I did the islands and boats tour today :>. There is a public ferry across that costs about a quarter, but apparently the travel agent is spoiling me rotten, and they hired a private boat to take me to all the locations (I guess that is a good thing since I handed him a small fortunate for my trip lol). First up was Phillae temple on Angolika island. The temple *used* to be on Phillae item, but the Europeans went and built a dam or two for agriculture (they wanted to grow cotton of all things) and thus the level of the Nile rose up quite a bit (and made a lake in the process which they called Lake Nasser. So as it ended up the temple of Phillae was completely submerged in water. Fortunately though, the UK footed the $15 million dollar bill to have the Isis temple moved over to a new island, brick by brick. Keep in mind these bricks are far from small!
First they walled it in with metal around the temple, then they scooped out the water, then they made numerous drawings, as well as numbered each and every brick so that they would put it back together correctly. It was basically a 250000 piece jigsaw puzzle of very enormous size! Good thing they have more technology then the ancient Egyptians or that project would have taken longer then the few years it did. There is still the odd brick laying around here and there not put into place yet it seems. Unfortunately they were a bit heavy to take back as a souvenir, and the guards would have likely noticed a brick larger then myself in my backpack anyways.
Nonetheless, the Phillae temple is amazing! One downer aspect is that when the Christians/Romans when they took over the area and used the temple as their church, they chiselled out the faces, bodies and other parts of many of the Deities. There is the odd equilateral cross here and there that they etched into the walls on top of the areas they chiselled out. They also added an altar which is still sitting there. Fortunately there are still many etchings of the Gods on the walls of the temple. There is a room for Osiris, one for Isis of course, as well as a birth house for where she gave birth to Horus apparently. I spent 3 hours at the temple all together, and I wish I had told my guide to leave me there alone longer.
Most of the rooms in the temple were just loaded with tourists. However fortunately not as many seemed to go to the birth house of Horus. At one point I had that entire room to myself for a good 20 minutes, so I was able to do a small ritual :). The presence of Isis and Horus was extremely strong there after I started.Outside of the main temple is a temple to Hathor, but unfortunately it is still under restoration and is currently closed to the public. I did still get some photos though. Also outside of the main temple is the boat house... the large structure in which they stored Isis’ giant boat that she rode. There were many nooks and crannies and dark rooms that I’m not quite sure what they were for. Some had hieroglyphics and some not. There was one that had a bunch of blocks from the Hathor temple (or so the guard sitting at the door told me). I went in and walked over the rocks. There was a smell of bat guano everywhere :P. I would have gone further, but I figured the policeman might follow me in and start asking if I’m married or not, so I just went in a little ways.Another policeman handed me a flower from a tree and told me what sort it was, then handed me some seeds so I could go grow my own at home.. then handed me some bits of a henna plant. So I have him a 25cent tip... I think he was demanding more money, but I’m not sure. Nonetheless I decided to not understand him if that is what he was after. I think he was trying to get $10 out of me ROFL.
Fortunately they ferried me back to near my hotel for lunch since the cafe on the island was probably quite expensive and not as good. I had just enough time to get to my hotel room, douse my head under the shower, go to the bathroom, and the travel agent phoned me to let me know he was downstairs. It was now off to Elephantine island to see a few temples, some ruins, a museum and a Nubian village.
I was taxied over in a motorboat to the island, and brought to the small village. I was then introduced to my first guide on Elephantine island, it was someone who was Nubian and knew a LOT about Nubian history, which was extremely interesting. We sat in a small but comfortable room while he gave me a half an hour talk on the history of Elephantine island and the Nubian people. They didn’t have mint tea (a standard in Egypt) so I was offered cinnamon tea by the host, and it was GOOD! Just have to love Egyptian hospitality (at times, see notes about perfume sellers to see the times it’s not as appreciated).
Apparently Nubian means place of gold, which was sacred (and handy for jewellery). The island was called Elephantine meaning sacred place (pretty much). In ancient Egyptian mythos it was said that this island was where everything was created, especially humans. First though Ra was created... well either he created himself, or the Benu (phoenix) bird dropped an egg off on that island that became Ra. The guide made some joke about the God or the egg coming first. The Nubian people were first Pagan, then Christian when the Coptics took over, and now 100% (according to the guide) Muslim when they took over. Seems Egypt got taken over regularly with a change or religion quite often.
He also went into the history of who invaded when and such, which was not of much interest to me. Apparently the Nubian people actually speak their own language, even though they are only a 5 minute ferry ride away from Aswan! It’s a pretty neat language, and I have to say, hearing them speak it, I kept expecting them to go into Cthulu/Necronomicon chants as it sounded so similar.
I was then led around the village by yet another guide (seems they trade off with whoever has the most expertise in any given area). Have I mentioned that the Egyptians are the rudest people in the world when it comes to cel phones? Anyways, partway through the tour my guide took a call and sat me down on a pretty outcropping of rock overlooking the ocean. I however got bored and wandered around... this was interesting and all, but soon landed me being flirted with my this Nubian guy in his 20’s. I told him I was married, then started talking about my kids. From what I recall he was still offering after that. My guide tried as well, but not as blatantly. Fortunately both were respectful about it and not pushy. So if any of you women out there want hot nights with young Nubian men, boy do I have an island for you!
The village looked pretty neat, most of the houses, buildings and the places they keep the animals were all made out of handmade bricks cemented together with some substance or another that resembled mud quite a bit. There were of course your standard buildings as well, but those seemed less common. There were many palm trees, a few farms and animals wandering around everywhere; mostly skinny little sheep and goats. They also have cows on that island, which are skinnier then any cow I have ever seen. Perhaps this is what they look like without hormones and steroids. I do have to say the meat is damn yummy over here! (nope not had camel yet)
Next up was the fun bit! I had been eyeing up the felucca boats that go along the Nile ever since I got here. I figured there would be a felucca involved in my tours somewhere, so I hadn’t booked one yet. I also asked the travel agent several times if I would be going by felucca to about every site lol. The felucca captian and the kid helping him did amazingly well with the little boat and the wind not being the most favourable. The first mate couldn’t have been more then 10 years old, but he managed to do most of the very hard work of sailing no problem. Definitely stronger then I am. We sailed down to the end of the island to the Nubian museum. I had to insist I didn’t want a guide as I didn’t want to end up shelling out any more cash for someone pointing to things and saying a word or two in broken English. There was a sign that said to check your cameras, either they didn’t care, or because I didn’t have exact change and paid extra to get in I went in with mine no problem. I was careful to take photos when the insistent self appointed guide wasn’t around to see me though.
The most lively piece was a head. It was a black head of a person, which looked quite a bit like a shrunken head but not as small. It was mummified apparently. While I was looking at the head, the owner of the head stood next to it mostly fully physically. I decided to not hang around too long as I have enough deeds to work with already! I couldn’t quite tell if he was friendly or not. Perhaps he was happy that this was the first person in a long time that could see him, or perhaps he was pissed off that he was sitting in this damn museum under glass. There was also jewellery, sarcophagi just doesn’t sound right), ancient axes, talismans and more. This museum had some very ancient pieces that dated back to before 3200 BC, since this area was one of the oldest, and the Nubian people have been around longer then most of the Egyptians.
I then wandered over to the ruins of the temples. I saw several temples, but I was really tired at this point and my feet were sore. Also, most of the hieroglyphics from the walls were destroyed and drawn in by archaeologists to make sense. It was still amazing to see though. My self appointed guide (who told me I needed a guide to get in, but at least his information was worth the $5) showed me the bathroom, as in ancient bathtub and showers! It was pretty neat. He also showed me the restaurant or kitchen area. Along with the more ancient temples, there were the remains of what must have been a few hundred brick houses that were owned and built by the Romans. This Nubian also asked if I was married, then explained how he had 2 wives and 4 children (even showed me the pics of the kids on his cel phone). One wife in Cairo, and one here in Aswan since his work is here in Aswan. He then told me he would like another wife, and asked why I only had one husband. Single women over this way to Egypt please... None of them were bad looking either.
For the last part of the tour, he brought me to the sacred ram cemetery. Rams were sacred to Knum (sp), so they would sacrifice them for Knum, then bury them in the sacred ram cemetery afterwards. Unfortunately it was closed to visitors, but I at least got some photos. The guide did try to kiss me on the way out when saying bye. Perhaps the selection of women on this island with a population of only about 5700 people is low when it comes to the selection of women.
Next up was the felucca trip around the entire island! Now that just rocked! The boat I was on could have used a little sewing on the sail, but it was in good condition and the captain was quite good at getting around, so all was good. The boat trip was a lot of fun, extremely relaxing and had the most beautiful views. There are so many little tiny islands on the Nile, and it would be so much fun to just camp on one of them for a night or two. I was dropped off at the dock of the fancy hotel across the street from mine, so quite easy to get back here.
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