Day 6
Cruisin’ the Nile River
We departed Luxor and started sailing up the Nile towards Aswan, our next base of operations. Writing this now, I admit that I remember absolutely nothing about the shipboard experience except from the pictures taken topside. Our cabin? The ship’s dining room? The ship’s lounge? Nada!
Rob and I both gave the sun deck pool a “test drive” which was refreshing in the unshaded heat of day. However, the pool was quite small (as can be seen in the photo); and we tried to stay out of the grueling sun as much as possible.
As for shipboard “life”, there was a costume soiree of sorts held for the passengers after dinner. As can be seen in the photo, neither Rob nor I dressed for the unbridled hilarity that ensued. (The scarved-and-caftan’d woman standing between us, who was traveling with her mother, was one of the two “younglings” among us. The other was a young man, also accompanying his parents.)
We made a couple of stops en route to Aswan
Temple of Horus
Located in the town of Edfu on the West Bank of the Nile, this temple, one of the best preserved in Egypt, is dedicated to Horus, one of the most significant of the ancient gods. Often depicted as either a falcon or a man with the head of a falcon sporting the red and white crown of the Upper and Lower Kingdoms, he was the god of kingship, healing, protection, the sun, and the sky.
Om Kombo Temple
This is a unique ‘double’ temple that had courts, halls, sanctuaries and rooms duplicated for two sets of gods. Everything was perfectly symmetrical along the main axis.
The southern half was dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek, god of fertility and creator of the world with Hathor (goddess of the sky, women, fertility, love…and our ship’s namesake!) and Khonsu (god of the moon).
The north was dedicated to the falcon god Haroeris (Horus the Elder), along with Tasenetnofret (the Good Sister) and Panebtawy (the Lord of the Two Lands).
Egypt 