Idfu Transportation

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As the temple is on the distance of several kilometers from the bank of the Nile right after leaving boats tourists may see numerous horse carriages - fiacres. For the majority of tourists it appears a pleasant and unexpected surprise.

You will agree, that the trip by a fiacre is much more attractive, than a trip by a usual excursion bus. East color penetrates you literally during a trip and you become the accomplice of traffic in which besides you tens others horse and donkey carriages participate. The trip lasts about ten minutes - exactly so much to take pleasure and do not get tired.

You may see Egyptian fiacres in Edfu on my Edfu Fiacre 2,20 minute VIDEO CLIP from my YouTube channel .

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Cruise boats, which begin their way from Luxor to Aswan, usually make their first stop in Edfu early in the morning.

When we have moored to the bank at Edfu harbor, about ten moored boats already stood there. They are usually moored to each other. Therefore several chains of three - four boats in each were moored along the bank of the Nile. Last come boat becomes the last moored in a chain. Therefore passengers consistently pass by decks of 2-3 boats before to step on the bank. In process of returning tourists after the excursion to their boats, they leave the mooring. Therefore tourists get on the boat from the mooring at once while other boats still wait for the passengers.

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A stop at Edfu is included in the Nile cruise. If you take a cruise in direction from Luxor to Aswan your ship most probably will accost at Edfu late in the evening and then you will visit Edfu Temple early in the next morning as my case was. I used the opportunity to pick up early in the morning to enjoy the sunrise and to take pictures of it.
Of course, an organized excursion to the temple at Edfu has its pros and coins. For example, you will be there with a lot of people and the time for the visit will be very limited.

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This is the usual transportation to the Edfu temple and back. The funny thing is the word they use for these cabs. Or at least, it is funny, to us, Bulgarians. The word Kelesh is definitely of Persian origin. It came in Bulgarian through Ottoman Turks but we use it nowadays for a miserable person, person incapable to earn money and take care of his family, for example. Another meaning of the word in Bulgaria is a non-reliable person.
There were many cabs waiting to take us to Edfu temple. The price is 15 LE for the two-ways-journey with a kelesh. One should remember the number of the kelesh he/she takes and to take the same on the way back. Of course, the 'driver' asked for much more money than the arranged price. Also, local photographers take pictures of you and then sell them to you. So, this transport service is kind of sources of income for the local people.

There are lots of fiacres (horse-drawn carriages) around Edfu, Mainly cater for tourists who fancy seeing the Edfu town in the 'old' way.
Cruise ships also can dock at the Nile bank near the Edfu temple & there would be many carriages there waiting for you.

This is the scene of Edfu town; It's a lively town with people running the everyday business & tourists scattered around town.
There's a bank where we can change money; Shops selling souvenirs & stuffs.
Coming here at the moment is only possible by convoy, either from Aswan or Luxor.