A day in Aswan alone

The tour and Ron  headed off to a Nubian village for the day so I decided that I would go check out the locals in their home environment. So complete with my bottle of water, a good hat off I headed.

As usual the first thing to see is the poor old donkey dragging a heavy load down the road surrounded by trucks, cars, trikes and everything that has a horn and no off button LOL.

After walking for about 15 minutes inland (away from the safety of the boat) I came across this sight, goats and sheep being herded somewhere. Now it doesn't take Einstein to work out that there must be a market somewhere close and that these poor animals are about to become someones dinner so on I went in search of the market.

I did eventually find the market but started getting seriously harassed by the locals and couldn't work out whether they were just being over friendly or they were not happy that I was there so there is no pic of the place. The stall holders had all packed up for the day and I think they may have been about to take a nap and then set up for the night. As this happened I started to get pestered by some blokes in cars and horse and cart and the hand gestures were definitely not friendly. I ended up taking pics of them so that if something did happen to me I could toss my camera away and hopefully someone would find it and get the pics off it. Anyway a taxi came along and yelled at me to get back to the boat and that I was in a very dangerous area - "Are you stupid?" was one of his statements, oooops I'm really off the beaten track so I beat a hasty retreat.

On my way home I got to meet some more of the friendlier Egyptians and they are an absolute pleasure to be around. This guy in the fast food stand tried his best to get me to try his goods but the best I could do was make him the man of the moment by taking his pic LOL.

Back on board our boat sailing down the Nile with Faluccias quietly sailing past. We sailed until early evening when we pulled into the Temple of Horus.

Sunset on the Nile is wonderful.

Ooooops a bit late with this entry

Egypt rapid transit system, never breaks down - well rarely, no conductors required, just some hay and water and off you go.

Off to Karnak, but first we stopped in at the only female Pharaoh whose name escapes me but is something like Hatshpsut  and she had great taste in tombs.

She built her tomb on the back side of the valley of the Kings and it now commands a spectacular view across the countryside. There was originally another big temple next to it but over time it collapsed and they are yet to rebuild and restore it like they have with this one.

The carvings in this tomb are wonderful and you can still easily see the colours that were used.

Then it was off to Karnak. I knew this was one of the highlights of the temples but didn't expect anything like this size. The temple complex covers 70 acres and has an entrance that is several kilometers long starting at the Nile.

First stop it the model to try and work out where everything is, it is then you really get any sort of sense of just what you are about to enter.

I apologise for the pics as this place is soooooooo big that it is very difficult to do it justice but hopefully this will give you some idea of things.

Again this temple was built or completed by many different Pharaohs but Ramses finished it with his story and statues dominating everywhere.

You approach through an avenue of Sphinx's and you can see the size when you compare them to the people standing in the center. Unlike Luxor where the avenue of Sphinx goes for several kilometres this avenue is much shorter but once inside the gates the grandeur of the temple overwhelms you with it's massive columns and courtyards etc etc etc

The columns are massive, the detail in the carving is still very clear on all wall surfaces and the paint work while faded gives you some idea of how colourful this would have been.

and finlay the alabaster sphinx which has pride of place in the first courtyard.

more in the next update.

First day sailing

We left Abu Sambel and sailed past the temple which was a wonderful sight in full sun. We cruised past some ruins and eventually stopped at Kasr Ibrim and a Nubian citadel, both had been relocated because of the dam. As you can see from the pic getting to an AGOT (Another grotty old temple) is not as easy as it looks and Ropn is giving Adey a helping hand, well I think he was trying to help, then again he may have been trying to push her off the plank.

It never ceased to amaze me how detailed the temple carvings are, how spectacular the paintings must have been when they were originally done. Colour colour everywhere and in this temple most of the carvings were life size except for Ramases who of course was twice as large - oh what an ego that man had LOL.

At every agot there was a character that stood out from everyone else and the scorpion man got the prize at this stop, of course for a couple of pounds you could take his picture LOL, bribery and corruption is alive and well in Egypt

Sometimes the boys looking after us had just toooooo much time on their hands, but this little array was awaiting us on our return to the boat.

Tomorrow we are off to explore the back streets of Aswan plus Karnak

Cairo day 1

Our first expedition in the city was to the Citadel Mosque which is built on an old fortress, most of Cairo seems to be built on something else LOL. As you approach you go through the city of the dead which is a cemetary but because of the extreme poverty in the city the tombs are used by the living as well as the dead.

The Citadel or "White Mosque" is massive, the first thing you ask yourself is "Why do they call it the White Mosque" when it is obviously a dirty shade of brown like everything else around here. But as it only rains about half an inch a year everything gets covered in dust from the desert and remains that colour until the next rain. To see it clean must be a real treat as it would glow over the city.

The interior of the mosque is magnificent, the painting, lighting and marble all work wonderfully well, but someone needs to do some maintenance to stop any more damage being done by the elements.

From here it was off to our first taste of shopping in Egypt and the compulsory visit to the Cairo Bizarre. This is a daunting place with thousands of vendors, pickpockets, potential killers, beggars and everything else all in one spot.

We were accompanied by a pistol wearing undercover security guard who made sure that we never wandered into alleys, upstairs in shops or became the victim of over zealous vendors and this guy took every opportunity to flash is hip holster to everyone that would look. With him and the many machine guns, tanks etc we felt decidedly UNSAFE LOL but in the end they were there to protect us and they did a great job.

Signs of the revolution downtown are hard to ignore and the locals are proud to show the burnt out remains of the old government and I think this might be left like this for along time as a reminder to those that come to power next - Don't mess with the people.

Good Morning from Zurich, Yes Di, Hans and Roli excelled with the return dinner and we have had to cancel Sunday for all 4 of us.

We arrived back at 7pm right on time as is the Swiss way and was greeted on the airbridge by the police checking all passports to make sure none of those pesky illegals got in. From there it was off to immigration where it looked a bit suspicious when we were here for a couple of weeks, gone for a couple of weeks and back again for a couple of days "Drug Runners" but after explaining that our winter clothes were here and we had just dropped in to say goodbye they let us in LOL.

Hans and Roli had everything ready, rose petals scattered of the tables, sushi, salmon rolls and champagne as starters. Fish in a herb sauce incased in pastry was the entree, main course

was champagne risotto with veal and this was followed by many many  drinks and story telling about Egypt.

Now just to tempt you here are a couple of pics from our last day which of course was the tour highlight, a visit to the pyramids of Giza, the step pyramid of Sakkara and the amazing statue of Ramases 11 at Memphis.

More to come but I will go back to the beginning and do it in an orderly way.

Abu Sambel - WOW

This is the most amazing way to start our trip of Egypt. We arrived here at lunch time and checked into our floating hotel which in the brochure was described as a floating palace with balconies for all rooms, unfortunately because of the lack of visitors here they have had to cancel some of the bigger boats and put everyone onto one or two of the older small boats. The accommodation is a bit old but overall everyone is quite comfortable. 

First stop the temples and they are absolutely breath taking. It's very hard to believe that we are actually here. I have dreamed about standing in front of this temple for so long that it's all unreal. The entrance to the temple for Rameses is only the beginning to a wonderful adventure. The inside of the temple is covered with the most amazing carvings and cartouches.

It didn't take Ron very long to get into the swing of being on the road again and copying some of the local trends. LOL.

The walls inside tell the story of Ramese and his battle with the Hittites and then the first ever peace treating between two nations. It tells of the many major battles that raged for decades and eventually the major battle where the Hittites surrounded Ramese and cut him off from his army and how he valiantly fought from his chariot and is depicted surrounded by hundreds of dead. Unfortunately it is an absolute no no to take pics inside so can only show you the outside.

The second temple was built to honour his favourite wife Nefertari and is the Temple of Hathor. Smaller in size but just a spectacular inside and totally devoted to his love for her.

That night we were treated to the most amazing light and sound show. Here we are in the middle of the desert at night and all of a sudden the story of the temples is projected onto the temples and the entire story including the rescue of the temples from the lake is told.