For the past twenty something days of my trip across Egypt, choosing to stay only one day instead of two was never a drawback. Instead it seemed more suitable to invest more time in other cities where time was more needed except fot that time in Sohag when I was sick and had to stay for two days instead of one, the rest worked out flawlessly. Until I woke up this morning to travel to a different city.
Everything was as usual, early rise, a good walk around the city until I reached the transportation where I would grab my next ride. A perfect start for a perfect morning, until I realized that reaching my next destination on time would be almost impossible. On that day, it took almost two hours for the small bus to complete its 14 passengers. Two hours of precious time, before noon in that city.
The whole plan shifted, a plan I had almost perfected in the past weeks. To make my life even harder, I had already decided that I would only be spending one day in Edfu. I arrived to Edfu at almost 12:00 pm and was shocked by how hot the weather was, with shade temperatures reaching a whooping 43 degrees. There was no way I was going to walk around the city, I had to find a place to stay and fast.
I never got to see Edfu properly, that day I spent most of my afternoon overlooking the city from the tallest tower in Edfu. I mostly got to meet it from above and completed my impression about the city during my morning walk to where my next ride would be. On that morning, I had a different encounter, a man herding goats passed infront of the hotel as I was just walking out. I asked if I could join him until our roads forked, he was kind enough not only to let me join but began explaining how he does it.
Edfu is a small city with a huge temple in the middle of the city called the Temple of Horus, the streets are somewhat narrow and generally crowded mostly by pedestrians. One thing that caught my eye watching Edfu from above is how every minaret in it skyline was beautifully decorated and lit for Ramadan, a sign of how important the holy month is to the people of Edfu. Edfu’s location on the Nile is strategic and is home to one of the a good portion of sugarcane farms in Egypt. The sugar factory in Edfu is a contributor to Egypt’s economy.
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