Aswan, Egypt

July 2: Happy Birthday, DeVandolyn!!

Arrived in Aswan via overnight train from Cairo. Ahmed, our tour guide, volunteered to drive the train because "Even I could drive better than this [insert arabic accent]. Although the stops were tough, the service was impeccable and various members of our group were exhilarated to find that the drink menu included !beer!. Steady non-alcohol diet, as a result of limited availability will not suit standards of our Irish friends. The Aussie's in the group are barely surviving on a steady diet of water, sprint and mango juice.
The cleanliness of Aswan in comparison to Cairo is stark differentiator (must have something to do with the fact that there are 12 million fewer people in this city).
Visited the Nubian Museum here in Aswan - amazing!! and discovered upon exit that there was a need to add a level 6 ot the Hoover Heat Index (HHI). [see above for previous 5 levels on the HHI]. Level 6 = Aswan July. Sidenote: only crazy people should visit Aswan in July.

Mark broke his golden rule of medical advice today "Never swim in the Nile". our guide assured us that all tour books were wrong about this and we decided that the appropriate preparation for a camel ride across the desert to the Nubian village where we were having a traditional family dinner required a body temperature below 102 degrees. (for those who haven't converted the Celsius, 40 C = 104 F, which has become a downright pleasant temperature for us!). Mark and I raced across the Nubian section of the Sahara on our male camels named "Mona Lisa and Lovely". Angel's camel, Mona Lisa, soundly triumphed, of course. Our Nubian village trip included music and entertainment post-feeding frenzy and unexpectedly, we were the dancing entertainment. all of us were asked to join i the dance by children of the family - how could one say no?

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