Day 4 - Aswan Dam, Philea Temple and Nubian Village - March 12, 2023
I have a feeling it is going to be a bit of a painful week of early starts. This morning we were up even before our 5:00 am alarm, sadly. The view out our window is of the black side of a boat moored alongside. No view of the Nile for the time being.
The boat was strangely deserted at this time of the morning. Breakfast was just the six of us so no queues for food but we had a good selection, though no omelette makers for us. We met our tour guide for the day, a rather flamboyant “Majid” who took us from our lobby through another, rather fancy boat's lobby, to the gang plank and onto the concrete shore. This is obviously where cruise boats regularly moor with locked metal grates at either end of the pier. Climbing a set of steps we walked through a small, rather dirty, grassed park then up a final set of steps to the street where our coach was waiting for us, already full of tourists from another boat moored to the south.
The road or “corniche” is quite busy, running alongside the Nile here in Aswan. On the far side there are buildings with shops and loads of banks which presumably cater to the continually arriving tourists. Our boat is beside, of all things, a branch of McDonalds and a short distance down the road there is even a KFC! The traffic even at 6:15 in the morning was quite busy as we wound our way south along the corniche then into the town centre itself. There are no really massive skyscrapers here but there are some fairly high structures perched here and there on the rolling hills of the city. There are more than 1.5 million people here which means the city must really spread out. The sides of the road are dirt even here in the city with most shops not yet open but the few that are, are generally bakeries and corner stores.
We wound our way through the city then up a steep road to cross over the lower or “older” or “British” dam. This dam was built, yes, by the British in the late 19th century and looks out over the city of Aswan. It is a long concrete structure with a steep face with a road along the top. Looking to the right we had a great view out over the city of Aswan, the Nile and a series of “cataracts” with lots of rocks, trees and water. To our left was a lake with numerous rocky islands including one with “Philea Temple” that we would visit later, clearly visible from the road.
After leaving the dam we turned to the left and continued south a short distance, passing by a power station and the Aswan University before stopping at the entrance gate to the Aswan “High” dam, the much larger (111 meters) sibling to the lower dam (36 meters) and built in the 1960s.
The primary reason for the creation of the dams was to prevent the annual flooding of the Nile. With the building of the dams and the subsequent creation of Lake Nassar they were able to better regulate the flow of the river, providing a stable water height to support development of the Nile basin. There was a price to pay with the damming of the river as Lake Nassar flooded a good number of historical sites and several gold mines but this was seen as acceptable.
The Soviets paid for a large part of the construction costs of the high dam and as the coach passed through the gates there was a large monument they built to celebrate it's opening. We continued out onto the dam with the lake to our right and the cataracts between the dams and power stations to the left. There was a visitor stop about half way along the dam where we were able to get out and look around.
The first thing that captured our fellow passenger's attention was, no, not the view, but rather a couple of feral dogs and puppies posing for pictures.
I have to think that more pictures were taken of them than of the spectacular scenery around us - The long concrete and stone slope of the downstream side of the dam meets the ground far below. To the right are the electrical pylons of the power station with the dam producing about 15% of the country's electricity. In fact, in Egypt approximately 40% of the electricity produced here comes from hydro, 20% from solar and 40% from nuclear. In the distance you can make out the lower dam and Aswan beyond.
Crossing the busy road you are on the shore of a large lake - Lake Nassar which spreads out in the distance with round islands, formerly hills. The calm waters reflected the bright sun above.
We had a look at some displays with interesting facts about the dam before heading to a souvenir stall for something to eat. In our watching out the windows of various coaches in the past few days we have noticed the distinct “KFC” logo on crisp (potato chip) packets. I was determined to give them a taste so we picked up a few packets. They are quite good.
Leaving the high dam we retraced our route back across the lower dam then instead of turning left into the city we turned right for s short distance where we stopped at another checkpoint, this for “Philea Temple”.
Majid waxed lyrical about the “magic” and romance of the temple as we made our way to the complex. This was one of the temples that was flooded due to the damming of the Nile so in the 1970s the 12 buildings were painfully moved and reconstructed on a higher island 500 meters from the original site with funding from UNESCO. As it is, you get to the temple by boat so the coach dropped us off at a very busy main entrance where we walked through a small courtyard lined with souvenir stalls and crammed with both tourists and locals selling something or another. Tickets provided by Majid we entered via the security gate onto a slopped slipway leading to a fleet of small 30-40 seater boats ferrying people to and fron the island. We had to walk around the colourful blankets spread out with trinkets on either side of the ramp as Majid found our boat.
It was tricky boarding for some of our party who were not terribly stable on their feet. Boarding from a slanted ramp up several feet onto the bow of boat bobbing up and down in the water took a bit of doing though everyone was keen to help and we were soon aboard.
Our boat, like the others, was painted white with painted decorations on the inside and out along with bits hanging from the roof of the single deck. There were two areas with seats around the outside. Once we were underway Majid introduced us to a local souvenir seller joining us on the boat who had a large assortment of necklaces. He managed a few sales from others.
We were busy watching where we were going on the fast moving boat - The island housing the temple complex came up on our left with massive, sloped walls and columns perched alone on an island with only a thin ring of greenery at the water's edge. We came around the north of the island to the west side where we disembarked to again be met by a large number of souvenir vendors lined up along the walkways.
The small sandy island consists of basically a set of docks, many buildings including the temple itself, a café and loads of souvenir stalls. Besides the tourists and souvenir sellers there are also loads of feral cats who, once again, get their fair share of the pictures taken on the island.
After leaving the boats behind we went to the left to visit the main temple on the island, the “Temple of Osiris” built between 380 and 362 BC with a magnificent outer court lined with columns leading to two massive rectangular columns on either side of the main entrance.
The structures were all carved with pictures and hieroglyphics with Majid apologising on behalf of his Coptic Christian ancestors for the defacement of many of the images in the temple - Carefully having chipped out the details within the outline of the figure.
Majid took us into the main part of the temple into the forecourt, it's roof supported by massive columns.
Here we even saw a conservationist applying what we were told was oil to the carvings in order to preserve their definition and colour (amusingly the aluminium ladder was topped with two boxing gloves to prevent damage the walls).
We had to wait a few minutes for another group to leave before Majid took us into the small high altar. Every surface was covered with coverings, both original and the occasional Coptic Christian graffiti on top.
On the north side of the temple, at the water's edge we were shown a “Nilomemter” which consists of steps leading down a shaft that was used to measure the clarity and height of the Nile during the seasonal floods.
After the temple at about 8:45 we were allowed to explore the rest of the island ourselves and meet up at 9:30 for the trip back to the mainland. Mel and I took the opportunity to take in the exterior of the temple and visit the “Kiosk of Trajan” (from approximately 100 AD), a small courtyard surrounded by tall columns on the south side of the island. This was rather less ornate that the main temple but impressive nonetheless.
We continued to the south-west of the island where there was a couple of stands selling spices and souvenirs then a large covered café with lots of rattan padded seats. I noticed they had an orange juicer so I had a glass of that and another packet of KFC crisps while Mel had a drink from the cooler.
We sat down in the shade off to the side, watching the cats begging at the feet of the tourists.
We were early for the departure so sat under a covered area near the docks watching the tourists - By now it was getting quite busy - But also looking out to the calm, clear waters surrounding the island between the tethered ferry boats. Soon enough we were back on our boat and circling around the south side of the island this time to return back to the mainland.
Pulling into the pier we were amazed at the number of these boats here, there must have been hundreds all for visitors to the island. We passed by a small 5-6 room hotel perched a short distance up the rocks to our right just before arriving. Must be amusing for hotel visitors to watch the tourists go back and forth in the boats all day, but also must be a great view of Philea itself from their balconies…
The crowds at the slipway were much bigger than when we had arrived a few hours earlier. We had to weave our way through them, trying not to lose site of Majid as he made his way back through security and out to the road to find the coach. On our way I was accosted by a gentleman offering to sell me an “Egyptian cotton” shirt. I seriously misunderstood the cost, obviously insulting him when I asked to clarify as he headed off in a bit of a huff. We had to wait a few minutes for Majid to arrange for the driver to come pick us up at the small drop off area at the entrance but we were soon on our way.
Philea Temple Pictures (from Flickr)
With many of these tours you expect that at some point you are going to be herded into a carefully managed shop selling one thing or another. In this case as we passed back through Aswan we stopped to visit the “Thutmose Essence Perfume Palace” with a garish sign outside, and a massive picture of King Tut's burial mask on the doors (and an ATM outside in case you need cash…which you might after visiting). Inside we were ushered into a rectangular room at the back with seating around the edge, the walls lined with glass shelves containing perfume bottles.
In the middle of the room there was a small table and we were offered something to drink before the sell began. We were told they specialize in high quality essences, undiluted fragrances which they sampled around the room to everyone (not entirely sure this was optional). I stared straight ahead above the heads of those seated opposite, fading in and out of consciousness as it is not really my sort of thing. One of our fellow passengers sitting to my left was struggling with a bit of a cough and the strong smells eventually got the better of her and she simply had to leave the shop into the fresh air to clear her head. The prices seemed quite high but Mel assured me that as these are undiluted they will last a long time as we picked up four 50 ml bottles, resisting the urging to get a “better deal” by purchasing slightly more but, to be honest, we don't need much and any more would not be very helpful to us.
Anyway, they accepted plastic and we watched as they carefully packed up our purchases at the front counter before we returned to the coach which was now a short distance down the road so we had to carefully walk along the narrow curb.
It was a bit of a wait for the others to complete their purchases so we snacked on our KFC crisps and Cheetos.
The morning (!) was still not done. We had a boat ride yet to do so stopped at the ferry terminal for “Aswan Island (Elephantine) Koti Side”. It was tricky the number of us walking down some steep stone steps then onto another gangway to get on our “felucca” - a small boat with sails. It was quite a wide boat with seating all along the outside for the 30 or so of us.
It was shaded with a colourful fabric and in the middle we saw the ubiquitous table covered discretely with fabric - We were going to get another sale job. Sigh. We had a short, quiet trip, towards Aswan where we travelled around “Elephantine Island”. I say “quiet” but at one point a young boy in a boat held onto the edge of the boat and “serenaded” us for some time, hoping we would pay him off to either shut him up or in appreciation of his “music” (I think the former).
Of course, my prediction held and we had a bit of a sale job of various trinkets which we were assured were of the highest quality. Then, the silence being a bit much it seems, the crew decided to have a bit of a sing song, grabbing us from our seats and parading around the deck. To be fair, it was a lot of fun and I love being on the water. The city is really not all that oppressive from the water with only a scattering of buildings that disappear only a short distance away and a lot of greenery lining the banks.
There are a lot of feluccas and other boat traffic, including ferries, but no cruise boats here in the city itself - They are all moored further to the north.
Eventually the boat took us to the “Odyssey” which is the boat that most of those we were with are taking. We had to catch a second, small powered water taxi back to our boat at about 12:30 pm. While returning to the shore there was a man in a boat at water level selling food with condiments lined up ready to go despite being just below the McDonalds at street level. He seemed to be doing a good business and was attracting a bit of attention. Interestingly, today we were informed that with inflation at something like 30% many people can no longer afford McDonalds whose customers now are primarily tourists or wealthy locals.
Our fellow German passengers were gone when we arrived back on Sultan Hussan but we arranged with the catering manager (maybe?) to have food in the dining room at 1:00 pm. Just enough time to work on this journal!
At lunch we were given table service which makes sense given there was only the six of us there. A full three courses including an assortment of breads! They did not want us to go hungry with the table literally covered with food - Chicken fillets, kofta, rice, fries, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, apples, small, sweet, black/green bananas and choux pastry buns…
At 1:45 pm we were in the lobby again for our “Nubian Village” trip but our fellow travellers were late so we headed out closer to 2 pm. The “Nubians” are the original inhabitants of northern Sudan and southern Egypt, with villages throughout the area on the west side of the Nile. The tourist boat, sadly powered by motor rather than sail, returned us to the Odyssey where we joined the rest of the group and crossed to the western bank below the ancient “tombs of the nobles” - Rectangular tombs predating the pharaohs high in the sandstone cliffs. A structure at the top of the cliffs is a large tomb for the priests. All tombs have long since been robbed of their contents. We can can see the tombs from the top deck of our cruise ship but it was great to see them up close.
It is very obvious we are in an oasis in the great Sahara with the red sand dunes lining the west bank with green bushes at the waters edge. Here there is a lot of wildlife. As we passed by the western shore of the lush “El Nabatat” or “Kitchener's” Island, home to the “Aswan Botanical Gardens” there were several small rocky islands covered with herons that promptly took the air as we approached.
We passed below the “Aga Khan Mausoleum”, an impressive domed structure on the top of a low hill with his former home immediately below. Aga Khan was a much loved, famous Muslim Imam who visited Aswan and fell in love with the area, requesting he be buried here.
Continuing along the western shore we spotted more herons, king fishers and, of course, the ever-present egrets in the shrubs. Magid also pointed out water buffalo. As we approached the Nubian village we were to visit, the boat stopped for a few minutes on the far side of the Mausoleum to allow us to walk barefooted in the hot desert sands and tip our toes into the…freezing…waters of the Nile. This was not mere suggestion as Magid told us we really needed to do this.
A short distance up from where we were moored were camels that can be hired to take you the short 700 meter distance into the villages, decorated in colourful tassels and guided by t-shirted locals in jeans. Of course there were also the ubiquitous souvenirs and we were offered glass containers of sand.
Returning to the boat we started to pass by colourful buildings, mostly hotels, lining the shore. The clean white and blue buildings a sharp contrast to the orange sands beyond. A short time later there was some haggling between Magid and the captain resulting in our pulling up beside a small restaurant, disembarking by gangway from the bow. Some of our group take much longer to mobilize themselves so we spent a few minutes torturing a “Sensitive Plant” bush - Touching the fern like leaves results in their curling up. At one point our guide for the afternoon, Sayeed, had tried to have the captain pull up along the shore to demonstrate but was beaten to the area by another tourist boat.
The group now assembled we made our way along an alley into the small settlement. We had been told we would be visiting a traditional Nubian house but in the end unless a traditional Nubian house has seating for several hundred people it seems this was unlikely.
We were directed to sit in a rectangular with seating along the outside and a small table in the middle which was promptly topped with glasses being filled with mint tea as a welcome drink.
Sayeed explained that the Nubian people speak a dialect of Arabic that many Egyptians cannot understand. The village has about 6,000 people. This was pretty much the end of the talk and we were allowed to wander around the area as we wished. A trip to the roof to have a look around was cut short by the tremendous heat up there.
The Nubians venerate the crocodile and as we were drinking our tea a lady brought in a baby croc, nuzzle firmly wrapped with a hairband, for us to hold. Mel was quick into the fray and held the small creature for a few minutes, careful to support his tender underside with her arm, feeling the small heart beating.
Nearby we were able to look at the village crocodile in a large recessed cage nearby looking not terribly happy or, indeed, active. A short time later an older lady offered to do some henna for a small amount of money (I think it was 2 euros) and Mel joined in here as well.
As Mel had this done I had a look in some nearby bedrooms which held no real surprises other than a lack of windows.
The group was rounded up and taken a short distance up the dirt street past some bored looking tuk-tuk drivers and a small local market that we never did get a chance to visit to a primary school. In the courtyard of the two story building we admired the vivid colours - Dark blues, reds, yellows and greens. A small stage on the west side of the space was painted with local scenes and the door for every room had a decorated frame. On the top level at one side where the youngest students had their classes we could see familiar characters painted on the walls: Tom and Jerry, and Mickey Mouse.
On the side of the courtyard was a free library that I noted mostly stocked religious pamphlets. For some reason Sayeed also encouraged to visit the ground floor toilets which did not look terribly special to us - A few western style and another squat, all very clean. I suspect he wanted us to see them as he was quite proud of their quality, indeed, I suspect the trip to the school was showing it off to us as well.
As we returned to the water we had to wait for a few minutes for the boat to return and for the rest to board. While waiting Mel and I noticed a rat in a small palm tree eating it's fruit. The boat took us on the “cataracts” which is a bit of a deceptive name - Sure, it was some fast moving, turbulent waters but Grand Canyon this ain't - It was a bit of fun though as the captain ploughed against the current ably assisted by his young son who directed him and helped with mooring when required. We followed along some very narrow inlets, at times the plants coming into our small boat and slapping the unwary tourist in the head. A shape was spotted in a bush with calls out to the captain to turn around to have a closer look - A falcon perched in a tree at the water's edge, seemingly nonplussed that a group of 30+ tourists were mere meters away admiring it.
There are loads of small islands here in Aswan, many of which are inhabited or have only one or two buildings dotted here and there amongst the trees. You could almost forget are in the middle of a large city with nothing but green on either side.
Slowly returning north to our hotel we passed by the “Old Cataract Hotel”, an wonderful old-school angled hotel on a bit of a rise, where Agatha Christie is said to have written “Death on the Nile”.
We also passed by the 1921 steam ship “Sudan”, a long, black, two story cruise ship which was the setting for the same book. It was moored only a short distance north of our boat. We were not alone on our return trip with another two boys latched onto the side of our boat in a small kayak, serenading us in hopes of money. They gave up a short time later, disappearing as quickly as they had appeared.
Mooring up beside our boat, we returned to the shore and at the gate protecting our ship's mooring we were able to convince the guards to open up for us (for some reason they wanted a tip for this but we did not oblige). Already 5 we returned to our room to discover the toilet is now working having not been at lunch time. The hallways of the ship have cables hanging from the ceiling with our theorizing that they are trying to fix the television aerial.
Dinner was at the normal 7:30 but tonight we also had a dance show in the lounge at 8:45. After dinner we escaped to the roof for a few minutes to take in the sights and sounds around us on the river. Another boat is moored up alongside us but we were able to clearly see the tombs of the ancients on the western shore as they are lit up.
The rest of the city around us was the normal beep and dull drone of a big city but without the tall skyscrapers. Of We were one of the first people there for the show, sitting a short distance away from the dance floor as I suspected there might be audience involvement. The dance show consisted of three men playing various types of drum and another on a microphone providing vocals. The first dancer(s) wore an amazing costume that looked like two men locked in an embrace but (spoiler alert) turned out to a single dancer. The next dance featured two men in a black camel costume which aggressively head-butted many in the audience, to much merriment. The final set of dancers was three men dressed in blue. The whole thing was filmed by a number of the passengers but also a cruise cinematographer (I am expecting we will be asked if we want to buy the resulting video at some point).
Tomorrow is going to be a very long day. We have been told to meet at 4:30 am in the lobby for our departure to Abu Simbel. Breakfast will be prepacked and ready for us to take onboard the coach for the three hour transfer.
⇒ Continue to Day 5 - Abu Simbel - March 13, 2023