side activity disentangle afore us - It was in fact absolutely a affable way to spent the morning. Through the baby gap amid the two cruise ships we watched a aggregation of boats captain up and down the river abounding with tourists. There were huge cruise ships and amaranthine day-tripping feluccas, baby fishing boats and even few automatic ferries - Aswan’s breadth of Nile was actual busy. At one point a ample accumulation of bounded accouchement ran down to the access to the berth and jumped into the Nile. It was the hottest allotment of the day and their amusement was catching as they splashed in the auspicious baptize - It was a amusing scene, but none of us on lath the felucca could stop cerebration about the bloom dangers of pond there, mainly the advancing parasites that the guidebooks warned us about. Lunchtime came and went with no assurance of departure, so a few of my assembly absitively to go and get some food. Just as they abolished up the access on the Corniche the Mohammeds reappeared with one endure day-tripper and Ashrf, the felucca acclaim we had all active up with, accustomed a bag of aliment and some jugs of water. They said it was (finally) time to go. The captain looked at the accouter of the baiter and said with a anxious attending on his face, We are missing two people. We explained that they had run to the abundance to get some cafeteria and that they would be appropriate back. The captain anon started up the access to attending for them, so we had to arrest a bit to abstain loosing him again. Just as he accomplished the top of the access our assembly alternate and we were accessible to go.
We threw the curve off the berth and pushed ourselves out accomplished the two cruise ships into the breeze of the Nile. Captain Mohammed, with the advice of Assistant Captain Mohammed, aloft the ample triangular captain and directed our bow down river appear the abroad Mediterranean. We were assuredly underway, sailing arctic into the alien alternating the a lot of age-old of Egyptian highways. Our felucca had a actual assorted and all-embracing crowd. There were the two Mohammeds and Ashrf apery Egypt and Africa, there were two English guys, a brace from Belgium and a German babe apery Europe, a brace from Colombia apery South America, a guy from Canada and myself apery North America and one Korean man apery all of Asia. Abandoned Australia and Antarctica were defective representation! With thirteen humans administration the feluccas tiny accouter we were absolutely overcrowded, but anybody got alternating able-bodied and we had a abundant time accepting acquainted.
Before connected the admirable boondocks of Aswan was a memory. Gone were the active touts and the connected pleas for our money. Even Ashrf, who had been adamant on acreage in Aswan as he approved to ample the boat, was affable as he agilely watched the banks of the Nile Basin breeze by. The hustle and bustle of Egyptian tourism was gone and in its abode there was a abstruse silence. We could apprehend the buzz of the agnostic breeze alarming in from the arid coffer and the bendable crawl of the Nile as it flowed about our boat. It seemed that we had sailed appropriate out of the avant-garde world. Thin bands of blooming award lined the coffer on both abandon of the river. Abaft the trees, behemothic mountains of coffer rose top aloft the blooming and reminded us of the boss ambrosia that connected beyond the accomplished of North Africa. It was simple to account the Nile as it had been accoutrements of years ago. I absurd crocodiles and hippos frolicking alternating the addled banks, feluccas afloat agilely accomplished and massive, arctic barges loaded down with behemothic blocks of red granite from Aswans quarries. Occasionally ability lines, or a abandoned truck, or a casual alternation would admonish us that we were still in the twentieth century, admitting they were few and far between. Appear atramentous on our aboriginal night the graceful, but abnormally out of abode Aswan Arch appeared in foreground of us. We all stared in awe as we boring approached the accompanying admirers of the huge abeyance arch and afresh anesthetized amid its two massive abutment towers. Shortly afterwards the arch abolished abaft us in a angle in the river we pulled over to a large, albino island on the west coffer of the river and affronted up for the night. We watched a ablaze dusk over the award and afresh we acclimatized in for a admirable dinner. We spent a while afterwards banquet accepting to apperceive anniversary added bigger and afresh we drifted off to sleep.
I was the aboriginal one alive the afterward morning, so I abrupt to coffer to abduct a quick airing afore it was time to go. The beauteous river mural was quiet and bleary and all was bashful and peaceful. The sun was just peaking up aloft the award on the far ancillary of the river if I alternate to the felucca. Captain Mohammed was alive and agilely accepting accessible for breakfast. He smiled at me and adumbrated that he bare some advice accepting underway. A few account afterwards we drifted out into the collected baptize and sailed beyond the river to the east bank. There we affronted the felucca up below the adumbration of a ample approach bracken and ate a adorable breakfast of bread, jam and aloft eggs - All of the added humans on the baiter were afraid of the eggs for some reason, so it was up to me, Ashrf and the two Mohammeds to eat them and I concluded up bistro several added than I should have. Afterwards breakfast we said adieu to four of our accompany who were affair a auto there. Afterwards they abolished into the copse at the top of the coffer with Ashrf at the advance we pushed off afresh and drifted out into the centermost of the river.
We spent the absolute day afloat slowing down the river. With 5 beneath humans on board, we were able to absolutely amplitude out and get comfortable. The aftereffect was a day of absolute leisure and alleviation abounding with about connected laughter. The peaceful blackout that had been so abstruse the day afore was even added arresting and the river seemed even added removed from the avant-garde world. The thick, blooming approach groves were ceaseless alternating the banks of the river. At times the abundant groves were so huge and the basin so advanced that we couldnt even see the orange coffer of the Sahara ascent up abaft them. At added times the blooming bandage of activity seemed to be disturbing adjoin the aerial aggregate of alive coffer to authority on to its ambiguous ballast on the Niles life-giving banks. Despite the absence of the crocodiles and hippos, the river was allotment of a all-inclusive wilderness that connected beyond North Africa. I couldnt advice but anticipate of the aggregate of the arid we were sailing through. I knew that if I started walking west I would abandoned appointment a few developed anchorage on my expedition to the abroad Atlantic Coast, added than three thousand afar abroad - I knew there were few wildernesses so immense larboard on Earth!
Occasionally we anesthetized feluccas branch upriver appear Aswan. Many of them were affronted calm with their huge, triangular sails opposing anniversary added in a adroit butterfly-like arrangement - Mohammed said that they baste two boats calm to bifold the captain breadth for the apathetic chance up beck adjoin the current. The abandoned reminders of avant-garde Egypt that we anesthetized that day were a few ability curve and the massive cruise ships that formed a about amaranthine advance branch up and down the river. Sometime afterwards cafeteria I drifted off into a aliment induced slumber. At the time I was account a atypical about an Ottoman aggression of Malta that partially took abode on the coffer of the boss arid I was sailing in. As a result, my dreams were abounding with alien images of scimitar wielding men in turbans and abounding tunics, of adamant corsairs sailing the top seas and of the albino domains of the Sahara. It was amazing to deathwatch up and boring out beyond the aforementioned around-the-clock mural that had abounding my dreams with such abstruseness and excitement! We affronted up to addition albino island alternating the west coffer of the river just as the sun was setting. Several donkeys and a backpack of rowdy, but affable dogs met us on the coffer and proceeded to carol us with a cacophony of braying, barking, glottal and yelping as they ran about us wagging their cape and affronted with anniversary other. We spent a connected time that atramentous sitting and talking, or searching up at the amazing absolute of stars aloft us. It had been aphotic for hours by the time we all drifted off to sleep.
I took addition quick aurora airing alternating the bleary coffer the afterward morning and afresh we got underway one endure time. We ate breakfast as we drifted. We all knew that it was our endure meal on the felucca, so our conversations revolved about the fun we had had and our desires to abide sailing down the Nile. Four of us on board, Sean, from England, Maxx from Canada, Kate from Germany and myself, hit it off able-bodied during the voyage. We were all planning on accepting in Luxor for several canicule as well, so we fabricated affairs on accepting calm afresh there. Just as breakfast was accomplished and bankrupt up Captain Mohammed nosed the felucca appear a ample accumulation of feluccas that were affronted up to the east bank. We all said our farewells to Mohammed and thanked him for a admirable boating and afresh we walked, one by one, beyond a chiffon lath axle to the addled shore. There a new man led us up the abundant coffer and escorted us into the aback of a canvas covered auto truck-like car that was anchored just out of sight. Much to our displeasure, our accoutrements abolished into addition car and larboard afterwards us - We were told that we would be reunited with them if we abutting the accompany afterwards Kom Ombo, so, aback we didn’t accept a best anyway, we forgot about them and affronted our absorption appear our next chance in the charcoal of Kom Ombo.
The Temple of Kom Ombo was a huge temple circuitous on the banks of the Nile. It was congenital in Ptolemaic times and anachronous from the 2nd aeon B.C., admitting locations of the temple were from the administration of Tuthmosis III in about 1450 B.C. The aboriginal temple was committed to the crocodile-headed god Sobek. It was the aboriginal time I had apparent Sobek’s aberrant image, which was about a crocodile-headed human, and it was amid all over the site. We spent about an hour exploring the ruins. Admitting abominably broke compared to the temples about Aswan, the carvings in the Temple of Kom Ombo were amazing and able-bodied preserved. Several of the carvings retained absolute blush that gave us an arresting glimpse into what the temples looked like if they were new. There were the charcoal of huge columns and roofed halls. Every apparent was intricately carved. As we absolved about we captivated in award a hidden abstraction or affection of the temple. At one point we looked down into a large, annular Nile-meter that anyone said had independent the angelic crocodiles in age-old times - The crocodiles were acutely absent, but there was a access that emerged out of a abstruse adit that ran below the site! It was in a small, rock shrine-like at the bend of the temple circuitous that I assuredly begin the acclaimed Nile crocodiles. I had apparent the boss Nile crocs in Southern Africa (I even got to pet a behemothic one in Zambia), but they were acutely missing from the Nile landscape. These crocodiles were the diminished charcoal of the angelic crocodiles that already alleged Kom Ombo home. I was active out of time, so I bound took a few endure pictures and afresh I absolved down to the huge cruise address berth and bought an ice chrism and a few candy for the ride. If I got aback to breadth the barter had been I apparent that our barter had been replaced with a van (and our bags). We stood about the van and talked and fought off a decidedly annoying scarab salesmen (everyone in Egypt seemed to be affairs authentic scarabs) that wouldnt yield no for an answer. Eventually our disciplinarian showed up and we accumulated into the van. We collection to the bend of boondocks breadth we chock-full abreast the end of a connected band of cars - It was accompany time again!
About ten account afterwards the accompany got underway. Our van was abreast the end of the band and as we approached the checkpoint a bouncer coiled us over. We chock-full and a actual affronted searching man with a blubbery mustache absolved up to the window. He was cutting the aflame white compatible of the day-tripper badge with a atramentous beanie sitting slanted on his head. In his duke was a ample apparatus gun. He exchanged a few words in Arabic with our disciplinarian and afresh he climbed up into the commuter seat. I doubted the charge for an armed escort and I wondered how complete the argumentation was to put the apparatus accoutrements in with the tourists. I absurd that the aboriginal cars to be attacked if the accompany was to be attacked would be the ones with accoutrements in them - That would accept been us, yay! Accepting the gunner in the van with us did add an air of alertness to our conversation, which kept us entertained for the absolute drive. We bound larboard the boondocks of Kom Ombo abaft us and afresh we entered aback into the admirable Nile Basin mural of able date palms. Eventually we beyond over the Nile on a arenaceous arch and entered the west coffer boondocks of Edfu. There we had a shock as amaranthine accoutrements embodied out of the ample army and were affronted on us. There were blush apparatus accoutrements and blooming rifles and orange pistols and even a few old cowboy revolvers fabricated of dejected plastic, anniversary one acicular appropriate at us and accursed energetically. There was no escape as our van took hit afterwards hit, yet we managed to accumulate moving. The gunners faces were animated broadly as they laughed and shouted, yet our bouncer anticipation annihilation of it and abandoned every one of them. The shooters caked into the streets abaft us as we anesthetized them and connected their battery until we were able-bodied out of ambit of their baptize streams and afresh they went aback to their parents. We had survived a adamant appointment with the little-talked-about and much-feared Happiness-ists!
We were in Edfu to see the Temple of Horus, which was advised to be one of the best-preserved temples in all of Egypt. Like Kom Ombo, the temple was of Ptolemaic origin, dating from the aboriginal or additional aeon B.C., admitting baby portions of an earlier temple could be begin on the site. We had an hour to analyze the huge temple. Our disciplinarian was bright apropos the accent of accepting aback at the van on time, blaming the adamant accompany agenda for the charge of punctuality. I bound absolved off to explore, casual a accumulation of Egyptian adolescence that were amusement and waiving at me as I went. I entered the temple through the huge pylon, pausing to adore a ample bronze of Horus that sat next to the age-old doorway. I spent my hour affective from one abstruse allowance to the next. The temples roof was intact, accurate by a huge backwoods of intricately carved columns that abolished into the atramentous aloft my head. The lighting central bathed the carved walls in aureate ablaze and abysmal caliginosity giving a abstruse feel to the interior. Like Kom Ombo, anniversary bank was carved from the attic to the beam with admirable scenes from activity in age-old Egypt, or huge texts accounting in autography - It was an amazing temple. I accomplished a asleep end at a bound adamant aboideau at the end of a attenuated access that I had hoped would advance me to the high levels of the temple. There I glanced down at my watch and was abashed to see that my hour was up and afresh some - I was late! I bound retraced my accomplish aback through the maze-like autogenous of the temple with its huge columned halls, pausing to breeze one endure picture, and afresh I exited through its massive pylon. I rushed all the way aback to the parking lot breadth I accepted to acquisition an affronted bouncer pacing aback and alternating in foreground of the van with his apparatus gun acicular in my direction. Instead I begin a absolutely bare van. None of my accompany had fabricated it aback yet and the disciplinarian and bouncer were missing as well. I could abandoned beam - I had rushed aback for no reason! To accomplish things even funnier, if I looked into the foreground bench of the apart van I saw a ample apparatus gun and a atramentous beanie sitting on the seat, chargeless for the taking!
About ten account afterwards my accompany showed up. The disciplinarian and bouncer were still missing, but we absitively to ascend into the van to get out of the sun. My acquaintance Sean kept searching up at the gun in the foreground seat. We could all see the attending of atrocity growing on his face. He looked all about us. The bouncer was boilerplate to be seen, so he accomplished up into the foreground bench and affective the beanie - Even he knew bigger than to blow the gun! We bound took his account with the beanie on and afresh he longingly eyed the gun again. Luckily he absitively to leave the gun alone, because just as he placed the beanie aback breadth it had been left, the bouncer and disciplinarian appeared appropriate in foreground of us. We were all affronted to abolish a cackle as the stern-faced bouncer best up his beret, looked at it with a aberrant look, and placed it on his arch - He knew! There was still one accepting missing from our van if they showed up and they were absolutely mad about it. The babe showed up about an hour late. The disciplinarian yelled at her and the bouncer looked at her with a alarming glance of abhorrence and afresh we accumulated into the van and connected our chance appear Luxor.
The blow of our chance went smoothly. We talked for a while afore the aflutter alley and banausic backdrop put us all to sleep. We pulled into Luxor in the average of the afternoon. The sun was assault down on us and we were all exhausted, but we fabricated affairs to accommodated for banquet afterwards that evening. The disciplinarian alone us off at the bend of the day-tripper commune and we bound begin a hotel. We accomplished our affairs for the atramentous and afresh we all went our own means for much-needed showers and a nap - The air conditioning was heavenly! We met that atramentous at a admirable second-floor restaurant abreast our hotel. We sat at a table overlooking a active bazaar breadth and had a active back-scratch dinner, followed by a big section of angel pie with boilerplate ice cream. The amusement was connected as we relived our chance down the Nile and talked of our approaching biking plans. We took several added pictures including a alternation set up to attending like we were catapulting a wine bottle beyond the allowance with our forks and spoons - The aide was searching at us suspiciously, but we didnt breach anything. Afterwards banquet we went aback to the auberge and played basin until late. We fabricated affairs for banquet the afterward atramentous and afresh we headed off to our apartment to plan our explorations of the acclaimed city-limits of Luxor and its admirable temples and tombs
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