QUIET MORNING ON THE NILE, CARRIAGE RIDE TO TEMPLE OF HORUS, UNFURLING THE SAILS, DINING AND DANCING ON SHORE THIS EVENING, part 7

    Our first night on the Aida allowed for a decent night’s sleep for me, (finally). It was so quiet and very dark which is what Paul, and I are accustomed to. There is no heating on this ship, but our room was very comfortable temperature wise. On our pre-trip instructions we had been warned that we should bring flannel pajamas, gloves, long underwear, and a warm coat, for our time on the ship, as the nights in Egypt this time of year can be quite chilly. Paul and I ignored the flannel pj’s and long underwear but did bring gloves and a fleece to go under our jackets. Unless things change drastically, we are not going to need those articles of clothing.

   I leave our cabin at seven, (Paul is still sleeping), and go to the dining room to make myself a cup of chamomile tea. I don’t know when the crew untied our river yacht, but we are already sailing down the Nile. I go out to the observation deck where the only other person on the deck is a crew member busily cleaning the floor. I will say that this ship is spotless. It seems someone is always sweeping or wiping surfaces down.

    As I sit and sip my cup of tea, I enjoy the scenes along the Nile as we float along. The fishermen are already out, and I begin taking photos of one fisherman occupying a colorful green and red rowboat. The turbaned fellow is moving right along when he suddenly stops paddling. I assume he is going to pull up his fishing net or wire fish traps as there is no fishing gear in his boat. However, the boatsman picks up a drinking glass which he dips into the Nile, filling it with water. As I continue to snap photos, I watch in horrid fascination as the man thirstily gulps the water down. Well, the fellow must have an incredible immune system to be able to drink directly out of the Nile. The photos are a slideshow, but you must click the arrows, it doesn’t go on its own.

    I also observe a long barge moored along the bank of the Nile. There are men hauling what looks like dried sugar cane onto it. Most men are carrying large sheaves of the yellow stalks on their backs, while another fellow is using a wheelbarrow or cart of some kind.  There are two camels standing alongside the barge. One of the camels has a man astride him. I cannot tell if the camels are being used to pull or haul the dried cane to the barge. Photo slideshow.

    Paul shows up and we go into to the dining room to see what is on the breakfast buffet menu. There is all kinds of fruit, breads, oatmeal and cold cereal, beef bacon, (no pork in Egypt), various juices, tea, and coffee. The chef has a cook station set up on the observation deck where you can order an omelet or eggs fixed any other way you can think of.  Paul and I pass on the eggs. It is warm enough that Paul and I eat breakfast on the observation deck, as do some of the other members of our group. Pretty cool to be eating breakfast as we float down the Nile.

    After breakfast, Jennifer and I get some exercise by doing laps on the observation deck and walking up the stairs to the sundeck. Most of the group has assembled on the observation deck by now. I think everyone is enjoying watching life along the Nile. People are walking or riding donkeys along the riverbank, we pass by colorful villages and children wave as we pass by.  Sailing down the Nile is everything and more that I imagined. Another slideshow.

    Around ten a.m. our ship docks at the city of Edfu and we take off our boat shoes and put on our walking shoes. I think I forgot to mention that we were asked not to wear our excursion shoes on the boat in order not to track sand and grit all over the Aida. When we disembark, Hussein is telling us about taking horse and buggies to the temple which is on the other side of Edfu. There are probably a dozen horse and carriage on the street waiting for customers. There is an altercation between some of the horse and carriage owners and they begin yelling at each other.  Hussein laughs and tells us that this is just the way these guys talk. Might be, but I look up to see a man, (who is standing behind one of the men who is arguing), wrap his arms around the guy. This peacekeeper pins the angry man’s arms to his side while at the same time keeping him from advancing towards the guy he is at odds with. A man in uniform appears and talks to the pair which seems to calm them down. Once he gets this spat under control, the policeman begins directing the horse and buggies into a line along the side of the street. I am guessing the altercation came about because everyone was jockeying to get close to the stairs that we must climb to get up to the street. They probably assume if they are closest to the stairs, they will be guaranteed customers. I admit I paid more attention to the drama than I did to Hussein.

    Hussein calls out “follow me” and our group ascends the stairs towards the waiting carriages. The horses are not in good shape, their ribs and backbones are prominent. I cannot tell if the horses are very old, which could be part of the reason for their condition or if they are not being fed well.  Hussein takes two people from our group at a time and walks down the line of buggies carefully studying each one. I am not sure what he is assessing, the drivers, horses, carriages, or all three. When Hussein finds what he is looking for he stops and has the people following him find the number that is painted on the carriage. Hussein imparts to the people that it is important to remember the number because you will ride in the same carriage on the return trip to the ship. He also says to not tip the driver until you are delivered back to the ship. Hussein instructs us to give the driver fifty Egyptian pounds and no more. By the way, OAT does all the tipping for things like this, so Hussein handed fifty pounds to one of the riders in each carriage. We love this about OAT as it is one less thing to worry about.

    Before we leave, every driver asks for their customers phone, and they proceed to take photos of you seated in the carriage. We are looking directly into the sun so our photo results in two people with their eyes squinted to slits.  Our driver is very quiet and does not talk to us on the jaunt to the temple which is fine. What we like best about him is that he does not use a whip on his horse as many other drivers do to make the horses gallop.  I hope the poor things have good shoes to help cushion the impact on their joints from the solid surface of the road.

   We clip-clop through the town of Edfu which is a little rundown. The people are going about their business and do not take much interest in us. We have arrived on the other side of the small town when I see a young boy dash out into the street ahead of us. I exclaim to Paul that the youngster is trying to race the horse and carriage that is ahead of us. Not quite, the rascal runs up behind the buggy, jumps onto the back of it, and hangs on. The driver lashes his horse into a gallop, so we lose sight of them and their stowaway. At the entrance to the temple, we catch up to the carriage and there is no sign of the boy. I guess this practice of catching a ride not only gets you to your destination quicker but probably adds a little excitement to the day.

    The area where the carriages let us off is a hundred yards from the temple entrance. There are a few men waiting here that immediately begin trying to sell us souvenirs as soon as we set foot on the ground. Hussein is telling us that we will come back to this spot to find our carriage when we are finished exploring the temple. During Husseins’ instructions, I hear a sharp, “Hey” behind me. I turn around to see one of the vendors glaring at Paul as he reaches down to retrieve a bracelet off the ground. When the fellow stalks away, I ask Paul what happened. Paul says the guy laid a bracelet on his arm and when Paul moved his arm the jewelry fell to the ground which elicited the angry exclamation from the seller. Well, that is a new tactic. We find out from another woman that they did the same thing to her and when she moved her arm away the item also fell to the ground. As we follow Hussein to the temple entrance, we hear a member of our group who is walking behind us, shout a loud and angry “no.”  Another member of our group immediately walks back to see what is happening and to help ease the situation. We find out later that an aggressive vendor tried to attach a bracelet around the wrist of the man’s wife and that is why he yelled at the guy. Jeez.

    Okay, I will admit that I don’t remember much about this temple. I do recall that the temple was buried in the sand for centuries maybe millennia and some French archeologist discovered it in the late 1800’s. In our OAT book it says that this is the second largest temple, but it does not specify whether this is in Egypt or the world. I do remember that the temple is dedicated to Horus, the falcon- headed God. Hussein talks about the temple and then allows us to look around the structure on our own. We are to meet back at the carriage drop off at a certain time. After we have explored the temple, Paul and I exit the temple grounds and wait in front of the ticket office. There is another couple from our group waiting there too. Hussein walks up and tells us we can go out to the parking lot and find our carriage. I think we all mentally sigh because we must walk through the souvenir trap to get there.  Just as we are preparing to face the inevitable circus, we see two workers walk through a small gate. We look at each other, shrug our shoulders and exit through the gate allowing us to miss the keepsake sellers all together!

    When we reach the ship, Paul goes against Hussein’s’ instructions and gives our driver an extra fifty Egyptian pounds. He tells me it is because the young man treated his horse well and did not bother us while we were in his carriage. I totally agree with his decision.

     This afternoon our ship comes to a halt and the crew hoists the sails which is quite an ordeal. We are invited to go aboard the tugboat and see the Aida with her sails up and functioning. Paul, Jennifer, and I believe, four more folks take the crew up on this offer. The rest of us are content to see the billowing sails from the deck. Paul and Jennifer say they enjoyed seeing the Aida in full sail, from the little tug, and they did get some nice photos. Once the tugboat riders are back on the ship, the crew continues to use the sails and wind to navigate up the Nile. To be honest, we can hardly tell that the ship is moving. You must fixate on a point along the shore to confirm that, yes, the boat is inching along. No wonder we must have the tug pull us. At this rate it would take days to reach our final destination of Abu Simbel. Regardless of our rate of speed, it is fun to go up the Nile in slow motion for a couple of hours.

    Tonight, we are having dinner on shore. The Aida is maneuvered over to the riverbank and moored next to a riverside café. These outside cafes are like roadside diners for river traffic, and I assume for village people too.  We passed by many of these colorful riverside cafes all day. You could also see an ample number of hookahs at many of them including this one.

    The crew sets up the buffet on the shore a few yards from our boat. There is a long dining table and strings of light are hung above the area where we will eat our dinner. I do not recall the food that was served in the buffet. I hardly eat anything because I cannot get my digestive system straightened out. Since my stomach becomes upset out of the blue, I have concluded that there is some Egyptian food that is not agreeing with me. Consequently, I have not been eating much but meat, bread, and fruit and not a lot of those items. Rats.

   After we have finished our meal, the captain introduces the crew that has been taking such good care of us on the Aida. Once we acknowledge them with applause the captain tells us that they are going to play music and sing for us.  Once they begin singing and playing their simple instruments, Hussein calls out to Jennifer and escorts her to the “dance floor.” The pair begin to cut a rug or in the case to kick up a “sand” storm. I know that Hussein discovered that Jennifer loves to dance prior to this evening, so they have danced together before this occasion, but I cannot remember where that occurred.

    A couple members of the crew come over to the rest of us and encourage us to join the dancing duo. I decline as I have absolutely no rhythm so would probably be running into everyone or be stepping on my own toes. Paul joins in the fun as do most of the rest of the group. I think there are five or six of us that prefer to watch the rest of group dancing and laughing along the Nile.

   The tugboat operator, a large man with a great smile, belts out the words to the songs they sing, drowning out the other singers. He seldom is on key but makes up for this flaw with his exuberance. Ouch. One woman returns to the table and tells me that she loves music and cannot handle this anymore. I acknowledge this fact by nodding my head but figure the crew is having fun as are the dancers so what the heck.    

   The owner of the café has a son that is probably eight or so, and he is singing and clapping along with the crew. Jennifer gets the boy to dance with her which makes the little fellow beam. The wide grin that splits his face when the song is over tells you all you need to know about his delight in dancing with a tourist. Way to go Jennifer, you do have a way with kids!

  Tomorrow, Visiting a farm and an ancient quarry. Nancy