Aswan

A very early wake up at 5a.m. to catch the 90 minute flight to Aswan. We are now in Upper Egypt which is a bit confusing because on a map it should be lower Egypt given we are near the southern border. Of course the Nile dictates everything and we are nearer the headwaters than Cairo/Alexandria, hence, Upper. Trivia – the Nile flows through nine countries with Egypt being the final one.

Modern Aswan is notable because of two dams on the Nile. The first, British built in 1902, proved insufficient for controlling the annual river flooding. The High dam, built by the Russians (1960 – 70), has proven successful with the unintended side effect that the mineral rich sediment usually washed north is no longer available to the detriment of the agriculture industry.

We are ensconced in a very nice hotel overlooking the Nile.

After a few hours lounging by the pool we climbed aboard a felucca for a sail around Elephantine Island. Very idyllic, even more so given the chaos of Cairo earlier in the day.

Coming ashore on the island we were guided through incredibly narrow, twisting paths that are effectively, the streets in that neighbourhood. We were hosted in a local home and had a group dinner in the open air on one of the houses many roof tops.

Back by motor boat in the dark to our hotel and an early night given our planned 4 a.m. start to Abu Simbel near the Sudan boarder tomorrow. Back to Egyptian antiquities and Ramses II.