INTRODUCTION:
Luxor is considered as the "world's greatest open-air museum." Here you can find the Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple. Luxur is situated near the Nile River and across the Nile River is the West Bank Necropolis where you can find the Valley of the Kings and Queens. We visited all of these magnificent and historical ancient civilization places but I would like to tell you how they were overshadowed by our amazing experience at the Nile River while taking the Felucca.
HERE IS OUR AMAZING EXPERIENCE AT THE NILE RIVER, LUXOR, EGYPT:
From Cairo, five of us (my brother-in-law, the Philippine Ambassador to Egypt, His Excellency Ambassador Claro S. Cristobal, my wife’s nephew, Timothy John, my two kids Dra. Sharon Rose and Samuel David, and myself) flew to Luxor for a four-day tour. On our last day, we missed our flight going back to Cairo. To catch another flight back to Cairo, we have to wait for almost a day.
How are we going to fill-in the waiting time? From the Luxor airport, we went back to the heart of the city of Luxor. While inside the taxi, we asked the help of the taxi driver on how we are to spend our waiting time before our next flight. He suggested that we take the felucca (the traditional sailing boat of Egypt) and experience taking a boat at the Nile River going to the crocodile island. And so we agreed and took a boat ride.
On our way to the crocodile island, the felucca that we took was tugged by a motorized boat. When we reached the place, there was nothing spectacular in the island. We just saw one small crocodile in a cage, a half hectare banana plantations and then we were served with bananas as part of the experience. We asked the tour guide why it was called a crocodile island with just one small crocodile in a cage and the answer we got was - the island was in the shape of a crocodile. So there was nothing amazing in that island.
We left the island and went back to the felucca boat. This time, our boat will no longer tug by a motorized boat but we will sail by using paddles. Our sailing master was tall but skinny. The paddles he will be using were big. So when he started rowing from the pier of the island going to the middle of the Nile River, he was singing and sighing at the same time. As such, two from us, Timothy and my son, Samuel David, tried and helped the boatman. The two as well had a hard time rowing because the paddles were really big and hard to maneuver. Then the boatman took the paddles from the two and paddled till we reached the middle of the Nile River.
THE AMAZING SAIL AT THE NILE RIVER!
When the boat was already in the middle of the Nile River, the boatman stopped rowing and started telling stories about the politics in Egypt. The Ambassador enjoyed listening to the stories of the boatman because he was learning a lot about the country of his assignment. While the boatman was telling stories in a very relaxing manner, I was wondering how we will be able to reach the city of Luxor if he will not row the paddles of the boat. So I asked, what time are we going to reach the pier of the city of Luxor. He said 5:30 PM. I marked that time in my mind. It was I think 4:30 PM when I asked him about the time.
The Nile River was so calm and there was not even a ripple on the water. It was sunset and you will enjoy seeing the beautiful colors of the setting of the sun. My daughter, Dra. Sharon Rose, enjoyed the sunset so much that’s why she took a lot of photos of it. While we were enjoying the sunset, the boatman was still so relaxed telling stories about Egypt. While the boatman was so relaxed, I was so worried on the other hand that we may miss again our flight back to Cairo. So again I asked, what time are we going to reach the pier of Luxor? He again said 5:30 PM.
The sun had already set and it was getting dark and the boatman was still relaxed and not rowing. Then at exactly 5:30 PM just like what he said, he started rowing to prepare the boat to dock and told us that we have just reached the pier of Luxor. Wow, how did it happened without any effort from the boatman who just sat and told stories? What an amazing effortless sail at the Nile River!
As I have said, the river was so calm and there was not even a ripple on the water but how did we reach the pier of Luxor without rowing? We were told that there is a particular time of the day that the current underneath or the undertow of the river becomes so strong that can move the boat even without rowing. For me, that was an awe-inspiring experience I will never forget!
THE LANDMARKS IN LUXOR, EGYPT:
We have seen so many historical places in Luxor, like; the Valley of Kings, where the pharaohs, kings, and queens were buried and where the original and natural pyramid is located (the pyramid in Luxor is actually a mountain shaped like a pyramid but the pyramids in Cairo were man-made, a copycat of the natural pyramid in Luxor), the ruins of majestic Karnak Temple, the ruins of Luxor Temple, etc. When you visit these places, you are as if being brought by a time machine during the ancient civilization. But the effortless boat ride at the Nile River in Luxor was our most amazing experience of all in Luxor! The flight we missed back Cairo was the Lord’s way for us to experience the amazing effortless felucca boat ride at the Nile River.
THE NILE RIVER IN THE BIBLE:
Scripturally, the Nile River was mentioned in the Bible in two great events; first was when Moses was still a baby and his mother placed him inside a basket and purposely made the basket to float on the Nile River to be noticed by the princess of Egypt so that the life of baby Moses maybe spared from the murderous decree of the Pharaoh by killing all the infants at that time; secondly, when Moses turned the Nile River into a blood as one of the plagues to free the Israelites from slavery. These were the two great God-led events that changed the history of Egypt and the people of God. Amazingly, these events happened at the Nile River.
CONCLUSION:
Again, the Lord continues to amaze the people at the Nile River through that felucca boat ride experience. With our boat ride experience, I remembered and experienced the song, “With Christ in my vessel I can smile at the storm as I go sailing home.”
Our going home to where we are meant to be is like a boat ride at the Nile River. There is a definite time of reaching the place of our destination and a super amazing effortless ride with the powerful, relaxed and great SAILING MASTER (JESUS CHRIST) who will bring us to the pier of heaven to present us to the FATHER.