4,000 year-old crocodiles and a con job

Posted in Showbiz |

Continued from Day 3: River hawkers and a horse carriage ride

DAY 4: KOM OMBO
The cruise ship stops exactly where the Ptolemaic Temple (also known as Kom-Ombo Temple) is situated, so we just have to walk 2 minutes to it. However because of the Esna Lock delay, there is a bunch up of 10 to 12 cruise ships and a backlog of tourists all visiting the temple at the same time.

This temple is shared by 2 gods - Horus the falcon god and Sobek the crocodile god. Seems that ancient Egyptians were terrorised by crocodiles from the Nile and tried to please the crocodiles by creating a god. There is a well which was used to guage the flood level of the Nile.

The star attractions however, are the mummified crocodiles housed in a separate building. There is a fairly long queue but it goes quite fast as there are only two glass showcases of 3 mummified crocodiles from 4,000 years ago.

BOAT RIDE TO PHILAE ISLAND
A half hour boat ride on a bumboat brings us to Philae Temple which is situated at its present location after being shifted a few hundred metres to avoid being submerged when the Aswan High Dam was constructed. This is another temple used by early Christians as a hiding place during which they made their markings of crosses on walls and even built an alter for offerings.

This temple has many unique features - markings by Napoleon can be found at the entrance, a stone tablet has been forced into a wall by a greek king, and this is the only temple where wall carvings show fish as part of offerings to the gods. The interiors of the temple are lit by low lights and every single wall and ceiling is covered with carvings and hieroglyphics, although many of them are used more as repeat patterns by the Roman-Grecian pharoahs who did not fully understand the ancient Egyptians’ purpose for covering walls with carvings.

After that, we stop at the Aswan High Dam to see Lake Nasser, the world’s largest man-made lake which resulted in both the Philae and Abu Simbel temples being shifted to higher ground to avoid being submerged in water. Then it is off to the Granite Quarry to see the Unfinished Obelisk.

THE UNFINISHED OBELISK
This obelisk was cut during Queen Hatshepsut’s reign and was to have been made for her but after cutting out the rough shape, a fault in the stone was discovered and the obelisk was abandoned. This gives us many insights as to how the ancient Egyptians made these structures as bore holes used to float the obelisk along the sides can be seen.

THE NUBAN VILLAGE CON JOB
This an optional tour which costs US$20 per person. We have to take a motorboat on a long 1-hour river ride to the Nuban village. This is sold to us as being a very authentic look into a still primitive people who were relocated after the Aswan Dam was built. Everyone goes on this optional tour.

What we see however, is a house decorated specially to cater to tourists. There is a woman selling souvenirs and trinklets inside the house and as a gimmick to wake everyone up after the long boat ride, a guy comes out carrying about half a dozen baby crocodiles. I even spot an Ikea bed through the open door of another house. So much for a primitive, authentic cultural experience. There isn’t really very much to see and it isn’t worth the boat ride or the US$20 we each paid.