Eddie and I were just married when we stopped off for two days in Cairo before coming to The Netherlands. My cousin was then with the Philippine Embassy there. The two-day stay was too short. We were only able to visit the pyramid of King Cheops and the Cairo museum.  Someday, we told ourselves when Eddie retires and our children are of age we will return to Egypt.

Last  May 31, forty-seven years later we joined the Nile cruise with a package tour that will take us to the temples of ancient Egypt.

Valley of The Kings

We were excited when told our first sightseeing trip will be to the west bank of the Nile, the Valley of the Kings. From history books and TV programs we learnt that hidden from the eyes of mankind and discovered only in the last two centuries are some of the elaborate tombs and mausoleums in the Valley, among them are that of Tutankhamun and Rameses II, high priests and the royal family members.

But nothing can be kept a secret forever, we were told that robbers were able to find a number of tombs and plunder them long before the archeologists found them in the 19th century, There are some however who do not discount the possibility that there are tombs yet to be discovered.

Eddie was disappointed because no picture-taking is allowed inside the temple. He was warned of the heavy penalty for breaching the rule. The ruling is imposed by the authorities to protect the ancient statues, hieroglyphics writings and objects inside all temples from damages caused by camera flash.

Henkie, our guide took us to the temple of Hatshepsut. I always thought that Hatshepsut was a man until he told us she was the daughter of a king and she crowned herself a pharaoh. During her reign 1400 years BC she built gigantic temples.

Next, in our itinerary for the day was a visit to the colossi of Memnon. We marveled at the two colossi stone statues of the pharaoh Amenhotep III which were built 3400 BC. Two smaller statues stand beside him, that of his wife Tiy and his mother Mutemwiya.

Temple of Horus

The following day was a two-hour tour of the temple of Horus in Edfu, north of Aswan. The temple with its massive pylons was built as a religious monument, dedicated to Horus, the falcon god. It is a marvel that the temple has been preserved and so despite the 43 Celsius temperature we took time going around the complex and posing for photos. We learnt that it took 200 years to finish it. The temple of Horus is a testimony of ancient Egypt’s grandeur.


On our return trip to the ship the couple with us in the calesa volunteered to pay for all of us and added tip. Then, I heard him tell the coachman, “what tip, I just gave you.”  After an angry exchange of words our companion left, ignoring the coachman. We followed them but the coachman stopped Eddie, again asking for “extra” Eddie gave the same answer. “No, your picture,” pointing at Eddie’s camera. When we were in front of temple he insisted that Eddie give him his camera and he took our picture beside his calesa.

Temple of Philae

To reach the temple of Philae built to honour the goddess Isis, we took a boat to the island. Named after the island where it originally stood, it was submerged in water when Aswan dam was constructed in 1961 and took ten years in relocating it to another island. The view of the island from our boat is breathtaking and anyone interested in the history of Egypt should not miss visiting it.

Before the end of the day we were taken to the Unfinished Obelisk. Henkie informed us that it stands in same site in Aswan where it was originally carved. Next, we were taken to the High Dam.

 

 

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