Trip to Egypt, April 2005Philae, Notes on the Visit - 1.The Sound & Light Show
My first visit to Philae happened at dusk. A wild ride in one of those many rickety taxis brought us through the town of Aswan to el-Shellal, where motor boats handle the passage to the island. The place swarmed with people lining up to go there to see the Sound & Light Show. Something like twenty motorboats, each differently decorated with bright flags, plastic flowers and whatnot, crowd both sides of the pier and chaos breaks out when all the many groups are guided - and misguided - to 'their' boat. Finally each boat is filled with happy, expectant tourists and we glide out, one after the other, on the water, accompanied by an incredible roar and smell of diesel engines. The coast here is rocky and barren of any trees or shrubbery. To our right a collection of Nubian houses in bright yellow and blue cling to the hillside. We move out on the water. The little boat comes round a rocky bend and a stretch of water opens up. Something appears in the middle of oru vision and few minutes later this something turns into the unmistakeable two pylons of the Isis temple, surrounded by green trees. It is one of those moments when you donīt really believe reality. The pylons are toned as with gold in the setting sun, and the greenery is like dark velvet. Someone said once that Philae is the Jewel of the Nile and I believe that is true even today. As the sun sets, we approach the island on the western side. Every feature stands out clear against the evening sky, also the fact that even though the temple still stands strong and powerful, it is much ruined in places. When the boats round and move into the landing, chaos once again ensues before everyone can get ashore. Our boat was driven by a very young boy. He could not have been much more than fifteen and he had some trouble navigating. The boat crashed into the bridge and guess I can say that I came to Philae with a big bang. People gather at the southern end of the Outer Court, waiting for the show to start, which it does just before total darkness has fallen. What can I say about the show. Well, it was ok. I guess these things always bear the mark of being slightly ridiculous and somewhat overly dramatic. Probably it is a fine line to walk for the creators, between what works for a general audience and a somewhat okay interpretation of history. The show is divided up into a couple of different stations. The first part is played out in the Outer Court where a tale of creation is enacted with voice impersonating the gods etc. I donīt remember very much of it. Then people are ushered throgh the portal into the Inner Courtyard for the next part. I stand with the wallof the Mamissi behind my back and listen and look. The night is warm and we are surrounded by voices and flickering lights. You cannot avoid being affected when the reliefs seemingly come to life and move on the temple walls. Itīs a hushed line of people which passes through the Hypostyle Hall when many want to stop and admire, but are urged to continue out on the eastern side of the temple, past the small Het-Hert temple and to the benches just behind the Kiosk of Trajan for the rest of the show. When it was time to enter the boats again, an even greater chaos followed. It showed that out of, say, ten or so different tour groups, very few people knew which boat was which. As the boats lay tied up alongside of each other rather than to the quai, people had to climb from boat to boat to reach to the one they were going with. Well, that could have worked but when one boat was filled up, it wanted to get away and did so with a great hustling and all the other boats having to move temporarily to open up a way. The lack of organization was total, amazing and exhausting. What was perhaps even more amazing, was that after not too long a time, everyone had found his or her boat, and they all started off back towards el-Shellal again. We pass on the eastern side of the island. The buildings are magnificent - just like a jewel set in dark velvet. I don+t want to tear my eyes away for as long as I can see it. The young boy had some trouble on our way back too. Just a little way out from the island, the engine would not cooperate but died. He had a really hard time getting it to work again and we began to wonder if we would have to spend the night out there on the lake while all the other boats were disappearing in the darkness. The rest of the way the engine threatened to die time and again and the boy looked rather anxious. Landing at el-Shellal was another risky project and this time too we touched land with a big crash, brushing against a couple of other boats in the process. Loud yells and cries but all the time with a good mood. No one was hurt and probably the boy was new at his job. He got his baksheesh nevertheless and we had a maniac drive back to our cruise ship. The streets were filling up with people, Aswan was coming awake for a few hours after the heat of the day.
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