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The front pylons at Philae temple.

Tombs of ancient nobles in the distant hills, along with a camel light house in the distance and a feluca (sailboat) in the foreground.

We're so "Raiders of the Lost Ark"

Huge colummns covered in Heiroglyphics.

Carvings of Osiris, telling a story.

Today we got up and headed to the airport for a quick flight over to Aswan. Aswan is where we begin our Nile Cruise! Everyone kept telling us it would be really hot and, well... they were right! But what we saw was worth the heat! I don't think that anything could have really prepared me for what we saw today (and will see in the next few days on our Nile Cruise). It was absolutely amazing and surreal. We had a quick flight on EgyptAir (great airline-- no silly prop planes here!), then a great buffet lunch on board our ship, the Sonesta Sun Goddess. We had been upgraded to an all-suite cruise ship! Then, it was off for our first set of excursions. We began at the High Dam. This wasn't really all the exciting to me, but it was cool to see Lake Nasser- the largest man-made lake in the world. It goes all the way to Sudan. After the High Dam, it was off to our first temple... the Temple of Philae. This temple was built for the goddess Isis and the god Osiris, and its actually on a little island. We took a little boat across the Nile to the island where this majestic temple was waiting for us. The front pylons were insanely tall, and the pillars towered so high above us, we had to lay on the ground to see all the way to the top of one. Heiroglyphics covered nearly every incho of this temple. Images of Isis and Osiris were carved in intricate detail remained beautifully pristine, even to this day. It was absolutely amazing to be able to literally reach out and touch these heiroglyphics that have been here for thousands of years.

After the temple of Philae, we went to a granite quarry where an unfinished obelisk is. this is really interesting because it shows how the ancient egyptians mined the huge obelisks that are in so many ancient temples. The egyptians (or their slaves) would drill holes around the rock they wanted to carve out, and they would insert wooden rods. Then they would flood the area, the wooden rods would expand, and eventually the huge obelish would be cut out! Amazing! Back on the ship, before dinner, there was a Nubian dance show. This was incredible! Lots of bright colored costumes and fantastic music. Dinner was also delish! A wonderful course meal with lots of goodies. And since today was daddy's birthday, they even sang to him and had a cake for him! Day one of our Nile Cruise was a huge success!!