Bob and Ann in Egypt and Jordan 2009

Please visit today's slide show.

The was a very relaxing day. We set sail at 6:00 while most of us were asleep. Our morning 5-hour cruise was to Edfu. We were able to sit on deck, watch the Nile scenery go by and take lots of photos. The Nile was very calm and blue. The weather was clear and warm. We could see all of the fields and groves that proved that the Nile banks are very fertile. At around 10:00 we had a guided tour of our river boat. We visited the engine room, the kitchen and the bridge. Some of us got to honk the horn on the bridge.

Edfu - Temple of Horus

We reached Edfu at 11:00 and disembarked for our tour of the Temple of Horus – the raven headed god. This enormous temple is said to be the best preserved temple in Egypt. We walked from the large sunny courtyard lined with columns to the dark inner recesses of the offering chambers. The temple is almost entirely intact with decorated hieroglyphs and bas reliefs. Samy led us all around the temple and gave us excellent explanations of what we were seeing. We were also able to watch some scientists measuring water levels under the temple through instruments that were lowered into drill holes. This is part of the effort to preserve this and many other temples in Egypt.

Back on the boat, we had lunch and then sat back and relaxed as we sailed on to Esna. We were able to catch up on reading and sleep. At 5:00, Samy gave us a lecture on the history of Egypt from 7000 BC to the current day. He paid a lot of attention to the political and social situations that have evolved in the last few years. Several of our tour mates had good questions and comments from very conservative to very liberal.

After dinner, Ann and I took a short walk along the river bank. The streets were both paved and unpaved with lots of dirt and garbage. It was dark, but there were lots of local people walking around. Men in their galabeyas, women in various stages of covers and children in western clothes. There were very few vendors still open and those that were were fairly passive and not demanding. We saw several shops selling bridal attire - very elaborate western-style gowns. We received many friendly greetings in English, German and other languages that we didn’t understand. We went to the town’s renowned temple which was closed for the night to everything but the hundreds of pigeons nesting on its roof, columns and walls. This is to be an optional tour tomorrow. We are going to pass on it.

We saw cars, motorcycles and donkey carts. We also saw several men armed with automatic weapons either walking around or sitting at the gates to the piers where the river boats were tied up. This has been a common sight in all of the cities that we have visited. Since we boarded our boat, our government issued body guard has disappeared, though.

This is the first time we have been able to independently leave the group and go for a walk. Ann loved it. I was a little nervous.

Back at the boat, Ann turned on the movie, “Death on the Nile”. I fell asleep and don't remember much about it.

Here is a map of where we went today: