Nile River, Egypt - Aswan to Luxor

Nile River, Egypt Slide Show

Traveling along, on, and around the Nile River as it flows through Egypt took us on a journey from the ancient temples of Pharaohs to modern day Aswan and Luxor. Taking a felucca (old wooden sailboat) or cruise on the Nile is very peaceful and relaxing. Getting off the boat or ship to visit popular tourist sites or the markets is anything but peaceful and relaxing. Sites such as the Valley of the Kings are filled with tourists, guides, and an onslaught of vendors hawking their wares. We (actually Jennifer and Noah since I get a kick out of bantering with the vendors) are very experienced at lowering their heads and ignoring the calls of "where you from", "just look no buy", "cheap", "my friend" and many other variations from their Hassle the Tourist 101 course that they are all required to attend before becoming an official Ancient Egypt Site vendor.
We started our Nile journey by taking an overnight train from Cairo to Aswan. As with most everything in Egypt, just getting the tickets for the train was an adventure. After inquiring about train tickets for the next day, I was told that I had to pay in US dollars. Only having Egyptian pounds, I spent the next 45 minutes wandering around Cairo looking for a place to exchange their currency into my currency in their country. When I got back to the ticket office with my US dollars, I was then told that they didn't have any tickets for the next 5 days! Since the same train company had another office across the street, we went over there to give it a try. We were met at the door by a guard who escorted us up to the office and put us in the front of a line. I am quite sure that all the people waiting patiently behind us did not mind. After visiting with "the ticket approver", we went to "the ticket giver", and finally to "the money taker". Surprise, surprise, the guard who got us into the front of the line to get tickets was waiting for us! After a tip was given to the guard, in US dollars of course, we were on our way to Aswan!
Okay, where was I? If you can't tell, I am in a story telling mood. What a country! We made it to Aswan, where we met with " the arranger" who introduced us to "the guide" and his two "drivers". For religious reasons, one of our guides could not shake Jennifer's hand so he shook mine twice. I am not sure how long Jennifer would last here?! The guides are extremely knowledgeable about describing the sites in intricate detail.  Jennifer and Noah seemed to understand all the explanations, but I still have trouble with understanding who was a god, Pharaoh or King. All I know is that this Ramses II guy in the picture to the right keeps showing up at most temples, since he was a building machine some 3,000 years ago.
Near Aswan, we visited the Nile's High Dam, the second largest dam in the world. The dam is almost 12,000 feet long and over 3,000 feet wide at the base. It took from 1960 to 1971 to build and 451 workers died during it's construction. The energy from the dam powers all of Egypt and many of the surrounding countries. The High Dam is another example of the dependence that Egypt has on the Nile besides being it's main water source for the country.
We visited many ancient Egyptian sites in the Aswan area including the Unfinished Obelisk, Philae Temple, and Abu Simbel Temple, the most difficult to get to, but also the most impressive. We got up at 3 am to join a police convoy of buses and vans, a 3 hour ride south of Aswan. The convoy is supposedly there for safety, but our feeling is that a convoy of tourists riding through the desert at the same time every day would be an easy target for anyone who wanted to do something to the tourists. The temple is massive. What might be equally impressive is that to preserve the temple, it had to be moved since the building of the High Dam would have left it underwater.
To get from Aswan to Luxor we went on a 3 night Nile cruise on the Nile Festival riverboat. It was a nice cruise ship, but the 3 night cruise is a bit deceiving. The first night we stayed docked in Aswan and the last night you stay docked in Luxor. The second night we docked at the Kom Ombo Temple, a beautiful sight lit up at night. On the ship, Noah and I had our first chance to play ping pong since the first night of our trip in Lima, Peru. It was sweet revenge for the old man as I had to wait over 3 months to avenge my loss to Noah in Lima.
Our final stop on the cruise was in Luxor, sometimes referred to as the world's greatest outdoor museum. There is a gluttony of history to take in around Luxor with many temple and tomb sites. After visiting the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, the Temple of Hatshepsut and Luxor Temple, we were spent. In the words of the great Roberto Duran, "no mas temples". We had seen enough and opted out of the Temple of Karnak and whatever else was on the agenda that our arranger and guide had planned. Plain and simple, we were templed out.
One of the more interesting stops on our sightseeing around Luxor was the Valley of the Kings, where 63 kings and all their treasures were buried deep into the hills. The tombs were built well into the rough desert mountains, hidden deep into the ground so that the treasure buried with them would not be found and ultimately stolen. The treasure was buried with them was for the kings to use in their afterlife.  The other notable site is the Temple of Hatshepsut, an impressive structure built into the mountainside for Queen Hatshepsut, who ruled in place of her stepson since her stepson inherited the throne at a very young age.
We were a little worried as we taxi'd to our hotel in Luxor, Mara's House. It is located in a non-touristy area "on the other side of the tracks". It turned out to be a great find though as Irish Mara takes great care of all her guests and the Egyptian feast dinner was the best meal that we had in Egypt. Noah played soccer in the street with a little neighborhood boy from a couple doors down. Noah and Jennifer were invited for tea at the boy's house where he lives with his mom and two sisters. The next day, Noah purchased a soccer ball for the family.  Hopefully that ball will be used by a wonderful family for many games in the streets!
To see our Nile River, Egypt slide show, click on the following link ==> Nile River, Egypt Slide Show