We stopped off at Edfu to see the temple there, which is different to all the others in that it was lost under the sand for nearly 2000 years, and only discovered in the mid 1800s. The massive pylons are over 100ft high, and still it was completely covered - the people living on top of it had no idea it was there. Because of this, it still has its stone slab roof over the hypostyle hall and inner sanctum so that you get a real feel of how an ancient Egyptian temple must have been when in use, totally dark except for oil lights and what ever daylight filtered through. (Although of course there is now low level electric light).
Then it was a long drive on to Aswan, and our visit to the Sudanese consulate here to obtain our visas. With no tourist infrastructure of any kind (rumour has it not even one ATM machine in the entire country), this was an introduction to what we can expect when (if) we cross the border. After having been kept standing for ages in a rather unprepossessing corridor up a flight off unprepossessing stairs in a very (guess what?) unprepossessing building (no water in the wc) we have now been told that a letter of acceptance from Khartoum is needed before any visa is issued. Tomorrow is if course the sabbath, and the ferry leaves on Monday so we wait to see what happens!
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