Dahabiya down the Nile River

A highlight of any trip to Egypt is a cruise down the Nile. After deciding against the felucca and the "cruiser" we opted for the Dahabiya. These boats were described by medieval historians as lavishly decorated, two-masted wooden boats with private cabins and bathrooms. Perfect for the middle aged couple who has hit their eleventh month of travel! Note the "tug boat" in the picture...most of these boats are actually pulled as sailing can be quite slow.
The top deck...where we wine, dine and generally laze about. The boat also stops at major tourist sites along the way. We were offered a swim in the Nile...but passed. After watching what goes into the Nile...no thanks!
Here is proof of the "lazing"...lot's of naps and book reading. The view is pretty amazing...palm trees, camels, donkeys, birds, villages all drifting past. In the morning we would open up the large window in our room and watch the shore go by.
The Temple of Kom Ombo at sunset. Unique in Egypt, it has dual dedication to the local crocodile god Sobek and Haroeris, meaning Horus the Elder. We raced down there with our "boat-mate" Duncan (from London) to explore.
The reliefs inside are amazing! Some are giant sized. It is a strange feeling being able to reach out and run your fingers over them.
The Temple of Horus, the falcon god. The sandstone temple was buried by sand, rubble and part of the village of Edfu around 200 years ago. Excavation was begun by the mid-19th century. We got to view this one early in the morning...which was ideal. Nice and cool, and less tourists!
The hieroglyphs, meaning 'sacred carvings' in Greek, are the earliest form of writing yet found. More than 6000 hieroglyphs have been identified, although less than 1000 were in general use.

Fun to look at...we would walk along trying to find the most unique character...slugs, snakes, frogs, faces...
We sailed! One afternoon they turned us into the wind and lifted both of the sails. Possibly because the tug boat needed fuel...but it made us happy!
The famous Nile sunset. Seen either from a temple or along the shore...stunning.
Our last morning we awoke to find camels along the shore. One of the local villages has a camel market which sometimes has as many as 2000 camels brought down from Abu Simbel. They are trucked or walked from long distances. Now on to Luxor from more temple-mania!