An eclectic day combining an engineering marvel, a Greco Roman temple, a granite quarry, our first leg of cruising north on the Nile and the Kom Ombo temple to end the day. Sean and Allie opted out of the group tour itinerary in the morning and made arrangements for a boat hire to cruise, swim and visit islands of the Nile while we did our side trips.
The Aswan High dam (#1 in pic below) is massive, being nearly a kilometre across at the top. Unlike North American dams it combines rock and concrete on a much lower grade angle so doesn’t have the smooth finished look one might expect. Given its role in controlling flooding and producing electricity it has a significant security detail at either end and at the visitors centre. Lake Nasser behind the dam stretches forever to the south and is eerily empty of any boating activity. The High dam effectively replaced the lower dam (#6) in 1970 however the latter is still integral to control water levels downstream.
The Greeks and Romans took turns occupying Egypt between 332 BC (Greece starting with Alexander the Great to 30 BC with Cleopatra) and the Romans thereafter until the Muslims conquest in 645 AD. To gain recognition by the native populace they took on Egyptian traditions and participated in Egyptian religious life. Hence the presence of Greco Roman temples depicting Egyptian gods and hieroglyphics. The lake between the two dams included Philae island that housed an important Greco Roman temple which was rescued from the dam induced rising waters and moved to a higher point of land on a different island (#5). We took a small motor boat to the island and had a good wander.
A short side trip to a granite quarry and an appreciation of the sheer size of various blocks and an unfinished obelisk all cut by hand using rudimentary tools finished our morning. Back to the Princess Sarah where we set sail northward.
After three hours of cruising and tea on the upper deck, our boat, and seemingly half a dozen others, all docked at Kom Ombo. The temple is unique as it is a Greco Roman creation that venerates two Egyptian gods (all others focus on one or a family). One of the gods was a crocodile (don’t ask, long story) and there was a museum of mummified crocodiles. Another wow.
We’re cruising until well into the night and will be docking at Edfu where we start again at the crack of dawn tomorrow.
The Bennetts On Tour 