Egypt 2023: Part 3 : Nile River by Dahabiya

Tuesday 14 March

Nile River and Kom Ombo

After breakfast we transferred from our hotel to board the Dahabiya Mariam for our 3 day cruise on the Nile River. A dahabiya is a traditional Egyptian sailing boat.

Now mostly used as tourist boats, this one is luxurious with 8 en suite rooms.

These days they are towed by tugs.

Neil and Stephen were already on the beers by the time we set sail.

Then we realised Neil's bag had been removed from the boat with the disembarking passengers' luggage and was en route to Abu Simbel. By 2.30pm when we got to Kom Ombo, Djed Travel was waiting at the shore with the bag. Excellent Service!

You would think we were getting bored with temples by now but each one has something amazing and unique. 

Kom Ombo Temple first built 1500 BC, then rebuilt by the Greco - Romans in 200 BC, still has colour on some of the walls and pillars. There's a full calender on one wall.  

The temple was dedicated to two gods, one of whom was depicted as a crocodile. There is a museum of mummified crocodiles here too.

Sunset over the Nile again and then dinner.

The boat's generator goes off at 10.30pm, making for an early night. 

Wednesday 15th March

Nile River and Edfu

We are really enjoying traveling by Dahabiya down the Nile. It's so relaxing, the staff are really looking after us well and the food is excellent. Our first stop today was the Quarry at Gebel El Silsila. This is where the huge sandstone blocks where cut out of the hillsides and transported up or down the Nile for constructing the temples in Luxor and Aswan. 

The wind came up so our captain hoisted the sails so that we could disconnect from the tug and travel by wind power for a little while. 

In the afternoon we visited the Temple of Horus in Edfu. We had to travel from the river to the temple by horse drawn carriage. Very touristy. Our driver was really keen to race all the others around town. 

The temple at Edfu is the second largest temple that has been found in Egypt and it's very well decorated and well preserved. Horis is represented by a falcon and I loved all the falcon carvings and etchings.

Tonight we had a "braai" on the banks of the Nile and Neil even supervised the cooking.

Thursday 16 March

Nile River and the El Kab Tombs

We are feeling very relaxed and at home on day three of our cruise.  

Before breakfast we all took the tug across to a local farming village.

I'm not a fan of this sort of staged touristy stuff at all. I'd much rather wander on my own. Egypt has designed their tourist industry to make it hard for independent travellers though.

Later in the morning we visited El Kab Tombs. The mini-minivan trip from the boat was fun.

The tombs are impressive because the painted colors on the friezes are so well preserved. There are a lot of depictions of daily life here like wine making and cooking.

In the afternoon the captain hoisted the sails again for a while and we cruised into Edna at sunset.