Day 24 - Monday 7 May - Aswan
5:30 wake up today, although I preempted that and woke up at 5:00.
Last of the Prince Abbas breakfasts today, then we headed out to the Temple of Kalabsha, and the other temples that had also been rescued from rising lake waters and put there.
Soviet-Egyptian Friendship Monument and south side of Aswan High Dam
Temple of Kalabsha
Temple of Kalabsha
Interior of the Temple of Beit el-Wali
Interior of the Temple of Beit el-Wali
Structures south of the Temple of Kalabsha
Kiosk of Qertassi
Temple of Kalabsha
Interior of the Temple of Kalabsha
Came back and then left the Prince Abbas for good.
Got a minivan over the Aswan High Dam and stopped on top for some photos.
The Nile River below Aswan High Dam
Photo by Dad
Temple of Kalabsha and barge on Lake Nasser
North face of Aswan High Dam
Power station at Aswan High Dam
Soviet-Egyptian Friendship Monument at Aswan High Dam
Soviet-Egyptian Friendship Monument at Aswan High Dam
Soviet-Egyptian Friendship Monument at Aswan High Dam
Then down to through Aswan to the Nile where we had a felucca boat ride down the Nile. That was pretty amazing and very peaceful.
View towards Aswan High Dam
View north along the Nile at Aswan
Felucca on the Nile with the Tombs of the Nobles
Felucca on the Nile, El-Tabia Mosque and tour boats moored along the Nile
This brought us to our new ship, the Giselle, a couple of kilometres down the river.
MS Giselle at Aswan
Checked in and had lunch. This ship does buffet style meals instead of off a menu, but the buffets looked amazing. Also a lot more people on this boat (forty - seems a lot to us after the last boat of twenty one, but till nowhere near the boat's full capacity).
My room on the MS Giselle
Pool on the MS Giselle
Lounge area on the MS Giselle
Lunch buffet on the MS Giselle
After lunch I lay down for a little while and attempted to sleep.
Then we headed out again to see a "Nubian Village". Actually the boat trip up the Nile I enjoyed more, getting to see some sights and lots of different birds. The village itself is a mudbrick village on an island in the Nile made up of people that were displaced by the filling of the dam. We were with some other groups, so it was like taking all these rich white people to see how the poor people lived, which made me feel a bit weird. Lots of little kids coming up with their hands out too asking for "baksheesh". At this point I was kicking myself that I'd forgotten the little bundle of pens that I brought for just this purpose. We stopped in one of the houses and went upstairs for some tea, which was nice.
El-Tabia Mosque
Felucca and Elephantine Island
Movenpick Tower on Elephantine Island
Sand dune from the Sahara Desert butting up against the Nile River
View towards the Tombs of the Nobles
Aga Khan Mausoleum
I think some sort of heron on the banks of the Nile
European bee-eater on the banks of the Nile
Mud brick buildings on Elephantine Island
Art work on the side of a building
Doorways to houses on Elephantine Island
Interior of the house we visited on Elephantine Island
Crocodile in the house we visited on Elephantine Island
Photo by Dad
Mud bricks on Elephantine Island
Hopped on the boat again to go further down the same island to the Movenpick hotel for high tea at the top. The little restaurant area has three sixty degree views of Aswan and the river so had some nibblies and some yummy lemon drink and watched the sunset.
Feluccas on the Nile
Movenpick Building and Tower on Elephantine Island
View over the Nile to the city of Aswan
Photo by Dad
View from Movenpick Tower
View from Movenpick Tower
High Tea in the Movenpick Tower
Back on another boat to get back to our big boat. They said we could sit on the roof if we wanted so I jumped at the chance (since the sun had set). There wasn't actually any seats so I stood there, but it was really pretty cruising down the Nile in the twilight.
Felucca on the Nile at dusk
Tombs of the Nobles at dusk
El-Tabia Mosque by night
Dinner was spectacular, but then we've come to expect that ;) But I actually ate very little (been eating far too much!).
Dinner buffet on the MS Giselle
Table set for dinner on the MS Giselle
Then to blog and bed.
Distance covered on the GPS: 51.2 km
Steps walked: 9584
Photos on the Canon: 317
Photos on the Sony: 36
Videos: 8
EGP Spent: 245
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