“Its just gone noon, half past monsoon, on the banks of the river Nile. Here comes the boat only half afloat, oarsman grins a toothless smile…”
Well, not quite. The cruise boat is a floating hotel, mildly reminiscent of something from the thirties. I think they all know that Agatha Christie wrote Death on the Nile in Luxor and want to hang on to that.
First stop the twin temple of Kom Ombo, dedicated to Sobek the crocodile god and to Horus the Elder. Again a Ptolomeic temple with interesting inscriptions. One wall given to Imhotep (the Old Kingdom architect) in his later aspect of the god of medicine, featuring some fine looking surgical tools. It should be remembered that the Ancient Egyptian medical knowledge was way ahead of the Greek Aeschlypus, the “father”of medicine. Awesome little museum here with many mummified crocodiles and a fabulous piece dedicated to HatHor, goddess of magic, from the time of Amenhotep III, the great-grandfther of Tutankhamun.

Back to the boat for an evening of partying in the bar. Or not. The previous evening had boasted a belly dancer and a Dervish dancer which the 6 of us who take over the back seat of the bus, had supported. The group has split in to those who sit at the back of the bus and those who don’t. Its all quite funny – anyway we are all having a good time. So the Egyptian dress-up party was another non-starter.

Up the next day at 6 to find we have reached the town of Edfu, site of the best preserved temple in Egypt. Edfu temple is dedicated to Horus, a different Horus to the one at Kom Ombo. It has been a sacred site since pre-dynastic times and is said to be the site where Horus and his uncle Set had their final battle over Set’s murder of Horus’ father Osiris. Much building was done during the 18th dynasty, with more additions being added in the Ptolomeic era. We got from the boat to the temple by horse drawn carriage, but more of that later. As the temple belongs to Horus it is resplendant with statues of the Falcon god. Most ancient civilisations painted their statues and buildings and much of the original colour can be seen on the ceilings of Edfu. All of the walls are inscribed with spells and scenes depicting various gods apart from one room that is completely clear of any dressing at all. Nobody knows why.

Our return to the boat was, at the time, a little disconcerting, although later we laughed about it and much of it became a running joke within our small circle. Not two minutes into the ride back to the boat when the driver, who looked like some ruffian from a Tintin story turned and shouted “Give me money”, a polite no was met with a fierce “Why No?” A minute later again “Give me money”, followed by “Money for horse”. We all had visions of being driven to some lonely part of Edfu and being held for more money. This may sound laughable but it actually happened to someone from another tour group while we were in Luxor. Our last night on the boat was even more uneventful than the previous two.

We head for Luxor, the site of Thebes, capital city of the New Kingdom. Nothing to do but laze in the sun and watch the endless view of palm trees and desert.

“Only just one more to this desolate shore, last boat along the river Nile.”