September 29, 2019 - Aswan

Well, we spent the night on the train, in our own little sleeper/couchette.  Not as romantic as they make it sound in the novels.  We’ve done it before and the first time it’s an adventure.  I was finally free my feet from the fuzzy covers that are tucked all the way under the mattress and that helps.

Around five thirty I wander down the hall to the WC and realize I need my phone!  It’s sunrise!  When I get back I can’t open the cabin door and our sweet steward, who has been standing guard all night long, has to open it for me. 

Marilyn is awake, too, and we decide on an early breakfast.  It turns out to be three different kinds of bread with little containers of honey and butter and one triangle of Laughing Cow cheese.  Marilyn asks for water and gets a huge bottle!  I ask for coffee and it arrives in a thick glass with sugar;  although I have to ask for cream, which is powdered.  But the Egyptian coffee is really good!

Ginger checks in with us.  Juan says she slept;  but I don’t think she believes it!  I had the same experience with Marilyn.  I think I got about four hours, which is better than I’ve been doing!

We’re passing through farm land, with date palms, sugar cane, corn, and cows grazing among the crops.  

There is a stop before ours and I think it’s Aswan and we’re not ready!  Good thing it’s not!

When we get off the train, “The Man Who Wears The Star”  is waiting for us!  (The logo of Memphis Tours is two interlocking stars.  And if you’re old enough, you’ll recall the Texaco commercial.)  Karim, our tour manager for this area, gathers us all up and shepherds us through the train station and into our next van.  It really is a treat to have some else be in charge! 

He takes us to the river, where the shuttle boat to our hotel, the Pyramisa in Isis Island, is waiting to ferry us across.  We disembark and our luggage is taken up for us.  We settle in the lobby while Karim checks us in and explains the next part of the tour.  We have the traditional welcome drinks and check out our rooms, before going back down to meet our guide for the day, Muhammed Sultan.  (You can call me Sultan;  there are about a million Muhammeds!)  When we come back down Sultan is waiting for us. It didn’t make sense for him to go back across the river, try to accomplish something, and come right back!

Sultan’s first plan for us to a local restaurant for lunch! Everyone orders something different as an entree, after our Egyptian salads of pickled vegetables, lentils, tahini, marinated eggplant and Egyptian breads. Then came grilled chicken or rotisserie beef or fish or beef baked in a flavorful tomato sauce with vegetables! And a flan-like custard for dessert!!  As always, any beverage, including water, is not included in the price. (Lunch was provided, but not the drinks)

The tomb of the Aga Khan.  It is private property and you need written permission from the British
Consulate to visit it.  His widow still comes several times a year.

King Farouk's palace is now an expensive hotel.

Our skillful boatsman

Our first stop is the awe-inspiring Aswan Dam.  Until recently it was the largest dam in the world.  It provides all the hydro-electric power for the entire country, which is about 85% of their usage.  The rest is solar power;  there are no fossil fuels.  The statistics for the dam are overwhelming and the one that stayed with me is that the lake it created is 98 meters deep That’s over three hundred feet.  We learned that the dam also stopped the crocodiles from going the rest of the way down the river!  

One third of the Egyptian armed forces guard the dam.  If anything were to happen to the dam, within twelve hours all the Egyptians would be washed away by the flood waters!  Hence the security.  You can’t even take videos!  We all just used our phones for photographs.

The lotus sculpture symbolizes friendship between Egypt and Russia, who assisted in the construction
of the dam.

The shore of Lake Nasser, created by the Aswan Dam.

The Nile, downstream from the dam.

One of the problems with the dam is that the lake would have completely submerged eleven of the ancient temples.  The Egyptian government, along with UNESCO and many private foundations, moved the temples to higher ground!

After the dam we went to see the beautiful temple Philae, which is located on an island and can only be accessed by boat.  Our guide is finishing his PhD in Egyptology and taught us so much we would never have noticed on our own.  We learned how to tell is a temple was built by the Egyptians or others.  For example the columns here have capitals decorated with flowers,  It they had been built Egyptians, they would have had lotus and papyrus blossoms.  Also, Egyptian temples have only one entrance, not two or more.

We learned the entire lineage of the Egyptian gods, starting with the ostrich egg floating on the lake which opened to reveal Ra, the sun god, and including Osiris and Isis, who gave birth to Horus and Hathor, and Seth, who was in love with Isis, but was forced to marry her ugly sister.

The Coptic Christians made their own modifications

The vulture goddess, who protects the country.  We saw her on some of King Tut's jewelry.

Kitties are everywhere!  (Smile!!)

The temple is one of those which were moved in order to preserve them.  You can see the water line from when the previous dam flooded the lower part of the temple.  We were lucky enough to be sailing away at sunset!  And we were encouraged to dip our hands into the Nile, which is clean and cool, and wash our faces with the water!

Back on land we had one more treat ahead of us.  We visited the official shop in which essential oils and essences are manufactured and sold.  And we each had a free five -minute massage!  We learned that the French perfumeries buy their oils from Egypt and then charge a LOT of money for the same scent, diluted by alcohol or other liquids.  Several sales were made!

They blow their own glass vials and decorative genie bottles.

My masseuse

We were delivered back to the dock where we took the ferry back our hotel. Tomorrow will start at 3:30, when we will depart for Abu Simbel!  That’s not much sleep time!! We’ll need to have our luggage in the hall bye 3:05 and be downstairs at 3:10 to pick up our breakfast boxes and take the ferry to the mainland to meet our guide!