We arrived in Aswan in the middle of
the night, I didn't wake up when the boat docked. Breakfast was a
buffet as usual, and as usual I overate.
I met up with my guide, then we met our
first driver of the day. Our first stop of the day took us to the
Aswan High Dam. To get there we had to drive over the old British
dam, which has military checkpoints on each end. If it weren't for
those checkpoints I would've asked to get out of the car and take a
few photos. The British damn looked more majestic to me, or maybe
just more photogenic.
This dam still works, and is necessary to the
functioning of everything in the area, including the High Dam. The
British Dam was built in 5 years, starting in 1898, and is
occasionally called the Low Dam.
In 1960 construction began on a bigger
dam, called the High Dam. 11 years later construction finished, and
the creation of Lake Nasser began, as the area flooded due to the
dam. The dam itself is 3 kilometers long, but you can't see the full
length unless you go up high, with a drone or plane or helicopter.
I'm pretty sure that isn't possible, due to security concerns. There
is a small parking area, and an entry fee! I never did figure out
what limits there were to how far I could walk on the dam, though I'm
sure the area probably wasn't all that big. Certainly not the entire
length of the dam, even though that would've been fun.
There is a small area in the middle of
the road on the dam that has been turned into a garden.
Quite pretty,
even though it doesn't really match much of the surrounding scenery.
The gardner was pruning and watering while I took my photos, and the
gardener even gave me a flower. Then he helped me rinse the mud off
my feet.
We got back in the car and continued
back in the direction from which we came. On the way back we stopped
at the Soviet Egyptian friendship monument, it's hard to miss. Ive
seen these kinds of monuments all over the world where the Soviet
Union worked with another country to build something. More than
anything, they're BIG.
I hopped out of the car, and went to
walk a bit closer. The monument is at the end of a walkway in the
middle of a man made pond. As I approached the walkway and realized
there was a group blocking the other end, as they organized
themselves to take a group photo. I wanted to slide through them, but
that might've taken a while. Waiting took only a couple minutes. I
got to the monument and immediately looked up. I'd say the memorial
is like a really rall flower, maybe a tulip? When you look up, you
see each 'petal' leaning in toward the center.
The next thing I knew, everyone in the
group wanted to be in a photo with me. I haven't been in that many
selfies in a while.
It was fun, and for the most part people seemed
to be in a queue of sorts. As that group finally left, I asked one of
their leaders to take my photo with me standing by the area that had
both languages, saying what the monument was all about.
Just as that guy took my photo and
walked away, another group arrived. This was a group of schoolkids,
they wanted photos with me too. More fun, more selfies. One girl put
my camera in her selfie stick and took a couple photos so I had a few
for myself. Fun :)
How often do these groups come? Is it ever quiet at this monument? Eventually I got back to the car, and
we continued driving.
The next stop was a small marina. We walked
through a small gate, down to the boats. Along the way, we passed a
bunch of vendors with souvenirs no one really needs. Tamar took me
directly to the boat he'd already arranged, and we climbed aboard. It
was a small boat with a small motor on the end. We were the only
customers but it could've held another 10-15 people I think.
Our ride took us out to a small island,
and on the way we went past several other small islands. The lake on
which our boat was floating had been created by the dam I'd seen
earlier in the day. I wonder what the landscape had been like before
the flooding of the lake.
We arrived at our island and climbed
off the boat. The dock was small, with a few steps to get us up to
the level of most of the island. There were heaps of boats hanging
around, waiting for the customers they'd dropped off before we
arrived. I don't know how they kept themselves organized, so that the
right one would be able to leave when they needed to leave.
Philae temple was originally in a
different place. If it had stayed in its original place, it would've
be covered by the water of the newly created lake. Philae Temple is
like Edfu Temple in that the only fully Egyptian part of it is a
small area near the front. The majority of the temple was built by
the Greco Romans who wanted to rule the country way back in the day.
This temple was similar to the others I'd already seen in that there
was a front courtyard of sorts, as well as an area filled with
columns. Unlike Edfu, there was no throne left in the holy room at
the back of the temple. There was a pink granite stone, the offering
table.
Philae Temple had briefly been used as
a Christian Church, you can still see where the crosses were carved
in a few places. I found that fascinating, as I always do when I see
a mix of religions and faiths.
Off to the side of the temple was
another temple. Tamar told me this was where some of the later
leaders came to relax after being in the temple. It's a small temple,
but is right on the edge of the island so it overlooks the water.
Very nice.
We took a short break at a cafe, which
had a fantastic view of the bigger temple. I bought postcards there,
the price was totally reasonable.
After relaxing for a few minutes we
walked back to our boat, which brought us back to the same dock we'd
come from earlier. A different driver picked us up and took us back
to the boat, in time for another buffet lunch. I was still eating too
much, but it was all so good.
Not long after finishing lunch, I
joined my guide for another afternoon tour. This time we hopped on a
boat really close to our cruise boat. This boat was just like the
boat we'd been on earlier in the day, in that it could've held more
people than it did, and had an engine to get around. I saw something
written in Arabic in one place on the boat, and asked my guide what
it said. He took a look and burst out laughing. Apparently it said
'leave me alone.'
To get to where we were going, our boat
went through a reserve area, which Tamar pointed out to me. He told
me it is a reserve area because there are some animals here that you
don't get to see in many places. These are animals that were hunted
by the pharoahs when they came to this area back in the day. Some of
the water was pretty shallow, and we skirted around a number of
smaller islands in the river.
Our boat docked, we climbed out, and
went up a set of steps to get to street level. We'd come to a Nubian
village. In Egypt there are several ethnicities, basically two major
groups of people. This is where you get to learn about the time when
there were two kingdoms in Egypt, known as Upper Egypt and Lower
Egypt. The names are based on the flow of the Nile River, which means
Upper Egypt is actually in the southern end of the country.
Upper Egypt/Nubia used to be a separate
kingdom from Cairo/Lower Egypt. The Nubian people are quite different
from Egyptians as we think of them now. Nubians speak a different
language, not related to Arabic.
That being said, many have learned
Arabic because they are now part of Egypt; they have also learned
English because of the tourist industry.
Architecture in Nubia is different from
the rest of Egypt. Everything is a LOT more colorful, and there are
far fewer solid roofs. The top of many homes is vaulted in an arch
shape, which helps with the crazy heat. This area gets very little
rain, Tamar said it last rained in 2010. People sleep on the roof of
their home, as it is cooler.
There is a belief that a mummified
animal (particularly a crocodile,) will keep your home safe, so I saw
a number of those over the front door of various homes. Am I the only one that finds this a little creepy?
There were a
lot of market stalls set up with spices, which always look lovely.
Too bad I had no desire to buy anything at the time.
While wandering around I got to watch a
group of local men playing dominoes. They played quickly, playing
again and again. Tamar said they play for hours, almost every day. I
don't know what the women do during this time.
We went into one home and had a cup of
tea. (It was good enough that I broke down and bought some for myself
as we left town.) The lady who owned the home took us up to the roof,
which I loved. Since it was dry, and winter, we could see over the
land for quite a distance. It was neat to see all the color of the
Nubian village, and the brown of the surrounding area.
We went back to the port area to get
back to our boat. At the top of the steps down to the port my guide
asked me if I wanted to have henna put on my hands. I've had it done
before, but I figured why not do it again? Tamar chose one of the
girls to do it, but they all pushed in. The next thing I knew, five
women were painting henna on my hands. There was no specific design,
but I laughed at the experience. They wanted to do my feet too, but I
knew there was no way I'd have been able to keep it from smearing
long enough to dry while looking good.
Our boat took us back to the cruise
boat as the sun was starting to set, a gorgeous time of day.
After dinner that night there was
another thematic party on the boat but I skipped it, I knew I'd be up
early and I'm not usually a huge party person. I'm sure I wasnt the
only one on the boat who was going to be awake early, I wonder how
many people attended the party.
When you sign up for a tour in Egypt,
there are all sorts of additional options. I turned down most of
them, but one I did decide to go for was a day trip to a temple
called Abu Simbel.
When I signed up for the tour I wasn't
aware that I'd have to get up quite early, and have everything packed
to check out before 0500. It wasn't so easy to get up at that hour,
but it was worth it.
Since I was leaving the boat long before
breakfast I was given a brown bag breakfast. I ate most of it during
the drive to and from Abu Simbel. It wasn't nearly as good as the
buffet breakfasts, which I'd gotten used to eating. The brown bag
breakfast was nearly all bread in some form or another.
Tamer had organized the taxi to pick us
up, and get going at that hour. It was a three hour drive through the
desert. Not a particularly pretty area of the desert, mostly just
flat dirt/sand. I dozed for most of the ride, as did Tamer. At one
point I woke up and looked out the window and realized I was seeing
part of the sunrise.
With the lack of pollution (there is nothing
there, so there is nothing causing pollution,) and flat horizon, the
sunrise was really pretty. I should've asked the taxi to stop so I
could take a photo or two, but I did it through the window while we
were still going. If this driver had done the drive before, I'm sure
he'd seen plenty of others do the same thing.
Eventually we arrived. This time Tamer
didn't have the ticket ahead of time, but there was no line, so it
only took us a few seconds to get the ticket. When he bought the
ticket he told me they don't keep extras of these in the office
because not everyone takes this tour. You have to sign up for this
tour a few days in advance because the road to get there takes you
through some areas for which you have to have clearance. Bureaucracy
at it's finest, I'm sure.
When we arrived and pulled into the
parkplatz I was less than impressed. You can't see a thing worth
seeing from the park platz. Instead, you follow a walking path that
goes slightly down and around a corner. As you come around the corner
you realize why people come to this temple, even though it's far away
from everything.
Now that I know how it all works, I'd
actually want to get going even earlier, to try to avoid some of the
crowds. Or maybe come later in the day. I don't know if it is
possible, but I'd love to try. I don't know how early the temple
opens though, which probably makes a difference.
Abu Simbel was built by Ramses II, the
pharoah who was totally full of himself. At least, that is my
opinion. I don't know enough history to know whether he deserved to
be that arrogant.
Tamer told me it took years to build
Abu Simbel. They didn't have the technology we do now way back then,
which makes the temple even more impressive. Ramses II built the
temple to honor himself and his favourite wife, Nefertari.
This temple is different from all the
temples in Egypt in that it was carved out of a mountain. Nothing was
built in the sense of stacking rocks and bricks together, it was all
'scratched' out of a mountain. The engineering in the temple was
incredible, as the sunrise reached to the back of the temple on
Ramses birthday, every year. At least that is what I've read and been
told.
As you come around the bend, you see
four GIANT statues of Ramses II on the front facade of the temple.
It's amazing. If I could've taken a photo without anyone else in the
frame I would've done so. (This is the reason I want to go back at a
different time of day, I want the 'just me' photo.)
Tamer told me what I would see inside
the temple, then sent me in. Guides are not allowed inside, booo. I
wandered through the main rooms, as well as each of the side rooms.
Everything was covered with carvings of heiroglyphics telling stories
of the pharoah's life.
One thing I noticed as being different was
that of the pharoah in a kilt that looked longer than what I was used
to seeing. When I asked Tamer about it afterward he said it was a
picture of the pharoah in his hunting kilt.
After seeing everything I could see, I
walked with Tamer to the second temple, the one dedicated to
Nefertari. It's much smaller, but still really impressive. Since it
is smaller, not as many people walk the distance (it isn't far, by
anyone's standards!) to see it. There are four large statues of
Nefertari on the front of the temple, this is where I took my 'just
me and the thing behind me' photo. Yay!
Tamer wasn't allowed in
this one either, booo. Since it was smaller I went through rather
quickly. In the temple for Ramses, the statues are of him. In the
temple for Nefertari, the statues in the interior room are of Hathor,
one of the gods.
To get back to the car we walked by a
museum that documented the moving of the temple. What engineers did
in 5 years (with $40 million) is incredible. They sliced the temple
into pieces, taking photos and numbering everything. Over time each
piece was moved to a storage area, then a new mountain was carved,
and everything was put back in the correct order. To be honest, I
wouldn't have noticed anything if Tamer hadn't told me.
The temple(s)
had to be moved because of the creation of Lake Nasser, which
would've flooded and covered the temple. AMAZING.
We walked back to the park platz, where
the taxi driver told Tamer we were late. (There was no specific
timing that I was aware of, it was just the driver wanting to get to
other business.) Tamer told him he had been hired for this trip, and
to please be polite. The conversation was in Arabic of course, I
didn't know until Tamer told me.
I dozed during the drive back to Aswan,
it would've been hard to stay awake during the flat drive.
When we got back to the boat, Tamer and
I split up. We both took our bags, but he went off to the train
station, while I was driven to a hotel for the night. I liked the
hotel, which was quite grand. Definitely not a place I would've
picked on my own, but it was part of the tour. Just like the hotel in
Cairo, the only free wifi was in the lobby, and it was awful.
I hung out in the hotel for a few
hours, after which I was picked up by another guy working for the
same tour company. His name was Mohammed. He took me to the marina
right in front of the hotel, where we boarded a falucaa. Finally I
got to ride on one of these traditional Egyptian sailboats. It was a
sunset ride, very relaxing.
The man who was 'driving' the falucca
had clearly spent a lot of his life on the boat. I could see big
calluses on his hands and feet, and squinty eyes from all the sun. He
was completely comfortable on the water, the constant change in the
balance of the boat didn't bother him at all.
We didn't get lucky in terms of wind,
so we didn't go very fast, or very far. That being said, it was a
lovely ride. It was quiet and relaxing, and I got to see much of the
sunset. I enjoyed seeing the sky changing colours against the
backdrop of the city lights coming on.
We came back to the dock, and I
convinced Mohammed to go for a walk with me. We walked toward the
city center, first passing a small park.
There was a fountain in the
park, and I thought the weather was downright amazing considering it
was winter, but there weren't too many people out and about. I told
Mohammed that I really like sahlab, so we sat down at a cafe
overlooking this small park. I was the only female in the cafe, which
I've learned is pretty typical in an Egyptian cafe that is mainly
frequented by locals. The men in these cafes smoke shisha and drink
really thick coffee. The sahlab I had here was the best I had during
the entire trip. It was really thick, and they put sprinkles on top!!
Yum.
Mohammed and I walked a little further,
walking through part of the market I'd gone through with Tamer the
night before.
I saw more stalls with the same goods, and many more
tourists this time. I didn't see anything I wanted to buy, but I
loved watching people.
Mohammed walked me back to the hotel,
and I went to sleep soon enough. I had a huge room with a nice
balcony, part of me wished I had been able to be there a little
longer and take advantage of the luxury.
The next morning I had another brown
bag breakfast, it was better than what I'd had from the ship. There
was still a lot of bread, but it had a hard boiled egg and a couple
pieces of fruit.
Mohammed picked me up and along with
the driver took me to the airport. Security was not so fun, but easy
enough. I had another easy and short flight, landing back in Cairo.
