Aswan Dam
Thursday, March 15th
We woke up at 6:30 again and went upstairs to see where we were. We were parked in the middle of a bunch of boats by a big city. Near us was an enormous rock (or small island).
It seemed cool, quiet, and serene, and the morning light was beautiful. At 8 we left for the Aswan Dam. This time we had to walk through 3 ships to debark. There are actually 2 dams -- the Aswan Dam, built around the turn of the century, and the High Dam, built in the 60s with Soviet help. On the way we drove past Philae Island, then turned inland and saw a dramatic Coptic Cathedral. Next we passed a picturesque old cemetery on a hill, then crossed the Nile by driving across the old dam.
To the right we could see the first cataract, which is now a beautiful green area filled with craggy rocks, pools, and marshes. Since the dam is holding back most of the water, it doesn't look like it is navigable any more. At the far end of the old dam is a large lock, which seemed unused. We turned and drove south toward the High Dam through very desolate countryside. Near the dam we saw the monument to friendship with the Soviet Union, which looks like a large flower about to open. On top of the High Dam is a nice park with trees and good views of Lake Nasser and Aswan. On the shore of the lake is a temple. We got out to take pictures.
We drove back the way we had come, then turned off by the cemetery to go visit the Temple at Philae. The bus stopped by a row of tourist shops, and we walked past them to a boat launch area. Duh! -- the temple is on Philae Island!
On the boat, one of the boatmen got trinkets out of a backpack and started selling them to us. However, this was not too bad, because he had a monopoly on the boat and did not bother us unless we actually indicated interest. He had a bunch of inexpensive looking necklaces. Some of them looked like bone, and one of them I particularly liked because there were simple designs carved on the bone, like scrimshaw. Unfortunately, the Rosses, who seemed really good at bargaining, had this necklace, so I couldn't bargain for it. I think they got him down to $3. Just as we were getting off the boat, they decided they didn't want it, so I got it -- for $8. However, I still think it was a good buy, because I really like it, and I only had 5 seconds to buy it in.
The temple at Philae Isand was really beautiful, but the inner parts were quite crowded. This temple used to be partly underwater after the first Aswan dam was built, and was moved at the time the High Dam was built. Karima showed us where the coffer dam was that was used to protect the temple while it was being moved. The upper part of the temple was lighter in color than the part that had been underwater. The temple was laid out somewhat differently because of the constraints of the island, but all the temples have many similarities. We saw some Coptic crosses, and also some graffitti carved in the 1800s. After the tour by Karima and a few minutes to wander around on our own we met at the entrance to get back on the boat and back to the bus.
Next we went to the Papyrus Institute. They had a short demonstration on how papyrus is made, which I found quite interesting. They cut the stems into strips, then pound them to break down the cell walls and get out the water. Then they soak them for several days. Finally they arrange them into the paper shape and put them in a press.
Of course, the main purpose of this trip was for us to buy stuff. Art students had painted reproductions of various ancient art scenes taken from tombs, etc. on the papyrus, and they were priced at $20 and up. I thought the paintings were really nicely done, and felt this was a pretty reasonable price, so I bought 7 of them for about $175. (The salesman of course managed to get me to buy 2 more than I had intended.) I usually don't manage to buy enough souvenirs so that I can actually give some away, so it will be nice to have some Christmas presents for a change!
I had noticed that our itinerary said nothing about visiting the quarry with the unfinished obelisk. The original sales brochure had stated that we would do this, and I felt we would have time, so I had asked Karima in the morning if we could do this. She said there really wasn't much to see there, but she would do it if we had time. Apparently, she had to call the head office and ask if it was OK, but the next place we went was the quarry. A few of the people stayed on the bus, but most everyone got out and walked the route around the quarry to the obelisk and back. The obelisk itself looked like a large ramp -- until you noticed that one end was pointed. I was a little worried that not everyone was interested in this excursion, but several members of the tour thanked me for asking about it, so that was good.
Because of visiting the quarry we got back to lunch a little late. However, this was fine, because then we didn't have to fight with the Spanish tourists to get to the food. (They liked to cut in line a lot.) We went out again at 3 for the felucca ride. We walked a short distance from our ship to the dock with the feluccas and got on one. However, before we actually left, a policeman came up, and after a short conversation they told us that it was too windy and we had to take a motorboat instead. This was a disappointment, because I had never been on a sailboat, and was looking forward to it. We transferred to the motorboat, and shortly after starting out we saw 2 feluccas sailing toward us. While we were watching them, the 2nd one capsized! The sail had gotten too much of the wind, and pulled it right over.
We rushed over to help, but another boat picked up the 2 sailors. We could see that the boat had no keel, and it sank fairly quickly. No tourists were on board. Afterwards we noticed police boats chasing down the feluccas and making them drop their sails. I also noticed our boatman talking on his cell phone and wondered if he was warning other sailors. We sailed (well, motored) around Kitchener's Island and past the mausoleum of Agha Khan. We could see the edge of the botanical gardens on Kitchener's Island, and a camel market on the shore below the mausoleum.
After an hour we returned to the ship. Karima told us the schedule for the next day, then invited anyone that wanted to to go the bazaar with her. 12 of us went. It was just a couple of blocks from the ship, and consisted of several long blocks of shops. Many of them sold touristy stuff. We walked the length of the bazaar, and on the way back went into a shop that the owner did not acost us on the street. I purchased a set of basalt canopic jars that had carvings as well as the heads of the jackal, etc. on each one. Karima said they were nicely carved, but I paid too much. Too bad, I guess we should have walked out of the shop during the bargaining process, but, oh well.
We went back to our room where I unpacked and repacked my suitcase so I could pad all my purchases. (Everything arrived home in one piece, so I guess I did a good job.) After dinner was the Nubian folkloric show, which was pretty good and did not seem faky. Only men performed in this show. They played several handdrums and a 1-stringed instrument. The show started out with one man in a big skirt whirling around accompanied by the music. He kept taking off the skirt and there would be another one underneath it. After he was done several other men danced with sticks. As part of the show they asked several women from among the spectators to dance along with them to the music. The first time they did this they headed straight for Lydia, the youngest, buffest, and cutest girl there. She was a very good sport and acquitted herself admirably. After this, they started asking other women, but I guess Lydia was a pretty hard act to follow, because many of them said no, even young ones. So they asked Lydia again, and then some other women from our group. Finally someone not from our group consented to dance, and even though she was neither young nor cute, she did well, and looked 10 years younger and prettier when she was having fun dancing. I think Lydia was a little annoyed by the 3rd time they asked her, because everyone else was being such a poor sport.
Previous day - Wednesday, March 14th--------------------------------------Next day - Friday, March 16th