Lazy Days On The Nile

11 April 2006 -
Had a short felucca ride to visit a couple of the islands in the Nile within the city limits of Aswan - Kitchener's Island and Elephantine Island. It was a really cool intro as to what I would be on for the next 3 days and two nights. Nothing fancy but the nice thing was again meeting other fellow travelers. Now I have a connection in El Salvador who is more than happy to have me and anyone else I know visit El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. Particularly to do outdoor adventure sports like trekking, surfing, and diving. Yay!! I also met up again with the two ex-UCSF Med students who will be a part of the longer felucca ride up the Nile.

To explain, a felucca is a truly barebones sailboat. But it's enough to do a completely memorable trip along the Nile. (There are other ways to travel up and down the Nile such as in cruise ships which are similar to the larger versions that haunt the seas.) Anyhow, the felucca will take up to 8 passengers so the companionship is much more intimate, true, and laid back. Meals are simple, and restroom breaks allow you a quick visit with locals living/working along the Nile!

Along with the UCSFer's, there were three absolutely lovely ladies from Spain, and a really sweet couple from Taiwan (now living in the Czech Republic). We played card games, told riddles, talked about each others traveling/lives/plans, and just plain relaxed. As the evening hours approached we docked along with eight other feluccas in an area, had a basic dinner and then listened to each other sing songs. A group of the felucca captains came to our felucca to sing some Nubian songs accompanied by drumming. What a completely awesome night this was!!!

12 April 2006 -
Just a really, really lazy day. I realize how much I enjoy these days - so much more so than those days when I'm in a big city or at a tourist site crowded with hordes of other foreigners. Ah...I think the nature-side of me is screaming to be let out! Anhow, we stopped off by this really small village called Daraw. We toured through it by taxi and also visited the camel souq. It's where they keep all the camels that are brought up from Sudan. (I'm informed that it's approximately 1500 km of which they walk most and are trucked in part of the way. They journey supposedly takes about a month since the walk is only done in the morning hours as the afternoons and early evenings are much too hot.) By this time only the 3 Spaniards and I were left. Since we really wanted to just to sail and enjoy the tranquility of the Nile we really didn't want to hang out for too long in Daraw. So off we went again.

13 April 2006 -
Our felucca journey ended near the village of Kom Ombo. From there we, along with a massive number of tourists visited the Temple of Kom Ombo. Here're a couple of websites that I found that has some decent pictures (the second link has more):
http://homepage.powerup.com.au/~ancient/kom_ombo.htm
http://www.horus.demon.co.uk/Nile/photos/KomOmbo/html/index.html

From Kom Ombo, we again traveled in a police escorted convoy to the next stop, Edfu. (We even had a policeman complete with a very nice big rifle in the microbus with us!) At Edfu, we stopped to visit the Temple of Horus. Here're some links:
http://homepage.powerup.com.au/~ancient/edfu.htm
http://www.sights-and-culture.com/Egypt/edfu-horus-temple.html
http://homepages.tcp.co.uk/~nicholson/egypt/temples.html

It is just how amazing the detail of the artistry that adorns these ruins. They are not just sporadic but rather cover completely the entire complex, even the ceilings! (It's amazing how many tourists don't look up, especially since the carvings run from the ground all the way up onto the ceilings!) In some spots you can still see the coloration that was applied to the carvings. It really is a shame that not much more exist for they really do add many details of the jewelry, clothing and decorations of the carvings, providing them with greater richness and fullness of the artisans perspective and royal demands. How just absolutely INCREDIBLE and awe-inspiring these monuments must have been in their day!

After Edfu, we finally stopped off at our various accommodations in Luxor from where I am posting this blog.

There are two things that I'd like to comment about visiting Egypt. More often than not, you are "sheep-herded" to visiting many of the tourist places like the temples I've mentioned above by being forced to travel in these police caravans. Yes, there are ways to get around it but for the most part, the majority of the tourists are subjected to this process because of the 1997 massacre that happened in Luxor. (Here are some links as to the event:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/32179.stm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_1997_Luxor_massacre
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9711/18/egypt.attack.on/
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9711/18/egypt.attack.mubarak/)

Anyhow, it would seem that after the amazing pharaonic treasures of Egypt, the tourists are the next prized possession. Consequently, the Egyptian government is taking very serious measures to protect this resource of theirs. It also works in that you have a completely captured audience. Anyhow, it's very interesting to be a part of this.

The second thing that I wonder about is just how truly the Egyptians feel about the tourists and the tourism industry they are so heavily reliant upon. Yes, you have your usual hassle from the touts, shopkeeps, and street vendors (that are really just young boys). And there are a LOT of tourists and visitors. There are some Egyptians that appear to make a very good living off of them but what about those that are roped into providing services for the tourists? They smile all day and it's "yes, sir...yes, madame" and then it's back to a home that houses an extended family - struggling to make ends meet while all these other people are enjoying themselves. Even though I am chosing to travel "on the cheap," the fact that I still have enough disposable income to travel... Well. It doesn't really matter to them, does it? How does this truly affect the psyche of the Egyptians that I come into contact with?