Relaxation by the Nile

I woke up to my alarm at about 7am and thinking we would be arriving at 8am I got up and got dressed before breakfast came around. Leon continued to sleep as I got ready and repacked my bag. He finally got up at 8:30am and we were still on our way and breakfast hadn’t come yet. I saw the train guy and asked him he said the train got delayed and we wouldn’t be getting in to Aswan until 11am. The same guy came round about 9:15 with breakfast which was decent but not great. It was mostly bread based things; 2 roll, pound cake slice, and cheese and crackers. We even got coffee and/or tea with it. After we ate Leon took yet another nap while I read my book and looked out the window. We finally arrived just after 11am and were met by Mohammed our tour guide for Aswan. He was waiting with a SunEast Tours sign right outside our train car. He grabbed my bag and carried it out to the waiting car which drove us through the city along the Nile and dropped us off at a ferry dock. We got out with our luggage and Mohammed told us the hotel we were staying at was on Isis Island in the middle of the river and we would have to take the ferry back and forth to the main land. So we all got on the ferry and went upstream and across to Isis Island and the Pyrmisa Hotel.

We checked in and Mohammed told us to meet him across the river at 1:00 to do our day tour. We went up and settled into our room and freshened up a bit before going back downstairs and checking our email at the business center. Once that was done we walked around the hotel to see the surroundings. It was a really beautiful hotel with an amazing terrace to sit on and watch the river. At quarter to 1 we walked down and caught the ferry across to the city and waited for Mohammed. When we got picked up it was by our same driver and Mohammed who introduced us to our day tour guide who was also Mohammed too. The first Mohammed told us tomorrow was our free day and he would meet us at 5:30 to take us to the train to go to Luxor. Once the business was handled we took off with Mohammed #2 and drove out to the High Damn. On the way he told us about Aswan and that it was originally not really part of the Upper Kingdom of Egypt but was part of the Nubian territory. The Nubians are a culturally and racially different from the Egyptians. I did know this thanks to Professor Stuart Tyson Smith at UCSB one of my favorite professors during my college days. Who happened to be an Egyptologist and did a lot of work on Nubian archeology.

Once we got to the High Damn we got out and looked around and took pictures. Mohammed told us a bit about the building of the damn which sadly I don’t remember any of. But I do remember that the building of the damn allowed them to not only control the Nile but also to use it to generate electricity for all of Egypt. Other then that I wasn’t all that interested, I didn’t go to Egypt to see a damn, it’s not nearly old enough for me. After the damn we drove down towards the Temple of Philae. We got dropped off at yet another dock and climbed into a boat which took us out to the little island that was housed the Temple of Philae. When the damn was built and the area flooded the original site of the Temple was going to be under water so they moved it to a nearby island less then 500 feet away. When we got off the boat I almost lost my flip flop in the water. It fell off and landed half on the dock and half hanging over the water. Luckily I got it before it took a little swim. The temple was more of a temple complex with multiple temples housed on the island.

The main temple on the island was dedicated to the Goddess Isis and built in Pharaonic style but was built during the Ptolatemic era (the Greek era after Ptolemy’s line took control of Egypt). We walked through the temple and Mohammed pointed out the different God and Goddesses depicted on the walls of the temple. He also told us about the scenes and what each one meant. We walked through as a group then Mohammed gave us an extra half hour to wander around. Leon and I split up and I went back into the main Isis Temple and took some pictures of the hieroglyphics and just wandered around. I had a great time sitting in the temple courtyard and doing a little meditation. When my half hour was up I met Leon and Mohammed over at the trinket stand and we walked down to the boats and took it back to the mainland. Once there we got in the car and were driven to an alabaster factory where we were shown how alabaster was made. Then we toured the show room which was fun but the alabaster is too heavy to carry home. Neither of us bought anything so we headed off to a cotton factory. Which I hate to say was a disappointment. There was some nice stuff but mostly printed or embroidered shirts nothing really unique or ethnic. We went downstairs to the “work room” where they had a programmed sewing machine embroidering the shirts so the woman was just sitting there watching it not really doing anything. And all I could thing was “why would I pay more for a shirt from a cotton factory when it is totally generic and doesn’t even have any hand work”. So again we didn’t buy anything and left within a half hour.

From there we were driven back to the dock and dropped off. Leon and I took the ferry over to the island and went up to our room. Leon decided he wanted to get a massage so he left within a half hour and I went down to see the salon where they had henna tattooing. I went down and picked out a design for me feet which ended up being a little more expensive then I planned but they turned out really beautiful. It took almost an hour to put the henna on both feet and then I had to wait another hour to let it dry before washing it off. Since it was almost 8pm and Leon and I were both starving I changed pants and we went down to the buffet for dinner. I went barefoot, yes barefoot to the restaurant! We first went to the buffet then walked through the hotel to the Italian restaurant just to check it out and ended up walking back the buffet and eating there even though it was a little expensive. It ended up being pretty good but not exactly a Vegas buffet. And no one even noticed I was walking around barefoot.

After dinner Leon went to check his email again and I walked out onto the terrace where a screen had been set up and people were sitting around watching a soccer game. I found an empty couch with a table and sat down to wait for Leon to finish with his email. I ended up making a run upstairs to get a jacket as it was a little cool on the terrace and Leon met me upstairs. Since it had been at least 2 hours I washed the henna dye off my feet and they looked amazing and came out really nicely. I put some shoes on, finally, and we went out and walked around the island, there was a nice path around the hotel resort and then we sat on a bench by the river. We talked while we walked and sat about the day and the new city and hotel we were in. I had a headache so we went back to the room shortly after and I was in bed and asleep by 11:30.

The next morning I woke up about 9:30 and jumped in the shower and woke Leon up when I got out at about 10:00. We got dressed then headed downstairs to the breakfast buffet. Unfortunately we got down there a little after 10:30 and found out the buffet closed at 10:30. So we missed breakfast. I got a cup of coffee from the little bar and Leon and I sat outside on the terrace in the sun. Once I finished my coffee we boarded the ferry and went over to the main city. We walked along the water a bit then got directions to the shopping area from a “tourist police” guy. Once we hit the long open air market and I a grand old time doing some of my Christmas shopping, although I did buy myself a small silver ankh. But mostly it was presents for the family back home. It was a much more pleasant shopping experience compared to Cairo. We had a nice afternoon walking through the market and Leon was very patient while I did all my shopping. When we finally made it to the end of the long strip we walked out to the river and walked along the river front back towards the ferry dock. We made a stop and had a late lunch at a river front restaurant. The manager/waiter at the restaurant looked just like Arsenio Hall. The meal was great and I really enjoyed sitting by the Nile and eating.

When we finished we walked back to the dock and caught the ferry across to the hotel where we met Mohammed. He apologized and said he had made a mistake with the train ticket and we would be spending another night at the hotel in Aswan. He said the train ticket was for tomorrow morning leaving at 6:00am and arriving in Luxor at 9:00am. He apologized profusely and checked us back into our room and made sure we had a wake up call for 4:00am and a bag pick up at our room at 4:30 and a boat waiting to ferry us across at 5:00am where he would meet us. So after that little glitch Leon and I went back up to our room, the same one as the night before. We chatted a bit and watched some TV. At 7:00pm we went back downstairs and had a light dinner at the little café. For whatever reason I was craving a hot dog which they had on the menu, it was good but not quite the Costco hot dog I was hoping for. But what can you expect in Egypt. After dinner we did the island path around the resort twice then went upstairs to settle in for the night. I went to bed after journaling at about 10:30.

My alarm went off at quarter to 4 and I got up and started getting dressed and made up for the day. I woke Leon up at 4 and he got dressed. We were just finishing up and repacking our bags when the bellman came up and collected our bags to carry downstairs. We followed behind him and checked out of the hotel. They pointed us over to the café where box breakfasts had been made up for us. So we grabbed our breakfast and walked down to the ferry dock. It was dark outside and we sat in the ferry and looked at the stars while going downstream to the dock by the city. When we arrived we were not quite 15 minutes early so we sat and ate our breakfasts. When Mohammed arrived we loaded our bags then jumped in the car and drove to the train station. Mohammed waited with us for our train. He made sure we got on the right car and told the guy in charge of the car to let us know when to get off at Luxor. Then we said goodbye to Mohammed and thanked him for all his help. We both spent most of the train ride sleeping. I woke up a little before 9:00am and woke Leon up. Within a half hour we arrived in Luxor and got off the train.

We had a very nice relaxing time in Aswan, especially after the crazy pace of Cairo. Aswan was Leon’s favorite place on the trip and while I did enjoy Aswan and the relaxing pace of it, it wasn’t my favorite city. That was Luxor which is up next.