Tent Tea Café & Restaurant | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 5 (Part 38) 04D19

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

Open Air Tent Café in the Middle of Nowhere | Kom Ombo & Aswan

After visiting the Kom Ombo temple and the Crocodile museum, our tour guide suggested to have a little break in a tent café, and everyone agreed. We drove about half an hour and reached our destination, which was in the middle of nowhere.

The place had several sections. One section looked like tents and was covered by fabric on the top and on the side. These fabrics had native artworks or designing. The passage cutting through these tent-sections had carpet on the ground and on the side there were small objects representing local culture and pottery.

Other sections were open with shade from bamboo stalks or similar trees with chairs and tables to sit. These sections looked to me like those used at restaurants and the tents were for relaxing purposes.

I also noticed they had several gates made of plants and orchids or something similar. I even saw a wall and a mini-castle made of mud a little farther away.

The whole place had a nice vibe and the Bedouin-style Arabic music added more charm to it. We all sat to have a drink. I ordered a tea, which came with fresh mint and sugar. Like other Egyptian teas I tried before, this one tasted very good. I was not sure why the tea tasted so good and different in Egypt. The tea costed 20 LE or around $1.70 CAD.

From here, we would head to The Temple of Horus at Edfu or simply known as the Temple of Edfu. 

Visiting Crocodile Museum at Kom Ombo | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 5 (Part 37) 04D19

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

Temple of Kom Ombo and Crocodile Museum | The Double Temple Dedicated to the Crocodile God Sobek the Falcon God Horus | Kom Ombo & Aswan

After visiting the Kom Ombo temple, we headed to the Crocodile museum, which was a short walk. This was a very small, dark museum with an array of mummified crocodiles and statues in the shape of crocodiles in several display cases.

The Crocodile is the first ever crocodile museum in Egypt. Dedicated to the ancient Egyptian god Sobek, the museum has forty mummified crocodiles arrayed on a sand hill inside a huge glass case. These crocodiles are not too big, ranging from about two to five meters long.

I also saw crocodile coffins, wooden sarcophagi, crocodile foetuses and eggs, carved items, and more on display. Some cases had instruments they used to mummified these crocs. Sobek mummification processes, a funerary ceremony and burial in the necropolis are also illustrated.

The most significant and eye-catching artefacts you will notice are the gold and ivory teeth and eyes they inserted into the dead crocodiles after mummification.

They prohibited camera use inside the museum, but using a cell phone to take pictures was allowed, so I had to use my phone for videos and pictures.

It didn’t take long to visit the full museum. We spent about 20 minutes and completed the tour. The dark museum had AC, which was a blessing in this heat.

From here we would go to have tea in a tent café restaurant and then would head to the Temple of Horus at Edfu.

Spending Night in The Middle of the Nile in a Felucca Cruise boat | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 5 (Part 35) 04D19

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

Leaving Felucca Sailing Boat – Part 6 | Aswan

I woke up very early when everyone was still sleeping. I sneaked out of my head under the canvas shade to wash my face using bottled water. The water went into the Nile. It was all dark and very cold. I saw some boats and lights far away. We were anchored very close to the shore and saw some vehicles passing every once in a while.

The crew started making breakfast when it was dark and it was ready by the time everything was lit by the early sun. Again, they did a remarkable job with breakfast, tea and coffee.

We all said goodbye to the felucca crew. Their hospitality efforts to keep an eye on detail to best serve their guests was truly amazing.

Our bus was waiting for us on the shore and we started to move. It was not full daybreak yet. We were moving along the Nile for a while and then passing through rural Egypt. Sometimes our bus was on a road parallel to train tracks and I saw a few rural train stations in that area. 

There were agricultural lands and sometimes we were passing villages and towns. The scenes were totally different than Cairo. The sun was slowly coming out and I had a glimpse of sunrise out the window sometimes.

We had a busy day ahead. We were scheduled to visit the Temple of Sobek in Kom-Ombo, then would head to Edfu to visit the Temple of Horus, and then a little rest at the hotel. In the evening we would see the Karnak temple complex.

So, it would be an exciting day coming up, but tiring as well.

Visiting Kom Ombo: The Dual Temple of Horus and Sobek | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 5 (Part 36) 04D19

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

Temple of Kom Ombo | The Double Temple Dedicated to the Crocodile God Sobek and the Falcon God Horus | Kom Ombo & Aswan

After passing through rural Egypt, we finally arrived at the Temple of Kom Ombo. This is an unusual temple located between Kom Ombo & Aswan. Surrounded by fields of sugarcane and corn, Kom Ombo Temple is located in a pleasant agricultural town overlooking the Nile.

The Temple of Kom Ombo was constructed during the Ptolemaic period from 108 to 47 BC. Here, in the ancient Egyptian place of worship, some unique engravings have been found which are thought to be one of the first representations of medical and surgical instruments.

The Temple of Kom Ombo is a two-in-one temple, dedicated to not only one but two gods. The eastern half was dedicated to the crocodile-headed god, god of the Nile and creator of the world, Sobek and his family. The western half of the temple was dedicated to the falcon-headed god, god of the sky and protector of the king, Horus and his family.

Just before entering the complex, you will notice that it is made of two parallel temples, and both are perfectly symmetrical. The Temple was constructed mainly with limestone in a rectangle shape.

The Temple of Kom Ombo starts with a front courtyard, then a hypostyle hall (replete with fifteen columns decorated with lotus floral capitals and sun images), you will see three inner halls (ten thin columns with engravings depicting various events of the gods) followed by two sanctuaries dedicated to Sobek and Horus.

There are seven chambers, many antechambers, and smaller rooms that were used for different rituals and purposes located in the both the east and west parts.

Although the Temple of Kom Ombo is the most preserved and complete temple that is 2000 years old, I saw lots of parts that are damaged or missing. Some parts looked like modern-day alleyways, but smaller and on both sides of the walls they had engravings describing stories. Our tour guide explained most of them – so fascinating!

From here, we would visit the Crocodile Museum, which I will talk about in the next post.

Spending the Night in the Middle of the Nile in a Felucca Cruise Boat | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 4 (Part 34) 03D19

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

Felucca Sailing Cruise on the Nile Under the Stars – Part 5 | Aswan

After leaving the Nile’s sandy bank, our felucca started to move slowly. The cook almost finished cooking and other crew members started to arrange the food in the middle of the cushions. There were many items, just like lunch. They even cooked some specialty foods for those who were vegetarians, but we could eat from any of the dishes.

Taste wise, I couldn’t describe how delicious they were. I was blown away. There were desserts after dinner and drink options such as soft drinks, tea, coffee, or beer. I stuck with water only.

After eating, the boat was moving slowly and I was enjoying the moments and scenery after sunset on the Nile. I will likely never have another opportunity to enjoy such sights again. There was a white light far off in the distance and we were supposed to anchor close to it for the night in the middle of the Nile.

As soon as it was dark enough outside, the crew started to prepare the beds for the night. A canvas shade was pulled around, covering the whole boat, retaining heat and keeping us safe from mosquitos and bugs. We all settled in our spots with our blankets and pillows for a good night’s sleep.

However, it was a huge problem for me. It was just past 8:00 PM and sleeping that early was not in the cards for me. I brushed my teeth with bottled water, washed my face and stayed awake for another couple hours in the dark.

The quietness, pitch-black dark Nile (with some visible city lights far away) at night and the stars above made the whole environment feel unreal. I was immensely emerged in that moment and sensing every moment of the night.

It was getting chillier fast, which was a stark contrast with the desert heat in the daytime. I had to layer up with a sweater, although I had blankets. I was surprised that I was able to sleep that early, but woke up a couple of times before dawn.

It got even colder around 2:00 AM, which was hard to believe the weather in desert areas can fluctuate so rapidly. I lifted up the canvas to feel outside and yes, it was a lot colder than inside our felucca. We would leave the boat in the morning to Kom-Ombo.