Blogs from Aswan, Upper Egypt, Egypt, Africa - page 19

26th - 28th October We were not looking forward to our crossing from Egypt to Sudan, and we were not disappointed. We were told to be at the dockside at Port Aswan by 10 am and we were - after a 10 mile drive from Aswan town. It took the usual prolonged and disorganized time to get all our paperwork sorted before we could actually take our cars onto the dockside where the ferry boat was waiting. Sandwiched between the ferry and the dock was a barge, about 6 metres in width and about 50 metres in length. It was driven from a wheelhouse at the stern and there were two open holds along its length. There was space between for 4 vehicles to be parked crosswise, and this is where we eventually put our cars. ... read more

Yet another long one! 6 days worth of travelling, touring and incredible experiences...prepare yourself! Bus and Flight to Aswan The flight was set to leave Cairo airport at 5am, so we had the school van schedualed to pick us up at our usual spots at 345am!!! I was anxious about the trip and I managed just over one hour of sleep the night before, so that was fun! We waited at the stop for about 20 minutes and when no bus came, we called the others and decided we better catch a cab quick if we wanted to get to the airport. So we walked to a bigger street to try to find a cab..this was all done in the dark because street lamps are very random around here, no rhyme or reason for where they ... read more

We arrived in Egypt the first of September--it seems like a month since we've been in the cool weather of the UK. We arrived in Cairo international after getting up at 4AM (thanks again, Paul, for the ride at that obscene hour!!), changing in Milan and having the child from hell sitting behind me screaming, whining and kicking the back of my chair. The customs gate at Cairo was a joke--we bought our visa stamps at the bank and had them slapped in and stamped by the guard who barely gave our passports a glance. The whole process took 15 minutes!! As soon as we got to baggage claim the taxi touts were on the hunt for fares. After that kid behind me, I was ready for a fight! We were expecting a pick-up from our ... read more

Aswan to HurghadaBill Clayton Here in Aswan are several very interesting Egyptian ancient sites. First is the Valley of the Kings, where Egypt’s kings dug numerous deep winding passages to their eventual tombs, beginning almost immediately when they become king, and continuing until their death, when their treasure was interred with them. All of the tombs except Tutenkamen were looted. These tombs are in an isolated, blazing hot valley where working must have been very hard. Adjacent, in another valley, is the village where the workers lived and digged their own more modest tombs in the rock. And there is still a third tomb site for the Egyptian queens. Clearly they have all achieved immortality as legions of tourists now pay to maintain their remains and at least some of the treasure they sought to hide ... read more

Untitled This morning we were supposed to be at the Aswan train station at 8am, so most of us got up fairly early so we'd be ready to get off. Of course, we didn't get there until 9am (it's Egypt). We had breakfast on the train - four different kinds of bread. Once we got off the train, we got on the bus and went to see the Aswan High Dam and the unfinished obelisk. After our morning sightseeing, we went and checked into our rooms on the boat for our Nile cruise about 11:30am. The boat and the rooms were nice - especially after the overnight train!!!!!! The best part was that we finally got to shower (no showers on the train)! Lunch was at 1pm and then we met in the boat's lobby at ... read more