Day 4

This morning was the earliest wake up because we were going to Abu Simbel. The ride to the airport was only about 15 minutes on bus, but there were so many tour groups going on this charter flight that it was a bit chaotic in the airport and since seats are first come first serve, there was a bit of pandemonium once on the flight. It was about a 30-45 minute flight and if you can get a window seat on the left side of the plane you will get a great ariel view of the temples.

When we got to Abu Simbel, we sat for a while with Sherif and he explained the history of both temples and how they moved it up river.....I did tell you what a great guide he was, right??!!?? Even in the blazing hot sun, it was extremely interesting to listen to him speak. After he was done talking we were able to have some free time to explore King Ramses and Queen Nefertari's temples. You are not allowed to take photos inside the temples, but a few people were trying to anyway. Beware, if you have a guard take a photo for you, they will want a tip...that goes for any temple or monument. Then it was a quick flight back to Aswan to join our cruise. By the way even though this is an optional tour, and a pricey one at that....YOU HAVE TO DO THIS!!!!! It was amazing, definitely a highlight of my trip.

We cruised for a little bit and had lunch on board the ship. We stopped at Kom Ombo temple. This was one of my favorites, although I'm not quite sure why. Maybe the balance of good and evil? Sherif tells a short history of the sight and leads you through the temple. After, you can stay as long as you want, you just have to make it back before the cruise sets sail. The ship stays overnight in Edfu.

Tonight is the belly dancing show. After dinner we all got dressed up in our costumes for the party. Some people got more dressed up than others. It was a lot of fun with all kinds of games and music. There was a DJ playing some American type music, but it was pretty bad. They brought a belly dancer in, but I was there over Ramadan so she had to cover up. They also had a whirling dervish, he was cool to watch, better than the belly dancer, but maybe because she couldn't shake her hips or wear her normal costume it took away from the whole experience. After the party a few people went up to the top deck for some drinks and to relax by the pool. Sorry to say I was so tired from this day, that I just went to bed early and dreamt of the next day......