Come sail away

This morning we were in Aswan, at the end of our cruise on the Nile river. We have a whole day here filled with activities. After breakfast, we boarded our tour bus and went to Philae Temple (pronounced fillet, like fish fillet). This temple was on an island on the Nile. So yes, we got off the boat, took a bus, got back on a smaller boat and went to the island. This temple was significant because of a few reasons: 1) because the original location kept flooded after damming the Nile, they had to take it down and rebuild it on the top of a “mountain” to preserve it. This happened in the 1972 and was finished in 1980. And 2) this temple shows many pictures depicting the story of the virgin mother. It is interesting to hear the stories that are written on the wall and how similar they are to not only the stories of Christianity but other religions’ history.

After the Philae temple we drove to view the high dam. This is the dam that was built in the 1960’s to help the Nile from flooding the land like it does- thus forming Lake Nasser. Lake Nasser is huge and beautiful and it is amazing all the water it hold- and to imagine what it would be like if all that water flooded the surrounding areas.

We then went to a town in Aswan to visit a perfume factory. They talked to us about different fragrance essences and we got to small many of them that are only made from Egyptian plants and flowers. They had made up many blends and told us what perfume or cologne used what essences- like Ralph Lauren Polo, the different blends they used smelled just like it- Did you know that Polo had Myrrh in it? So basically the three wise men were bringing Jesus some cologne, but perhaps I am reading too much in to this. Every time we go to these demonstrations, they want to sell you their things- but it is a very low pressure environment so typically we always just look around and buy nothing, and that is fine. This sales/demonstration guy #1 talked like a robot which was hilarious- his English was not the best and I think to compensate to sound clearer, he ended up sounding like a robot! And #2 - he got to the sales part of the speech and turned into an infomercial. So if you buy 6 of the large size essences, they will throw in a free oil burning lamp and a bottle in a handy traveling case…

After the infomercial, we went to the granite quarry where we got to view the unfinished obelisk of Queen Hatshipsut. Evidently how they made the obelisks was when they had carved out the shape from the mother rock the packed cypress wood underneath and put water on it so expand the wood so that it’s break away- pretty clever huh?? By that time of the day it was well over 100 degrees and we were all ready to get back to the ship. We got back with enough time to get to lunch. We had lunch and went back to the room for a little R& R before this afternoon’s events. I had to have the tour director get me something for my eyes because they were starting to swell shut- so something was wrong. But I guess it wasn’t as bad a I am making it sound- my eyelids were so puffy and drying out- it was making my eyes weep and then I think all of that just irritated it and made it worse. So he said that it is probably because I am not adjusting to the heat and with all of the dust and dirt in the air, this can happen sometime and he could obtain just the thing to help me. After lunch he gave me some eye drops that he got from a pharmacy. Most of the box and directions on the inside were in Arabic so I was a little nervous, especially since the English portion said to be used under the care of a physician. But my eyes hurt so bad and I looked horrible and it was NOT getting better so I used them. They were a miracle. Within less that 24 hours I am almost back to normal.

So we left the ship again around 2pm for the felucca ride on the Nile. What a dream to sail down the Nile- right? Well when we left the ship, I imagine it to be about 110 degrees. We boarded the felucca by walking a plank, yes I am serious. There was a very narrow board between the cement dock and the boat and with the small assistance from the boat guide I got on. I did not feel too good about this since the plank was also used for an oar for rowing so it was wet and bendy. But why would you need an oar on a sailboat right? Well, when it is 110 degrees, there is no wind so our fantastic felucca ride ended up being one Egyptian rowing with the plank while the other sold us Nubian village jewelry. It is funny now that I think about it- here we are sitting in the middle of the Nile buying jewelry while one man is rowing about 40 people. Ha!

While on our felucca ride, which ended up having to be towed buy a motor boat after the rowing became too much for the young boy, we were met by another boat that we boarded sans plank and it took us to the botanical gardens of Aswan on the Nile. Our guide pointed out several different birds and plants that are native to the area, and it was quite nice. It was like a mini African safari. We then went to visit the Nubian village. We were able to go into a traditional Nubian home. The man of the house brought us some mint tea while our guide (who was from this village) talked about these people and their way of life which was very interesting. Afterwards we were able to walk around the home and see the living style- and it truly was a real home. The family was there just doing their thing and we were peeking in their bedrooms- which was a little uncomfortable to be honest, but it was real neat.

We went back to the boat via motor boat and had a little time to freshen up before dinner. Dinner was as the Australians call it “quite lovely” and we had settled into our own little exclusive group of 2 New Zealanders and 4 Australians (sometimes 6), and they have really made this trip for us- we all have had a great time together. After dinner there was a belly dancing and whirling dervish show up in the lobby bar. That was a lot of fun to watch. I have no clue how the whirling dervishes continue to spin for 10-15 mins without passing out.

Anyway, next day is a big day so we went to bed right after the show.