Dispatch from MSS Hathor

On the boat - we are about to dock at Kom Ombo for the night. The cruise
has been great so far - we laze on the upper deck in the afternoon,
watching the Nile go by and taking pix of the farms, donkeys, men and
various riverside activities. Compared to the Yangtze river views we had
from our trip, there is much more down at the bank activity on this river,
where you are seeing someone every 100 yds or so. Not crowded, still rural,
and definitely lived in scenery.
Today we visited the Temple of Horus. Still unable to send photos of my
own, but this link http://www.molon.de/galleries/Egypt/Edfu/img.php?pic=15
should take you to a folder that someone else has posted from their trip.
This temple is one of the last ones that still has a roof, and you get a
real feel for what they must have been like. When found by a European
archeologist in the 1800s, the temple was 2/3 covered with sand, and people
were living in the top 1/3 of the building. The early Christians hid out at
this temple during their persecution years, and defaced many of the
carvings of the Egyptian pharohs and greek kings. Yes, Greek - the Greeks
actually demolished the first Temple of Horus and rebuilt this one on the
same spot in about 27 AD.
Yesterday was very full, starting with a hot air balloon ride over the West
Bank at Luxor. Then the Luxor Museum where they house the fine statues
discovered underground in 1989 at Luxor Temple. Exquisite artistry!
We were divided into 2 shopping groups, given a grocery list and some money
and sent off into Luxor Market (the open air street market) to secure
groceries for a meal we are having tonight on the boat. It involves okra
.... I am trying to remain open minded.
Some impressions of the country so far, from my American perspective, and
that of a tourist that has limited interaction and engagement ... with that
disclaimer:
- Men are out, alot. Women no so much. Men everywhere; men employed; the
entire 40 staff on the boat, men. The response to our question, can a pilot
pass his skills down to daughter, mish mah ool. Unbelievable.
- Yelling. Lots of yelling. Not in anger, just communicating / talking over
the noise. This is men yelling...because they are the ones out. Men in
buggies yelling to each other over the din of the traffic. Men on boats
yell to each other. Men on shore yell to boat. Men in taxis yell at us. Men
yelling to each other across the street. They all seem to know each other,
all over the country.
- You see people (men because they are out) taking time; sitting, talking,
visiting over shisha (tobacco water pipe)(yes, it's tobacco); sitting at
the riverside; visiting on the street. You see them working too, it's the
visiting that is a standout. You don't see this type of visiting on our
streets so much.
That's it for today. This 1/2 hr of time cost 50 LE, or about $8.00