Aswan and the Nile River ...

Today’s tours of Aswan had a definite water theme - Aswan High Dam, Philae Temple and a felucca (Egyptian sailboat) ride around Elephantine Island to a botanical garden on another island. These aren’t group tours. My guide negotiated the sailboat ride (and motorboat ride to Philae) just for us with local Nubian captains. Philae Temple was the highlight for me. Though not old by Egyptian standards, it was deemed worth saving and moved, stone-by-stone, to a higher island after the Old Aswan dam was built.


It’s usually warm in Aswan. Yesterday got up to 46. My guide said it hits 60 in the summer. I’m not sure of the temperature conversion. Seems like 43 C the other day was 109; something like that. You do the math, I’m on vacation. The Sahara starts just over the Nile - I can see huge sand dunes from my hotel - and stretches across the entire northern part of Africa to the Atlantic. The desert holds the heat causing those extreme temperatures.

I’m the only English-speaking guest here at the Isis Hotel. There were Italians at the pool yesterday, French and Japanese at breakfast, but no other Yankee Doodles. The locals dress modestly here. I put long pants on to go out to dinner. Walking around afterwards, the only people I saw in shorts were a couple and their small children. As they walked by, I could tell they were Americans.

Yesterday’s drive through the country was interesting. My flight from Luxor to Aswan was cancelled so we took the land route. It’s only 160 km, but with all the donkey carts, three-wheeled motorcycles and other traffic it took over 4 hours. I amused myself by taking pictures. How many pictures of donkeys, and men riding donkeys, and donkeys carrying sugar cane, and men riding donkeys carrying sugar cane do I need?

Another interesting thing is Egypt’s version of the taxi. There are three types: Private ones like we’re all used to seeing in cities. Packed vans - like what I ride in - that are really mini-busses. And the country cousin of the vans, small trucks with high camper shells that are even more packed. Everyone can’t fit into the back so there are usually a few guys hanging onto the back. There are always people waiting along the roadside trying to flag one down. Men and women do not wait together.

One difficulty here is Baksheesh or tipping. I want my tips to be fair; my issue is how much is right? My custom has always been a percentage of the bill; and I don’t know what the bill is. I’m on a prepaid tour of three countries that includes company representatives meeting me at airports and checking me into hotels, drivers and guides. Then there are waiters and bell boys and bartenders, folks who it’s clear what to tip.

I gave one bathroom attendant a 50 piastre tip and he asked if I wanted change. The man was ready to give me change back from the 10 cents I’d given him! I accidently tried to give today’s guide 1/100th of what I intended. She gasped and educated me on the money. Another difficulty is getting small bills to tip with. The 100 pound or 200 pound notes the ATMs dispense are like $20s or $40s back home. Tonight’s dinner was only 30 pounds. And no one wants to make change for a 100, much less a 200.