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Trafalgar Tour - Best of Egypt

Day 5 - Edfu and Kom Ombo

Egypt

A view of the sunrise sailing down the Nile

The Temple of Horus at Edfu

Kom Ombo Temple from our room on the ship

A night view of the Kom Ombo Temple

Although each day on the tour was spectacular, this was probably the slowest day where we saw the fewest number of sites.

The day started at 1:15am when we awoke to the sound of our boat moving through the lock. (We went to sleep still waiting in a big line of cruise ships to get through the lock). Fortunately, it wasn't very noisy, and we were able to sleep until 5:50am when the boat docked at Edfu.

Since we were up so early, we decided to take advantage of the opportunity and watch the sun rise. As it started to rise, it looked fairly ugly coming through the pollution - it wasn't colorful at all. It was a different type of sunrise that had its own type of beauty looking out over the Nile.

We found out later that everyone else in our group also woke up early - we were all at the the table for breakfast as soon as the room opened at 7:30am. At 8:30am, we organized in the lobby, and took the bus to Edfu Temple (also known as Horus Temple at Edfu). It was very well preserved, and even had the original roof! It gave us a much different picture of what temples would have been like when they were used.

Our tour guide gave us a short talk about some of the features in the temple, and then gave us about an hour to walk around the temple. There were also tourist shops nearby where you could purchase souvenirs from aggressive sales people. By this point, we were getting better at bargaining, and weren't getting taken advantage of quite so badly.

On the way back to the boat, our tour guide told us there would be another optional tour to a Nubian Village. It would take place tomorrow (Day 6), and wouldn't interfere with any scheduled tours. When we arrived back on the boat, we paid him the $20 each for the optional tour (in US dollars), and then went to sit on the upper deck at 11:00am.

The boat left the dock at Edfu, and sailed towards Kom Ombo shortly after we got back. Lunch was scheduled for 1:00pm today. Everyone had free time for the whole afternoon, so most people spent it lounging on the upper deck. Tea time was at 4:00pm - the snack for today was mashed dates rolled into balls.

When we docked at 5:00pm, our group was waiting in the lobby so we could walk to the Temple of Kom Ombo. The temple was located a 30-second walk from the ship. Our tour guide gave us a little tour of the temple, then told us we had free time, but we needed to be back on the boat since it was sailing at 6:30p.

We enjoyed exploring the temple, and went back to the ship at 6:15pm. There were some very aggressive sales people on the way out - one of them grabbed me with a strong grip - it was the only time I was physically bothered during the trip.

The boat left the dock at 7:00pm. Tonight was the "galabaya night" - an excuse for people to wear galabaya dresses that could be purchased at tourist places, or rented from the ship (dressing up was not required - jeans and a t-shirt were just fine. Approximately 60% of the people on the ship dressed up in some way or another). The dinner at 7:30pm consisted of some Egyptian food (falafels, which are called tamia, and liver).

After dinner, at 9:00pm, everyone on the ship went to the lounge on the main floor for the galabaya party. The party consisted of some Egyptian music, a congo line, and some dancing games. Some pictures were taken here of each group that were later available for purchase (for 10 LE each).