Abu Simbel to Aswan Week Two

hello: it is still hot!!!!!

Abu Simbel Temple at sunrise was incredible!!! we got up at 5 and walked out to the site of the ramses and nefereteri temples. the colour on the temples was amazing and there were hardly any tourists - only two buses with tourists had arrived before us. the temples are on such a grand scale that it is hard to believe that people built these with simple hand toools. the detail in the carving into the sandstone was incredible. going out to the site fo sunrise really paid off as we were even in ramses tomb by ourselves for the longest time.

the eskaleh hotel aka nubian cultural centre was an awesome place to stay for the night. had a great evening meal the night before our walk out to the temple. tripped around the small village as well and ended up trading our pen for a small loaf of bread. this was not quite a transaction we had planned.

middle of the day we took a 5 hour local bus...Upper Egypt Bus Co along with 6 other foreign travellers and local egyptian / nubian folk across the desert to get us back to aswan. the bus was "air conitioned"... not really. it was unbelievably hot but we did get a pit stop in the middle of the desert. we were both exhausted by the time we got to aswan. a couple of the other travellers even told us where to get off the bus so that we did not have to take a taxi from the bus station to the hotel.

it was great to get checked into such good accommodation at such a low price! we have spent the last 4 days visiting sites in the morning and then taking a break in the middle of the day on the roof top where they have above ground pool and then hitting the streets in the evng. we, along with other travellers, have not been overly impressed with the food and sometimes the service. aswan is a major tourist site with thousands of people getting on and off tour boats that are travelling up and down the nile. at times we have felt overwhelmed by the sellers. have found the markets to be nicer in the morning when there are no tourist. we - or should we really say, bridey...has the bargaining down to an art. mostly we/she gets what we want for a fair price. however, there are some times when one just doesn't know what is a fair deal. lots of laughs at the end of a day comparing notes about who paid how much for what...one night we buy 3 falafel for 20 pounds...next day we go back for lunch to same place...and we pay 6 pounds for 2 falafel...go figure. today he said we were his friends!

some of the sites we have seen while in aswan have been totally amazing! the nubian villages and nubian museum have been very special. also the temple of isis was very impressive. thankfully unesco saved them when the aswan high dam was built. you can see 4 of the other temples from the flooded area in museums around the world...interesting trade off ???? we have used the local ferry on several occasions....paid 5 pounds first trip...but then figured out the real fare is one pound. bridey has had lots of interesting interactions with nubian women and their children. lots of egyptian children wearing canadian flag pins.

tomorrow we are heading to luxor (down the nile) via a mini bus with stops at 2 temple sites. we were going to hire a private taxi but have decided to save a bit of money and go with a group with fewer stops.

having a good time...no major problems....and very much in the rhythm of travelling...washing socks, etc at night and taking time to stop and absorb everything.