Egypt Day 7: Felucca ride on the Nile, back to Cairo and goodbye to Egypt

Where and when:  Aswan and Cairo, Egypt, 7 December 2023

0800: It is our last day in Egypt, after a week of very early starts, today it is a gentle start at 0745. We check out of the cruise and head down the river for a felucca ride. 

A felucca is a traditional wind powered sail boat. The sailing took us around the Elephantine Island on the Nile, past the Old Cataract hotel and the House and the Mausoleum of Aga Khan. 

This used to be the location of the 1st Cataract of the Nile; where the surface of the water is broken by many small boulders and stones jutting out of the river bed, as well as many rocky islets; as a result the water flow is rapid, cloudy and frothy. The Old Cataract Hotel was named after this first Cataract, (and infact so is the common age related eye condition, which forms a cloudy area over the lens of your eye).

But after the Aswan low dam was built, the water flow downstream the dam is controlled and the river is very calm, and standing on the bow of the felucca and watching the world go by felt really serene and a world away from the  hustling and bustling Egypt we’d seen in the last week. 

1000: Our last stop at an ancient monument – we are visiting the Philae Temple, which takes its name from the Philae island on which it was built.

The oldest buildings of Philae temple dates back to ~650 BC when it was built as a temple dedicated to the god Amun. Most of the temple complex was developed in the Ptolemaic era.

Around the 4th and 5th century AD, Chirstianity was sweeping across Egypt, and the temple buildings were converted into Christian Churches. 

Philae temple is known as the last temple dedicated to the ancient Egyptian gods, before the practice stopped in 575 AD. 

When the Aswan low dam was built, the temple was submerged under the Nile for 10 months of the year (and would only emerge when the sluices of the dam were open from July to September). A UNESCO project to relocate the temple began in the 1960s, and between 1977 to 1980 the temple buildings were dismantled and moved to the nearby Agilkia Island. So it is this temple you can see today. 

Much of the temple paintings have disappeared due to the time it was under water, but many of the carvings remain. You can also see where the Nile river silt covered much of the temple before it was carefully restored when the temple was re-located. 

1130: Stop at a traditional essential oils shop. 

1430: Flight back from Aswan to Cairo. The internal flight is good although it was quite delayed. 

1900: Visit to the famous Khan al-Khalili bazaar in Egypt. This is a historic bazaar in the centre of Cairo, and is mostly geared towards tourists. There are also several famous coffee houses in the bazaar,  the oldest and most famous is El Fishawi’s, established in 1773. 

2000: If being our last day in Egypt, it was time for our farewell dinner. Intrepid treated us to a traditional home cooked dinner at a family home.