Aswan

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Day 6 and 7 - Aswan

On arrival at Aswan a coach was waiting to take us to the Orchida Hotel. About the best thing you could say about this hotel is that it is near the Souk and also handy to a Duty Free store.

It turns out that you’re allowed to buy duty free on the presentation of a foreign passport and a valid visa within 48hours of arrival. Prices were quite good. I selected a 1L Grants Whisky for $12US and Sean decided on a bottle of Absolute Vodka for $14US. The sales guy looked at my visa and said we would have to pay an extra $2US per bottle because we had been in Egypt longer than 48 hours. This turned out to be a form of Baksheesh so that he could “turn the other cheek” so to speak.

Lunch was provided at the hotel but after only a couple of days in Egypt quite a number of us including myself were developing symptoms of Gastro so a few meals were picked at or left untouched. The afternoon was essentially a “free afternoon” however for LE75 (75 Egyptian Pounds) our tour leader Tracy, organised a Guide, a Mini Bus with driver and a motor launch for those interested in visiting Philae Temple which is above the Aswan Dam. The 75LE included 50LE admission to the temple which obviously did not leave much to distribute to our guide and driver.

Pizza in the Souk.

In the evening about a dozen of us walked the length of the Souk with the mission being to go to a Pizza Place near the station. This turned out to be a great eatery with reasonably priced food in an out door seated area. Walking back to the hotel was just a matter of running the gauntlet of sales people and cries of “wherefrom”. At one point when we stopped to buy cold drinks for the next day I found myself surrounded by 4 of the girls from our tour and an Egyptian guy asked me which one was my wife. I said these were all my wives. He said are you serious, how many do you have. I told him 5 but only 4 were here tonight. He then came over and whispered “You lucky rich bugger”.

For the second day in Aswan many of our group opted for a 3 hour bus journey in convoy, to the Temple of Abu Simble which is almost 300km south near the border with the Sudan. It would mean a 3am start for those that chose to go. Sean had been to Abu Simble previously and did not wish to go again and I just wanted to catch up a bit on my sleep, plus the Gastro was making me feel a bit uneasy.

Late in the afternoon the group formed up for a boat ride through and above the first Cataract (rapids) on the Nile where first we had an opportunity for a swim followed by a visit to a Nubian home for dinner.

The Tour Truck.

Our Expedition vehicle is a large Scania truck. It is fitted out with a Double bed area above the cab that opens to the roof. This area is known as “The beach” and when the sun is not directly overhead it is a great place to relax and take the load of your bum. The truck has 20 seats opposing along the sides and a further 4 seats just behind the beach.
There are lots of compartments under the seats and floor for our luggage. The truck is also equipped with tents, chairs and cooking gear for when we camp out. Almost all of the campsites we will be staying at have options to upgrade to a hotel style room.
We would not be using the truck for the first part of our trip through southern Egypt.

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Comments

[paul]

its a lie
I don drink Gin. It was either the voddie or the mojitos that caused me to loose my memory. David who?

[Andy]

The 75LE included 50LE admission to the temple which obviously did not leave much to distribute to our guide and driver. The Guide and Driver got a commission on the 50LE each , so they would have done alright. Richards farm Burlington, is being auctioned on the 19th, November.