* Pictures noted are bottom to top - We checked out of the cruise ship and with our driver went to check into our hotel, The Basma Hotel, in Aswan beautifully situated on the top of a hill 
overlooking the city and conveniently located across the street from the Nubian Museum.
After settling into our large room with a balcony and great view (picture 1), we left to begin a visit with our wonderful guide, Mohamed. Nubia is the area between Aswan in Egypt and Khartoum in Sudan. Our first stop was the Nubian Museum. Only 12 years old and filled with artifacts (picture 2), models, displays, and information relating to the Nubians and their culture both in ancient times and today including the UNESCO-backed projects to save Nubian monuments from Lake Nasser (created by construction of High Dam). Other parts of the museum complex we visited were the garden, reconstructed cave with prehistoric rock carvings, and an authentic Nubian House. Very informative and a helpful introduction to this unique area.
From the museum the driver took Mohamed and us to a waiting felucca (Egyptian sailboat without motor), 'The Glory of Nubia', beautifully appointed in Egyptian decor with glass-crystal lamps, beds, and over-stuffed pillows - just perfect for an on-board, freshly prepared Nubian lunch (picture 3) and relaxation just for us. After enjoying our refreshing mango welcome drink, we watched the boatsmen/cook make lunch from scratch (okra in tomato sauce, chicken with spices, rice), and reclined basking in the cool breezes, warm sun, and gentle lapping sounds of the Nile waters against the boat. Just heavenly - and when lunch was ready we appreciated every delicious bite - including the tea and simple chocolate cake to follow for dessert.
After a couple of hours of sailing around the islands and large, black 'elephant' rocks (picture 4), we left this nurvana to transfer to a private motorboat (picture 5) for exploration further upstream through tropical foliage (picture 6) and strong waters of a few cataracts. Due to crowds we passed on the camels but instead disembarked at a Nubian village (picture 7) where we walked through vendors selling the usual souvenir wares and spices which we enjoyed smelling. Our host was fun to talk with so we bought some hibiscus for tea (another new favoriate thing that's good for blood pressure) when back in CA and in turn he gave us a gift of some scarabs for good luck. We continued on to a Nubian school where we had lessons (with a blackboard) on the Arabic and Nubian languages (picture 8). We were so relaxed by this time we unfortunately didn't make the best students much to our Nubian teacher's disappointment.
As the sun was beginning to set, we returned to the motorboat where we sat with Mohamed on the top deck and enjoyed the sites, colors, and sounds of life on the Nile in beautiful Aswan. Soon we returned to our hotel feeling relaxed and glowing with pleasure from our wonderful day.
Early the next morning we were checked out of our hotel and back in the car, this time with our good-natured driver, Monte. He was going to be with us for the next day and a half. His first task was to drive us in a convoy (required by the government for tourist security reasons) past a number of security check points with other tourist vehicles for 3 hours over very boring, desolate desert to Abu Simbel (picture 9). Once there, we checked into an local exotic Nubian House.
The house with mud walls and the simplicity of the Nubian decorations seemed peaceful and was very quiet (picture 10). Our room was basic with 3 single beds (with very hard mattresses and cement-like pillows), changing room, modern bathroom, ceiling fan, mosquito netting and air conditioning (picture 11). We enjoyed a delicious lunch of noodles in broth, grilled fish (Nile perch), salads, rice, bread and our favorite cold hibiscus tea.
After lunch we rested only 15 minutes before Monte returned to take us to the Abu Simbel site. Once there it was close to 4 pm and the site closed at 5.30 pm, our guide went through his information (since he wasn't allowed inside) quickly. He first presented background on the daughting UNESCO-organized international effort in the 1960's to move both massive momuments to an artifical cliff 688 ft back to where it safely stands today. This effort was in response to the building of the High Dam and creation of Nasser Lake (more than 310 miles long with depths of 590 feet) that now covers the original location 213 ft below the water's surface (picture 12).
To say Abu Simbel is a remarkable site would be a big understatement. Originally built out of a solid cliff in the 13th century BC to honor Ramses II, The Great Temple of Abu Simbel, included an incredible 108 ft high facade with 4 HUGE enthroned states of Ramses II wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt - just jaw-dropping. While the exterior was designed to impress and frighten, the reliefs in the interior space depict the union of god and king which Ramses II beleived himself to be (picture 13). Equally impressive was the smaller of the two temples, the Temple of Hathor, dedicated to the goddess Hathor built by Ramses II to honor his favorite wife, Nefertari (picture 14). Unfortunately no cameras were allowed inside either temple.
While it took a lot of time to get to Abu Simbel (3 hrs drive each way plus overnight) to see just one site, after our visit we had no doubt their magnificence made the effort well worthwhile.
By 5.30 pm we exited the site as instructed and purchased tickets for the sound and light show scheduled to begin at 6 pm. It was a wonderful, warm evening with lots of stars. The show was very well done - entertaining and informative covering the current history of the relocation as well as its' fascinating past (picture 15).
After a very quiet, if not totally comfortable night in our little beds, we had a simple breakfast and prepared to again line up in the convoy for our return to Aswan. Once there we were dropped off at the Basma Hotel to hang around (computer time, read, sleep by the pool) until early evening when a driver came to take us to our train at the Aswan train station for our 13 hour return to Cairo. Next stop - visit to the Bahariyya Oasis, Black Desert and overnight in the White Desert.
overlooking the city and conveniently located across the street from the Nubian Museum.After settling into our large room with a balcony and great view (picture 1), we left to begin a visit with our wonderful guide, Mohamed. Nubia is the area between Aswan in Egypt and Khartoum in Sudan. Our first stop was the Nubian Museum. Only 12 years old and filled with artifacts (picture 2), models, displays, and information relating to the Nubians and their culture both in ancient times and today including the UNESCO-backed projects to save Nubian monuments from Lake Nasser (created by construction of High Dam). Other parts of the museum complex we visited were the garden, reconstructed cave with prehistoric rock carvings, and an authentic Nubian House. Very informative and a helpful introduction to this unique area.
From the museum the driver took Mohamed and us to a waiting felucca (Egyptian sailboat without motor), 'The Glory of Nubia', beautifully appointed in Egyptian decor with glass-crystal lamps, beds, and over-stuffed pillows - just perfect for an on-board, freshly prepared Nubian lunch (picture 3) and relaxation just for us. After enjoying our refreshing mango welcome drink, we watched the boatsmen/cook make lunch from scratch (okra in tomato sauce, chicken with spices, rice), and reclined basking in the cool breezes, warm sun, and gentle lapping sounds of the Nile waters against the boat. Just heavenly - and when lunch was ready we appreciated every delicious bite - including the tea and simple chocolate cake to follow for dessert.
After a couple of hours of sailing around the islands and large, black 'elephant' rocks (picture 4), we left this nurvana to transfer to a private motorboat (picture 5) for exploration further upstream through tropical foliage (picture 6) and strong waters of a few cataracts. Due to crowds we passed on the camels but instead disembarked at a Nubian village (picture 7) where we walked through vendors selling the usual souvenir wares and spices which we enjoyed smelling. Our host was fun to talk with so we bought some hibiscus for tea (another new favoriate thing that's good for blood pressure) when back in CA and in turn he gave us a gift of some scarabs for good luck. We continued on to a Nubian school where we had lessons (with a blackboard) on the Arabic and Nubian languages (picture 8). We were so relaxed by this time we unfortunately didn't make the best students much to our Nubian teacher's disappointment.
As the sun was beginning to set, we returned to the motorboat where we sat with Mohamed on the top deck and enjoyed the sites, colors, and sounds of life on the Nile in beautiful Aswan. Soon we returned to our hotel feeling relaxed and glowing with pleasure from our wonderful day.
Early the next morning we were checked out of our hotel and back in the car, this time with our good-natured driver, Monte. He was going to be with us for the next day and a half. His first task was to drive us in a convoy (required by the government for tourist security reasons) past a number of security check points with other tourist vehicles for 3 hours over very boring, desolate desert to Abu Simbel (picture 9). Once there, we checked into an local exotic Nubian House.
The house with mud walls and the simplicity of the Nubian decorations seemed peaceful and was very quiet (picture 10). Our room was basic with 3 single beds (with very hard mattresses and cement-like pillows), changing room, modern bathroom, ceiling fan, mosquito netting and air conditioning (picture 11). We enjoyed a delicious lunch of noodles in broth, grilled fish (Nile perch), salads, rice, bread and our favorite cold hibiscus tea.
After lunch we rested only 15 minutes before Monte returned to take us to the Abu Simbel site. Once there it was close to 4 pm and the site closed at 5.30 pm, our guide went through his information (since he wasn't allowed inside) quickly. He first presented background on the daughting UNESCO-organized international effort in the 1960's to move both massive momuments to an artifical cliff 688 ft back to where it safely stands today. This effort was in response to the building of the High Dam and creation of Nasser Lake (more than 310 miles long with depths of 590 feet) that now covers the original location 213 ft below the water's surface (picture 12).
To say Abu Simbel is a remarkable site would be a big understatement. Originally built out of a solid cliff in the 13th century BC to honor Ramses II, The Great Temple of Abu Simbel, included an incredible 108 ft high facade with 4 HUGE enthroned states of Ramses II wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt - just jaw-dropping. While the exterior was designed to impress and frighten, the reliefs in the interior space depict the union of god and king which Ramses II beleived himself to be (picture 13). Equally impressive was the smaller of the two temples, the Temple of Hathor, dedicated to the goddess Hathor built by Ramses II to honor his favorite wife, Nefertari (picture 14). Unfortunately no cameras were allowed inside either temple.
While it took a lot of time to get to Abu Simbel (3 hrs drive each way plus overnight) to see just one site, after our visit we had no doubt their magnificence made the effort well worthwhile.
By 5.30 pm we exited the site as instructed and purchased tickets for the sound and light show scheduled to begin at 6 pm. It was a wonderful, warm evening with lots of stars. The show was very well done - entertaining and informative covering the current history of the relocation as well as its' fascinating past (picture 15).
After a very quiet, if not totally comfortable night in our little beds, we had a simple breakfast and prepared to again line up in the convoy for our return to Aswan. Once there we were dropped off at the Basma Hotel to hang around (computer time, read, sleep by the pool) until early evening when a driver came to take us to our train at the Aswan train station for our 13 hour return to Cairo. Next stop - visit to the Bahariyya Oasis, Black Desert and overnight in the White Desert.
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