Ruben and my alarms went off simultaneously at 2:55AM. We both begrudgingly rolled out of bed and did our last minute preparations to leave. By 3:15 we were packed and ready to rock. We walked to the lobby and checked out of the hotel (cruise ship). Shiyu, Ruben, the tour guide and I were all ready by the appointed time, but Mike was nowhere to be seen. I called him twice and he finally picked up on the second call… he claimed he was packing… he sounded awfully sleepy.
Mike ran up the stairs ten minutes later, and we made our way off the boat. The tour guide showed us to our 13 person minibus (for the four of us) and we spread out for our 3 hour bus ride. We talked excitedly for the next 5 minutes about the upcoming trip, but sooner or later we all passed out.
I woke up some time later and took a peek out the window. I had awoken just in time to see the sun rise. It was amazing to watch over desert. Awesome shades of red, orange, and yellow. Stayed awake awhile longer to watch the countryside pass by, but eventually fell back asleep.
I awoke to our tour guide announcing our arrival at Abu Simbel. We piled out of the car and started our walk towards the monument. It was amazing how neat and clean the surrounding areas were. The visitors center and surrounding shop were very neat and trim. Inside the visitors center were pictures and descriptions of the reassembly of the temple, which our guide said we could read after the tour.
We proceeded through the main gates and were greeted by a giant hill. There were two paths around the hill leading to the temple, we proceeded down the right path. Turning a corner we came face to face with the largest manmade lake in the entire world, Lake Nasser. In an attempt to control flooding, Nasser ordered the construction of the Aswan High Dam. This dam is used to regulate water flow down the Nile and thus keep it from destroying crops and houses when it floods.
However, in building the High Dam, Nasser created a large body of water that flooded and destroyed many ancient temples. One of the temples threatened by the rising waters was the Temple at Abu Simbel. In 1964, Unesco led a mission to save the temple from the Lake Nasser. Sponsored by 50 countries the organization cut up, dismantled, moved, and reassembled the entire temple on top of the hill. In addition to this, they created a concrete hill and added rocks so that it looked like the temple was still coming out of the mountain.
It is absolutely amazing to see this monument in real life. I had heard about it back home and always imagined the feat of engineering required to move it, but never imagined I would stand close enough to touch the colossal statues of Ramses the II. We all stood in awe as our tour guide gave us the background to the temple. It was built by Ramses the II and dedicated to the sun god, Amun-Ra. Nearby he constructed a similar temple to his wife Nefertari, which was dedicated to the god of pleasure, Hathor.
After the explanation we were given free time to roam and explore. The insides of the temples were almost as impressive as the outsides. The reliefs and carvings were massive. It really shows the wealth and popularity of Ramses II. One of the coolest things is the paint. Unlike the open air temples, this temples paint has survived much better, allowing us to better see how the temple would have looked originally (3000 year old paint).
Two crazy things about this temple. Not only was the outside moved, but the inside was moved as well. They had to cut the top off the original mountain and then cut the inside out block by block… The second crazy fact is that the original temple was designed so that sunlight would only shine directly through the temple onto Ramses’ statue on two days, his birthday and coronation.
We poked around the two temples for another half hour before heading back towards the parking lot. On the way I collected some sand for my growing collection.
Slept on the way back. Woke up about ten minutes from the boat. Dug into the lunch/breakfast box provided with the tour. Some rolls, fruit, and a juice box. Not much but enough.
Got back to the boat and found out that the rest of our group was on a tour of a small village down the Nile. They took a sail boat down there and walked around for awhile. I was jealous because apparently they got to play with crocodiles (although Evan says it wasn’t as cool as it sounds like, more like watching another guy harass them).
They arrived back at the cruise ship half an hour later and we met to decide on lunch. Evan pulled me aside and told me that Saeed had extended an invitation for us to stay with him for a day or two at his house nearby. We had to decide whether we wanted to take the train back with the group or split off and go into the unknown. We decided on the latter option.
This meant that we would not be getting lunch with the group, but instead would be collecting our bags and heading off. Our first order of business was to figure out transportation to Saeed’s house. He actually lives near Kom Ombo, the town we were in the night before. However, after talking with a few people we ascertained that one can get to Kom Ombo via microbus with little trouble. We decided this was the best course of action and would leave at around five to arrive near dinner time.
We had four hours to kill and decided to check out the city of Aswan. We got lunch at a small restaurant. I got Kofta and Evan got fish. It was a bit overpriced, but much better than the food we had been getting on the ship. We spent the next hour walking down the market section of Aswan. We looked through a few shops and talked with the owners. Nothing really caught our eye.
We were eventually accosted by a store owner who thought we were Russian’s. We told him we were and he then proceeded to talk to us in Russian…. Oops. We corrected the mistake and he then tried to sell us drugs… TIE (this is Egypt).
After breaking away from that awkward confrontation we found an internet café and checked our emails. Turns out I have meetings with my teachers everyday this week to make up the classes we’d miss. That could be problematic since I won’t be back until Wednesday at the earliest. Oh well…
Anyways, we left and continued to search for a houseguest present for Saeed. We didn’t find anything in the market area, so we walked down towards the boardwalk. There we found a sweet shop and bought a kilo of mixed sweets. We figured you couldn’t go wrong with sweets.
We walked to a nearby café and sat down to kill the remaining time. We had a few cups of tea and read for awhile. Aswan is allot less busy that Cairo and it was nice to sit and enjoy the peaceful ambiance.
At five we walked to the place we were shown to catch the microbus. The first microbus took us to the main bus depot in Aswan. From there we caught a microbus to Kom Ombo. In total we spent 5 pounds and an hour travelling. However, we made it and that’s all that matters. Potential problem number one… check.
We got off the microbus in Kom Ombo and gave Saeed a call. He told us he would be there in twenty minutes. So we sat and cooled our heels. We ended up talking with a man in Kom Ombo for the holiday. He was an officer in the army but had family there. He called Saeed and gave him better directions to where we were. 5 minutes later Saeed arrived.
He was there with his 4 year old son and a friend. The friend owned a pickup truck which we took to Saeed’s house. Saeed insisted that we take the front seat and nothing we could do would change his mind. Saeed’s friend, Evan and I were in the front and Saeed and his son sat in back.
We had figured Saeed lived in the city of Kom Ombo… however a twenty minute drive out of the city convinced us otherwise. It turns out he lives in one of the many small villages surrounding Kom Ombo.
We were taken to his father’s house where we were to stay the night. We were introduced to his entire family. It is hard to tell who his brothers were and who weren’t. Anyone even slightly related is referred to as a brother. We were introduced to his brother (really cousin) who was a Sheik and three of his brothers who lived at his father’s house. They all live and work there at his father’s bakery.
The house was more like a small complex housing the bakery, courtyards, living quarters, sitting area….etc. It was amazing. We were served a large dinner of lamb, rice, bread, salad, soup, tahina, and cucumbers. It was amazing. As soon as we finished one dish another was placed before us. There was no satiating their hospitality… the food just kept coming. I practically rolled away from the table.
Life in the village was simple and beautiful. We spent all night being introduced to new friends and family who came by the house. For awhile we sat out front watching foot (and donkey) traffic. It was very surreal. I met so many people I can’t even begin to keep the names straight. As I remember it Saeed’s brothers are Mostafa, Abdul Aziz, Khairi, Saeed, Asharf.
Besides our long conversations we were given a motorcycle ride, a tour of the bakery, and a donkey cart ride. Later in the night I showed Saeed and friends pictures from America so they could see what it was like. They were goggle eyed the entire time.
We talked until late into the night enjoying tea and other beverages. One was similar to apple cider… so good. We went to bed at around 1AM.
