Aswan, Egypt 02.09

We arrived in Aswan at about 2pm, and were greeted by a wave of 45 degree celsius air. Thankfully our hotel wasn't far from the train station, so we didn't collapse from the heat, under our bags, on the way. We cleaned ourselves up and then headed out for a cruise on the Nile.

Cruise on the Nile
Our boat was a motor powered boat, unlike many of the others on the Nile. The typical boat in Egypt is the 'felucca'. These are sail boats with huge sails and its cross mast hangs diagonally. They are very pretty to see floating along the river. We had two drivers, and one had a missing arm. Someone said that it was taken by a crocodile, but I think that was a joke, not real life. There are no crocodiles in this stretch of the Nile. They are kept back by the dam, and on that side, there are hundreds of them.
The ride along the river was really pretty, we could have stared at the scenery all day. On one side of the river, there was the city of Aswan, and on the other side is the Sahara desert, which begins here and finishes all the way over in West Africa. So we had beautiful sand dunes along one side of the boat, and ancient fortresses sitting on top of them along the way.
The reeds of the Nile were full of life. There were long necked white birds all along the river bank. We even saw a dog sitting down in the water, as if to cool his behind. The current was quite strong and you could see the patterns that it made on the water. It was quite green along the Nile, more than we expected, but I suppose it is a river, and water brings life.
Some little boys sitting on planks of wood or some kind of floating device swam over to our boat. They looked like they were having fun. It didn't take too long after that, to reach our destination. We arrived at a beach filled with tourists, locals and lots and lots of camels.
After we secured our boat, and everyone jumped to shore. It was really hot, so some of us decided to go swimming. We were reassured that there were no crocodiles, and that the water was clean because it was moving so quickly. They were certainly right about it moving quickly! We had to swim against the current, to keep from being swept away. The water was really freezing as well, you couldn't stay in there for too long, but as soon as you got out, you dried really quickly.

Camel Ride
The sandy bank where we had landed was our first taste of the Sahara Desert, so we were excited and wanted to check it out. As soon as our swim was over, we all climbed up to where there was a big empty stretch of sand. The sand was so smooth and soft, but it was difficult to step anyway in this area without standing on camel dung.
Soon we were taken over to where the camels were. There was a long line of camels that were sitting down. We were each given a camel to sit on, and then one by one, they rose to their feet. It was very rocky when the camel stood up, because it rises with its front legs, and then with its back legs.
Loren was in a line of camels that were tied together. It was a long slow ride, but still exciting because she'd never ridden a camel before. Artur was given a camel that wasn't tied to anyone else. He was supposed to be led by one of the camel guides, but the guy got distracted and left him on his own. It was a bit of a surprise for him, as he had never even ridden a horse before. Even more surprising for him, was when his camel decided to take off running down the beach. He was going so fast, that he overtook everyone from his place at the back of the line, and arrived before anyone else.
Nubian Village
The camels took us through a little village, and stopped at one blue painted house. This area of Egypt is dominated by the Nubian people. We were here to see their way of life and to eat a meal with them. We all sat around a long table and shared a traditional fish meal. It was pretty good, and there was far more food than we could eat.
The bright colours of the house reminded us of the Village that we visited in Jaipur, India, where we got seriously sick. This put us off our food a little bit, and when they offered henna tattoo painting, the similarity was frightening. We survived with only the usual Egyptian dosage of food poisoning, which is enough to make you sick, but not enough to put you in bed for 2 days like in India.
After our meal, we were shown several tanks in the house, where they kept crocodiles! There were some pretty big ones, and also a glass case with tiny ones. One of the guys from the house teased them, and made them snap at him. He didn't get hurt, so it was pretty cool to watch. The baby ones were so tiny and scared that if you moved near the glass case, they ran to the other side.
All sorts of cool souvenirs were being sold in this house, including Cleopatra doily head decorations. Loren watched a movie the night before, where a girl was wearing one, and it looked really cool, so we decided to buy one too. There were all sorts of other sculptures and necklaces. Typical Egyptian souvenirs.While we were shopping and watching the crocodiles, a group of guys started playing music with drums and other percussion instruments. We hesitated in joining the conga line of fellow tourists at first, but eventually we were coaxed into the circle. It was pretty fun, and as we danced, the musicians sang lines that we had to repeat.
At the end of the evening, we were picked up in our little boat and taken back to the city in total darkness. Now and then, the boat would flash its lights so that other people would see us and not collide with us.
When we got back, we all decided to go shopping for supplies for our boat trip. Alchohol is hard to find in a muslim country, so we had to look for the only duty free shop in town. Eventually we found a little shop filled with Polish people, buying a huge supply of vodka.

Abu Simbel
The next day, we had to get up at 3.30am! We had a trip planned to Abu Simbel, a major Egyptian archaeological site and temple. It was a three hour drive, so we tried to catch up on some sleep on the way. The Temple was dedicated to Amon Rah and another three Egyptian gods, but in reality it was supposed to be a demonstration of the power of King Ramses II. The temple is 38m wide by 68m long, and the facade was carved out of a single piece of rock. Four 31m high statues of Ramses dominate the entrance. The lips alone are 1.5m high! Pretty impressive!
The temple was discovered by an Italian man. He took sketches of the interior, but no one was interested because they couldn't read hieroglyphs, and there was no treasure inside. The temple was completely covered in sand, so local Egyptians were hired to move all the sand away. These men were very crafty, and they realised that they could make money from this, so after the Italian guy left, they covered the temple with sand again. This way they had to be hired to uncover it again!
When the Egyptian government decided to build a huge dam, which would significantly raise the water levels of the Nile, the Abu Simbel temple was put in danger. It would be drowned under the Nile, never to be seen again. One solution to this, was to remove the entire temple and move it to a new location. This was the option that they chose.
The Abu Simbel temple was cut into thousands of pieces, each several tonnes in weight, and then moved to a new location 90m above that one. The original temple was carved out of a cliff face, but the new location was on flat ground, so they had to build a support structure for it. They built a huge dome of concrete and reconstructed the temple on top of it. It was a successful project, allowing the dam to be completed and the temple preserved.
It was very exciting to finally enter the huge temple. As we walked through the central hallway, we passed beneath 4 huge statues. They were worn away by time, but still impressive. The most surprising and even shocking discovery that we made, was the 18th century graffiti that covered these statues, such as 'Here was Balzac 1836'. People who came here in the past, explorers or whoever they were, carved their names into these ancient pieces of art.
At the end of the hallway, there was a temple room with the statues of the four gods that the temple was dedicated to. Twice a year, the sun shines through the doorway and the hallway, and falls on the faces of Amon Ra and Ramses II. The third god, remains in darkness, as he is the god of darkness.
The temple was full of side rooms and was covered in incredible hieroglyphs. We explored each of the hallways, and noticed that some of the wall paintings seemed to be cut down the middle. We hadn't heard about the removal and reconstruction of the temple at this point, so it seemed pretty strange. The paintings are done on top of a kind of stucco, so we assumed the gaps would be filled in with this substance. It all made a lot more sense when we heard what had happened to the temple.
The other temple at Abu Simbel is much smaller but still impressive. We didn't learn much about this temple though, as our tour guide was lazy and sat in the bus rather than accompanying us. The only information we received was eavesdropped from a Polish tour group. Artur sat nearby and listened to the information and passed it on to Loren.

On the way back from Abu Simbel, we drove through a road in the middle of desert. We watched out the window, spotting mirages, where it looked like there was water, but really there was nothing at all. The scenery was amazing!

Bargaining at the Souq
After we got back, we had lunch at a place that was recommended by our guide. It was ok for Egyptian food, meaning we still got food poisoning, but not too bad. They even had cold beers here, which is pretty unusual in this country. We made the most of the opportunity, although we felt a bit sleepy afterwards.
Next we went to check out the local souq (market). It was a prime opportunity to pick up some souvenirs and test our bargaining skills. We ended up with a whole pile of little alasbater and basalt sculptures. The coolest one of all, was a little pyramid which was covered in hieroglyphs. You could even open it and inside there was a little carving of a scarab beetle.
The market was a long colourful street with tiny shops on either side. There were little strings of flags above the street, so it had a very festive feel to it. The only thing that took away from the atmosphere, was the hundreds of sellers shouting at us to buy from them. 'Hello, where you from? Only 10 pound! I have good price!'
That evening, we had dinner at the same place where we ate lunch. This time we ate outside, on some boats which were permanently attached to the shore. They were like huge rafts with roofs, and lots of tables and chairs. It was nice to eat with the cool breeze coming off the river.
After dinner, everyone wanted to go back to the market. So we headed into the war zone again. We helped some of the more inexperienced members of our tour group with their bargaining. With a little bit of training, they became pretty fiesty in the marketplace. Artur was offered 20 million camels for Loren. Not the first offer we had received of this nature!
To see the photos from the post in slideshow mode, click on on the link below:
Aswan pictures