Edfu and Esna

The temple at Edfu is the most completely preserved temple in Egypt. It was also the temple that most resembled early entrance at Disneyland! When you get to a temple, the your guide goes to purchase the tickets and you wait near the door. That morning, it seemed like there were thousands of people all arriving at the same time! The ticket sellers did not arrive until after the crowd. The guides rushe the ticket sellers who handled all the transactions in the middle of the crowd. The crowd, meanwhile, was filled with people who were positive they would miss something if they weren't the very first ones in--as if something was going to disappear or change in those few minutes after a couple thousand years!

The temple was dedicated to Horus, who was often depicted as a falcon, and was started in 237 BC, making it one of the newer temples. The pylons at the entrance are 100 feet tall! We also saw a reproduction of the wooden barque (funerary boat) that was used to carry Horus's statue on ceremonial days. Often the gods were depicted as animals that embodied the characteristics that the Egyptians admired--falcons, cats, jackals, crocodiles, hippos, etc.

We took a horse and carriage to get there from our boat (as did the rest of the masses) and, once safely away from the watchful eyes of the tourist police, the drivers were more than willing to let the kids have a go at driving! Horses are used all over for driving tourist carriages as well as pulling carts. The sight of horses clearly underfed and overworked spawned several discussions related to "Black Beauty" and the treatment of animals and people's responsibility to care for them--as well as the realities of people trying to make a living in a very poor country. Ava strongly felt that people should feed their horses and take care of them--although she was not willing to extend that stand to boycotting any carriage ride and taking a cab! Seeing the lineup of carriages and drivers waiting for us was hilarious!

Shisha (shee-sha) is a very big part of the Egyptian culture. In every coffee house and restaurant there are shisha pipes for rent. You pay a small fee and choose the flavor of tobacco that you want--apple, peach, tutti-frutti, cola, chocolate, etc. Don't worry, they all come with prepackaged plastic mouthpieces! I asked the guide if people used them at home. She said that some do, but it's more of a social thing that people do when they are out together. The size of the shisha makes it difficult for, say, teenage smokers to carry around--unlike a pack of cigarettes. Which is probably good, because tobacco flavored like apple or peach does not taste like tobacco at all. It's a little like candy tobacco! Everyone had a try--even the kids were allowed a small puff. I was pleased to see Cameron do a bit of coughing and choking. Unlike his siblings, who kept trying to come around and sneak more! They look cool, so I ended up buying one for the house, as well as some of the clear glass bases (like the ones in the picture) that make great vases or water bottles!