Egypt, the land of pyramids, mummies and much more....!

Hi Malathyji,
The pictures and your write up just took us along on your trip. it has rekindled my wish to see it in person. everytime we had started planning, some terrorist attack will happen in egypt and my DH will say never are we going there... but since i saw a few posts in IL of ppl going and enjoying, i am going to revive the thought with DH again. Thanks for your wonderful write up it will prove to be a good guide for us. Can you also PM the tour cost information
thanks
Aparna

24^th December 2008
The sun was yet to rise. I was up early. It was 5.30 AM. My son was still asleep in his upper berth. It was quite warm and cosy inside the coupe though the temperature outside would be 10 or 11 degree Celsius.
I looked out of the windows. It was still dark. I opened the coupe door and peeped out to see if any of our friends were awake. Not a sign of movement! The previous night the youngsters were all pooled up in a coupe to play cards! I was there watching them play till about 11.30 PM. Then I went off to sleep. I told my son that I would not bolt the door from inside and he could come in when they wound up for the day. I do not know what time he came in because I was dead tired and had dozed off as soon as I was on my bed!
I could hear foot steps in the train corridor. A staff of the train was walking past. I asked him what time we would be reaching Aswan. He said that we would be there in about 3 hours time. It was 6 AM. So we would be in Aswan by 9 AM.
The breakfast was served at about 7 AM. It was the usual western breakfast with bread, butter, jam and bun and coffee or tea. Now the young sun was lighting up the beautiful fields that were visible through the window and it made a beautiful morning. The green paddy or sugarcane fields (or may be cotton) were a welcoming feast to the eyes.
As the two of us were still having our breakfast, our friends started walking down the corridor from the other compartment to wish us all a good morning. Today was a special day for one of our group ladies! It was her Birthday! Since she was in our compartment, we all started singing “Happy Birthday” to her. That was great fun…… celebrating the birthday in a train…… in a foreign land……in a large group of 39 people! That is some thing rare! Isn’t it so? There was a surprise waiting for her in the evening about which I shall say later!
Now we were merrily chatting and laughing away and time flew! The train staff came to tell us that we would be reaching Aswan in 20 minutes and we should be ready with all our baggage lined up near the door since the train would not stop very long at the station. We all got busy carrying our respective luggage to the door way.
The train was slowing down……… a….n….d then ….. it came to a halt! Aswan had arrived! Dear Ilites, shall we go on a virtual again?
Pictures-
1) The train corridor
2) Aswan station

One by one we were out of the train compartment. The morning sun had not yet picked up warmth or the chill outside had taken away the sting out of the sun!
Our luggage were transferred to a huge trolley! Our tour operator was waiting for us with the bus! It took some time to check each ones luggage and then transfer to the trolley to be taken to the parking area. As usual the men folk did a wonderful job till the last bag was tucked into the belly of the bus.
Now we were into the bus.
There was going to be no shower in the morning! We were to travel till 2 PM visiting various places before we were dropped at the cruise ship for lunch and a bath! It was going to be a hectic day as usual. Our day started with a visit the unfinished Obelisk.
1) The unfinished Obelisk
An Obelisk means A tall, four-sided shaft of stone, usually tapered and monolithic, that rises to a pointed pyramidal top. Obelisks were sometimes put in front of or inside the temples, where they acted as "antennas", drawing cosmic energy down to Earth (some what like our ‘Dwajasthambam’). Some times they were also put up as monumental pillarsdepicting war incidents and life of kings. As religion had an overwhelming power in the lives of the Egyptians, religious artifacts, like the obelisks, were produced, transported and erected regardless of their great cost and labour.

The unfinished obelisk is the largest known ancient obelisk, located in the northern region of the ancient quarries in Aswan, Egypt. It is nearly twice as large as any Egyptian obelisk ever erected. If finished it would measure around 42 meters, or 130 feet, in length. Its weight is estimated to be around 1130 metric tons.
The obelisk was carved directly out of bedrock, but cracks developed in the granite and the project was abandoned. The bottom side of the obelisk is still attached to the bedrock. The unfinished obelisk offers unusual insight into ancient Egyptian stone-working techniques, with marks from workmen's tools still clearly visible.
How were these giant single pieces of rock created out of the mountains? The labourers made a row of holes of about 10 centimeters (4 inches) wide, and inserted wood in these holes. Then cold water was poured on the wood. The wood would expand by passage of time and the rock would split.
The unfinished obelisk gives us an insight into how these magnificent structures were created.
Pictures of the unfinished Obelisk.

Other than the historic fact, one more interesting thing that comes to my memory about this place is that, it was here that we saw dogs for the first time!
There were two mongrels playing with each other and looking up to the visitors for some food. In the whole of Cairo we had not sighted even a single dog on the streets though we had seen a lot of cats!
Now one of the ladies in our group was a pet lover. In fact she had left her loving dog in the care of her daughter to join this trip. The moment she saw these dogs, she was delighted! She had stuffed most part of her breakfast in her bag (which she had left in the bus) so that she could eat it if she was hungry while traveling. A little portion of it was in her hand bag and she was all full of joy feeding them with these! She got a satisfaction as though feeding her own doggy! The two mongrels became very friendly with her and all of us who were there to witness this scene!
My thoughts also took me down to the Mahabharatha times! I could visualize The Pandavas accompanied by a mongrel on their way to the heavens!
That was a different experience!
It was time to leave. As we walked down the hillock towards, our left we saw a small shopping bazaar! We spent some time there and the shop keepers were very friendly and enquired about Amithab bachchan as though he was our next door neighbour!
Then we got into the bus to get to our next destination-‘The High Dam’ or the Aswan Dam’. Now this was a place of great interest to our men folk! After all they were working for an engineering Giant called Larsen and Toubro. It was a place close to their hearts! There were a few civil engineers in our group who took deep interest in analyzing various technical aspects of the dam!
Now for some information about this dam-
2)Aswan Dam
Aswan is a city on the first cataract of the Nile in Egypt. Two dams straddle the river at this point: the newer Aswan High Dam and the older Aswan Dam or Aswan Low Dam.
The earliest attempt at building a dam in Aswan dates back to the 1000s when an Iraqi engineer by name Ibn al-Haytham was summoned by the then Caliph of Egypt Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, to regulate the flooding of the Nile. He coming to realise the impracticality of this scheme after doing some field work, and fearing the caliph's anger, feigned madness. He was kept under house arrest from 1011 until al-Hakim's death in 1021!

The British began constructions for the first dam in 1889. Construction lasted until 1902. It was opened on 10 December 1902, by HRH the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn. The initial design was soon found to be inadequate and the height of the dam was raised in two phases, 1907–1912 and 1929–1933.
The High dam was the second dam at Aswan, The huge dam controls flooding and stores water for times of drought, it is equipped to provide hydroelectric power.

When the dam almost overflowed in 1946 it was decided that rather than raise the dam a third time, a second dam would be built 6 km upriver (about 4 miles).
The new dam, the Aswan High Dam, is a technical marvel, being "5 kilometers long at its crest, and 1 kilometer thick at its base, and rises 107 meters above sea level." With the dam's hydroelectric capabilities, the Egyptian government strives to obtain the maximum benefits available from every gallon of water that flows down the Nile.
But then there is another side of this story which has also been a hot topic of debate in India too.
while most people would agree the flood control and the electricity the dam provides helps economic growth, the cost of these benefits must also be examined. When the Aswan Dam was built, the country of Nubia was flooded. The Egyptian government made arrangements for the Nubians to be relocated, but their lifestyle was destroyed. In fact many of the nomadic tribes in the area were not warned of the changes that would be happening to the river, which affected their routines in caring for their livestock. Prior to the appearance of Lake Nasser, as the northern part of the reservoir created by the dam is known, the Nubians cultivated plots along the shore. Those areas are now completely underwater. Many people have left the settlements that were created for them and returned to the lake's edge, trying to recreate their lost culture.
Dams, like any other technical "advancement", need to be analyzed not only on the basis of their perceived economic benefits and their dollar cost, but also on their environmental, and social impacts as well. The question we should pose as we strive to better the world is not "can we", but "should we?"
(Courtesy-used from an article submitted in the web bya group of engineering students of the University of Colorado at Denver for Dr. Tang's ENGR 3400 class in the fall semester of 2000.)
Should we not agree with their opinion about construction of dams in our country too?

The building of the High Dam at Aswan had to be undertaken at a great cost. Much of Lower Nubia would be submerged under the reservior created by the dam, destroying monuments and archaeological sites from the First to the Third Cataracts of the Nile River. Ambitious rescue operations were begun in 1960. Three stages of operations were necessary: survey of the area, excavation of archaeological sites, and the final movement of as many endangered monuments as was possible.
What a painstaking effort!
Twenty monuments from the Egyptian part of Nubia and four monuments from the Sudan were dismantled, relocated and re-erected. Many others were identified during the survey, and were documented before their subsequent inundation. In the end, however, time ran out. It became clear that it would not be possible to document many of the sites of Lower Nubia completely, and that much of the information which careful archaeological excavation can yield has been lost forever!
Pictures of the Aswan Dam-

After having visited the modern day wonder, once again we got into our bus to go on a visit down centuries to the Philae Temple. To get to this temple we had to travel by motor boats since it is located in the island of Egilica. Now this was another new experience in Aswan!
Picture-
Rock Rock amidst the waves!
In a motor boat to Philae temple!

3)PhilaeTemple-Aswan
Philae Island is a rocky island in the middle of the River Nile, south of Aswan. It was called in Hieroglyphic “Apo” which means Ivory. The Greek called it “Elephantine”, most probably because it was an important centre of trade, especially for ivory.
The earliest building on the island of Philae was a small temple to Isis built in about 370 BC by Napktnebef Kheperkare (Nectanebo I). This was later expanded into a great Temple of Isis by a number of rulers, most notably Ptolemy II Philadelphius (285-246 BC) and Diocletian (284-305 AD).
Philae was one of the last outposts of Egyptian religion, surviving two centuries after the Roman Empire converted to Christianity. The sacred island attracted many Greek and Roman pilgrims, who came to pray for healing from the mysterious Egyptian goddess Isis. Even after their defeat by Emperor Marcian in 451 AD, Nubian priests were permitted to make offerings to Isis on Philae.
The temples of Philae were finally closed in 535 AD by order of Emperor Justinian. Some of the chambers were converted for Christian worship and a Coptic community lived on the island until the coming of Islam.
But the Temple became submerged after the first Aswan dam was built in 1906, and it was not until the seventies that many nations attempted to save the Temple. All these countries, together with UNESCO, selected a suitable place, but they had to wait until the completion of the High Dam, in 1971, which would stabilize the level of the water around their chosen island. The new island was called Egilica (also called Agilika), and it was completely reshaped to imitate Philae Island as closely as possible. The new location was carefully landscaped to make it resemble Philae as much as possible. Some 40,000 blocks, weighing about 20,000 tons were moved to the new location. It took about 40 years to rebuild this temple.
Two Coptic churches, a Coptic monastery, the ruins of a Temple of Augustus, and a large Roman city gate were left where they stood on the submerged island of Philae and not transferred to Agilika. It is hoped to recover them at a later date.
Philae is actually a nonexistent island now buried beneath Lake Nasser.
There are many legends connected to Philae, but the most well known one tells the story of how Isis found the heart of Osiris here after his murder by his brother Seth. Philae was dedicated preeminently to Isis, sister-wife to Osiris, and patroness of the Ptolemaic rule.
To know more about Philae Temple, you may visit the following site-
Temples of Philae near Aswan in Egypt Part II: The Approach to the Temple of Isis
Temple of Isis, Philae, Egypt
It took about 40 minutes to see all the places inside the temple. The architectural beauty can be compared to that of our Indian temples though the sculptural beauty is not as good as ours!

It was an enriching experience at the Philae temple! With half a heart to leave the place, I along with our group trotted back to the motor boat for our return to the parking area to board the bus. Now we were straight heading for the cruise!
It was for the first time I was going to look at a ship from close quarters! And imagine my feelings if I would be spending two and a half days in it! We reached the port where the ships were anchored in a row one after the other. They looked majestic on the calm and serene Nile river. Ours was the third ship and we had to walk through the first two ships to reach it.
Inside the ship, it was like entering a star hotel! There was a reception desk, a lounge, a staircase leading to the upper floors and deck. At the ground level too there were rooms. Our rooms were distributed in the 3 floors of the ship. My son and my self along with a few other families got rooms in the ground floor.
There were some formalities to be completed before we got our room keys. We had to fill forms which asked for our passport numbers, nationality and some minor details. After filling these forms we were taken straight for lunch to the restaurant on the 3^rd floor. It was 2.30 PM by now! Gosh! We were hungry! There were lots of continental and Mediterranean food waiting for us. Tables were designated to us and we were to sit in the same place till we disembarked! It was a buffet lunch. No rice was available! Most of our group members were a little disappointed even though they were all aware of it! There were lots of salads, ice creams, fruits, a variety of breads and buns and of course food which we were going to taste for the first time! These were the continental and Mediterranean variety. my son , living in Singapore was used to any type of vegetarian food. I had mentally prepared myself for this change. Here I would have to mention on how meditation had transformed me into a totally new person! I remember when I had been to Bangkok about 8 years back, I had made everybody’s life miserable complaining about the food all the time! I was surprised at this total change over of my mindset in 8 years! I enjoyed the food served there whole heartedly! Not many in our group were in such a state of mind.
It was a blessing for this lot that our tour operator from India had accompanied us to Egypt. Using her good relationships she arranged for rice to be served for the rest of our journey in the ship! Would you believe, one day she became a chef too and cooked fish for the non vegetarians and Garlic rasam for the vegetarians to go with the rice!
Now enough with food! We had eaten like gluttons! We collected our room keys and also identified our baggage that had been unloaded from the bus and went to our rooms to have a good bath after nearly 36 hours! In the evening we were to visit the Kom Ombu Temple at 6 PM. We rested for some time as we had been instructed to be on the deck for tea at 5 PM.
When we went to the deck at 5 PM strong winds were blowing and it was shivering cold too. So we were instructed to go to the bar on the 1^st floor for tea and snacks.
After snacks we assembled in the lobby to leave for Kom Ombu Temple, the last visit for the day. Before we stepped out of the ship, we were each given a card bearing the ships name so that we could reach the right ship if we were lost or if we forgot the name of our ship. Remember, our ship had not yet set sail! To night we would be leaving Aswan for EDFU.
Now off to Kom Ombu Temple!
Trot…..Trot….. Trot…. We had to walk to the temple. It was not very far away. As we walked, the sun was retiring for the day and the night looked beautiful! Tomorrow being Christmas, the roads and the shops along the way wore a festive look.
Our guide Bhishoi was at his very best. He had accompanied us all the way from Cairo in train and was going to be with us till we bid adieu to Egypt!
4) KomOmbuTemple
We had reached the Kom Ombu temple.
We all assembled in one place so that our guide could explain the historic details of the temple. After about 10 minutes we had a group photograph session with the local photographer who promised to deliver as many copies in half an hour’s time as we required!
Now we were on our own exploring the temple in all its splendour on a moonless night (Amavasya) was just 3 days away! Of course there were flood lights illuminating all the areas.
And now for some historical information about this place-

TheKomOmboTemple is dedicated to Sobek and Haroeris. It has a double entrance, one side of the temple is devoted to Sobek, the crocodile God. Sobek was believed to be the god of fertility and a repairer of evil in the world. The other side of the temple is devoted to the falcon god Haroeris, otherwise called Horus the Elder. This side of the temple is so perfectly symmetrical along the main axis it’s quite unusual and astounding. It stands right on the bank of the Nile between Edfu and Aswan, making it a convenient stop for river cruises.
Ptolemy VI Philometor began construction of the temple at the beginning of his reign (from 180 to 145 BC), and his successors the other Ptolemys, including Ptolemy XIII were responsible for the inner and outer hypostyle halls.
The hypostyle halls were added under Ptolemy XIII (51-47 BC). The Roman emperor Trajan (53-117 AD) added the forecourt and outer enclosure walls.
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Unfortunately, some of the temple has been destroyed by natural occurrences including flooding of the Nile River and various earthquakes over the centuries.Some of the relics inside were defaced by members of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria (which is the largest Christian church in Egypt) so they could use the structure for their own worship.
Today, Kom Ombo is home to many Nubians who were displaced from their ancestral homes by the rise of LakeNasser caused by Aswan Dam.

//www.sacred-destinations.com/egypt/kom-ombo.htm
All of the walls were beautifully sculptured with mythological Gods, Goddesses and Kings of Egypt. Lots of pictures were taken, but then they would not do justice to the original carvings and so I have limited my pictures.
Now we had spent almost one and a half hours here and it was time to leave! The ship would be setting sail at 9 PM. Off we trudged back to our ship. We headed straight for the dining hall (Restaurant).There was a surprise waiting for the Birthday lady as well as us about which I had mentioned in the morning! The kitchen crew of the ship suddenly came out of the kitchen with dance movements and candle lights in their hands amidst drum beats and song (In local language) which was supposed to be a birth day wish for the lady! They placed a cake on the table where she was seated and we all once again wished her a happy birthday! That was a nice gesture from the crew though it must have been arranged by our team leader.
After food we retired to our rooms for a sleep amidst the lullaby sung by the Nile! Of course the youngsters were never tired and started their card game which they had left incomplete in the train!
Good night Ilites! We shall continue our journey tomorrow, 25^th December! We celebrated Christmas on the ship in a unique style about which I shall you tomorrow!

Dear Ilites,
I could not upload the pictures due to some failure in the site either because of some error from my side or whatever reason. So sorry. Did not want to keep you all waiting longer. Hence posted the write up without picture.

25^th December 2008
Merry Christmas dear Ilites!
By the time I woke up the ship had docked in EDFU, another city on the banks of the river Nile. We were all up and ready for the new days outing. We went to the restaurant for breakfast by 6.30 AM and by 8 AM we were ready to leave for the EDFU Temple. There was a surprise waiting for us! Today we were to travel by horse carriage! The last I can remember of riding a horse carriage is during my childhood when I was about 8 or 9 years old.
At the time I had been sent by my parents all alone with a family friend of ours to my uncle’s place in Tamilnadu. My uncle was working for Indian Bank and was posted as branch manager in Poovirundavalli (Poonamalli). One day, my aunt along with her kids took me to a dance or drama show (I do not remember exactly) by the horse carriage! Half way through as we were watching the show, it started raining heavily and the show being performed at a tent like temporary structure, had to be wound up for the day. Disappointed, we took another horse carriage home! But we were drenched by the time we reached home!
So the present ride took me down memory lane! Now four of us could take one carriage and we were forty six or forty seven of us including our guide!
Do you all wonder how did 39 become 47? Well, a small group of people of Indian origin settled in America were also on the cruise. They had visited many other places in Egypt before joining the cruise.
Twelve carriages in all! As and when we got a carriage we hired it and our guide gave instructions to the carriage man to drop us at the EDFU Temple. We were asked to wait there till all the forty odd people had reached the place. The carriage man charged us 25 Egyptian pounds for four two way. That was a wonderful experience! The ride was for about 20 minutes one way and we enjoyed city site seeing in that early morning hour. I would not call the place a city. It could be a small town, that’s all.
As we reached the Edfu Temple, we noticed a special parking bay for horse carriages! Our carriage man communicated to us by sign language that he would wait at the same place till we returned.
Now we all assembled in one place. As usual our guide got us the entrance tickets and then explained the history of the temple before letting us have a free go!
1)EDFU Temple-
This temple is located between Aswan and Luxor. It is a Ptolemaic temple the best preserved major temple in Egypt. It is dedicated to the falcon god Horus, who was also the God of the sky,whose eyes were the sun and the moon. He became equated with the king, and therefore the King was Horus manifest. The temple was built over a period of 180-years from 237 BC to 57 BC.
It is built from Sandstone blocks.
The Egyptians believe that in this site a famous battle was fought between Seth the God of Chaos, and Horus. Horus won the battle which avenged the murder of his father. In the legend Seth killed his brother Osirius to obtain the throne of Pharaoh, but was thwarted in his plan by Isis, who managed to conceive a son, Horus. Seth then set about killing Horus too.
The legends get a bit confused, but in the end Horus arose from the underworld and took on Set in battle, and it was at Edfu that he defeated Seth.
The inscriptions on its walls provide important information on language, myth and religion during the Greco-Roman period in ancient Egypt. In particular, the Temple's inscribed building texts "provide details [both] of its construction, and also preserve information about the mythical interpretation of this and all other temples as the Island of Creation." There are also "important scenes and inscriptions of the Sacred Drama which related the age-old conflict between Horus and Seth.
The temple of Edfu fell into disuse as a religious monument following Theodosius I's edict banning non-Christian worship within the Roman Empire in 391 CE. As elsewhere, many of the temple's carved relics were razed by followers of the Christian faith which came to dominate Egypt. The blackened ceiling of the hypostyle hall, visible today, is believed to be the result of arson intended to destroy religious imagery that was now considered pagan.
Over the centuries, the temple became buried to a depth of 12 meters (39 ft) beneath drifting desert sand and layers of river silt deposited by the Nile. Local inhabitants built homes directly over the former temple grounds. Only the upper reaches of the temple pylons were visible by 1798, when the temple was identified by a French expedition. In 1860 Auguste Mariette, a French Egyptologist, began the work of freeing Edfu temple from the sands.
Today Edfu is nearly intact and it is the best preserved example of an ancient Egyptian temple.

The temple of Edfu was the center of several festivals sacred to Horus. Each year, Hathor (Hathor was an ancient goddess, and was worshipped as a cow-deity from at least 2700 BC), the wife of Horus, travelled south from her temple at Denderah to visit Horus at Edfu, and this event marking their sacred marriage was the occasion of a great festival and pilgrimage.
Information has been collected from the following sites-
1)Edfu, Egypt - Temple of Horus the Avenger at Edfu Egypt - Travel up the Nile to the Temple of Horus at Edfu
2) http:////www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edfu
It was about 9.30 AM now and after clicking a lot of pictures, we walked back to our horse carriages to be back in our Cruise by 10 AM. none of us had taken bath in the morning since we had gone through that ritual the previous day evening only! My close friends wanted to spend some time on the deck before going for a shower. They wanted to have a swim in the pool on the deck. I said that I would join them after a shower and headed straight to my room. When I went up to the deck they were relaxing by the pool basking in the warm sun. No, they had not gone for a swim. It was too cold! We spent about an hour or so chitchatting and pulling each others legs! It was a memorable time we had that day.
After lazing around the ship for another two hours or so meeting people and friends, it was lunch time. As we gathered in the restaurant, our guide announced that now we were nearing Esna, another port on way to Luxor, our ultimate destination. Here an event was going to happen in the Nile which of course is routine for all ships but was special to us!
Two barrage bridges straddle the Nile at this point: one built by the British in 1906, and the "Electricity Bridge" built in the 1990s. Navigation, particularly, Nile cruisers ferrying tourists from Aswan to Luxor needed to go through the Nile lock at Esna. We were the third ship in line to pass through. Normally it takes about 2-3 hours to criss-cross each other. First ships from the northern side would pass then the ships from the southern side, only 2 cruisers at a time. Travel has swollen incredibly over the past 2 decades- mostly due to the fact that there are nearly 100 cruise ships today on the Nile! At times, the queue can back you up for 5 hours!

http:////en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esna
http:////educationalresourcesinc.blogspot.com/2008/12/through-lock-at-esna.html

To watch the ships passing through the narrow passage was something wonderful. There were men on both sides with long, thick ropes and some mechanical devices to remove the locks as each ship passed through. We missed watching most of the technical aspects since we were in the middle of the lunch and a good view could be obtained only from the deck. By the time we finished our lunch and reached the deck, our ship had almost passed through the narrow passage! When the ship is passing through this lock, the ship seems to be going under water! In fact, the basement of the ship where the kitchen is located is underneath the water! Even the restaurant area where we were having lunch, seemed to be almost immersed in water! Of course, the water does not enter the ship! That was a sight worth watching!!!! Unfortunately we were so engrossed in watching a part of the ship going under water that it didn’t even strike us to capture this in our cameras!
After this great event, we were back to the first floor and had the whole day to ourselves! No visits to any place today since it would take all night to reach Luxor! Each one did what he or she wanted, some visiting the shops spread across the 3 floors in the ship, some playing cards, some lazing around on the deck and some just back in their room for a good nap! On the whole it was uneventful till tea time in the evening.
There was going to be great fun that night! There was going to be a performance by a belle dancer and another local performance by a man. The belly dancer did not impress much but the other man’s performance was simply unbelievable! While he kept on spinning to the rhythm of various musical instruments played by local artists for nearly twenty minutes, he performed various juggling acts which got him standing ovations and money too! This is something which everyone who visits Egypt must experience!
After the show that went on for abut 1 and a ½ hours, our own people took over the dias! The youngsters and adults alike lilted and swayed to the rhythm of Hindi numbers! One of the young boys in the group connected his ipod to the speakers and it was dance and fun all through! A few men and women who were not all that enterprising (including me!) safely watched the whole affair from a distance! Of course we were also cajoled to take part in the fun but we bluntly refused!
This went on till about 10.30 PM and we had to reluctantly leave for dinner as the kitchen crew warned us that they would wind up if we delayed any more!
The next morning it was going to be an early start for people who wanted a ride in the hot air balloons! We were to be present in the lobby by 5 AM! Not all had opted for this adventure since they felt discouraged because of the chill out there so early in the morning. About 24 of us dared to take on the chilly weather. This was not part of the scheduled itinerary and came at an extra cost of 100 dollars per person.
Dear Ilites, wait till tomorrow morning for a ride in the hot air balloons above the Valley of the Kings, the lush green fields and the villages of Luxor! It was one of a kind experience about which I shall narrate tomorrow! Till then, Good night!

Now for some pictures to add colour to the thread!
1) Horse carriage ride in EDFU!
2) A picture of myself at the EDFU temple!
3) Esna Lock