Today we got up early at 5.30 AM. Sunrise was supposed to be at 6.30 and we wanted to make sure we were the first ones to arrive. Sunrise was supposed to bathe the two temples in glowing light.
We set out without breakfast. While it first felt, we would be the only ones around – arriving at the gate we saw a long line of visitors already waiting to be let in. Turns out that two bus loads full of Japanese tourists were there before us. Luckily we had visited the inside of the temples the day before without any tourists.
We kept back to the outside and waited until at 6.35 the sun rose and bathed the two temple facades in glowing orange sunlight. It was a sight to be seen. All of the groups had dispersed by 7.30 AM and so for 30 min until 8 AM we had the place to ourselves again. What a privilege!
Happy and full of memorable pictures in our heads we arrived back at the hotel for a leisurely breakfast. Airport Pick up worked perfectly as well as the flight back to Aswan.
And so by 12 noon we were meeting our greeter from Helios Reisen at Aswan airport for our Nile cruise check in.
Always a dream of Esther’s was a Nile cruise. Ideally on an old steamer, but those were not running at the time and length of trip we needed. So we booked a ship that could take up to 150 passengers which sounded still OK to us. With pool on deck and stops at some temples on the way from Aswan to Luxor. Four days luxury….
After check in at the Jaz Regent cruise ship, we had lunch on board followed by a Helios organized Tour to a nearby temple with an German speaking guide. Everything was perfectly organized. Pick up from the Airport, transfer from the ship to the boat where we set out to explore Philae Temple on a little island in Lake Nasser.
The temple was picturesque, but nowhere near as striking as Abu Simbel.
The most memorable part of our visit was encountering the island’s many cats—two of them looked exactly like our Russian Blue, Blaubär (or Blue, as we call him). Chris didn’t exactly get homesick, but as Esther pointed out, he did get “cat sick.”
While we relaxed and sipped fresh orange juice, we watched as several cats were fed. It made perfect sense: Philae Temple is dedicated to Isis, the goddess of fertility, motherhood, healing, magic, and protection. Cats, revered as demigods in ancient Egypt, were associated with Bastet. Originally depicted as a lioness or a woman with the head of a lioness or domestic cat, Bastet symbolized both the fierce warrior and the gentle protector, linked to home, fertility, childbirth, and women’s secrets. Certainly Chris would worship them.
Back on the boat we watched a beautiful African sunset, enjoying a glass of white wine and looking forward to slowly gliding down river the next day.
