November 7, 2006 - In Transit – Aswan, Egypt

November 7, 2006
In Transit – Aswan, Egypt

I woke up this morning at about 9:30 in my train chair. Although we did not have beds, everyone seemed to sleep quite well. The chairs were large and comfortable (much like those in first-class in an airplane). We passed the rest of the time on the train by eating and watching movies on our computers (Liar Liar and Treasure Planet).

At 15:00 we finally arrived in Aswan (a 15.5 hour train ride!). Once we made our way out of the train station we piled into a small van just big enough for our group. We secured our luggage to the roof and made the short drive to our hotel.

Our hotel room has an amazing view of the Nile. We were very impressed and spent several minutes watching feluccas sailing around. We quickly freshened up and met our group back downstairs at 15:30.

We made our way to the banks of the river and got on a ferry. We had another local tour guide that told us about the history of the area and the Nubians that have lived here for thousands of years. We took a short trip down and across the river. On the way we passed hieroglyphics and ancient buildings. The river is incredibly beautiful. The colors of the water, desert, and greenery make blend together very well.

At 16:15 we got off the boat and jumped on some camels. As we rode the camels across (a very, very small part of) the Sahara desert we were treated to a beautiful sunset. The experience was made even more mystical by the fact that we could see ancient looking buildings in the distance on all sides. Part way through the 45-minute journey a donkey (belonging to one of our guides) escaped and ran across the desert. It was very funny to watch all of the guides work together in order recapture it.


After our ride we returned to the boat and made our way to elephantine island. We wandered through the small town and to our boat driver’s house. Once there he sat us down in his living room and served us some beverages. He then proceeded to show us pictures and video from his wedding. I quickly tired of watching wedding tape and spent most of the time playing with one of his nieces (about 5 years old).

Following a quick tour of his house we made our way across town toward the waters edge. There, we sat down and were treated to a very good local dinner. As usual, once everyone was done eating the men smoked some shi-sha. We spent the rest of our time on the island entertaining the little girls in the area. We danced, tickled, and spun them around.

Just before 20:00 we got back on the boat and returned to our side of the Nile. Before returning to our room B and I ran to a local merchant for some snacks for the next few days. Everyone is planning on going to sleep very early tonight because we are all waking up at 3:00 am to visit an ancient Egyptian ruin!