Aswan

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The train from Cairo to Aswan was pretty basic, definitely not as clean or good as the Indian trains and a lot more expensive. The sleeper train was over US$60 so we decided to take the next option which was to reserve a seat in 1st class. Luckily we were in a cabin by ourselves with a lovely French girl. There were no other seats opposite us which reduced some of the unwelcome stares. Anyway we got to Aswan on time, and it was roasting, over 40 degrees, the temperature I start to melt! Matt copes much better in the heat than I do so at least one of us still functions.

Our guest house was really nice with air conditioning, a lovely roof terrace with even a small pool. Aswan is a pretty place and definitely slower and more relaxed than Cairo, with restaurants and cruise boats lining the Nile.

One morning we got up at 3.15am to catch the minibus to Abu Simbel. The minibus was packed full of people and we arrived at the first check point just before 4am where we had to wait for the police convoy. Security was tight, police had a look under each car, licenses were checked etc. The Egyptian government decided that, following terrorist attacks against tourists during the late 90s, tourists travelling to certain parts of Egypt, are required to be in a convoy while travelling to and from the sites. While in some respect, tourists should be grateful for the government’s stance on our safety one has to wonder just how safe a convoy of at least 50 buses, leaving at the same time and belting it through the desert at ridiculous speeds really is - surely it make tourists an easier target. The security borders on the ridiculous - most if not all the scanners and metal detectors that we go through either don’t work or if they do the people manning them pay no attention anyway making them pointless.

Anyway Abu Simbel was quite simply amazing. The huge temple carved out of the rock is the Great Temple of Ramses II (1274-1244 BC). Just to give an idea of how big it is, the façade of the giant four statues (about 20m high) is about 30m high and 35m wide. Inside the temple was spectacular, huge statues and carvings depicting the pharaoh’s prowess in battle. The smaller temple next door, the Temple of Hathor is another rock-cut façade fronted by six 10m high statues of Ramses and Nefertiti and equally beautifully decorated.

The temples have in fact been painstakingly dismantled stone by stone and rebuilt on higher ground following the decision to build the High Dam. Between 1960 and 1980 UNESCO and various foreign archaeological teams removed all portable artefacts and relics and some 14 temples were saved before the rest disappeared below the waters of Lake Nasser. For Abu Simbel, it cost around US$40 million and 4 years to reconstruct the temple on higher ground while the original site disappeared under the lake.

We then visited the High Dam, a real disappointment. We had to pay 20EP for the view, which to be honest was not that great, Matt in particular was disappointed thinking that we would be able to go in see the generators. However what is impressive is the fact that the dam contains 18 times the amount of material used in the Great Pyramid of Khufu which is phenomenal.

Our next stop was Philae (Agilkia Island). After the building the old Aswan Dam, Philae was swamped for 6 months each year by the high waters. After the completion of the High Dam Philae would have entirely disappeared had the complex not also been dismantled stone by stone and reconstructed 20m higher on the island of Agilkia which was then landscaped to resemble the sacred isle of Isis. It was an amazing complex and really peaceful. These two sites have been the highlight for us in Egypt do far.

While in Aswan we popped across the water to visit Elephantine Island. This is Aswan’s earliest settlement and we wandered through traditional Nubian villages. It was hard to believe that this was only across the water from the relatively modern city of Aswan, the villages here were very simple, more like something we saw in India with mud brick houses, dirt floors and goats and chickens running around. Wisely, because of the heat there was no-one around so we did not stay long before we headed back to our hotel to sit in the pool and cool down.

From Aswan we then hired a felucca and sailed down the Nile towards Luxor, the perfect way to relax with a cool breeze blowing off the river. Our captain, Hussein and his assistant/cook Abraham aka Lalully were fantastic and the food they prepared was terrific. It was interesting talking to them about life in Egypt, the Nile and their families. They taught us how to play backgammon and dominos.

It was incredibly relaxing, there was a lovely cool breeze and plenty of life and things going on all along the river bank; children swimming, fishermen, people washing, water buffalo and donkey’s bathing and drinking. We stopped along the way for tea and long lunch breaks. In the evening other felucca captains jumped on board to catch up with Hussein and Lalully for tea and one night we had a camp fire with the crew from another boat, there was singing and dancing and of course we were dragged up to dance to the hilarity of those around the camp fire.

Unfortunately we did not feel that great before we got on the felucca and our first night on board was not pleasant. I have never been so sick in all my life, I could not even hold down water with what is appropriately known as Nile Piles. We won’t provide further description - you get the idea. Matt fared a little better but was still not feeling great. It is important to note that there are no toilets on board but luckily where we stopped for the night they did set up a portable toilet covered with a tent (very unfortunate for Lalully who had to empty this the next day).

We finished our felucca ride near Kom Ombo and headed straight to Edfu and the Temple of Horus. The temple was spectacular. The temple that stands today is relatively new (by Egyptian standards); it was started by Ptolemy III in 237 BC on the site of an earlier and smaller New Kingdom structure. The walls were decorated with colossal reliefs some of which depict the pharaoh holding his enemies by the hair before Horus (the falcon god) and about to smash their skulls! Classic propaganda pose of the powerful pharaoh. It was magnificent inside, the sheer size of these structures and how they were built is mind blowing.

It is now incredibly hot, around 43 degrees, the antibiotics are kicking in slowly but we both feel drained. Our next stop is Luxor where we have some time to recover.

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Comments

[Scott McGregor]

Matt's Tee Shirt
Hey Matt, you should have taken off your white Tee shirt before you jumped into the Nile!! :) The temple at Abu Simbel looks AMAZING!! we enjoy reading your adventures over a quiet lunch :)