November 8, 2006 - Aswan, Egypt

November 8, 2006
Aswan, Egypt

Congrats to the Democratic Party back in the USA! Woo-Hoo!!

This morning we woke up at 3:00 and quickly organized a daypack. We met the rest of our group in the lobby at 3:30. Shortly thereafter our guide for the day picked us up. Our group was fortunate enough to have its own bus. I was even luckier and got an entire row to myself. Thus, I slept for most of the 3-hour journey to the ancient ruins of Abu Simbel.

Abu Simbel is located very near to the Sudan border. As such, all tourist vehicles travel in caravan with a police escort. Our bus was one of about 30 that made the 200-kilometer drive to the temple.

Ramesses II built Abu Simbel almost 3,300 years ago. In the 1960’s the temple had to be dismantled and rebuilt on higher ground because of the Nile’s rising water levels. Due to the size and intricacy of the temple, this was an amazing feat of engineering (that took 4 years).

The entrance to the temple is awe-inspiring. Four large sculptures of Ramesses II surround the doorway (1 has lost his face). The inside is just as amazing. There are many more large sculptures and a plethora of hieroglyphics (sorry, no pictures inside). At the end of the temple sit four Egyptian gods. Amazingly, twice a year, as the sun rises, light shines through the entrance and to the end of the temple where the gods sit. The story reminded me a lot of something from Indiana Jones…


After visiting the main temple we went to a second, smaller temple. The outside was guarded by a different set of very large figures. The inside was very similar to the other temple, with several large figurines and lots of hieroglyphics.

We spent the rest of our time at Abu Simbel wandering around the visitor center and gift shop. At 8:45 the caravan began started back to Aswan. Our driver informed us that we were lucky and that sometimes more than 100 buses make the trip! Once again, I slept for a large portion of the journey.

We returned to our hotel just after 12:30. B was feeling very tired so I set out on the town by myself. My first goal was to get some food. I stopped in at a local eatery and ordered the only thing I could, a falafel and a coke.

Once I was full I continued on my way and stumbled upon the local souk. As I wandered through the marketplace many shopkeepers accosted me. Even so, I managed to go for quite a while before buying anything.

Eventually, I stumbled upon a small, dark shop with no customers inside. Needing a break from the bustling street I ducked inside. Incredibly, the pot bellied Nubian with a large mustache did not follow me around his store. Instead he just watched as I looked at some of his items. The shop was filled with the same stuff as every other store in the souk.

As I studied one of the carved scarab beetles he beckoned me over. He pulled, from behind a glass case, a much more intricately carved beetle. He told me how he only had three of these beetles and that they were very rare. I was interested until he told me it would cost $150! After a long talk about some of his other product (between 30 and 40 minutes) we returned to the scarab beetle. We haggled for a long time. In the end, I purchased the beetle for $35 and felt pretty good about things.

A short time later I went into another shop and saw a scarab that looked almost exactly the same! I picked it up and was told that it would cost $30. As I walked out of the shop the salesman continued to drop his price. In the end he offered me the beetle for $5.

I came away from the experience slightly upset with myself for not looking around before purchasing from the old man. Still, I was very impressed by his stories and ability to make the beetle seem very special. Ohh well…

Knowing that I had already spent enough money for the day I returned to the hotel (15:00). B was still asleep when I got to the room. I began sorting through my photos and organizing some of my things.

At 19:00 we are going out to dinner as a group. After that we will come back to the hotel and pack up our things. We depart early tomorrow morning for a 2 day felucca ride on the Nile to the city of Luxor.