Day
7: Nile Cruise : High Dam, Philae, Kom Ombo
 Tour
of High Dam and Philae
Up early to eat the buffet breakfast and leave for
Philae at 9:00, our guide John checked us off the list and got us
passes to return to the the boat, then on the bus and off to Philae,
a Ptolomaic temple to Hathor that was partially innundated by the
first British Dam built at the Niles First Cataract.
When the larger High Dam was planned, Philae and other
monuments were rescued by UNESCO. Philae was moved to it's own island.
Abu Simbel was rescued in this same program, and with other monument,
elevated to higher ground around the water behind the High Dam which
forms Lake Nassar.
We drove over both the British Dam and the High Dam
and stopped at the High Dam to take a look. There is another temple,
Kabasha, that can be seen from the high dam. The dock where the
ferries take you to Philae are just beyond the High Dam.
 When
Nassar built the High Dam, Egypt received funds from Russia. No
other country wanted to help Nassar in his vision. There is a rest
stop near the dam with a portrait of Lenin prominently displayed
and a large modern monument to commemorate the completion of the
dam.
The Dam has several benefits, it supplies a large portion of the
electricity for the country, it controls the annual flood, and allows
the river to be kept a constant level which enables the Nile cruise
business. Most of Egypt's jobs are related to tourism and both the
population and the tourist industry are growing. For example, there
are now 400 river boats sailing on the Nile.
When the High Dam was built, there was a very unfortunate
consequence. The country of Nubia, which bordered on Egypt
on the North and Sudan on the South, was viturally drowned.
The Nubians were offered islands on the Nile from Aswan down
to Edfu and were resettled. Since that time the Nubians have
been incorporated into Egyptian society and have become Egyptian
citizens. There are Nubian villages on Elephantine and Sehel
Islands. And the Nubian culture has been added as a tourist
feature to the Egypt repetoire.
There also have been some unintended consequences of the Dam that
may have a technical solution in the future. The silt of the Nile
is not longer enriching the fields and chemical fertilizers have
to be used. And that same silt is building up behind the Dam. And
then there are the crocodiles, there are none below the dam but
60,000 above the dam which are multiplying fast and eating tons
of Nile Perch every day! Lake Nassar is a crocodile paradise.
Perils of the Ferry Ride to Philae
 The
ferry landing at Philae is a dangerous place, in the sense that
the small boats used are crowded together, trying to get to the
dock for passengers. The passengers tend to arrive in large groups
and the boats get paid by the numbers. So watch your fingers on
the side canopy supports, the boats can slide together quickly,
also watch you head as you duck down to step down into the ferry,
and lastly, don't sit on the side without paying attention. The
boats have rubber tire bumpers that can pop up when the boats come
together and knock you over.
Tour of the Temple of Hathor at Philae
 Philae
is a beautiful temple, and we told the tour guide, John that we
would be taking pictures on our own and asked for a meeting time.
We then wandered around taking hundreds of photos. They have a sound
and light show that is very popular. In the daylight the temple
is just as impressive. It was built by the Ptolomies. Hadrian, a
Roman Emperor added this famous side temple pictured above.
 After
riding back on the bus, we boarded the boat to sail down to Kom
Ombo.
Kom Ombo
Kom Ombo is also a temple built by the Ptolomies. It, like all
the other Ptomomaic Temples is situated at the ancient site of previous
Egyptian temples. Kom Ombo Temple is shared by two gods, Sobek the
Crocodile God and Horus the Elder who is one of the older gods in
the pantheon, not the commonly seen Horus.
We had one hour and one half hours at Kom Ombo, not nearly enough.
The excursions off the boat are very time constrained in order to
keep the boat on schedule and one hour was probably enough for the
average passenger. Ken and I, once again told the guide we would
separate from the group for pictures and meet him at an appointed
spot.
The tempble has some of the most beautiful reliefs. It has been
restored to stabilize it and a good entrance ramp and stairs lead
up to a paved couryard in front. To the side and below the temple
there was some type of restaurant and entertainment area. The market
stalls were on the lower level at the bottom of the entrance stairs
and we were shepherded through there quickly.
There is stone seating for a sound and light show,
and we were told if we were slow in our schedule, we would
see the temple sound and light instead of the daylight tour.
For us, the daylight tour was the best, but I think the sound
and light show might be quite beautiful. You can take a feluca
excursion down from Aswan, a bit like camping, one night
sleeping on the boat and latrine stops when necessary. If you
did that as a private party, you could spend as much time as
you like at the temples and maybe get both the daylight tour
and sound and light at Kom Ombo. You can also come to Kom Ombo
in convoy by road from Aswan and even perhaps from Luxor.
Anyway the temple is divided down the middle, the right hand side
has reliefs for Sobek and the Left hand side has reliefs for Horus
the Elder. There is a Nileometer to the left of the temple and some
large scale reliefs are displayed.
When we docked we had to dock beside another boat. The boats
have entrances on both sides in the middle. If docking space
is limited, the hook together and line up a corrider through
two or three boats. There were quite a few at Kom Ombo and
it was really crowded because the boats coming up stream and
the boats going down stream met there.
We regrouped succesfully and seemed to bypass the market stalls
as we went out by the designated exit.
Tea as we cruise down to Edfu
The shipped sailed down to Edfu to dock over night and we
had tea as we sailed, watching the scenes of rural life. Dinner
and then to bed, but stopped at the ship shop to buy some spangled
scarves to wear the next night at Galabeya night. Everyone
is gathering together bits and pieces for their costumes. Some
brought them with them and other bought them in the Aswan market.
The Vendors in the markets up and down the river know about
Galabeya Night (by the way Galabeya's are a male garment. Women
do not wear them in Egypt, and if you own one, do not wear
it out on the street).
The entertainment tonight is Bingo and party games which we
were told were a variation on musical chairs. Everyone seemed
to enjoy themselves. We slept. |
