The felucca was so peaceful. I would like to retire and become a felucca sailor. The pool in the hotel is lovely and everything dries in about 10 minutes on the balcony. The calls to prayer 5 times a day were more pronounced here as the town is so quiet. The first call is at 5am. The trees fill with tiny sparrows. Dogs sleep in the sun all day long. "They work at night" says Naga.
Mom on losing her ticket: "I didn't know what was what" (I'll say!)
Mom before the trip to the airport:
"What ticket?"
Mom on the plane:
"I know! It's in my underwear!" (it was)
Mohammed:
"Two houses, two wives"
"When I was young I would see the moon from my bed and fly there."
Granite is as hard as stone, says Naga as he takes us to the granote quarry to see the unfinished obelisk of Queen Hatshepsut (Hot-Chicken Soup). A little sick today but liveable. Taking acidophilus, papaya, immodium, pepto-bismol, advil and water. The quarry was so big and so hot. The obelisk huge and rather unbelievable, all one piece.We took panoramas.
Kalabsha was amazing. We went through a soldier post and Naga bartered a boat for us. Most tourists don't go to see this temple. Relocated in it's huge entirety to a new island. There were little crocodiles in the lake. Passing the Nubian houses painted inside and out with colorful scenes of towns and churches, with pattern decor on the outside. Saw a water buffalo! At Kalabsha we saw prehistoric tablets with elephants, gazelles and giraffes on them. A stelae (large stone announcing events) of Seti I and the temple of Hathor. The huge temple of Kalabsha was empty except for us and the Nubian guides. We got to climb the towers to both the roofs in front and back! Wow! What a view! Lizards and bats in the stairways. Amazing columns....the Temple of hathor was small but gorgrous. We walked to the Temple of Amon-Ra built by Ramses II. He was so handsome, in his inner temple the colors were still there!
Then we took the boat to Philae Island. Actually new Philae, all the temples were moved. They are young relatively - Greek from the time of the Ptolemies, the last Pharoahs. Saw the Temple of Isis, the Temple of Imohotep, the birthing chamber of Ptolemy I (where he is portrayed as a god - talk about immaculate conception!). So many of the faces of the gods were chipped away by the early Christians. There were Coptic crosses everywhere.
It was so beautiful surrounded by the blue of the Nile. Massive, impressive. We slept in the afternoon and went to the Old Cataract after dinner which was built in the 1800's. So Victorian, the 1902 restaurant was gorgeous and huge. A giant dome over the dining area lit with hanging lamps that looked like stars. Little round tables...so romantic, and the rooms were amazing. Like royalty!!! Overlooking the Nile and the Elephantine Island ruins. Heavenly. You want to bring your true love here. Go back in time and have a drink on the terrace at sunset.
