The Nile Cruise - Day 3

View of Kom Ombo from the Boat

Another early start! We’d docked at Kom Ombo in the early hours (I’d heard that through my fitful morning sleep). The plan was to visit the temple there early and then depart for more cruising to Aswan. We’d docked next to the MS Sudan, which is the oldest river boat (a paddle steamer) and the venue for the movie Death on the Nile. I went up on the poop deck after breakfast to photograph the scenery and discovered, in another slow revelation involving only slowly raising my gaze to the horizon, that we’d docked alongside the temple!

Kom Ombo continues the fine tradition of awe-inspiring temples in Egypt. The characteristic of this site that was so special was the extent and preservation level of the inscriptions on the walls and columns of the temple. It is staggering how many inscriptions are present and how detailed. In their hey day they would have all been painted, but much of that is gone now (of course). There are some examples still.

The other astonishing thing at Kom Ombo is the Crocodile Museum. The local Egyptians worshipped the Crocodile as a god and they mummified many of them as sacrifices and in reverence. The museum has some 40 crocs laid out in a temperature controlled display that is quite astonishing.

Welcoming Party

We returned to the boat which then pushed off and we sailed up to Aswan.

My day was spent bringing my blog up to date and watching the banks of the Nile slide passed. After lunch I actually connected to the internet to update the actual blog (a painful process, I can assure you) and then I retired to my cabin for an afternoon nap. I’ve mentioned before, for a guy on holidays, I’m having a lot of early mornings! (Another one tomorrow, by the way.)

The afternoon saw us on a felucca ride on the Nile, which was entertaining and peaceful, provided one ignored the motor launch that eventually came to tow us up river, and then back to the shore! The felucca is not a big boat. Frankly, I imagined a much larger craft. I asked Basim if the ones that one tours the Nile on were bigger and he said No! I am now very glad that I chose the river boat cruise over the felucca cruise! Nonetheless, this little cruise was very peaceful (motor launch notwithstanding).

After the felucca cruise, we headed off to the Nubian Museum. This was a magnificent museum, carefully constructed to bring the history of the Nubians down the ages to life, contained some genuinely beautiful pieces and some really lovely illustrative dioramas. I’ve taken a lot of photos of these, but in the low lighting with no flash, we’ll see how well they work out.

We’re back on board now, with dinner at 8:00pm (30mins away) and then a Galabia party (dress like an Egyptian). I’ll not be attending that for two reasons: not my scene and I’m still feeling tired and uncertain about my health after last night’s drama. And, hell, I need the sleep for another full day tomorrow with a 5:30am start! (I have a massage booked at the end of the day tomorrow. Woot!)

I have to tell you, too, that our guide, Basim, is from Aswan. I was chatting with him as we walked back to the bus. He said that he was tired. I said that he must be looking forward to going home to spend a night at home with his wife. He said he was with a big grin on his face. He said, “She is already calling me.” I laughed and asked, “Is she serving pigeon tonight?” He look surprised and laughed saying, “You know about pigeons?!” shaking my hand. I said, “I do. And I have had pigeon.” He said, “I like pigeon.” I concurred.