Aswan, Eqypt

Aswan is a serene, historic city in southern Egypt renowned for its stunning Nile scenery, rich Nubian culture, and ancient monuments. Rather than visit the Abu Simbel temples, which is a whole day trip, we stayed local. Some of our highlights included a visit to the Aswan High Dam which was completed in 1970 for ~$1billion and helps control the annual Nile flood.  While the dam provided many benefits to the region, it also negatively impacted the environment and the people displaced by construction.

Our visit to their local spice market was aromatic. We somewhat enjoyed our strowl, but the constant battering from the street vendors does wear one down.  I think we might have bought something if we hadn’t felt so harrassed!  

We enjoyed our ride on a felucca, a traditional, wooden sailing boat with triangular sails.  It’s quite impressive how the driver maneuvers around all the traffic in the Nile. 

Our last stop in Aswan was to the Old Cataract Hotel, built in 1899 and currently managed by Soffitel. It is a gorgeous piece of property overlooking the Nile and we enjoyed our tea on the terrace. This also happens to be the setting of portions of Agatha Christie’s novel Death on the Nile.

Once back on the river boat, we have a quick visit to Kom Ombo, a small town home to the Kom Ombo Temple which is dedicated to Sobek, the crocodile god, and name of our river boat.  Along with many depictions of Sobek, bearing the body of a man and the head of a crocodile, we visit the mummified crocodiles. Over 300 were found in the temple.Read more