Today we woke up at 2am to get on a plane and fly south. Our flight was at 6am out of CAI and with 34 people and checked bags, it was going to take some time. We had boxed breakfast (with questionable meat sandwich) at the hotel. You have to go through two different security checks: once immediately at the door, the other before our gate. Jessie was kind and bought us baklava while waiting. I fell asleep on the plane, trying to rest one last time before our busy day.
We landed an hour and a half later. Egypt air has really comfy seats. We walked in on a jet bridge, but walked off downstairs outside. We bussed to the terminal, picked up our luggage and got on the bus. We drove to the docks to take our first boat ride of the trip.
We got on a ferry to the Temple of Philae. It was big and beautiful, with tall carvings thousands of years old. We learned which direction to read hieroglyphs. We learned more stories of gods and goddesses like Isis, Osiris, Horus, and Hathor. It was sad to see the remnants where people scratched or tried to remove the symbols off the walls. There was graffiti from the 19th century and Byzantine crosses. At one point in time, people could worship Christ in a church and Isis in the temple and keep peace. I saw the temple of Augustus in the back. I was exhausted and hit a wall so when we broke for pictures and shopping, I went and sat down. We had been up for almost 9 hours by that time.
We returned the same way we came and went to a perfumery. We had some lunch (bread/pita filled with falafel, potatoes, eggplant, or fava (beans?) I ate four halves. We got to smell lots of scents. They also had beautiful bottles for sale made out of blown glass. Candice helped make a camel and brought it home. I bought 50mL of Hathor scent for $72 I just need to dilute it 9:1 with alcohol to make perfume.
Finally we got back to the hotel to rest. Some had a party by the pool. I napped. Again. They have us a welcome drink that tasted so bad. Like apple cider vinegar gone wrong. We went to dinner at 6. Got on a ferry at the same dock to take us to a Nubian restaurant across from the temple. We saw their light show and could occasionally hear music. We ate rice, bread, vegetables 2 different ways, and protein. I got sea bass that was great. Dessert was a custard. Sarah was goofy and brought over 4 so we could recreate last night’s photo with me and 7 desserts. This time it was 8. I wonder if this will be my schtick.
Time for sleep. I’m going to wake up early to work on Codex; the world doesn’t stop when you’re on vacation
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