July 3, 2002 – Aswan |
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After a beautiful sunrise from the train on the
desert hills that surround us, we arrive in Luxor at 7:30am. I slept very
well during all the night compared to Jack. Another 3:30 hours of train and we
will reach our final destination: Aswan. We arrive at 11am. We take our bags
and just exit the coaches and suddenly we feel the terrible temperature of
Aswan. It is really hot. I don’t want to look at the thermometer!! Jack and
Cathy disappeared behind me, I will meet them at their hotel. In front of the railway station, many friends are
waiting for us to show us the best hotel in town. I go straight on the souq
street to find the Nubian Oasis hotel that was recommended by many travelers
on the Thorn Tree. On my way to this place all the shopkeepers start their
hassle to sell their products. Just ignore them or a simple: La Shukran (No
thank you) is enough to walk. At the hotel, the lady at the desk does not welcome
well the travelers but who cares. All I need is a room with a fan to leave my
bag. The price of a single room with a fan (in fact a double for a single
occupancy) is 15 EGP. The bathroom and the closet are inside the room. I go
up on the roof to admire the view from the top. The view on Aswan and the
surrounding desert is nice and the Nile is so beautiful. At the desk, they
give me a list of all the tris they organize there. I will take the one to
Abu Simbel later. As in Cairo, you have to pay your room in advance. View on the Nile from Elephantine Island I go outside to reach the Yassen hotel, near the
train station, where I hope to find Jack and Cathy after they vanished at the
arrival. They simply forgot their camera in the coach (it remembers me
someone in Beirut last year who was in the same situation!!!). We fix a
rendezvous at 6pm to have the dinner together. After having a break in the room, I decide to go
outside and see what Aswan looks like, ready to discover the Nile. I go
straight on the Corniche. I am impressed by all the tourists that I meet
there. It seems that we are in France or Germany, all of the time I am
hearing familiar words and seeing familiar ways of life. Finally, in Cairo,
there was not so many tourists apart from the pyramids, Khan Al Khalili and
the Egyptian museum. Here the town is relatively small, you can’t be lost as
there are 2 main streets: The souqs street and the Corniche along the Nile.
Aswan is the good start from Nile cruises or trips to Abu Simbel. You can
evade from this tourist trap by taking a ferry to see Elephanine Island right
in the middle of the Nile or just by walking in the parallel streets of
Sharia Saad Zaghloul (the souqs street). You are again a lonely traveler. The inhabitants of Aswan are really good in foreign
languages and they are trying a lot of them to catch the attention of all the
tourists who wander in the streets. They offer numerous services: carriage
ride, felucca for one hour, taxi ride, papyrus (naturally the cheapest and
true one), djellabas, and statues. At the beginning you simply say ”la,
Shukran!” but it seems that they only know from the tourists the Egyptian
pound language. But they have a good memory and when they recognize tourists
who already say no, they remember them and don’t hassle them again. I am going right to the Old Cataract hotel, superb
on the Nile bank right in front of the end of Elephantine Island. It is too
bad that I can’t go inside to have a drink there but I don’t think I look
like one of the guests of this kind of place. I lost myself in the alleys
near the hotel before coming back to the Corniche where I try to find the
pier to go to Elephantine Island. I take a ferry (in fact a small boat) for 25
piasters (0.25 EGP). The boat is the link between the city and the island.
The island has a museum on one side and a huge and horrible hotel on the
other side. The hotel occupies 1/3 of the island and has a very big tower
that looks like an air-traffic control tower. Between the museum and the
Oberoi hotel, the space is occupied by 2 Nubian villages and little fields.
Their houses are really different from the ones you see in Aswan, there are
more colors (yellow, pink, blue…) and for an ending afternoon it looks great.
The Nubians are very friendly as if we were in a total different country.
They invite you for a cup of tea without willing to sell something, just to
share some time with you. A typical alley on Elephantine Island A pure moment of leisure ! I wanted to visit
the museum but there were not enough tourists during the day so the guy at the
desk has no change on a 20 EGP banknote to give back on the entrance fee
(5/10 EGP). I am on another pier but it seems that there is no boat there.
Hopefully, a private boat full of Italians is coming and the captaininvites
me on board to reach the other side. At the hotel, I meet Jack and Cathy and invite them
to have a drink (a Stella bier) on the roof while watching to the sunset on
the west bank. Sunset on the west bank We decide to follow the advice of the French
guidebook for our dinner but the 2 first addresses don’t look what is written
in the guide so we search another one before finding a new one. The guys who
are in the guidebooks are happy because they know that tourists will come
just because they are in the guide but often the cooking is not that good and
the prices are higher from what is quoted. Finally we find the Al-Sayyida
Nefissa restaurant where I take a delicious Shish Kebab. With the meat you
have rice, salad (cucumber and tomatoes), tahina and vegetables. After this good meal, we are walking quietly to our
hotels I fall asleep very quickly because I have to wake up at 3:30am for the
trip to Abu Simbel. Main expenses of the day : Night at the Nubian Oasis Hotel : 15 EGP
(single with a fan) Drinks (water, soft drinks, tea…) : 20 EGP Dinner at the restaurant Al-Sayyida Nefissa :
16 EGP |
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D1 :
Luxembourg – Amsterdam – Cairo D6 :
Aswan - Abu Simbel (part1) (part 2) D15 :
Mount Moses (St Katherine) D16 :
Nuweiba - Cairo - Alexandria D23 : Cairo – Amsterdam –
Luxembourg |
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Last update : August 2002
Contact : pindavid@hotmail.com