We slept docked at Kom Ombu and set sail for Aswan in the morning.
The views along the Nile were of ever encroaching desert sands. Where earlier further north, the "green belt" extended further away from the Nile in both directions. the sands on the right side were virtually right at the waters edge. On the left, the greenery extended for a short distance, yards, not miles!
All along the waterway we heard donkeys braying and cows calling, as well as the putt-putting of agricultural irrigation pumps pulling water from the Nile for their crops.
**rant**
As evidence of city life showed itself on the banks, the signs of buildings became evident. It seems that in all of Egypt nothing ever gets finished in terms of building trades. There were thousands of buildings, (no exaggeration) that had re-bar sticking out of the top floor evident that the construction was incomplete. This was true in Luxor as well as Aswan but especially true in Cairo. I don't know if this is a symptom of their financial situation, or a cause. There were entire communities where the tops of the buildings were sprouting steel hairs. Many of these were unoccupied, but some had laundry hanging out. It seemed so strange when there were many people living in shacks that could use a more substantial habitat.
**end rant**
We docked in Aswan and headed to Philae, a temple on an island. This was a Roman ruin. In fact, one of the most beautiful temples was one dedicated to Trajan.
The sands are encroaching and getting closer to the Nile itself.
You can see that the capitals are now no longer symbols of the unification of the north and south kingdoms, but more Roman in characteristics.
There were numerous examples of Christian symbols carved into the stones in various locations
This is Trajan's Temple. Since he never visited before he died, the exterior of the temple was never finished it is still rough-hewn Rock.
We climbed back into the small boat that ferried us here and head back for our final dinner on board.
What was wonderful is that for the first time in trip, everyone got together on the upper deck and had a great discussion. We then went to dinner and requested that the dining tables be assembled into a single large one and the fun resumed. It was too bad that this happened on the last night. Perhaps next time we can make it happen earlier!
The views along the Nile were of ever encroaching desert sands. Where earlier further north, the "green belt" extended further away from the Nile in both directions. the sands on the right side were virtually right at the waters edge. On the left, the greenery extended for a short distance, yards, not miles!
All along the waterway we heard donkeys braying and cows calling, as well as the putt-putting of agricultural irrigation pumps pulling water from the Nile for their crops.
**rant**
As evidence of city life showed itself on the banks, the signs of buildings became evident. It seems that in all of Egypt nothing ever gets finished in terms of building trades. There were thousands of buildings, (no exaggeration) that had re-bar sticking out of the top floor evident that the construction was incomplete. This was true in Luxor as well as Aswan but especially true in Cairo. I don't know if this is a symptom of their financial situation, or a cause. There were entire communities where the tops of the buildings were sprouting steel hairs. Many of these were unoccupied, but some had laundry hanging out. It seemed so strange when there were many people living in shacks that could use a more substantial habitat.
**end rant**
We docked in Aswan and headed to Philae, a temple on an island. This was a Roman ruin. In fact, one of the most beautiful temples was one dedicated to Trajan.
We climbed back into the small boat that ferried us here and head back for our final dinner on board.
What was wonderful is that for the first time in trip, everyone got together on the upper deck and had a great discussion. We then went to dinner and requested that the dining tables be assembled into a single large one and the fun resumed. It was too bad that this happened on the last night. Perhaps next time we can make it happen earlier!
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