Aswan City

We stayed in Aswan for a few days while we checked out some of the ancient sites that were fairly nearby. It is a city of about 280,000 people. It's the last large city to the south of Cairo. It's about 860 kilometers south of Cairo and another 280 kilometers takes you to the southern border where Abu Simbel is located. We journeyed from Cairo to Aswan via sleeper train. It's about an 11-hour trip and got us there in Aswan in the early morning hours where our driver picked us up and took us to the war facility on the Nile so that we could travel across to Isis Island Hotel. Getting up and down the river in Aswan to different locations is accomplished by water taxis. There are a large number of these very quaint watercraft available for use. They don't cost you anything as long as you are going to and from a business, a restaurant, or a hotel that is situated on one of the islands in the middle of the Nile and you have to get to the bank to go to town. Very charming way to get around. I heartily recommend it. On the way to our hotel on Isis Island, we see a pair of fishermen practicing the ancient art of scaring a Nile perch into nets in front of them and we pass by a very impressive property on the bank across from our hotel called the Cataracts where it is said the Queen Mum was staying for the New Year's celebration while we were there. The Isis Island Hotel is a three-star property. It has very lovely views from the patios of the rooms which are situated in a long line facing the river. This is a short hyperlapse that I took from our hotel room patio during the late afternoon to show the amount of traffic that is going up and down the river all day long. It's pretty amazing really. Then I have another little hyperlapse of twilight and sunset on the river and then a view of the Nile from the breakfast lounge where we had an absolutely wonderful buffet every morning. During breakfast, we decided it would be fun to go into town and do a little shopping, maybe see some different things, so we hopped back on a water taxi and headed for the opposite bank. Now if you're wondering where they get their water for consumption and running their facilities, well, they just suck it right up out of the river. And as we drive towards the indoor souk, we pass the St. Michael's Cathedral which is a famous Coptic church landmark. Lots of interesting things to see at the souk which is an Arab word and roughly translates as market. We have fellow weaving rugs in one of the stores and then we go on to an establishment that sells spices and it's not the sort of thing that you commonly see in the United States. These huge woven baskets that are full of all sorts of exotic things and it's just open air and ready for you to get in there with a shovel and take some home. Next we visit what was billed as a hardware store and it certainly doesn't bear much resemblance to Ace or Home Depot, but we were able to find what we were looking for there which was a metric stainless steel ruler. At the end of our shopping day, our guide Sohaila convinces us that we absolutely must visit a Nubian restaurant which is her very favorite restaurant in Aswan, situated of course on the bank of the Nile. And so it being very close to dinner time, we proceed to the restaurant. Our meal was absolutely fabulous, the Nubian food is indeed delicious. After we had dinner, we decided to partake of a little bit of Nubian coffee, I guess this is the closest thing that there is to Starbucks in Egypt, but the coffee was very strong and very, very, very tasty. Well, here we are at the dock the next morning waiting for our water taxi to convey us across to our driver who will take us on to Abu Simbel. It has been very much an enjoyable experience here in Aswan and I hope that you've enjoyed this presentation.