Blogs from Aswan, Upper Egypt, Egypt, Africa - page 12

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 . 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 ... read more

Day 7 Today we woke early as it was a special day. It was Chester’s B-day. And if any of you have spent a B-day with Chester you know she has to have her day. Thankfully it was a fun filled day thanks to our guide Ahmed. We started with a horse drawn carriage ride to the Edfu Temple. This sounds like a nice quiet romantic thing to do but when every person on every cruise in port that day is doing the same thing, as apparently there are not enough vans and buses, it is a bit hectic and smelly. So with Chester taking the reins, we are off. Upon arrival with the other thousands of visitors, we pushed and shoved our way into the temple. This temple was preserved amazingly well as it had ... read more

DAY 24 We have morning departure for the sail down the Nile (which is actually traveling north). We board the Felucca which is different from the previous one as this is one large flat padded deck with pillows around for all. We will be eating, sleeping and relaxing as the nobles of long ago did. We leisurely sail crisscrossing the Nile to catch the wind, there is no motor on this sailboat, so we have to use the wind. We have to go beneath the large suspension bridge and our captain and the first mate struggles to get the mast down and lower the main sail and only do so in the last few seconds of passing under the bridge. The mast on the boat is so tall that it would have been broken off if ... read more

DAY23 Well Dennis, today is a scorcher mate, and we are headed to Abu Simbel. Francine and Angie are the only 2 on the trip that have paid extra to fly instead of the 6 hour round-trip by guarded convoy. Our driver to the airport will also take us to the Aswan Dam ( built 1960) prior to the flight. The Dam is the largest in Africa and created Nassar Lake that is 500 miles in length. Many ancient temples had to be moved and some of the smaller ones were flooded when the dam was complete. The dam creates the electricity and irrigation for all of Egypt. The bridge is guarded by the Egyptian Army and not by police. The Nile was specifically narrowed at this point in order to control the water and to ... read more

After an exhausting day exploring the Egyptian Museum, the Pyramids, the Sphinx AND a Papyrus Paper Shop, we packed and went to the train station to get onto our transport to the south! At last, at about 10:30pm, the train pulled up and we all clambered on board, squeezing through the narrow seat isles with 12kg bags in tow and Egyptian men staring at us. All stuff that highly amuses me because everyone else gets so uncomfortable! After a few minor hitches with other people having to move from the seats (as per usual) we started to settle into our 16 hour train ride, going at about 40mph I might add. The state of the train proved to unsettle some so I made it my point to go to the 'dreadful' loos first (which of course ... read more