Cairo to Aswan

We boarded our train around 8pm last night and I’ll admit to having a little trepidation upon seeing the train pull into the station. However, whilst our cabin is cosy, I slept better than I normally sleep! I think the rickety rick and swaying motion all night helped me. It is true that there were several sudden jerks and a fair bit of clanking, it certainly was an experience.
We had dinner and breakfast and a guy came in and converted our seats into bunk beds.
When we woke at about 630am the landscape had changed from dusty, dry desert to lush green palm trees and crops.

First stop was Philae Temple Complex

When the Egyptian government decided to build a dam, several ancient temples were in danger of being flooded. In order to avoid destruction, UNESCO worked with Egypt to move the temples to higher ground. This obviously took many years but the results are phenomenal. If we hadn’t been told that they were moved, I would never have guessed.
The Temple of Isis has gorgeous hieroglyphs all over. Once again I’m amazed at how we can literally touch the walls if we want to 🤷‍♀️
A sad story is that so many of the carvings of Egyptian Gods have been defaced; their faces have been “scratched out” Early Christians destroyed or disfigured many of the Egyptian statues and hieroglyphs, transforming the temple into a church. There are also loads of Crosses carved over the original hieroglyphs.
In other news I had bought myself a neck fan in China which Jim thought was a ridiculous idea and I had forgotten I had brought it along…….until today. What a winner!!
Walking through the temple, everyone else was shiny and glowing with the effects of sweat - but not me! I stayed matte 😂
We had to travel by boat to get there and once again the entire complex was just stunning. We finished with an ice cream sitting overlooking the Nile River.
We then went to visit the High Dam - an awesome piece of engineering and built with the financial aid of Russia. The dam has created a 500km long fresh water lake and is the main fresh water supply but also responsible for a lot of destruction,
Finally we went to see the unfinished obelisk. It is the incomplete construction of what would’ve been the largest obelisk on the planet but it cracked before being completed. Hence it remains in the granite quarry to this day.
Aswan is a fair bit more colourful than Cairo and our hotel is almost working the bazaar. We walked around having a look and have learned very quickly not to even pretend to be interested in something because you will be hassled and hassled!! We’ve had to become pretty strong with our “no thanks” and walk looking straight ahead at all times or else you find yourself caught in a haggling situation over 15 cents for something you don’t even want hahaha!
Dinner was delightful, right on the banks of the Nile. I think I have a mild case of heatstroke so an early night and lots of water tonight.Baca lagi