Blogs from Aswan, Upper Egypt, Egypt, Africa - page 4

Nile Cruise: Sunday, October 21 Wake up call at 6 am for an enormous buffet breakfast and the trip to the Valley of the Kings. We went into tombs 2, 6 and 11. Impressive to be in the tombs and there were some areas that still had vivid colours from almost 5000 years ago. It’s hard to believe they weren’t painted in the last 100 years. I wonder how much of our present culture would withstand 5 millenium of wars, tomb raiders and environmental deterioration. Next stop was the Temple of Hatshepsut that was cut into the mountain with impressive columns facing the west, the Madinet Habu Temple and the Colossi of Memnon. All of these also have great photos from the hot air balloon ride from yesterday. Back to the ship ... read more

Are there people out there who feel sorry for me? I had to get up at 3 AM to catch a bus that would drive us 3 hours to Abu Simbel. Of course I slept on the bus, I tried to at least. But that was not the worst part; on our way back, our convoy (the bus) got a flat tire. Guess where? In the desert. Yay! *rolling eyes*. But enough about my complaints that just stands in the way of you reading my experiences in and about Abu Simbel. As I said, we had to get up early to get a convoy to Abu Simbel. Of course, there was other convoys going to Abu Simbel at 11 AM, but the sun would be so strong that you could barely stand the heat. It was ... read more

Spent my last day going around to a few remaining places in town. The first stop was the Unfinished Obelisk. Since ancient times, Aswan has been known for its quarries, and most of the stone of all the Egyptian monuments originally came from this area. The Unfinished Obelisk was just one day abandoned because of a crack, but it would've been the single largest obelisk made by the Egyptians. Then drove down to the High Dam. An interesting place, especially given the history. During the over 10 years it took to build the dam, an undocumented number of workers died, some by explosions, others by horrible snake bites. And I didn't know that the High Dam was actually the second dam - the first is from 1902 and is closer to Aswan. Ended at probably the ... read more

Convenient being already on Elephantine Island, since this is the oldest part of Aswan. So today I basically just walked down the island. But some interesting things happened along the way. Once you leave the Movenpick you immediately hit two Nubian villages, which are beautiful enough in their way - mudbrick houses, with some farmland attached to them, and a bunch of goats, sheep, and donkeys wandering around. I was led through the villages by a nice young Nubian, and this half-naked little Nubian boy who followed about 10 yards behind me, and was carrying this gigantic walking stick. I found the whole situation very funny and had a grin the entire time. But I was led right up to the gate that goes into the site of Ancient Abu, what this area was at one ... read more

Last night the streets were filled with thousands and thousands of Egyptians, all of whom came out to celebrate (at least where I was) the first free election of the new president, Mursi. The word is that Mursi is not of a military background, but is instead a doctor, a thought which brings hope to some, though his tight ties with *corrected information inserted here* Muslim Brotherhood worry others. I've been trying to make sense of it all from first person, that's why I've been somewhat confused, so read here: url=http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/24/world/africa/muslim-brotherhood-explained/index.html?iid=article_sidebarhttp://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/24/world/africa/muslim-brotherhood-explained/index.html?iid=article_sidebar You should have seen it, it was the biggest party I have ever seen in my life. Women in full burkas and women without, flags waving everywhere... read more