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Felucca fun
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18/11/08-20/11/08
A 3am wake up call today for the optional extra of visiting Abu Simbel. There were two reasons for the crazy time, one we had to fit it in along with everything else on the tour, and two- to see the site you had to go via convoy and this was the only time of the day it left. The convoy is a very interesting and amusing part of traveling in Egypt. To go anywhere in the upper part of Egypt you have to go via convoy, it is meant to keep the tourists safe from terrorists. So what happens is hundreds of people in all different cars, vans, mini Busses and coaches follow the tourist police to the site of interest, all going as fast as possible trying to overtake each other. The lonely planet described it as being like something from wacky racers, and I wouldn't argue with this, it is a really bizarre picture. Then we all end up at the site at the same time, hundreds of people lining up to view it, and then we all leave and the site is empty......... Welcome to Egypt.
Abu Simbel was really good, and I think worth going to see. No other temples that we saw were anything like it, and the fact that they had to move the whole thing about 200m because of the building of the dam makes it an interesting visit. The sheer size and remote setting made it very cool. We got back to Aswan about midday to visit the High Dam (don't bother) and then went to see Philae temple. We had to get a boat to it after pushing our way through the bazaar full of tourist crap and very pushy Egyptians trying to sell it for far too much. Philae Temple was also very good and it was great to see all the hieroglyphs. That night was night one on the felucca, we had a nice meal of veggies and rice and Koftas, and after a few drinks everyone fell into an exhausted sleep.
The next day was a full day cruising the Nile, the sun was shining it was hot and the Nile sparkling. It was a great day of reading relaxing and swimming. That night we moored on a beach with a few other feluccas for a bit of a beach party, the bon fire was lit, the local Nubian guys got the drums out and there was lots of booze and singing. I had started a beer, but half way through I knew something wasn't right and a few hrs later after having to go lie down I was vomiting over the side of the felucca contemplating how long it would be until the bowels joined the party too. Turns out it was 3 hrs.
The next morning I really thought I was going to die, it was the end of the felucca trip and as we docked at our pick up point I was the first one off in search of a toilet. I wasn't the only one who was unwell, and as I emerged from the toilet I had to inform the line up that the toilet wasn't flushing.......... We had a few different sites to visit that morning such as Edfu, but a few of us just couldn't face it and we stayed and slept in the van while the well ones went exploring. We finally got to Luxor to a really nice hotel and I went to sleep. It was Jessie's birthday the day before so those who felt up to it went out for a few beers and they organized a cake for him.
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