Nile Cruise -- day one

We caught a sleeper train from Cairo to Aswan, where we were met by our guide, El Bedwa (although he called himself Bedouin, man of the desert). It turns out that he was the guide for just the four of us, since we were the only ones on this particular boat booked through this particular agency. (The guides are supplied by the agencies, who "rent" space, meals, etc. on the boats for their customers.) We were taken in a nice air conditioned minibus from the train station to the boat, where we dropped off our stuff. Bedouin's English was pretty good, but we had to struggle to understand at times. He has been a guide of Egypt antiquities for six years, having studied tourism, economics and history in his university.

We went across the Nile to see the High Dam. This was built in the 1960's and created Lake Nassar. The previous dam, built in the late 19th century, just wasn't big enough to control the annual flooding of the Nile. When completed, it provided 70% of Egypt's electrical power needs through hydroelectric turbines, but with the growth of the country, and the electricity usage, it now provides only 7%.

We then took a small boat to an island in the Nile called Philae. The temple is from around 300BC. When the High Dam was built, it would have been completely covered in water. UNESCO intervened and in the 1970's, the temple was completely disassembled and transferred to higher ground (the island) and reassembled. The Nubian people living around the temple, were also relocated to higher ground and lost all the mud brick homes of their ancestors.

The temple was beautiful and was our first exposure to seeing hieroglyphics--they were amazing.

After touring the temple, we toured a granite quarry to see a partially completed obelisk, which was abandoned after a crack appeared. It is estimated to weigh 1160 tons. It was carved in place. It would take 1600 people most of a year to drag it to the desired location, including getting it onto a boat at the time of the Nile floods to be transported to it's final destination.

We had hoped to go sailing on a traditional felucca on the Nile that afternoon, but the winds were high and too dangerous. So, we decided to walk around the town of Aswan instead. Bedouin insisted on accompanying us, saying that he was responsible for our safety and that it was dangerous for foreigners to walk alone, especially Americans. We never felt any danger whatsoever, but we certainly did stand out and attract a lot of stares. We were walking in areas outside the tourist zone and did feel a little uncomfortable, so we went back to our cruise ship and swam in the little pool while drinking an Egyptian beer. The pool was very refreshing--it was wonderful to really cool off!

After a buffet dinner of Egyptian food (ok, but not great), we sat on the upper deck and watched sunset.

Bedouin asked if he could join us (is he lonely? or protecting us?). He is in his mid- to late-twenties, and recently engaged to marry his cousin (apparently a common practice). They cannot get married until he can afford to buy a house and furnish the bedroom and two reception areas; his fiancee is responsible for furnishing the kitchen. He doesn't want her to work because he wants her all to himself: make his lunch, clean his home, and not be tired when he comes home from work. He wants to have two sons. He has developed strong opinions and generalizations about other cultures and ethnicities based on his personal experiences as a tour guide. It's so interesting to hear his very different perspective on the world.