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Small Talk:
No, I haven’t forgotten about the Travelogs. In fact, after blogging normally for a while, I realised that I’m running out of stuff to write about. So, with lots of pictures I still want to show you, here it is. More pictures from Egypt!

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After a hearty lunch on board the MS Orchestra [our cruise ship] I took a short nap before I heard the loud honks of the many cruise ships docked at Esna. I then realised that the synchronised honks [yes, the ships actually honked in a very systematic rhythm] signaled that the cruise has begun.

Lugging my camera with me, I went up to the top deck and found that there were already a lot of people aboard. The staff have already set up a small cafe serving tea, coffee and snacks for the guests. My mom made a mention about a novel titled ‘The Blue Nile‘. It was easy to see why it was titled so.

We departed from Esna at about 4pm, and the sun was just about to set at that time, lending us a beautiful shower of light to drench the landscape in shades of orange and yellow and blue. I couldn’t help but snap away at the scenery because I know I’m never gonna get to see this ever again in my life.

Our ship was one among several hundred cruise ships that ferried some 200-300 tourists on board each. Since everyone was having a good time, and the ships weren’t too far apart from each other, everyone who were on the top deck were waving at every other ship that passed us by - and everyone waved back. It was pretty cool.

After it got really dark, I gave the camera a break and just leaned against the railings and enjoy the cool Nile breeze. The Nile is truly amazing, and unbelievably beautiful.

Later that night, our ship made a pit stop and docked at Edfu, a small town, also with several temples and tourist sites but our tour didn’t include any Edfu tours. However, our tour guide told us that there was a bazaar near the docks, and he suggested that we go visit. And so we did.

Egypt, despite not growing their own spices [or so I think], happens to be selling quite a lot of them. Funny thing is, they just place all of them together on one spot. You can see those huge blocks white and black rock sugar, as well as saffron and dried chillies. But one thing was out of place. When I shot this, I was wondering WTF is that mountain of blue powder? So we asked, and the shopkeeper was having a hard time explaining it to us but we finally understood.

Have you heard of the malay proverb “kerana nila setitik, rosak susu sebelanga”? It’s English equivalent would probably be “one rotten apple would spoil a basketful of good apples” or some shit like that. I don’t know how to say nila in English, but suffice to say that here in Malaysia, nila is a VERY powerful type of laundry bleach. It’s a thick blue liquid sold in tiny bottles. Normally, you add 2-3 drops of those into a pail of water, and soak your white clothes in them [I used to do that with my school uniform back in boarding school]. The thing is, being a bleach - and a powerful one at that - nila is extremely poisonous.

Now, take a look at the picture again. That blue montain, was dry powdered nila - a whole pile of powdered laundry bleach. Next to that mountain of blue poison, were curry powder, chili powder, and various powders and spices that you put into your FOOD. One gust of wind, and you get hints of bleach in your curry mix. Talk about oversight in product placement.

However, a good example of product placement can be seen below.

Yeah. The first time I saw that, I went “Holy shit!” too. I was going to buy one of those, actually, but I don’t have anybody to give it to *sobs*. And no, I’m not gonna wear those, despite me having boobs, so don’t even start. *waves finger*

But I have to admit, I was truly honestly surprised that they actually put that on public display. Egypt never ceases to amaze me.

After a nice long walk, I spotted some neighbourhood kids having some late night fun, so I thought I’d show you that like us, they all just love a good game of football. The beautiful game, indeed.

I went back to my cabin to sleep as the ship would be leaving Edfu to the next destination, but it was a rather long and very scenic cruise, so I’ll be posting pictures of those in the next travelog!

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The Egypt Travelogs Series:

1. Cairo (The Great Pyramids)
2. Road to Alexandria (Asfour Crystal Palace, Lion Park Animal Hospital)
3. Alexandria (Qaitbay Citadel, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Montaza Palace Gardens)
4. Return from Alexandria (Local fruits and produce)
5. West Luxor (Temple of Karnak)
6. East Luxor - Part One and Two (Colossi of Memnon, Ramesseum, Temple of Hatshepsut, Alabaster factory)
7. The Nile - Part One and Two (Edfu Bazaar, Life along the along the Nile)
8. Kom Ombo (The Twin Temples of Kom Ombo)
9. Road to Abu Simbel (Shooting star, desert skies)
10. Abu Simbel - (The Greater Temple of Abu Simbel)
11. Aswan - (Unfinished Obelisk, Felluca ride)

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