Aswan, and then north

Wednesday March 15
We continued our sail south to Aswan, about as far as we could go in a boat. In the morning, we went to a huge quarry, site of the Unifinished Obelisk. It's an enormously long piece, finished on three sides, resting on its side, still attached. Apparently, part way through the effort, a flaw was discovered and it was left where it is. I kept imagining the fate of the poor stone mason who mis-struck his chisel at a crucial moment and left a crack in the obelisk.

We scrambled around the quarry and saw some wild dogs curled up, apparently comfortable, sleeping on the rocks. We had a nice walk through the shops on the way back, and in the middle went into a little book store; our guide said their prices were some of the best in Egypt, and I got some nice gifts there.

We took a boat ride to Philae, which is a temple on a beautiful little island. Our boat ride over made me think of romance on the Mediterranean; it was beautifully picturesque. The temple is not on its original site; apparently, as the waters of the Nile rose during the construction of the Aswan Dam, the temple became submerged, so it was moved, stone by stone to a site 20 m higher. It was there that an Egyptian TV crew interviewed our group about all the fun we were having on our trip.

We then went for a quick visit to the Aswan Dam. It turns out there's more than one dam. One was built at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth century. The other was built with help from the Soviets after the US, the UK, and the World Bank pulled out of the project. The ride over is creepy because you're not supposed to take any pictures from the windows of your vehicle. We couldn't see anything of interest, but I suppose they're concerned about the dam itself. There is a huge military presence in the area.

At the top of the dam, we took a few pictures (there are some nice views), but there are signs saying not to use video cameras or zoom lenses. There were some cute wild dogs posing on top of the wall.

To top off the afternoon, we got into two feluccas (sail boats with canvas sails) and headed over to Kitchener Island, where there's a refreshing botanical garden. Most of the "gardens" I saw in Egypt were plots of grass with a tree or two, which I suppose is a welcome respite in a land known mostly for its desert. This garden was more like what I'm used to. For wildlife spotting, we saw some very adorable cats, small, of course, and some quite affectionate. OK, true confession: I couldn't resist petting one cat who was so friendly I wanted to take him home. There were also a lot of birds making an unusually unpleasant but amusing racket.

Back in the feluccas, we sailed past the mausoleum of the Aga Khan, another Nile island, and a beautiful old hotel in another part of Aswan.

Thursday March 16
On Thursday, many members of our group got up early to fly to Abu Simbel, further south than Aswan. Robert and I had opted out, so he went to the Nubian Museum, and I went to a souk with some friends. The Nubians are dark-skinned Egyptians whose homeland was wiped out during the construction of the Aswan dam. In apology, the Egyptian museum presented this museum to the people.

The souk -- a giant outdoor market -- was great fun. On our walk over, we were harangued by horse-and-buggy drivers to use their services. A man managed to pick us up and kept directing us, walking with us, disappearing, then reappearing again, all in an effort to get us to visit his store, which we did. A few of us looked at clothing, though I thought that some of the prices were a bit high. By the time we came downstairs, one of our (male) colleagues was drinking tea with the shopkeepers and wearing an elegant beaded belly dancer's cap.

We eventually pried ourselves loose and wandered through the market from stall to stall. There were certainly tourist items, including shawls, musical instruments, statues, jewelry, beads, and so on. There were little alleyways with stores that the Egyptians go to when they buy clothes. I was fascinated by the women's underclothing -- the bras in particular were intricate, with patterns, cut work, embroidery -- who knew what was going on under all that conservative clothing?

And there was meat, displayed and handled in ways that made me glad to be a vegetarian. There was plenty of fresh fruit, bottled water, and other small items.

That afternoon, we sailed for our next destination, Esna. And the next morning, when everyone made a brief visit to the temple, I rested on the boat, bundled up against a brief but annoying respiratory annoyance.

Friday, March 17
And then, just as quickly as we arrived, we left, headed for Luxor. We picked up a heavy police escort, including several policemen who came on board and a police boat that followed us to our next destination. The police brought with them a heavy metal stand which they set up on the back of the boat and on which they placed a rather large gun. We were all set if someone attacked us from the back. We arrived at our destination in the late afternoon, but it was not ok to get off the boat. Through a series of fences, gardens, and police, we were kept very separate from the residents of the area.

We were in Qen, apparently a fundamentalist area. The Egyptian government is desperate to prevent more attacks on tourists, so goes to extreme lengths to protect those who visit. I'm not sure how effective it was, but it felt very unreal.

Saturday, March 18
The purpose of our visit north was to see the Temple of Hathor in Dendara. We climbed up to the roof (though couldn't get past the walls, so couldn't see the view from there). There are some rooms with magnicent carvings, including a casting of the original zodiac ceiling. Of course, the ride over was quite exciting, as our tour bus was escorted by police convoy and traffic was shut down while we were passing through. As someone later said, it makes one rather a sitting duck. They mean well, but I don't think the protection provided is very effective. Fortunately, there were no incidents.

And then we headed back to Luxor.