EGYPT, DAY 3
		Thursday, February 20, 2003
		Daniel and I awoke this morning a little after 7 to find that our ship was cruising down the Nile (I still can't believe we are on the NILE!)  After breakfast, we de-boarded and visited the temple at Kom-Ombo.  The temple was dedicated to Sobek, the god of the crocodiles.  One of the buildings in the complex had a few mummified croc remains still in it, and we were told that the room was originally stacked floor to ceiling with the crocodile corpses.  Another interesting aspect of the temple was the "Nile-o-meter" next to the main structure, which was in essence a giant well.  There were steps leading down to the water below and in ancient times it was used to measure the current water level of the Nile River.  If the height went up, it meant that the river was more flooded, allowing the farmers to yield more crops...thus, taxes were increased for the people.  So I guess in ancient times the people got screwed by the IRS too!  Anyway, that was pretty much all there was to see at that site.  Again, the temple was well decorated and the hieroglyphic carvings were very interesting to see, but we didn't stay at Kom-Ombo very long.       After our stop, we sailed on for the rest of the morning and I took a nap and read a little on the top deck, which was extremely windy.  The Nile was beautiful, though and it was great to just relax as we cruised.  Daniel, Mark, Bolls and I also got our first taste of European bathroom fixtures too, as we experimented with the bidets in our rooms.  Let's just say it rocked our collective worlds!  The experience was both entertaining and enlightening to say the least and I think I have concluded that I will definitely have one in my house when I grow up!  Anyway, after lunch we docked again and set out for our afternoon trip.  We broke into groups of 4 and took carraige rides to the temple of Edfu, which was by far the most incredible temple we have visited so far.  The structure was huge and took 25 years to build and another 160 years to decorate.  Its main facade was monstrous and was constructed using massive dirt ramps in order to stack the stones on top of one another.  I can't fathom working on something like that for my entire life and not being able to see the finished product.  It just boggles my mind... The temple was dedicated to Horus, as represented by an eagle, and the front is shaped like two mountains with the sun rising in between.  The sun played a very important role in their system of gods and idols.  The cool thing is that this was the first temple we visited that had color left on some of its walls.  Originally, all of the temples were painted top to bottom and were very colorful, but time and sand has worn away at most of it, leaving only bare stone.  Inside, most of the temple also had a roof, and I am still puzzled as to how they pulled that one off.  After our visit, we headed back to the market outside, where we were harassed by the ridiculous merchants.  They would literally flock to us and throw their products in our face in attempt to make a sale.  Several of the girls were harassed pretty badly and some were even groped.  Many of the people in our group bought traditional Egyptian gowns for the party tonight, and Mark bought a knife.  Granted, it was pretty cheap, but he only paid 2 Egyptian Pounds (40 cents) and his Simpson's happy meal watch for it, so he feels like he got a pretty good deal.  Anyway, after the craziness in the market, we rode back to the ship and had a couple of hours free before dinner.       Tonight for supper, we had a "galabria party" and everyone wore the galabria (the traditional outfit) which they had either purchased or rented.  However, Daniel and I, being the cheapest and most creative people on the ship, decided to just dress up as mummies instead.  So, we wrapped ourselves in nine rolls of toilet paper and made our appearance.  It all fell off within 15 minutes, but we managed to get a few pictures before that happened.  Anyway, the night was a lot of fun.  After dinner we headed upstairs to the lounge/bar and played some gmes and danced like crazy for a couple of hours.  It got pretty crazy...those Ju Go Ju girls shure know how to get down...  Anyway, the day was great and tonight after curfew Mark, Daniel and I are planning to sneak up to the top deck and spend the night up there, so we'll see what happens... later.