Ana_Aswan, Egypt

Three Days in Aswan...
Our train was late about three hours. The sun was getting intolerable and there was no shade to hide. We saw trains pass by thinking it was our but we were told no, not yet. At least we waited with another couple – he was French and she was from Costa Rica. Interesting couple. He looked like 20 years older than her. She was getting a lot of attention wearing tight daisy dukes with a spaghetti strap top. Nice couple.

Finally our train arrived. Lucky for us our wagon didn’t have ac. So it got super hot and you couldn’t open the windows. Good thing it was only a 3 hour ride. Finally we got there. It was super duper hot. We did take a taxi this time even though it was walking distance. Mr. Tim negotiated a good price with the taxi driver.

The hotel was smack in the middle of a busy street – shops everywhere. Nubian Oasis Hotel, only 30 pounds (about 5 USD) for our own room with ac. Score! Decent room, nicer than the last one. We lay down for few minutes, it was so hard not to take a nap. So cool and nice. The little things I tell you.

We manage not to fall asleep and walked to a local restaurant for a bite to eat. Derweesh Restaurant, it was recommended in the guide book. The menu was in English. The only thing that looked good was the grilled chicken. I was crossing my fingers this time it was the right kind of grilled chicken. For like $2 USD we got rice, veggies, a salad, soup, pita bread and a tasty chicken on the grill. My tummy was very satisfied. It was better than I thought. I didn’t have many expectations. =)

Didn’t do much after that. We went back to the hotel booked our ride to see Abu Simbel another temple carved out of rocks built by Ramses II. It was like 3 hours south of Awsan and the only way to get there was in mini van or with a tour. Since it’s so close to the border to Sudan and for protection you can only go in a convoy. So it leaves only a certain time, to be exact about 4am. I do have to say the security in all the mayor spots is very high. Tourism is huge here, they can afford to have any problems. It’s scary to see so many machine guns everywhere and to be honest the guards don’t look very tough. The site again was very impressive. The purpose was to scared people away especially near the border. What was more impressive is that the actual site was moved up the mountain because of the man-made lake Nasser. This lake controls the flow of the Nile River through a dam so it doesn’t over flow. To move the site it cost only $40 million dollars, that’s it!

On the drive back we stopped by to see the high dam, nothing especial. Then another temple Philae, this temple had the Roman influence and finally the unfinished obelisk. By 1pm I was tired being in the sun. I was literary melting. Normally at this time we’ll be hiding in the shade relaxing or taking a nap. I don’t do well in dry heat, I prefer humid heat. I can stand it better for some reason. It’s not that bad if you take it easy. I was starving too, but the heat was killing me more. We got dropped off at the hotel. I told Tim I needed to cool down for a minute. After we went to have chicken at the same place. Mmmmmmmm.

As usual, went back and took a nap. This time Tim was very tired and he wouldn’t wake up. Finally I gave up trying to wake him up and just let his lazy butt fall asleep. He slept a total of 15 hours.

Our last day in Aswan we pretty much just relaxed and in the afternoon went on a felucca ride (Egyptian sailboat). We didn’t find our friend that said he’d take us for 45 pounds around the Nile. We walked down the Nile trying to find another person. Sure did. This guy approached us but wanted 60 pounds for each of us. Finally Tim got him down to 55 pounds for the two of us. The felucca was really nice and it had shade, good thing. It was around 4pm and we sailed along the Nile, pretty exotic. It was so peaceful, we had the felucca to ourselves. Our captain, Ahmada, he ended up being really nice. Didn’t talk too much. He had a friend accompany him, Mammut. Cool guy too! He was on vacation from the army. So the four of us sailed for like three hours down the Nile. We stopped at a Botanical Garden and another small island that still had the old Nilometer. Very nice ride! A trip to Egypt wouldn’t be complete with a riding on a felucca. Now we can say we did!

Ana