Kom Ombo Temple

It was the off season and things were very quiet. It took three days to hire a falucca to sail down the Nile from Aswan to Kom Ombo. No skipper wanted to sail without a full boat. Finally, we found one who would take just the three of us.

The skipper worked the boat, cooked the meals and served as tour guide. Winds were very poor so it was slow going. We slept on the open deck under the stars as the falucca floated downstream.

The next morning we alighted at Kom Ombo Temple. We had the place to ourselves.

The return to Aswan didn’t go as planned. After two days of trying to beat upstream with almost no progress, two of our party disembarked, leaving only me and the skipper, Mahmoud. There was just no wind. On the third day, I also asked to be put ashore and walked to the highway where I hitched a ride back to Aswan. It took the skipper another day and a half to return to Aswan with the falucca.

Best memory? Sleeping on the open deck under a brilliant canopy of stars as we floated peacefully down the Nile. Another cool thing: one of my travel buddies was named Moise, Portuguese for Moses. I sailed on the Nile with Moses.