At the same time, the Nile River is also full of romance. Boating on the Nile River has always been a dream for tourists. There is a three-masted sailing ship that is sailed purely by wind. Fortunately, there was wind when Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo were riding. Otherwise, it would be embarrassing to think that they had to be pulled by a motorboat. There are deserts on both sides of the Nile River. It is almost evening. The sun hangs low above the desert, shining golden everywhere. The river breeze blows by the ears, accompanied by the singing of children on the cruise ship, which is very pleasant. The boatman is a Nubian. This nation has fought a thousand-year war with the Pharaoh and even became a Pharaoh. Now some of them have been divided into Egypt. The skin color of the Nubians is dark, more like Africans. They took Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo to sing "Woo Ah Le Le", which seems to mean welcome, accompanied by distinctive drum beats, with a bit of African tribal flavor.
After the sailboat returned, Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo returned to the cruise ship. Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo will spend three days on the cruise ship, all the way to Luxor, visiting temples along the way. The facilities on the cruise ship are pretty good, and you can finally take a hot bath. After the bath, you can go to the top of the ship to look at the Nile River at night. Compared with the embarrassment of yesterday, today is much more comfortable.
There were Sufi dance and belly dance performances at the cruise bar at night. Sufi dance was performed by an Arab male dancer wearing a large plaid skirt, spinning around and around, letting the skirt lift up and spin around. Although it was a bit monotonous, it was not easy to spin around like this for several minutes... Belly dance... It was really hard to comment on. The dancer's figure... was a bit plump... It was really not pretty, and the movements were a bit awkward ╮(╯_╰)╭ Later, I asked Milad if Egyptians liked women with this appearance, and he said no, and they thought belly dancers were a profession that sold themselves out and were not accepted by mainstream society.
The cruise ship provides buffet lunch and dinner, but no free water... The tour group gives a bottle of water for each meal. The rest have to be prepared by yourself. Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo brought their own electric kettles, otherwise it seems that a bottle of mineral water on the ship costs 13 euros. Of course, the Egyptians will not miss this business opportunity. When boarding the ship, Egyptians will come around to sell you mineral water, 5 Egyptian pounds for two large bottles, which is much more authentic. But remember to prepare change, otherwise disputes are easy to arise. One person in Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo's group took out a handful of money. As a result, the water seller snatched it away and refused to return it.
The ship remained in Aswan for a day without moving and is still active in Aswan today.
Egypt has three greatest buildings - the Pyramids, the Karnak Temple, and the Abu Simbel Temple. Because the Abu Simbel Temple is located at the southernmost tip of Egypt, even 300 kilometers away from Aswan, many travel routes do not arrange to go there. But there is no doubt that the Abu Simbel Temple is the most attractive temple in the whole of Egypt, and it is worth a visit anyway.
You have to get up early in the morning to go to the Abu Simbel Temple. For security reasons, the Egyptian government requires all tourist buses going to Abu Simbel to gather at one place around 4 a.m., with a soldier armed with live ammunition on each bus, and then the military vehicles lead the way. There are also many checkpoints and roadblocks along the way. The security seems to be quite tight. But the embarrassing thing is that after arriving at the destination, Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo found that the gun-carrying buddy in Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo's car threw the gun and magazine in the car and got off to walk around.
It was still dark when we set out. We saw the sunrise over the Sahara Desert on the way, but it was behind the tour bus, which affected our view. The whole journey took three hours and we were not allowed to get off the bus, so we had to go to the toilet first.
The temple parking lot and ticket office are located at the back of the temple. The entire temple was excavated from a mountain. Considering the difficulty of the project and the level of technology at the time, it can't be said to be a miracle. When Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo turned around the mountain, the front of the entire temple came into view. Suddenly, a strong feeling of emotion emerged.
The Abu Simbel Temple consists of a large temple and a small temple. The large temple belongs to Ramses himself, while the small temple belongs to his queen Nefertari. The four colossi of Ramses II at the entrance of the large temple have solemn expressions and a slight smile, gazing into the distance in the sunlight.
Cat) Ramses II is the person Yunluo has always admired the most. When I was in junior high school, I read the comic "The Sky is the Red River Bank", which describes the story of a Japanese girl who traveled to ancient Syria - the Kingdom of Hittite. The story runs through the love story of the heroine Xili and the prince of Xitai, Kairu. And Ramses I was another man who loved Xili. At that time, he was still a general in Egypt. At that time, Yunluo was still at the age of dreaming, so it was natural for him to be obsessed with Ramses. First of all, he is a handsome guy with two eyes of different colors, and secondly, he has a personality that makes little girls fall in love with him. He is smart and brave, full of ambition like an eagle - he must get what he wants, otherwise he will rob it. Of course, it is a pity that he did not snatch Xili, but soon after, he got the throne of the Pharaoh. Although Ramses II is not his grandson, the two of them are extremely similar. Yunluo often regards them as one person. Going to Egypt to see Abu Simbel has always been Yunluo's wish. Yunluo wants to witness the great achievements of Ramses with his own eyes.
From the statues, murals and mummies of Ramses II, we can see that Ramses II was also an absolutely handsome man, with a strong body, charming eyes, a high nose bridge, and a height of more than 1.9 meters. He was the greatest pharaoh in ancient Egypt. During his period, Egypt had an unprecedentedly vast territory. At the same time, he was also a person who was keen on building temples. Two of the three greatest buildings in Egypt belonged to him. In addition, he was probably the most romantic pharaoh. The small temple next to the Great Temple was built for his wife Nefertari. Although he had hundreds of wives and children, he still had a special liking for her. Nefertari means the most beautiful woman. Ramses II wrote on the temple built for her: Every day, the sun rises for you. The four statues at the entrance of the temple, two belong to the pharaoh, and two belong to his wife. The four statues are the same height. In the statues of ancient Egypt, the height of the pharaoh's wife never exceeds the pharaoh's knees, which also confirms Ramses II's love for his wife. As a powerful, wise, romantic, confident and almost perfect figure, he is still revered by people. How could Yunluo resist the charm of such a pharaoh?
Ramses II advocated force and was romantic like a poet. One of the most distinctive murals in the Great Temple depicts a scene of him standing on a horse-drawn chariot, drawing a bow and arrows. What is different is that Ramses II's arm holding the bow is half-hidden behind another arm. Archaeologists initially thought it was a carving error, but as the inscription was deciphered, it was discovered that this was a story recorded here - Ramses II encountered difficulties in the war, so he asked the sun god, Yunluo is your son, why did you abandon Yunluo. At this time, the sun god answered him, who said Yunluo abandoned you, look, isn't Yunluo right next to you - so the arm in the mural is the sun god protecting Ramses II.
The murals inside the temple mainly record the scenes of the pharaoh fighting his enemies and offering sacrifices to various gods, which are quite similar. It is said that the art of painting in ancient Egypt has not developed much since its birth, which is probably true.
The Great Temple also shows the advanced astronomical knowledge of ancient Egypt. There are four stone statues in the inner hall. The two in the middle are Ramses II and the sun god Amon, and the two on the sides are Horus and Pater. There are two days a year when the sun shines through the door of the Great Temple into the innermost hall of the temple. It shines directly on the faces of Ramses II and Amon. It is said that one day is his birthday and the other day is the day he ascended the throne.
The Abu Simbel Temple was also cut and relocated due to the construction of the Aswan Dam. This is the southernmost part of Egypt. It is really hot. There is no ventilation in the temple. Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo were sweating all over after walking for a while. Why was the temple built in such a place? The answers vary. Maybe it was to show that his territory expanded here (this place did not belong to Egypt in ancient times). Maybe it was to pursue a distinctive location, or maybe it was because he was worried that he would be destroyed by the people if he deified himself.
The cruise ship was originally scheduled to depart for Kom Ombo at 1pm. But for some reason, it was postponed to 8pm. So I spent the whole afternoon relaxing, adding to my travel notes and strolling around the ship, which was quite comfortable.
Milad said that he could take Nalanshiqi and Yunluo to visit the city and bazaar of Aswan in the evening, and they were quite interested. But everyone in the group wanted to take a horse carriage directly to the bazaar. Nalanshiqi and Yunluo wanted to experience the city on foot, but they didn't get support, so they decided to walk around the cruise ship and leave the group for a short time. Two gains: the sunset on the Nile River and the children of Aswan.
In Egypt, the sunrise and sunset of the Nile River, the Sahara Desert, and Mount Sinai are recognized as the most spectacular natural landscapes. The Nile River is even more beautiful, with deserts, green plants, and river water. The air humidity is not high, so the sun really falls from the ground, instead of disappearing from the clouds as we usually see. At sunset, the sun slowly descends from the ground and gradually disappears until the last ray of gold disappears. At this time, the entire sky, water surface, and desert are all reflected in warm colors of varying shades. Suddenly, I thought of a poem: "The setting sun and the solitary wild goose fly together, and the autumn water and the sky are the same color."
We met some children in the nearby park. They were very lively and not afraid of people. Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo invited them to take pictures together. They were very excited. They followed Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo for a long distance to say goodbye. Later, the tour guide asked Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo, didn’t they ask you for money? Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo confidently said no, because Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo would rather believe that they were just out of innocent curiosity. It is said that the children you meet in the market will ask for money on their own initiative. Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo are willing to believe that they are meeting real Aswan children.
We returned to the cruise ship at night and sailed to Kom Ombo at around 8 o'clock. Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo found that they had left their MP4 on the tour bus. Milad contacted the driver and assistant of the tour bus responsibly and finally found it in the gap between two seats after searching twice. It seems that the quality of Egyptian vendors cannot represent all Egyptians.
It is generally believed in China that Egyptians are used to asking you for money, but if you get close to the real locals, you will find that they are very enthusiastic. Tourism everywhere will destroy some people's hearts, but we should believe that people themselves are warm and simple. Egyptians are very friendly to Chinese people, and many people will greet you in Chinese; if there are beautiful women, they will be more welcome.
The Temple of Kom Ombo is not very big. It is a temple from the Ptolemaic period. The temple has a little feature, that is, it is a symmetrical temple dedicated to two gods, perhaps the only one of its kind. The left one is dedicated to the Eagle God, and the right one is dedicated to the Crocodile God. There is also a legend about this temple, which is roughly about the story that the Crocodile God was jealous of the Eagle God and drove him away, but later when there was a problem, he invited the Eagle God back.
In fact, this temple is not so famous. If it is not close to the Nile River, it may not be included in the itinerary. However, Ptolemy belonged to the late dynasty after all, so the carving skills can be seen to be more delicate, such as the rise and fall of human muscles, etc. So when it comes to temple wall carvings, this one is more beautiful.
There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!
In addition, there is a very large and deep well-like thing here, which was actually used to measure the water level of the Nile River in ancient times. This seems to be the earliest water level measuring well in the world, but its function is not for water conservancy research, but for collecting taxes - judging agricultural harvests based on water levels, and thus determining taxes. Relatively speaking, it is much more scientific and humane than increasing or decreasing taxes based on the mood of the country's boss.
There is also the world's earliest calendar, which records what needs to be done every day of the year. The remaining 5 days are for religious sacrifices and are not included in the calendar. People three thousand years ago already knew the 365 days of the year accurately, which shows that Egypt was very accomplished in calendar and astronomy.
After leaving Kom Ombo and spending some leisure time on the cruise ship, we arrived at Edfu. The Edfu Temple is no longer close to the river bank, and you need to take a horse carriage to get there (it's a bit smelly...). The Edfu Temple has the second largest pylon in Egypt and is known as the most perfectly preserved temple, so it is very spectacular. This is mainly about the story of the revenge of the Eagle God. Several consecutive murals depict that Horus caught his uncle, the evil god, turned the evil god into a hippopotamus, and then beat him with a long stick, making him smaller and smaller, until he was finally beaten to death, and then cut into small pieces and fed to ducks to prevent resurrection - cruel enough. (To be continued...)