September 19
"Egyptian Night" With The Whole Gang
Larry - Lisa - Kim - Hany - Mark - Valerie - John
Today was an interesting change of pace. After going at break-neck speed with days full of historical and amazing sites, today we had an hour and a half walking tour through the back streets of the small town of Esna in southern Egypt before sailing all day - 10 am to 11 pm - on our journey to Aswan. So it was not only a non-tomb/antiquities kind of day, but a day to delve into the local culture and see how the vast majority of Egyptians make their way day-to-day on the barest of essentials. And then one of my most favorite parts of river cruising.......the cruising! The first photo is an "informational" one for you.....we've seen ever since we first arrived in Cairo so SO many buildings that look like they are under construction, especially on the top floor(s). So this afternoon we asked our guide Hany about that and he explained that in Egypt they estimate there are as many as TWO MILLION empty and/or incomplete apartments because the Egyptian currency is so devalued that people put their resources into property. Get a little bit of money begin adding a floor, and so you constantly see columns with the rebar sticking up or open-air windows with or without roofs like below.
As we began our hour long walking tour the first thing we saw of note was the "Leaning Mosque!" Unique but it is apparently stable now. Several other buildings were saw were in similar shape :O
The main part of the excursion was to walk through the every-day market. We stopped at several "shops" if you can call them that. Pictured below is a "pressing stand" where you can have your clothes hand or FOOT- pressed. And most unusual was when he'd literally take a drink of water then spray, from his mouth a mist of water onto the clothes and then press them with the hot iron! A cotton stand where you pay to have the cotton in your pillow and/or blanket fluffed - or have a new one made. And in the third set of "shop pictures" you see a crushing wheel to smash the grain or seeds, then a press that you hand wind (and a smaller version with the shop owner) to press the oil out. Like all the markets we've been to the 'salesmen" will try to corner you but we've learned - as we were told to do - if you simply don't look them in the eye and ignore them, then by and large you will be left alone soon enough.
The alternative tour if you didn't do the walk around town was to the one temple. We opted to pass on that as we got a look at it from the current street level which is at least 30 feet above what WAS street level back in ancient times!
We had to re-trace our steps through the market to return to the ship (no worse for the experience!) and we cast off at 10am with a course plotted for Aswan. This journey will take us over twelve hours as we travel to the farthest point south of our adventure. Remember we started in Cairo.....flew to Luxor; yesterday we set sail for Esna and in three days we'll be in Kom Ombo as we begin our journey back northward. As we cast off we were provided with a choice of cocktails. You may wonder "was it so hot?" When we left for the walking tour it was a pleasant 73 degrees. By the time mid-afternoon arrived it was 103 degrees! We enjoyed the first half hour to 45 minutes with our "group" hanging out with our guide Hany under the shaded overhangs.
The remainder of the afternoon was spent sailing along the Nile River. The scenery wasn't really dramatic but several times I caught myself thinking as I sat on the Sun Deck or inside looking out the panoramic windows, "We are cruising down the Nile River.....THE NILE RIVER......IN EGYPT." So cool :)
Tirelessly working to provide photos and stories :)
Perhaps the "best" or at least my favorite story of the day came at lunch. So yesterday we joined our pals on the Aquavit Terrace for lunch. And for dessert yesterday there was chocolate marble cake with vanilla ice cream. It was THE BEST. Later before Happy Hour the waitress who had served me the cake was working the bar in the lounge and as I ordered my drink I asked, "Did you make that cake today, it was to die for?" She smiled and said no, but I said I would give her the credit. Fast forward to this afternoon before lunch. I ran into her, Petra, in the lobby and I said, "So when are you going to make your cake again?" She smiled and said, "I'm not sure when we will have that but today we are having a very good carrot cake." I replied, " I LOVE carrot cake, but I especially like to have a lot of icing, very thick icing!" She smiled and said "I'll try to get you a piece with some good icing. At lunch she was our waitress and when she took our order as I was giving mine she finished my sentence by saying with a big smile, "I KNOW your dessert order!" Lunch was good - side story we ate with a couple we'd not met who are the ONLY people on board who've been on more Viking trips that we have! - and they both also ordered carrot cake. Theirs were put down in front of them, and it was a piece of carrot cake like you'd expect. Then mine was brought out. You can see it below and immediately I had THE biggest smile and said to Kim, "THAT is picture worthy" and called Petra over for the photo op :)
(Everyone knows that on Viking cruises the desserts are made calorie free, c'mon now!)
The highlight of the afternoon's sailing came when we passed by the Selsela Mountains where the mammoth blocks of granite were cut for the pyramids. You can still see some of the temples and working buildings from the work site.
Lastly - two days ago we discovered that TODAY was going to be "Egyptian Night" at dinner. And the six of us discussed how it would be a great idea if we all bought a traditional Egyptian outfit, the "galabeya" which is offered in every market we go through. So we asked at the front desk when, for sure was "Egyptian Night" and where was the best place to purchase a galabeya. We were told that at the markets at the Valley of the Kings you could buy them or at Esna. Since we were all hanging out together yesterday and there was a huge market we agreed the six of us would shop together and buy them together. We initially thought we'd buy them in pairs and mix-match couples but when we saw that no two galabeyas are alike we abandoned that idea. We were the first to find them and then the bartering began. The merchants expect this and are so intense.....until you commit. Then it's a big smile and they take you into a back room to exchange your money and put your purchase into your bag. Ironically MY bag had Mickey Mouse on it with the lettering in Arabic! This afternoon Kim and I ran into our amazing guide Hany and he already had his glabeya on so we said we'd bought one, and he was very pleased. And even more so when we asked if he'd mind posing with us for a group photo. You can see us all decked out below. Was great fun!
And so the sun sets on the Nile to end another great day! We will arrive in Aswan tonight around midnight and we'll have a full day of excursions!
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