Not Your Typical Travel Stories From an Unsuspecting Canadian

Abu Simbel.....Egypt

In my last Egypt blog I had been hit by a car while trying to cross a busy street (with no stop lights or crosswalk). After a couple of days of site-seeing I made a plan for a fairly quick exit from Cairo and would take the 10 pm night train south. During that day I limped around Islamic Cairo which had some excellent old structures and an environment that still seemed ancient in many ways. I got some great photo's when I went to the Al-Azhar Mosque which dates back to 970 AD (there are so many old mosques in Islamic Cairo). This mosque, that claims to have the oldest surviving university, had many students worshiping while others were studying; the size of it was huge. Interesting how the women prayed in a small dingy room in the back while the men had a grand theatre at the front that was so extravagant. I talked to two young students who told me that they could only marry a Muslim Egyptian, when I asked them "what if he already had two wives?", they said that they would have to accept that; I was dumbfounded at that response from these 2 well educated young ladies.

After so much painful pavement pounding I searched the large market for souvenirs to purchase; besides the discomfort of my leg it was an incredible experience. The people were friendly and the atmosphere was so different than that which we find in the western nations, I would say it was awesome. I loaded the train, which was part of my package tour that I booked in Cairo, and endured the 16 hour trip to Aswan. By 5:30 am I had enough daylight to take in the sights out of the window; there were many small cities and towns along the Nile. I noted a few things in my journal as I gazed out of the window; So many large men (one time 3) on donkeys, smoking is a huge problem for the non-smoker, men seem to openly show affection to other men (holding hands, hugging) while many women walk 5 steps behind the man when in public. The rural areas are very poor and houses are very basic; usually with no roof, accept some straw scattered on top of the structure.

After checking into the hotel I had 15 minutes before we (others on the tour) headed out to the dam. Actually there are two dams; the old dam built between 1898-1902 (largest in the world at that time) and the High Dam which is 6kms downstream. The dam: helped to provide irrigation waters for the agriculture industry all along the Nile, created Lake Nasser which is important to the region; but caused flooding of historic temples which were created on land below the current lake level. The International community under Unesco, including Canada, have moved about 22 of these ancient antiquities to higher ground; a massive undertaking.We went to the Temple of Isis on Agilkia Island which was started by the Greeks and finished by the Romans; it was amazing. I was tired by days end with no sleep throughout the train ride and the hot temperatures (over 40 degrees).

I got the wake up call at the hotel at 2:45 am , we were to leave on a trip to Abu Simbel at 3:30 am. When I got out on the street there were many Egyptians around , but not the beggars or the speeding, horn honking drivers. The van we were in drove about 15 minutes and then we stopped to wait for other vans, buses, and military guards so we could convoy down together. Egyptians are no strangers to terrorist acts such as hostage taking or bombings by extremist groups. The town of Abu Simbel is small and it sits at the far south end of Egypt, about 40 kms from Sudan; temperatures here, like on this day, reach to over 50 degrees.

When we arrived at the parking lot there were about 15 buses and 12 vans filled with tourists there. As those tourists were getting organized and listening to a guide I ran, as best I could, the 200 metres past all the selling booths to the site, it was beyond amazing. I had about 15 minutes by myself down at the Great Temple of Ramses ll, it was just incredible. I took so many photo's of the 4 giant sculptures on the outside of the temple...one of those experiences that still brings excitement when I think about it today. Inside the temple were many painted carvings and walls filled with ancient hieroglyphics and calligraphy. While the hundreds of tourists approached I went over to the smaller Temple of Hathor which was dedicated to Queen Nefertari, Ramses wife (one of them, and perhaps the most famous). Ramses ll ruled for 67 years, starting when he was only 13 years of age so he had plenty of time to prepare for the afterlife. I could have spent all day at this temple, it was not big in comparison to other temples but I found it unique in shape and the 4 seated statues on the Ramses ll Temple were mesmerizing.

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We boarded the van and followed the Arabian Desert back up to Aswan, it was so hot that the mirage made the sand look like a lake. It would be a challenge to survive with such extreme temperatures. I walked around a bit before sleeping early, getting woken up at 2:45 put my sleeping schedule in disarray. The next morning I woke up at 3:30 and hobbled along the streets of Aswan. There were many guys sitting around talking, some drinking; I think the slightly cooler temperatures cause some citizens to hide out during the mid-day. I went through many narrow alley's and neighbourhood streets before the 4 am mosque chanting began. When I returned to the hotel I talked to the front desk guy, he said he makes 200 pounds ($40.00) per month; he bought his wife for 400,000 pounds, it took him 10 years of saving to buy a wife (the math did not work out but I did not question him). In so many countries a daughter can still be bought, sometimes in exchange for a few cows.....sorry state for many women.

On this day I was supposed to board a fallucca (small wooden sailing boat) to sail up the Nile. I was expecting something a little more sturdy than what awaited me at the dock. We cruised a little ways in the boat and stopped at Kitchener and Elephantine Islands. Kitchener Island had a rather nice botanical garden made by Lord Horatio Kitchener who was given this land when he was the Consul General. A couple from Canada, an English girl, two guys from Spain/US and myself passed on stopping at Elephantine Island so I was able to encourage the boat captain to sail over to the West Bank where one can climb the mountain to the Tombs of the Nobles. Although the temperature was scorching up at the tombs (about 45 degrees), it was tremendous, the view was amazing from up there. The others did not want to climb so I went myself and experienced the inside of several of the tombs, the hieroglyphics were in good shape and I took many photo's (with the flash off); it was an experience I would have liked to share rather than being alone.

That afternoon we slowly crept our way up the river, it seemed like the captain was just killing time. We stopped at a place that was to be our overnight anchorage, it was a narrow part of the Nile that was close to both the highway and the train tracks. Before dark there were 10 trains that went past, the noise was very loud; I could tell it would be another night with little sleep. Between the trains, dogs from the nearby village barking, mosquito's and the 4 am chant from the mosque I could not wait to get off this boat.I disembarked from the boat and walked up to the village, by about 5:30 I could clearly see the locals following their morning routine. Men road down the hill on their donkey's, women in their burka's left their mud and brick homes to carry on the business of the day, I wrote in my journal "you cannot get any more Egyptian than this." The heat was intense for only 6am....this day could be unbearable; it was so hot that it was hard to think about anything else. Once I got back to the boat the passengers and captain were awake and wondering where I had gone. I managed to have 2 hours to experience the small village where we anchored.

Once we ate some simple food the fallucca left and puttered for about 10 minutes before stopping at a place where the American guy and some other passengers from boats were getting off so they could catch a car ride to Kom Ombo. Under protest from the captain I ceased this opportunity to get off the boat and put fate back into my own hands. The guy from Spain (James)also took advantage of this opportunity and we both walked to the highway to hail a passing van to Kom Ombo. The Temple of Kom Ombo was a great place to visit and again I took many photo's.