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The Luxor-to-Aswan part of our trip was taken on the luxury Historia river cruise boat. It has its own fixed docking locations in both cities, and acts as a floating hotel for a day or two at both ends. It's about 135 miles as the boat toodles along at around 8 mph. It still somehow feels weird that the Nile flows north - uphill!
These cruise ships are a thing, a bit like the Kerala houseboats in India, with many of them plying the river between Luxor and Aswan.
We parted with our northern Egypt guide and went under the care of Nermeena, who was excellent. She showed us Luxor, then travelled in parallel with the Historia to meet us on shore outings, and then to Abu Simbel.
I think there were about 50-60 guests on the boat. I could get used to staff really meaning it when they say 'anything you need, sir'. We were very well looked after, and the food was excellent.
Largely the idea was to chill out on the top deck of the boat and watch the Nile slip by. The Nile appears as a green stripe with desert on both sides. We saw of lot of agriculture, fishing and the like as we slid by.
Wherever the big cruise boats gather, small boats surround them tossing stuff up onto the decks in hopes of making sales
There were shore excursions to two temples, in Edfu and Kom Ombo, after traversing the locks at Esna, where the height change is about 20'. We sailed past a huge sugar factory belching smoke (I think it supplies much of Egypt's sugar) and the Gebel el-Silsila quarry where the sandstone for the temples in Luxor, Edfu and Kom Ombo were obtained.
The temple at Edfu is one of the best-preserved ancient temples in Egypt, dedicated to the falcon-headed god Horus. Construction began in 237 BC under Ptolemy III and was completed in 57 BC under Ptolemy XII, so an example near the end of the Egyptian run. The temple is the second largest in Egypt after Karnak.
The Kom Ombo Temple is unusual in that it is dedicated to two distinct gods: Sobek, the crocodile god of fertility and creator of the world, and Haroeris (Horus the Elder) a falcon-headed god associated with protection and kingship. It was also built during the Ptolemaic dynasty (roughly 180–47 BC), with additions by later Roman emperors.
The walls are adorned with carved reliefs, showing both gods, religious ceremonies, and even medical instruments used by ancient priests (making this temple especially famous for its 'surgical instruments wall'). There is also a Nile-o-meter which measures the height of the river - way back it was used to determine tax levels (high river meant bountiful harvest and good revenue).
There is an associated crocodile museum featuring mummified crocodiles, highlighting the connection to Sobek.
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