Egypt Day Five : Aswan
The train ride proceeded smoothly- there were control panels in individual rooms to control heat, music, light etc. Great! We are awoken by the conductor, and served a breakfast complete with coffee.. "Nescaf" as they refer to the coffee Westerners are used to, rather than the stronger concoction Egyptians toss back. While we are waiting to disembark from the train with our suitcases in tow, the conductor rudely reminds us to tip him with a curt "baksheesh" barked in our faces. This topic of baksheesh could really take up an entire new post as life in Egypt seems to revolve around it. Locals expected tips for everything from pushing the door open in random places, to the woman in public toilets handing over toilet paper to you (talk about unsanitary). The most funny was when we were riding the local train between Aswan and Luxor - the seats before us were in recline mode despite no one sitting in them. There was plenty of leg room so we didn't mind- but a man materialised out of nowhere, put the seats into normal and then affronted me for "baksheesh". Note though that this practice applies to Egyptians, as much as it does to foreigners, but foreigners are expected to cough up large amounts for services rendered, whether you asked for it or not. We were startled for example to realise that the man at the money exchange counter expected a tip as well- not being used to the custom, we felt completely uncomfortable by the practice. It ruined many moments for us in Egypt that could have been otherwise pleasant... More on that below.
"Welcome to Aswan". So we tip the conductor to
his satisfaction, and are met on the platform by our agent who ushers us into an awaiting car and drives us down the block to our hotel, which is on the banks of the Nile. After giving us a total of 10 minutes to freshen up, we are led away by our Egyptologist to visit the High Dam. Aswan was in the news worldwide in the 60s as work began on the high dam amidst controversy. The Nile's flooding is what had allowed Egyptian civilization to flourish in the first place, but it had become a nuisance. Egypt is 90% desert, and the topography was indeed surprising. About 10 kilometers around both banks of the Nile you'd see immense greenery and farming taking place, while futher away the desert began again. The great river flooding each year meant that fertile soil was left on the banks which allowed food to be grown. With time and as agriculture itself became more sophisticated, the Egyptian government drew up plans to build the dam to control the flow of the Nile. After the US and the World Bank withdrew from the project, it was with the nationalising of the Suez Canal, and the support of the former Soviet Union's that it was built.
Standing on it you can see why it was once considered an impossible dream. It's a massive structure of concrete, requiring 18 times the material required for the Great Pyramid. Today on one side of the dam lies Lake Nasser, the world's largest man made lake which further south turns into the Nile again and flows down to Lake Victoria. On the other side continues flowing the Nile, albeit a more stabil one. With the building of the Nile, most Nubian communities that lived around the area became displaced as their homes were flooded. Several monuments in the area were also flooded and remained under water until the international community rescued them and lifted them to higher ground stone by stone. When I asked our guide why they monuments hadn't been moved in the first place, BEFORE the dam was built, she seemed startled by the question. There were at the time greater priorities. Priorities greater than saving monuments thousands of years old?!
After the high dam, we headed for Philae Island, home of the Temple of Isis- one of the monuments that was under water a few years ago. It's original location is still visible from where it stands today, and it took UNESCO 8 years between 1972 and 1980 to move the temple. We take a short boat ride to the temple, and are entranced by the story of Isis and Anubis. The 
temple's exterior itself tells interesting stories- built in the Graeco-Roman style during the time when Egypt was ruled by the Greeks, but later used by Coptic Christians as a church, they tried to deface it's carvings, attempting to replace it's hyrogliphs with the Coptic cross. Both are visible today.
Touring Egypt is tolling. Despite being driven around to the sights in the comforts of an AC'd car, the heat outside is exhausting. It seems to pierce through and burn you, made all the more strong by the reflecting sand everywhere. We are happy to leave the outdoors and head to lunch. Our Egyptologist takes us to a popular restaurant in Aswan town, where she orders a lavish feast for us- we start with salad (a mix of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, mint, and parsely- this is served everywhere and with everything in Egypt), and then comes the soups (a really delicious lentil soup), then the breads with the various sauces (tahini, hummus, eggplant etc) and then for what we had ordered- the fire grilled lamb kababs and koftas served with a flavoured rice. These two were my favorite thing to eat in Egypt. The food was delicious but unaccustomed to eating such a heavy lunch we both head back to the car feeling as lethargic as can be.
Next stop: felucca ride. Feluccas are these gracelful sail boats
that populate the Nile. We board one driven by a Nubian and set sail for the islands around the Aswan shore- Elephantine Island, the botanical garden island, Nubian villages etc. It is a really wonderful ride- we enjoy taking in the colorful scenery, and the young Nubian boys who rush to our boat riding self made tiny vessels singing a completely out of synch version of "row row row your boat" for a tip. Mr. R and I try and just lose ourselves in our surroundings, and try to ignore the constant bleating our our Egyptologist who tries to sell us one thing after another. Although our Egyptologist in Cairo as well as later in Luxor were wonderful, our Aswan guide is a lady who 
seems far more interested in selling us items then she is in sharing the rich history we are there to see. When we ask questions, she attempts to escape hastily back to the car telling us she suffers sun allergies. Travelers to Egypt beaware- your experience depends on a large part on the Egyptologist you have, which is out of your control.
We exit the felucca feeling happy and in awe of our lovely fertile surroundings. This mood is instantly ruined by the felucca driver who is not content with the generous tip we've provided him with, on top of the fee he's charged for our ride. The manner in which he accosts us is totally off putting. "Tipping is for the giving, not the expecting" we want to say to him- someone should tell the bloke that if he was more pleasant perhaps we'd be happier to over tip him even futher. It's a shame but the complete peace we'd been feeling is ruined, and we return to our hotels really displeased. Tourism in Egypt seems to have gone terribly wrong. As one European we meet tells us "I'm very impressed with the ancient Egyptians, and not so impressed with the modern ones". He jokingly tells us he's thinking of having shirts printed with this and selling them.
We are happy to be rid of our Egyptologist and set off to explor
e the Aswan souk on our own. It is a better bazaar then Khan el Khalili- smaller scale with the same merchandize, without the crowds and over zealous haggling. We are yet again amused by the sale tactics : "If you want to spend your money, I can help you" seems to be a favorite line! We walk laughing through the souk after vendors attempt to grab our attention by guessing our nationality.. starts with "Indian?", "Pakistani?", with a final and feeble "Egyptian?". I buy a gorgeous Nubian amber necklace, a mother of pearl inlaid box, scarves and other goodies. Aswan is especially popular for it's fresh spices, the colorful boxes line the markey, as well as dried hibiscus and it's red henna.
We head towards our hotel just in time to catch a gorgeous Nile sunset from our balcony, and order some more kababs, salads and eggplants from room service. We have to be up at 3am the next morning, so we try to sleep.
"Welcome to Aswan". So we tip the conductor to
his satisfaction, and are met on the platform by our agent who ushers us into an awaiting car and drives us down the block to our hotel, which is on the banks of the Nile. After giving us a total of 10 minutes to freshen up, we are led away by our Egyptologist to visit the High Dam. Aswan was in the news worldwide in the 60s as work began on the high dam amidst controversy. The Nile's flooding is what had allowed Egyptian civilization to flourish in the first place, but it had become a nuisance. Egypt is 90% desert, and the topography was indeed surprising. About 10 kilometers around both banks of the Nile you'd see immense greenery and farming taking place, while futher away the desert began again. The great river flooding each year meant that fertile soil was left on the banks which allowed food to be grown. With time and as agriculture itself became more sophisticated, the Egyptian government drew up plans to build the dam to control the flow of the Nile. After the US and the World Bank withdrew from the project, it was with the nationalising of the Suez Canal, and the support of the former Soviet Union's that it was built.
Standing on it you can see why it was once considered an impossible dream. It's a massive structure of concrete, requiring 18 times the material required for the Great Pyramid. Today on one side of the dam lies Lake Nasser, the world's largest man made lake which further south turns into the Nile again and flows down to Lake Victoria. On the other side continues flowing the Nile, albeit a more stabil one. With the building of the Nile, most Nubian communities that lived around the area became displaced as their homes were flooded. Several monuments in the area were also flooded and remained under water until the international community rescued them and lifted them to higher ground stone by stone. When I asked our guide why they monuments hadn't been moved in the first place, BEFORE the dam was built, she seemed startled by the question. There were at the time greater priorities. Priorities greater than saving monuments thousands of years old?!
After the high dam, we headed for Philae Island, home of the Temple of Isis- one of the monuments that was under water a few years ago. It's original location is still visible from where it stands today, and it took UNESCO 8 years between 1972 and 1980 to move the temple. We take a short boat ride to the temple, and are entranced by the story of Isis and Anubis. The 
temple's exterior itself tells interesting stories- built in the Graeco-Roman style during the time when Egypt was ruled by the Greeks, but later used by Coptic Christians as a church, they tried to deface it's carvings, attempting to replace it's hyrogliphs with the Coptic cross. Both are visible today.Touring Egypt is tolling. Despite being driven around to the sights in the comforts of an AC'd car, the heat outside is exhausting. It seems to pierce through and burn you, made all the more strong by the reflecting sand everywhere. We are happy to leave the outdoors and head to lunch. Our Egyptologist takes us to a popular restaurant in Aswan town, where she orders a lavish feast for us- we start with salad (a mix of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, mint, and parsely- this is served everywhere and with everything in Egypt), and then comes the soups (a really delicious lentil soup), then the breads with the various sauces (tahini, hummus, eggplant etc) and then for what we had ordered- the fire grilled lamb kababs and koftas served with a flavoured rice. These two were my favorite thing to eat in Egypt. The food was delicious but unaccustomed to eating such a heavy lunch we both head back to the car feeling as lethargic as can be.
Next stop: felucca ride. Feluccas are these gracelful sail boats
that populate the Nile. We board one driven by a Nubian and set sail for the islands around the Aswan shore- Elephantine Island, the botanical garden island, Nubian villages etc. It is a really wonderful ride- we enjoy taking in the colorful scenery, and the young Nubian boys who rush to our boat riding self made tiny vessels singing a completely out of synch version of "row row row your boat" for a tip. Mr. R and I try and just lose ourselves in our surroundings, and try to ignore the constant bleating our our Egyptologist who tries to sell us one thing after another. Although our Egyptologist in Cairo as well as later in Luxor were wonderful, our Aswan guide is a lady who 
seems far more interested in selling us items then she is in sharing the rich history we are there to see. When we ask questions, she attempts to escape hastily back to the car telling us she suffers sun allergies. Travelers to Egypt beaware- your experience depends on a large part on the Egyptologist you have, which is out of your control.We exit the felucca feeling happy and in awe of our lovely fertile surroundings. This mood is instantly ruined by the felucca driver who is not content with the generous tip we've provided him with, on top of the fee he's charged for our ride. The manner in which he accosts us is totally off putting. "Tipping is for the giving, not the expecting" we want to say to him- someone should tell the bloke that if he was more pleasant perhaps we'd be happier to over tip him even futher. It's a shame but the complete peace we'd been feeling is ruined, and we return to our hotels really displeased. Tourism in Egypt seems to have gone terribly wrong. As one European we meet tells us "I'm very impressed with the ancient Egyptians, and not so impressed with the modern ones". He jokingly tells us he's thinking of having shirts printed with this and selling them.
We are happy to be rid of our Egyptologist and set off to explor
e the Aswan souk on our own. It is a better bazaar then Khan el Khalili- smaller scale with the same merchandize, without the crowds and over zealous haggling. We are yet again amused by the sale tactics : "If you want to spend your money, I can help you" seems to be a favorite line! We walk laughing through the souk after vendors attempt to grab our attention by guessing our nationality.. starts with "Indian?", "Pakistani?", with a final and feeble "Egyptian?". I buy a gorgeous Nubian amber necklace, a mother of pearl inlaid box, scarves and other goodies. Aswan is especially popular for it's fresh spices, the colorful boxes line the markey, as well as dried hibiscus and it's red henna.We head towards our hotel just in time to catch a gorgeous Nile sunset from our balcony, and order some more kababs, salads and eggplants from room service. We have to be up at 3am the next morning, so we try to sleep.
posted by Distar at 3:00 AM
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