Around the World in 180 Days: July 26-29: Aswan, Egypt

We met a very nice man on the train from Luxor to Aswan who helped us get a taxi and settle on a price to get us to our hotel, which was kind of a dump. Nothing looked clean but the bed sheets, there was no shower curtain so water flooded the bathroom floor, we only had two hand towels and no bath towels, the door had to be opened with a key from both sides, the drapes were broken, and the pillows literally felt like sandbags. But at least there was AC, which was necessary, because it was about 110 F each day we were there. Oh, Jeff also saw a giant bug run across the floor one day when had just gotten back from being out. In addition to being less than satisfied with the room, we had arrived starving and were getting very cranky. We got some koshary (delicious cheap dish of salad macaroni, short spaghetti noodles, rice, lentils, garbanzos, fried onion, and some slightly spicy sauce) at a place across the street and took a nap to avoid the oppressive heat of midday.

We had an easy afternoon drinking tea, playing backgammon, and doing some work in the internet café for the future portions of our trip. Our stomachs were feeling a little off, so we chose a reliable place for dinner: McDonald’s. McDonald’s abroad is amazing; they treat it like an actual restaurant. This particular one in Aswan was amazingly clean, Nile front, and had flat screen TVs. It was packed with locals and a few tourists, and while some people might scold us for going there, sometimes you just need a familiar taste.

The next day we did an excursion to a Nubian village. A boy who looked like he was 16 but claimed he was 20 turned out to be our boat captain and guide for the whole trip. We took the boat down the Nile, which was lovely, to the village. The village was little more than some plaster houses with twice as many shops for tourists. The boy took us to his house (hosting tourists was clearly his family’s source of income) and showed us two baby crocodiles and two others about 1 year old. We had an awkward tea and an awkward meal, as we speak no Arabic and the kid spoke almost no English except for “Good captain?”. Then we walked through the market of tourists shops, saw some camels, and took the boat home. Hugest waste of money and time! It would have been nice if it was an authentic village and if our guide had spoken some English so he could explain things to us.

We went to bed very, very early that night because we had to wake up at 2:45am to go to Abu Simbel the next day. Not trying to sound like a complainer, but that tour was also a tremendous rip off. They picked us up in a microbus and continued on picking up other people at their hotels. The bus was completely full, but we stopped at another hotel; the guide began folding down seats that connected each side of the bus. Every seat was filled. It would have been extremely dangerous if there was a car accident because there was no way out of the bus; we were all trapped in the back. After we collected everyone, we went to a parking lot where other buses were waiting to go to Abu Simbel. It was about 4am. Our guide then told us to go to the bathroom and have a smoke because the bus was going to leave at 4:30. This waiting area was about a 10 minute walk from our hotel. We were livid. After an extremely uncomfortable 3 hour drive, we finally arrived in Abu Simbel. Turns out our tour was more of just a transportation system…our guide did not come with us and just told us that we had two hours to see everything. On our way back to Aswan, our terrible microbus BROKE DOWN in the middle of the desert. The wind felt like when you open the preheated oven door to put cookies in. Everyone on the bus was just astounded by how ridiculous of a tour this was. Thankfully, another bus drove by and picked us up. We had paid for an extended tour to go see the other sights of Aswan, but we decided to cut it short considering the awful quality and possible danger.

However, the sights of Abu Simbel were breathtaking. The main temple is the Sun Temple of Ramses II. They recently had to move the entire temple because of the rising water level of the Nile, and it’s impossible to conceive how they moved it. The massive temple has four seated statues of Ramses II on the outside, and is carved into the mountain. The interior has many chambers, their walls covered with drawings, engravings, paintings, columns, and other statues. It is called the Sun Temple because twice per year, the sun would enter the small doorway of the temple and shine upon three statues in the very back of the temple. The two days of the year were Ramses II’s birthday and coronation day, and on these days he would travel out to the temple. It’s on the edge of Lake Nassar, which looked eerily peaceful at 7:30am. There was a thick haze, so it was impossible to see across to the other side; it felt a bit like we were floating in the sky. The other temple is just 40 yards away, and is the temple of Nefertari, Ramses II’s favorite wife. Her’s is also carved into the mountain and, although smaller, is still very beautiful. Cameras weren’t allowed inside, but we have pictures from the outside!

We took the rest of the day easy, checking out the markets. I needed another skirt that was ankle length, and a friendly man came up to us trying to sell us some pants or tunics. He asked if we were Christian (awkward), and we said yes, and while showing us his wedding ring, he said, “Me too! One wife!” Strange, but oh well. He showed me all of his fabrics and he said he’d get a skirt made in one hour. I selected the fabric I wanted and assumed it would be about 50 Egyptian pounds, or 10 USD. When I asked how much, he said 170 pounds! I told him no way, that I couldn’t afford it, and that it was way more than I thought it was going to be. I wasn’t even trying to haggle, because I felt bad that the price I thought was fair was so much lower than his price. There was just no way I wanted to spend more than 60 pounds on it. He kept lowering his price and my only response was, “I just really can’t afford more than 60.” He eventually offered to sell it for 70, so I said ok. So now I have a new custom made ankle length skirt! Jeff got a pair of knock off Quicksilver flip flops for 4 USD. Later on, we went to a café and got two teas and smoked a hookah for only 6 pounds, which is $1. A steal, if you ask me.

The next morning we flew to Cairo and then took a train out to Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast, which was the capital of Egypt for about 1000 years beginning in the times of Alexander the Great.