After a short delay to repair a broken hydraulic on the train we arrived in Aswan in late morning. Due to the heat of day Mudi decided to let us rest and freshen up (remember we hadn’t showered the day before) in the afternoon before reconvening at 5 for a visit to the Nubian village. We walked to the Aswan waterfront and boarded a small water taxi which would take us across the Nile to the Nubian Village.
We walked through small passage and alleyways before finding ourselves at the doorstep of a Nubian family home. We would have dinner here tonight and experience what a traditional Nubian dinner would be like. They had been preparing this dinner for most of the day and were eagerly anticipating our arrival. We were greeted warmly and shown to a rooftop dining area where we were served cooled Hibiscus tea to start. The food started coming out and at this point of the trip it was by far my favorite meal, not just because the food was amazing, but the interaction we had with the host was very genuine and personal. It was a great way to immerse (as much as tourists can) ourselves in this very rich culture. It was great to hear Moody and our host argue over local football clubs and joke with each other about how one team is the “government’s team” and will “cheat” to win. It felt a lot like a Canadian family sitting down and arguing about hockey teams!
Sadly though the night would have to end and we took the water taxi back towards Aswan. Mudi took us on a quick walk through the Aswan market to show us the spices and goods that were for sale here. I was very interested in some of the spices, namely Saffron because it was very cheap compared to back home! We ended up walking a bit more before turning in for the night. We had an extremely early start the next day at 3:30AM so we wanted to get some rest before morning.
After what felt like a short nap, we were up again and in the lobby waiting to get on our bus and travel to Abu Simbel. It was a three hour drive and there were a number of reasons for the early start. We wanted to get there early to avoid the midday sun, and there is a convoy of buses and military vehicles that make the trip every day to maintain safety (in numbers). We rolled into the convoy and set out for the long drive there, most of us slept. Arriving at Abu Simbel, Moody explained that this was not the original site, it had been moved by UNESCO because the Egyptian High Dam would flood this temple when it was built. The Abu Simbel temple is pretty spectacular and the fact it had been cut out of a mountain made it even more impressive. There was also a temple for the queen there and it was equally as amazing! We spent two hours at Abu Simbel before the convoy would leave and we spent the time exploring and taking pics where we could ( We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside the temple itself to help preserve the art inside)
The long convoy ride home didn’t feel that long, Gimpy and I ended up chatting half the time and I tried to nap the rest. It was a bit uncomfortable because it either felt like the bus’s air conditioning was failing or the heat of the sun was overpowering it! We arrived at our next destination sweaty and tired. We would have lunch at a perfume factory where we had some amazing falafel and fry sandwiches (which is an actual thing!) while the people introduced us to Egyptian perfumes and essences. A few of our group bought some, Gimpy, Muscles and I picked up some mint and eucalyptus which we found were quite good for things like sinuses and allergies!
We were given some time to rest in the afternoon (to escape the midday heat) Mudi was arranging for us to visit a restaurant in Aswan where we would have a traditional Egyptian dinner. After a shower and a nap we went for dinner at El Masry and enjoyed a great evening of getting to know our group better and sharing in some delicious traditional Egyptian food! It was also one of our group’s birthday today and Mudi had a chocolate cake made for her. Like a family (that’s been together for 3 long days) we all sang happy birthday and celebrated with her! We then strolled through the market for about an hour where I was able to pick up some Saffron and some Nubian Chicken mix because it was SO good when we had it the night before at the village.
Tomorrow we would be leaving Aswan and setting sail on a Felucca boat down the Nile.
Galleries:
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