We board our bus and are taken to see the Aswan High Dam. Ok... now I've seen it. Then we go to the place where we catch a little boat for Philae. This was another of the temples that was moved when the High (yawn) Dam was built and the land permanently flooded.
There isn't a lot I can tell you about Philae, other than it was dedicated to Isis. I managed to get lost early on in the tour and the guide seemed glad to get rid of me...pfffft. I wandered around and took some nice photos on my own. Especially pretty was columned building that was built to house the solar boats... Eventually, I found everyone again.
Our hotel on Elephantine Island, Aswan Oberoi, was originally built by the Russians, and taken over by the Oberoi hotel chain. This hotel really looks like the product of Soviet thinking. Big, stark, squarish, and very utilitarian. And we have nice big rooms.... and big bathrooms.... but we miss you, little cruise ship.
Our next attraction was the botanical gardens on Kirchner's Island. The one we were forbidden to visit the day before. Botanical gardens, huh? For a moment there, I considered tying my hair to a tall tree. Except for the wonderful Nubians, and the camels, and the monestary, Aswan is quickly becoming a dull gray spot in an otherwise colorful vacation.
We next visited the Nubian Museum which contains artifacts taken from the area when the land was flooded by the High (ho-mum) Dam. Gypsy must have been so shaken by her violent felucca boarding that she remembers practically nothing of this museum. All I remember is a huge statue of a seated Ramses II. It had the biggest, fattest, most grotesque legs imaginable. It was actually disgusting.. Lasix needs to be invented... Quick! I think they should have done art lovers a favor and just left this statue to drown.
In the evening, a group of us visit the market... and it is an exciting place.. with many local people making their daily purchases... and a tourist here or there. Everything was for sale from meat and bread to spices and souvenirs. I don't know which was more fascinating to see, the shops or the shoppers.
Cuz: I tried ignoring the vendors, but suddenly I needed gifts desperately. Been hanging around with that Gypsy and her ugly scarab too long. I did real well, though, as a real sleazy salesman tried to sell me a t-shirt for 50 American dollars. I said something very unladylike (such as, "You're full of shit!" - Gee, they understood that!) and finally got him down to $5.00 each. OH BOY, is this great or what?
Upon arrival at Abu Simbel, we left our bags at the hotel and went straight away to the monuments. We are back on vacation now, as this sight is a true wonder. The two temples... that of Ramses II, with ok legs this time, and dedicated to himself.. and the temple of Nefertari,his wife, dedicated to Hathor... these were truly sensational. They far surpassed our expectations.
Silly me thought that the exteriors were to be the most exciting part of the temples... but the interior areas were incredible. Such a wonder this was... I feel sorry for people who visit Egypt without seeing Abu Simbel. It is almost at the border of Sudan, and out of the way for many visitors.
Cuz and I walked through the huge rooms looking at the wall paintings, relating the stories that they depicted. We disovered that Ramses II was a Willie Nelson fan... it is all right there on the walls and columns. Ramses also seemed to have a huge collection of CDs and spent an inordinate amount of time comparing his music collection with that of the gods. Also he used to ejaculate into a bowl of fruit. I can assure you that most Willie Nelson fans don't do this. That personal quirk probably had something to do with his big fat legs.
Our early flight from Abu Simbel to Aswan was without incident and we waited in Aswan for our connecting flight to Cairo.
Guess what? It is lunch time. Still no plane. So we are brought big box lunches.... about a pint of black olives, some of those famous sandwiches with nothing in them, more of that cake that seems to have an aversion to plastic wrap, and some fruit. And a bottle of water. We have just been sitting, standing, lounging, and wandering around all morning and no one has much of an appetite for this gourmet fare. So most of it gets left in the boxes.
From somewhere comes a small group of people with a man on a gurney. Not like our gurneys that raise up to a reasonable height... this one was about eight inches high, barely off the floor. The gurney-guys were all doubled over trying to push it... it would have been easier to just kick it along. A very ill looking man was on the gurney but you could tell his most serious problem at the moment was acute embarrassment...at being dragged along the floor through the airport.
By late afternoon, people with cell phones have been in contact with other people with cell phones... some of them at Luxor airport, evidentally. The only word we hear... from a tour guide of another group...is that a plane ran off the runway in Luxor, got stuck in the sand, and broke a wheel. This effectively shut down all of EgyptAir.
Finally we get new bording passes and a bus comes to take us to a ...can it be... yes... it it true... a plane. We clamor onto the bus with big grins and happy hearts.
Cuz: Let's say Gypsy gave new meaning to the "Ass" in Aswan....heh heh.
The dinner cruise is lovely. An ok dinner and Cairo all lit up and sparkly.. we are really to tired to appreciate it.. and a show with a belly dancer that seemed quite gifted and energetic. She had some dance boys with her too... but even they couldn't get us to smile. We are SO tired.. if only we could go to our hotel.. but we are in the middle of the Nile. And stayed there till midnight. We are numb.
Take a plane to Jordan...
We tried very hard to have our photo taken at Ramses' temple.. the one with the HUGE statues of the Pharoah. But it couldn't be done.. there was no way we could get into the picture and still have the "big guy" with us. So we hurried over to Nefertari's little temple where Ramses had himself depicted as a tiny little bit of a king. Are you wondering what Cuz has spied under Pharoah's skirt? Gee.. so am I. She looks pretty excited about it, doesn't she?
That evening, we returned to the temples to see the Sound and Light Show. We don't have the crowds here that we had in the other parts of Egypt... and that certainly enhances our experience. This show was absolutely great... the music was stirring... the narration good... sitting under the stars watching the lights play on the temples.. it was another great high point. Everyone was enchanted by the experience.
Our room at the Seti Hotel are amazingly beautiful. We have a magnificent view of Lake Nasser and we sleep under a huge domed ceiling this night.
In the morning as we waited for our bus to load for the trip to the airport, we amuse ourselves by watching the Japanese tourists take pictures. They take pictures of each other standing by the luggage, standing by the door, standing by the curb, standing by a hedge, standing by a light fixture. I don't think we are quite that bad, although we have taken pictures of some very unusual things.
We arrive early about 9 am, and there is time to look around the airport and do a bit of shopping at the little gift places. We were given boarding passes.... and we waited... and waited. There seems to be some delay, so we are told we can turn in our boarding passes for a free beverage. All refreshed, we do more shopping and wandering around. Gypsy hears some of that happy Nubian music come over the PA and rushes up to the counter to buy the tape. Well, they only had one tape so they took it out of the tape player and sold it to me. Gypsy is happy with her second-hand, used, newly purchased tape.
The porter picks up the boxes and stacks them on his trash cart, and begins distributing them to the airport personnel. So soon the "port police" (that's just like the "tourist police" but at the airport) are eating olives and fruit and all that wonderful stuff that was in our boxes. Even the maids in the restrooms had a stack of our lunch boxes. People in other countries must think us a very wasteful society, we Americans. They are right; we are.
The "Port Police" are a rather interesting and grim bunch. They appear to be wearing old woolen, olive drab Soviet uniforms. And it would seem Soviets are much larger people than Egyptians. Some had their sleeves rolled up so they wouldn't fall over their hands and trigger fingers...and some of the belts went around about two times and had to be tucked up. It was all very strange. The regular TP were not all that tailored, either, however they looked a bit more spiffy in their black wool uniforms. And they all looked really hot... and I don't mean that in a good way.
Gypsy is desperate! It is mid afternoon and no one seems to know or care where our plane is. So off to shop again. I return to my seat with a pack of cards. Gypsy hates to play cards, but was at her wit's end.... and she does know how to play Solitaire and Fifty-two Pick-up! By the time the cards were shuffled, sort of... I couldn't stand it any more and that was the end of the card playing. I guess I wasn't THAT desperate.
The sundown now. Some of us go to the window and the door to look out at the sun setting in the empty sky over the empty runways. The Port Police chases us away from the door and says gruff things to us in Arabic... all those olives have made him a bit full of himself, I'd say. What harm can we do?... there isn't an airplane in all of southern Egypt for us to sabotage or hijack.
This has been a long and difficult day... it is time for some entertainment. The wind has really come up... it is blowing hard.. but Gypsy has been behind glass all day and doesn't know that. So when she alights from the bus at the foot of the boarding stairs... her skirt goes right up over her head like an inside out umbrella. You realize of course that there are lots of men standing at the base of the stairs.. and Port Police with their big guns guarding the plane. Gypsy could give lessons about high flying skirts.. and with nude colored panties.. it must have been a thrilling sight for all the guys hanging around. They seemed to all enjoy the entertainment; they were smiling. It seems Arab men stand around all the time everywhere. It's a "guy thing". As I made a desperate effort to gather my skirt and pull it somewhere down below my waist.. my boarding pass went flying off with the wind. Fortunately a Port Police was kind enough to almost get sucked into the revving jet engine to retreive it for me.. he must have liked my act.
Now that everyone has had a good time, we are ready to squeeze ourselves into our seats. Oopsie! Here comes the man on the eight inch high gurney. The cabin crew removes three seats along the windows... and has everyone sitting in that section of the plane stand up in the aisle. You know how croweded planes are with everyone in their seat! Then the crew maneuvers the gurney through the back door into the plane over everyone's head, over the people standing in the aisle and secure it in the place where the seats were. Now the other people can sit down in the remaining seats. Whew. I didn't think we would make it... we are ready to take off for Cairo. What a day this has been and it isn't over yet.
We arrive in Cairo and our dinner cruise on the Nile has been rescheduled for 9 pm. We are promised it will only be about an hour had a half...we are so tired that we can't take much more of anything.
Our hotel, when we finally get there, is quite luxurious.. I seem to recall an immense crystal chandallier and something about fresh flowers in our room, but who cares... we fall into bed. It was already after one o'clock and we have to be up again at four thirty.
