March 5th and 6th, 2023 

We decided to rest a bit on Sunday and Monday.  It’s been very hot and the rough walking with the gazillions of people wear us out.  

On Sunday we took a walking tour of Esna.  This is a very poor area, but of course they have a temple!  During the walk around we saw the temple and did a little shopping.  I found fabric!  Beautiful Egyptian cotton fabric by the meter.  Here are some shots of our walkabout. 

You have one of these hanging on your front door, right?

On Monday we decided not to take the Aswan Dam tour as we have a dam within walking distance of our home and visit it frequently.  And, another nap was in order!  We did take the Temples of Philae Sound and Light show.  This turned out to be quite the excursion.  The tour began at 6:15 in the evening.  We rode the bus to meet some boats to take us across the Nile to the temple. We were given life vests to wear.   Remember that it was dark. You know what was next, X-Ray.  I wasn’t going to take off the cumbersome life vest, my whisperer gadget, unwind myself from the cords and lanyards, so I just walked through X-Ray dressed in all my stuff.  The X-Ray beeped red, but nobody cared.  Bob did his usual of walking through an unplugged X-Ray machine.  

The boat we were on had either water in the gas or a dirty fuel filter my Navy guy said.  It would go for a bit and quit.  The two young boys, boys! would yell and keep cranking on the motor and it would start eventually.  I’m sure you can see where this is going.  In the middle of the Nile about halfway to where we were supposed disembark the boat quit altogether.  No amount of yelling fixed it.  The wind was up and we quickly were blown sideways.  Some of you know that Bob and I were in a boat fire on the coast of Montevideo a few years ago.  We had to abandon ship and it was a very frightening experience.  So here we are in the Nile, hanging onto each other clutching our life vests.   Saleh called someone and another boat came to push us to the shore.  

Once on shore, they had given us a small flashlight with a lanyard of course, to help us.  Saleh gave us our tickets and we proceeded to the entrance.  You know what was next.  We had to go through X-ray.  I wasn’t going to take off my life vest, whisperer thing, wires and cords to put my bag through, so I just walked through.  It beeped red and nobody cared.  Bob did his usual walk through the unplugged X-Ray machine.  

Around 200 of us walked up the stairs and over uneven granite floors to stand and listen to Orisis and Irisis discuss how everyone still loves her and her temple.  After about 20 minutes we walked some more, in the dark remember, downstairs to sit and listen some more.  The lights were pretty, but 45 minutes into this presentation we were done.  So, make a note.  This excursion is probably one you can miss.  Thank goodness once we found out way back to the boat, they had found a different boat for us to take back to the other side of the Nile.  It was a pretty trip back.  

Hope you enjoy the latest updates.  Stay tuned!  

Bc and Gc.