Travel Down The Nile
Sightseeing
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Here is a shot of the entrance to the temple.
Last night we travelled down the Nile and ascended a lock
in the river. I was not aware of locks in the Nile but it makes perfect
sense when you think about it. When we woke up we were in Edfu which is
about half way between Luxor and Aswan. After breakfast we took a bus to the
Temple of Horus at Edfu. This was a great experience as there was hardly
anyone there when we arrived so it felt like we had the place to ourselves
and this temple is huge; something akin to a large cathedral.
Here is a shot of me and a temple guard at Kom Ombo.
From Julia: Edfu was so magical. We thought it like a
giant newspaper or bible written on stone with every spot on the walls
and pillars covered in pictures and writing.
What you can find in a hieroglyphic.
The Greek Pharaoh Ptolemy was
trying to convince Egyptians he was the rightful ruler descended from the
god Horus so he built this vast temple covering it with his propaganda. It
was also buried under sand for a long time and well preserved over the
centuries. It was fantastic.
Perhaps a descendant of the Pharaoh's cat.
After lunch on our ship we continued travelling down the
Nile to Kom Ombo and its temple. Julia and I lounged on the deck of the ship
using our binoculars to spy on the many birds that live on the banks of the
Nile. At Kom Ombo we once again had the temple to ourselves, there was just one other
tour group there. The temple is right on the banks of the Nile and because
of the afternoon light was simply beautiful.
He had just pointed out to us a very unique hieroglyphic
of a woman giving birth which we paid him one Egyptian pound for.
From Julia: At this place there were lots of feral cats,
which we found easy to imagined were descendents of the Ancient Egyptian
cats. We watched one slink around the stones much like his ancestors
must have thousands of years ago.
It's another beautiful place.
Edfu Video
Kom Ombo Video