Cairo, Aswan and the Nile

Africa » Egypt
November 13th 2011

Published: November 13th 2011

Hi family, friends and others....

I'm going to try to get this long one published tonight, it's midnight, so hopefully it will go through. No photos with this one as the connection is just way too slow and unreliable..... Read on for the story of the last few days.

Well, as we expected, the internet access has been very patchy since we left Cairo for Aswan and the Nile cruise and that means I’ve got a few days to catch up with, which might get a bit boring for some, so read it in smaller doses so you don’t overdose on it!!!!
I’m still not sure when I’ll get this posted on the blog site but I’ll do my best as soon as possible.
Our second day in Cairo was another interesting day. We started with an early start time as we had to get showered, shaved, have breakfast and get our bags packed and checkout of the hotel ready for an 8.30am pickup by our driver and guide.
First up we headed to the medieval citadel of Salah El-Din which contains the Alabaster Mosque. This was a magnificent structure made of white alabaster up to about the 15 foot mark although it needed a good ‘water blasting’ to clean the dirt and dust off it. The mosque isn’t a particularly old building, I think late 18th century but is contained within a very ancient fortified walled area that is still used by the current Egyptian army as a military base. The mosque itself is huge and similar to the Blue Mosque in Istanbul in many ways.
On the drive to the Mosque we passed the ‘City of the Dead’. YES you are correct in thinking that it is a cemetery. However the twist is that it is a very very old cemetery where in the Moslem tradition the bodies were buried in large above ground mausoleums, that has been ‘reoccupied’ by about half a million lower class and homeless Egyptians who now live in the buildings, around the original coffin(s) and have turned it into a very large ‘city’ complete with reticulated water and electricity, roads etc. etc. It covers a vast area of Cairo and we drove many kilometres past one side of it. Very sad but I suppose a good use made of something ‘old’. There are TV dishes on the roofs which looked strange, but then that probably described a lot that happens in Egypt. Apparently the government tried to move the people out some years ago but in the end gave up and then started making it more comfortable for the people, hence the reticulated services.
After the Mosque we visited the ‘Old City’ which contains the Coptic Christian areas and Churches along with the old Jewish Synagogue in Egypt. We actually went into a Christian Church as a Communion Service was just finishing. This Church was the actual place that Mary hid with Baby Jesus when they fled Bethlehem to avoid Herod’s decree to kill all the male babies in his attempt to kill Jesus. We were able to actually look down into the underground tunnels and rooms where Mary and Jesus stayed during this time for about 2 – 3 years. As you can imagine it is a very important part in the local Christian people’s lives. The Church was obviously very old and contained many ancient Christian relics.
The Synagogue was another very beautiful building steeped in history and tradition.
We then spent some time at the main bazaar, the Khan El Khalili bazaar. We ventured right inside this crazy, bustling place and braved the attention of hundreds of very ‘friendly’ stall owners who wanted to sell us everything from the cheapest gold in Egypt to the cheapest shoes, with everything else imaginable. We didn’t really want to buy anything, just wanted a look as last time we were here we felt a bit ‘daunted’ by the place and poked our noses in and got out of it. We had some ‘fun’ with some of the vendors but resisted their advances!!!
We then went to an Egyptian ‘Essence’ factory and learned all about the ancient traditions of their essences. Many, of course, have been found still smelling as original in ancient Pharaohs tombs. They assured us they are not perfumes but natural essences. Joy did purchase some so hopefully we can get them home intact.
That was the end of our stay in Cairo and we headed for the Cairo airport to catch our flight to Aswan which was due to leave around 6.45pm. The Cairo airport is a very new, very modern and very large terminal building but is quite a way out of the city.
This was to be our first experience on ‘Egyptair’ and we weren’t sure what to expect but I have to admit we were pleasantly surprised, very modern Airbus with plenty of legroom, not very punctual but…… The airport systems were another matter, very slack with security being applied rather loosely, and rather slow and old fashioned in a lot of ways. However we couldn’t really fault Egyptair. The only disappointing thing in a way was that were flying at night and couldn’t see the countryside below.
Landed at Aswan, another fairly modern but smaller airport and were met by our tour company rep and a driver who transferred us to our hotel, the Iberotel, which was very nice. We were only here for the night which was just as well because right across the road from us was Aswan’s main function centre and there was a wedding dance or some sort of party going until some very late hour. I think we probably managed a little sleep but it wasn’t easy.
We were up, packed up, checked out and waiting for our tour rep at 8.00 for the drive to the airport and our flight t Abu Simbel and the reinstated Temples of Ramses II and his wife Nefertari. Again Egyptair and another very comfortable but very late flight.
The palaces are simply breathtaking. They were originally built sometime BC, can’t remember exactly, but were going to be flooded by the vast Lake Nasser caused by the High Dam built on the Nile in the early 1960s. An international effort was put together under UNESCO and the two massive temples and all the statues were cut into pieces and completely reconstructed above where the new water level was to be. The total cost back in 1965 was around $50US but the finished product is just spectacular. The statues are huge and the engineering effort that took place was incredible. Apparently this happened a lot along the Nile with the new High Dam and we saw another example the next day.
We flew back to Aswan, late again, and arrived at around 2pm and we taken straight to meet our Nile cruise tour at the ‘Unfinished Obelisk in Aswan’. We had been supposed to board the cruise boat at 11am but our flights to Abu Simbel got changed after we had left home and obviously we were very late but our tour reps got a lunch box each supplied by the boat and took us to meet the tour group. We were with the main English speaking group, all 10 of us, and our time at the obelisk was rushed a bit as they were waiting on us but we did get to climb up and look down on this massive structure that was shaped in the quarry on 3 sides but had never been actually cut out of the ground.
We then travelled over the old ‘English Dam’ built in the late 1800s to control the floods on the Nile, to the new High Dam, built was the Russians for President Nasser in the early 1960s (before he turned around and booted all Russians out in the early 1970s) It is certainly a huge structure and produces huge amount of electricity. The lake that was formed is the largest main made lake in the world and goes for hundreds of miles. We saw it down at Abu Simbel and when you see it from the air it just goes as far as the eye can see in every direction. Both of these dams are able to control the Nile so that it doesn’t cause devastating floods from Aswan to the Mediterranean Sea as it did for centuries past.
We then took a small motor launch out to the Temple of Philae. This was another of the temples reconstructed due to the Dam and Lake Nasser. However if I heard our guide, Ishmael, correctly this one was actually flooded and was cut up and removed from under water and reconstructed. Our guide is an incredible chap who tells us the stories about these places and their place in ancient Egyptian history with great passion and knowledge and is amazing to listen to. Another breathtaking construction in terms of the modern engineering but equally impressive when you think just how old it is.
We then got taken back to the ‘Movenpick Radamis II’ Nile cruise boat where our cases had already been taken. We checked into room 427 and were impressed. It is every bit as good as a 5 star hotel room with a huge window overlooking the Nile.
Life on board is very relaxed, the food is good and the diet Pepsi (no diet coke unfortunately) is 12LE (Egyptian Pounds) a can (about $2US) so life’s not too bad.
God air-conditioning system in the room which was very comfortable for our first sleep on board. We ‘teamed up’ with the members of our group, a Aussie couple, a retired US doctor and is wife who now live on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, an American woman and her mother who now lives in Cairo and another American couple. All really great people and we had a great time with them on board at the pre-dinner drinks, dinner and the ‘Belly Dancing and Whirling Dervish’ performance that was the evening entertainment.
At 6am the boat sailed for Kom Ombo and at 8.30am after breakfast on board, we walked to the Kom Ombo temple where Ishmael again very passionately delivered the historical stuff. Suffice it to say that all of these ancient temples are truly incredible places to visit – huge, impressive structures that are totally covered in ‘story boards’ of hieroglyphics carved into the stone walls with carved representations of the gods etc. We even survived the hoards of vendors that have become an everyday part of each visit ashore and everywhere we go.
At 10am, we sailed fro Edfu and after lunch visited the Temple of Edfu. A visit with a twist. Our mode of transport for about 15 minute each way through the town was horse and cart, Egyptian style (I use the words style very loosely and there isn’t anything stylish about them.) Egyptian car drives are ‘mad’ and horse and cart drivers are the same and you are competing with all the cars, trucks, vans and pedestrians. The carriages don’t have any warning device so the whole ‘drive’ was full of a lot of shouting by the driver to warn pedestrians to get out of the way. I sat up front with the driver on out carriage for 3 and drove it most of the way to the temple. I’m not going to give up my day job!!!! A hair raising experience!!!! The temple was another amazing structure and even though they are all similar, they each tell a different story and are therefore rather unique (but the same) if you get my drift.
We were back on board at 4pm and set sail for Luxor about 7 hours sailing away. Spent a lot of time on the top sun deck sipping cold diet Pepsi and chatting with the team and just taking in the sights of the Nile. It is farmed all down its length from what we saw but only for about 100 metres inland on each side. There are water pumps every few hundred metres pumping water out of river for irrigation. The irrigated area is very lush and green and then just simply becomes arid desert. Quite weird to see.
We pass other cruise boats going the other way to Aswan and even navigated a huge ‘lock’ about 4 hours out of Luxor where the boat had about a foot of room each side to pass through.
It is 11.30pm on Sunday evening as I get to this part of our story and we are just waiting for Joy to be called by the doctor that has been called on board (hopefully) to attend to a couple of ladies who have gone down with the dreaded ‘gastro’ and aren’t too good. Joy has her vitamin B12 injection ampoule with her that our doctor supplied her with before we left home and she is going to take the opportunity while the doctor is on board to take the jab. Could be another late night.
Up at about 6.15am tomorrow morning for shower etc., 7am breakfast and then 8am start to the tours to the Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens and some other places.

Cairo, Aswan and the Nile

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