Post 10 - Up The Nile - Part 1

We finished Luxor, got on the boat and started up the Nile.  The boat traveled all night and we woke up at the Edfu temple site.

Inside the boat
For the record, we ate all ours meals on the boat.  They were Egyptian in nature and you can take that to mean there were no burgers or pizza.  Most of the food was in the carbohydrate category and not a strong showing of protein.  You could order an omelet for breakfast if you wanted and the salad bar was nice.

The main course food was served buffet style in silver-lidded tubs.  There was no limit on how often you went back. 

Picture of the salad bar (head chef in the background)

Macey digging in.  An interesting note is that we were below the water line for meals.  I tried to capture how close the water was outside the windows, but as you can tell it didn't work out.  The river was about 10 inches below the window seal.

The boat had five levels with the fifth level being the top deck.  This picture shows Emily, Norah and I on the second floor and Summer and Macey are on the third.  Our rooms were on the second floor.

Summer unpacking

Second floor lobby

Norah ready for action

We're taking a timeout in the 4th floor activity room.  Our guide is in the background.

Yes, the boat had a pool.  No, the pool wasn't heated.  Emily and I weren't going near it and the kids couldn't stay out of it.  Adam tried it twice and both times had to recover from hypothermia.  

Summer and Norah  testing the water

Summer and new friend having fun

 

All watching the sun set on the Nile from the top deck

For the Record

There's something else that deserves mentioning about all the sites we visited during the cruise.  In every case you had to negotiate a cadre of merchandise vendors to reach the historical monument.  They were like flies and would angle toward you as you were walking. It was like running a gauntlet and it didn't take long to learn proper tourist skills:

•  Look straight ahead, don't make eye contact.  Don't Even look at what they're selling.
• If someone is angling toward you, wait until they are a step away and zig-zag behind them
• Don't be polite and try to say something like 'LaAt ShowKron' Arabic for 'no thank you'.  Just don't say anything at all.  If you speak to them, they become stuck to your side.
• Hold onto the the kids and don't get separated

Failure to do these things could mean being trapped.  As an example, if they were selling a shirt and you became trapped, they would put the shirt on your arm and state a ridiculous price.  The negotiation process has begun.  If you try giving it back, it will, with the quickest slight of hand I've ever seen, be put back on your arm.  You can't get away without being absolutely rude.  In the worst case you may have to drop the product on the ground - and the ground was never that clean.  I'll say more about this at the end of the blog.

Temple  Edfu

Getting ready to go inside.  The outside entry was just plain enormous.

Macey on the inside, feeling the power

Hmm, maybe the power was a bit much

Macey is clearly overcome after seeing the inner sanctum.  Come back, Macey, come back!

Some had more respect for Horus the Falcon than others

Lost in a rock hallway

Good to be out in the sun

Summer striking a pose

Okay, it's finally over

Another Story

We rode carriages from the boat to the entry of the above site.  Summer, Macey, the guide and I were in one carriage and Adam, Emily and Norah in another.  We were suppose to remember the carriage number for the return trip to the boat i.e. the driver didn't get paid until we got back!  In good Egyptian fashion it was chaos at the monument site with a mixture of dozens of horse carriages, cabs, buses, walking vendors and other site people.  How in the 'H' were we suppose to find the same carriage driver for the return trip an hour later?

We finished the tour and Emily and Adam miraculously found their driver.  Summer and Norah went with them and it left Macey and I standing there with no clue about what to do.  Our guide had walked off in search of our ride when the worst happened - a street vendor showed up.  I needed to stay put until the guide returned, so I became an easy target.  Yep, he put the shirt on my arm and I kept trying to give it back.  In the smoothest action, the shirt would be back on my arm.  How does that happen?

Since I was stuck, I decided to try to negotiate with the guy about the shirt price.  However, after a couple of minutes, I decided I didn't want it.  But, like I said, I couldn't give it back.  Our guide showed up about this time and became involved in my negotiation.  Somehow it came out that I'd give 10 U.S. for it and the guy took that to mean the deal was sealed.  Okay, I was out 60 Egyptian pounds for the negotiation lesson.  I know I made a poor bargain.

With new shirt in hand (which I later discovered would not fit and never will - it's just cut wrong) we still needed a carriage ride back to the boat and the boat was set to leave in just a few minutes.  Panic was starting to set in and I could tell our guide was becoming a bit alarmed too.  Finally, in desperation, he got us another carriage and we headed out onto the street.  We didn't get very far.  Some guy came running up and there was a warm discussion in Arabic (which I think centered around having to pay twice for a carriage and it wasn't our fault we couldn't find the original driver).  Some money was exchanged and we headed down the street.

Suddenly we hear a bunch of yelling and a horse running.  Yet, it was our original driver and he was determined to catch us - and he did.  Warm words were exchanged again and we transferred carriages.

In the mean time, Adam and Emily had reached the boat and were becoming increasingly alarmed when we didn't show up.  I mean we were a good twenty minutes late.  Adam, along with Emily, went up to the top deck of the boat to see if they could get a better view of our location and fought off an anxiety attack waiting for our arrival.  Bad visions of body-part harvesting ran through Adam's mind.  The only sanity-saving component was that our guide had not returned either and it was assumed (correctly) that he was with us.

Fortunately, the story has a happy ending and we were all united on the boat.  It was just a little too close for comfort.