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The
Papyrus stalks are taken out from the banks of the river
Nile where they grow as a weed. The outer green skin is
removed from the stalk and the inner pith of the plant
is then cut into long thin strips and are pounded to
break down into fibers. After soaking it in water for 3
to 4 days, the strips are cut to length and laid
overlapping on a piece of cotton fabric. Here, we were
told by the salesman who was demonstrating the process
of how the papyrus is used for paintings, that cotton
fabric too was first invented in Egypt. He continued
that the strips are laid down alternatively in vertical
and horizontal format to overlap and then sandwiched
between two hard absorbent barriers which are later
pressed for impact and then left to dry in the sun.
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After this the papyrus is used for painting pictures by
using various inks or paints and even today lot of
tourists buy the painting comprising of ancient Egyptian
scriptures known as Hieroglyphic.
Hieroglyphic in fact, is the ancient form of Egyptian
writing which is mainly found on the walls of the
temples and is like a pictorial script. The hieroglyphic
script can either be written from right to left, or left
to right or in columns. The script looks pretty and we
saw lot of these scriptures on the various temples we
visited along the Nile. After picking up a few souvenir
papyrus paintings, we went back to the hotel to retire
early that evening as the following morning we had to
leave at the wee hours to take our flight to Aswan. We
bid adieu to Cairo where we would return after our Nile
cruise and subsequent visit to Hurghada. We boarded our
flight at 0500 hours on Friday morning to reach Aswan
around 0700 hours.
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On our
arrival at Aswan we were told that we could check-in at
Nile Delta (our cruise boat) only at 1200 noon, we were
received by our guide for a city tour of Aswan. Aswan is
known as Egypt’s sunniest southern city and has a
population of 1 million and is the starting point for
the Nile cruise which terminates at Luxor. The other
option is to start the cruise at Luxor and end at Aswan.
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Aswan is also the town from where one can take a short
flight of around 20 odd minutes to visit the world
renowned Abu Simbel temples. One can also visit Abu
Simbel by road but it takes almost 3 hours one way and
you would have to leave at 0400 hours in the morning to
reach at 0700 and to be back at 1200 noon in Aswan. The
temples at Abu Simbel, we were told, were built more
than 3000 years ago and its main façade has four colossi
with six colossal rock-cut statues. At Aswan, the Nile
river is at its most beautiful and around Aswan one can
do a lot of day excursions to visit the Philae Temple,
the Botanical Garden, the Elephantine Island and even
the Nubian Village.
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As our
ship would only be sailing at around 1300 hours the
following day, we decided to take the boat to visit the
Philae Temple that morning. Before that we visited the
High Dam which was built way back in 1960 and on one
side of the high dam you can get a picturesque view of
Lake Nasser, the huge reservoir created when the High
Dam was built in the south with the huge power station
in the north. The High Dam today provides irrigation and
electricity to most of Egypt and has stunning views of
Lake Nasser on one side and the Nile river on the other.
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Lake
Nasser leads you to the famous temple of Abu Simbel and
is considered to be the biggest artificial manmade lake
in the world and is 500 kilometres long. It is 183
metres deep and you can find fish and crocodiles in Lake
Nasser. Along the way, we also saw the Agha Khan
Mausoleum which we once again had an opportunity to see
later when we headed by boat on the following day to the
Nubian Village. The Mausoleum is closed for tourism and
you can take a felucca sail to see the museum from a
distance. It is atop the hill at the West Bank of the
Nile. |
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Agha Khan, the great leader of Islamic Sect used
to visit Aswan every winter and he was buried in this
magnificent Mausoleum. Later in
the day, we also visited the Philae Temple, a Greek
Roman temple, which is a world heritage site. This
amazing temple was lifted from Biga island stone by
stone and rebuilt on Agilika Island which is 500 metres
away from Biga. This was done as most of the temple was
submerged due to the flooding of the Nile for almost 12
years between 1960 and 1972. The temple was cut and
shifted and in all they cut the temple into 40000 pieces
and lifted it stone by stone and moved it to its new
location. The temple is a religious temple and dedicated
to Orisis, the king and the goddess Isis, who was the
sister of Osiris and their son Horus. Isis is known as
the mother of god and she had collected the pieces of
her slain brother Osiris who was the King and made them
into the first mummy.
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The
Philae temple is beautifully landscaped and as told by
our guide, it matches the original format of the temple.
Its various shrines and sanctuaries include the temple
of Hathor- the goddess of love, music and dance and in
Thebes also known as the goddess of death. The mythology
of Isis and Osiris was quite intriguing. At night, you
have the Sound and Light Show at Philae which is an
experience to behold with the floodlit buildings
silhouetted against the volcanic rocks and surrounding
water.Later in the day, we checked into our cruise boat
– the Nile Delta. This was my second cruise experience
having been earlier on the Star Cruise from Singapore.
The Nile Delta comprises of 5 decks and 69 junior
suites.
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The restaurant is on the lower deck with a few boutique
shops and you have the main lobby and a few rooms as you
enter the boat. The next level comprises of rooms and
the library and Internet facility. The following deck
comprises of a few rooms as well and a lounge bar with a
fascinating panoramic view. Finally the open deck which
is the sun deck has a swimming pool along with a bar
alongside.
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Each room is 21 sq metres
fully furnished and I found it almost two and a half times
the size of the balcony room on the Superstar Virgo. After
having some good Italian food that afternoon, we took a
siesta and the kids enjoyed themselves in the library
which was alongside our room as the library not only had
books but also a few games for kids as well. Later in the
day, we sipped a nice warm cup of coffee in the evening
chill of Aswan and then got off the boat to take a horse
carriage ride across Aswan town through the narrow streets
and we saw the magnificently lit Aswan mosque on the way.
After our ride of around 90 minutes on the horse carriage
which the kids enjoyed thoroughly, we returned to the boat
and crashed out after dinner. It was indeed a long day for
us having started in the wee hours of the morning from
Cairo. The following morning after a sumptuous breakfast,
we left for the Botanical Garden located on Kitchener’s
Island where you find several species of tree planted by
Lord Kitchener who had got them into Egypt from Sudan and
across the world |
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There are
more than 375 kinds of plants and trees. In 1896, Lord
Kitchener used this island as the camping site for
soldiers during the invasion of British in this part of
the globe. Lord Kitchener took 2 years to plant a large
variety of plants and trees comprising of hibiscus,
olives and many more. We had a pleasant and relaxing
walk within the Botanical Garden and it was an ideal
place for us to get some pictures in the backdrop of
plants and trees. We enjoyed some ice cream on the
island and after having spent an hour or so, we headed
to the Nubian Village. |
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We
arrived at the Nubian Village after crossing the
Elephantine Island. It is a must visit place for those
who wish to know about the culture and life of the
Nubians. We went into the house of a Nubian which is
converted into a museum. We experienced the warm
hospitality extended to us by the Nubians who were
selling artifacts made by them. My 7 year old daughter
spent some time in putting henna on her left arm and my
son was awestruck seeing the baby crocodiles in a fish
tank.
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The Nubians generally like to keep crocodiles as pets
and when they grow big, they go and leave them in Lake
Nasser. The house of a Nubian is very artistically done
with colourful paintings on the wall. We were taken
around the Nubian House and thereafter the highlight for
the kids was the 15 minute Camel Ride in the Nubian
town.
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The rest
of the day we spent on the ship as it started sailing
towards our first halt to witness the Kom Ombo Temple
where we arrived at around 1630 hours that afternoon. At
Kom Ombo, you find the temple of Horus and Sobek. Look
out for the April issue of Opportunities Today for more
about our visit to Kom Ombo and later to Edfu and the
voyage across the Nile.
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Vini has
been one of the Faculty Members for the IATA/UFTAA and
IATA/FIATA qualifications offered by IHCTM for over 10
years and she is also Director of COMPACT TRAVELS and
part of the research team in planning unique itineraries
for various clients. Here she narrates her first hand
experience of Egypt as a family destination.
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