ISSUE 47: Aswan, Egypt 2018

We had landed in Aswan after a short hour and half flight. My condition was deteriorating as I felt my sinuses burning in the heart of the Sahara Desert with what felt like a mild fever... However, it could have been the 100 degree weather causing me to feel overheated instead.

When we headed into baggage claim I took a seat and waited for the carousel to start moving. I dabbled on my phone while Brad wandered off. As the carousel began to move and bags became visible, Brad reappeared and I put my phone down to help keep an eye out...

Thankfully, Brad was on retrieval duty while I sat in suffering. Finally, our bags had arrived & we made our way outside to find a taxi to our hotel, The Old Cataract, one of Winston Churchill's favorites. (They even have a room named for him.) Brad was set on getting a good deal, but I didn’t have the patience to handle Brad’s spirit, so while he worked on negotiating, I stood back refusing to move until we had a car. I would have paid just about anything to get to the hotel, to be in air conditioning, and have a stock pile of Kleenex and ice water at my side. Finally, Brad worked something out, and I began to walk again with luggage in tow, slowly. I passed on my bags to be loaded up and climbed into the elevated back seat of the worn down white car. There was no A/C and the windows were slightly cracked. I was sitting in the sun for at least 30 minutes, trapped somewhere between misery and excitement.

When we arrived at the hotel we were greeted by the bell hops who took our bags and sent us through the security checkpoint which was a metal detector overseen by a man who just waved ya through with a smile. When we got into the lobby, we were ushered to the back lounge and offered a welcome drink made of fruit juice. We were asked for our passports & while our documents were being processed I began looking for my phone since I couldn't find it while we were in the taxi. I had assumed it had just fallen to the bottom of my ginormous bag. However, despite removing 90% of the contents of my bag, I could not find my phone and I was beginning to panic. Brad asked the hotel manager if there was any way we could contact the airport to see if it was found. The manager suggested we get to our room, and then head to the airline offices just down the road.

When we got to room I dumped out my bag on the bed. It was 100% empty at this point, and still there was no phone. I went through my backpack, knowing it wasn't there, but I just wanted to be sure. Nada. So, we headed to the office... We walked down the road and just on the right was the Egypt Air office. We went into the dimly lit lobby and told one of the gentlemen there what happened. He was quick to communicate with his co-worker, and shortly after they were on the phone with his colleague at the airport. They hung up the phone, and let us know that the airport team was looking and asking around. Shortly after, a supervisor at the office came out and was calling the airport back, had a quick conversation, and then hung up. The phone calls back and forth were sporadic, but finally we had our answer. They told us a janitor had turned it in, and it was being held by the head of security.

We were so surprised that it had been found, even that someone turned it in! We were freaking out. We were so incredibly grateful to the men who helped and quickly headed back towards our hotel to get another taxi. Brad suggested he go alone so that I could stay back and rest since I was not feeling well, but since I was the one who got us in this pickle, I felt that I should definitely be going with. We pre-negotiated our rate with the driver for a round trip ride. The car was thankfully air-conditioned, which made the drive so much easier.

When we got there, we told the men at the security checkpoint why we were there, and we were told to sit and wait near the metal detectors. We sat patiently for a few minutes before someone came back and led us through the security checkpoint to the managers office. He had me describe the phone, and handed it over. He was very serious, but very nice. It was an oddly intimidating scenario, but I thanked him profusely before we walked back out. We found our way back to our driver, and he took us back to our hotel.

With our minds at ease, we were finally able to enjoy Aswan. We went back to the room for a quick break since our luggage had been delivered while we were out, then headed downstairs to explore the grounds and to find an early dinner at the main restaurant since we didn't have lunch that day.

We fell in love with The Old Cataract that day. Everything about this hotel transports you into a different time, a different place. It's simply impeccable. After taking some stunning photos of the Nile and views across, we headed back to the room to unwind. While Brad was in the shower, I crawled into bed to rest. There was just one problem with that, I could not keep my eyes open. I was asleep before the sun was even completely down. The respiratory infection was kicking my ass... Poor Brad.

The next morning, I was awake before the sun, which wasn't surprising since I was asleep before it was completely down. I woke with the 4 AM call to prayer which was both haunting and beautiful. I found my way out onto our balcony to listen and watch the Nile glide by as the lights around us sparkled. With the call to prayer coming to a close, I headed back in to lay down. I tried to sleep, but it wasn't happening. So, instead I jumped in the shower to get a jumpstart on my day... since it was a big one.

After Brad had finally gotten up and ready, we headed down stairs for breakfast. It was  a buffet, a big beautiful buffet. We had a stunning view of the river and a delicious meal... but as we neared the end we started eating faster and faster since we had a meeting time with our tour guide for  the temples of Abu Simbel.

We made our way through the lobby and back to the drive where we were waiting for a bit until it was brought to our attention that the driver was there waiting while the guide was inside. A call was made, we got into the car, and the guide joined us shortly after.  Prior to fully departing the city, we stopped off to grab some water and such. I watched an altercation take place in the middle of the street as a man in his truck exchanged yelling with a man on foot. I wondered what they were yelling about, but I realized it was no matter to me.

It took over two hours driving through a barren desert to reach the temples. When we pulled into the parking lot we pulled up to a food stand, and the people started coming at us, trying to get us to buy souvenir post cards and cheap scarves. We politely turned them down over and over. Our guide led us to the ticket counter where we were able to purchase our tickets with cash. We also, had to pay to use our camera, but it was totally worth it! The temples were so beautiful. They were humid inside, but truly incredible. If you don't know, the temples are carved into the hill with towering statues built in on the outside. To be honest, I thought they would be bigger... but that may have been too much to ask of the kings of the past.

The temples of Abu Simbel are comprised of two temples. The temple of Ramses II & the temple of Nefertari. The temple of Ramses II was truly incredible, probably my number one favorite from the trip.

Before we headed back we stopped at the small food counter for some lunch... chicken, rice and veggies. It was delicious. We tried to eat somewhat quickly in order to escape the heat, and I was definitely ready to get back to town and rest. The car ride back was rough, my nose would not stop running and again I felt exhausted. I tried to rest in the car with my head back to try to keep my nose from running so much, but it didn’t help as much as I hoped.

When we got back we went up to our room and dropped things off, and changed our clothes before we headed back out in Aswan. We wandered down the main road that runs alongside the Nile. After a while were doing our best to avoid a single man driving his horse & carriage. He was basically harassing us to ride with him, and no matter how much we tried to turn him down, he just wouldn't have it. We wandered into a funny little mall that had a children's game area and stores that sold birkas and what we would classify as winter wear in the shop windows. We decided to wander back out in hopes that the man and his carriage had given up on us. We found a market for the locals with a variety of booths selling spices, clothing, kitchenwares and more. It was so fun be in that environment, especially because we were not the usual customer. We found our way down onto a back road where we overlooked an illuminated mosque on the hilltop. We wove our way through the city completely at peace with our environment. While we walked the main street along the river back to the hotel, we were joined by a child who just kept begging us for money. We kept telling him "no" over and over, but it started to become a game. I would say "goose egg" (another way to say zero) instead of no, and he started to copy me.  We both kept saying "goose egg" back and forth for quite a while, and I had a fun time laughing while he gave a big smile. He eventually gave up on us, and moved on to the next pair of tourists behind us. We also, had a group of teens asking to take pictures with us, but we declined. Apparently, they don't see many Americans/westerners there because this happened several times.

When we got back to the hotel, headed to the outdoor restaurant that sits along the rivers edge and offers a more traditional Egyptian fare. The food was incredible. We had the best time soaking up the cool evening air and listening to the live music near us. It was perfect... except for the illness, of course. Once again, I was exhausted. We headed back up to the room once we finished our meal, and settled in for the night. Once again, it wasn't long before I was fast asleep.

The next morning was again a big day. I was up early as usual and tried to stay in bed and rest, but it wasn't going to happen. I was up in a hot shower trying to get my sinuses to cooperate. Then I was dressed & ready for another big day. We had to pack up all of our belongings, as today was the day that we were beginning our river boat cruise.

After breakfast, we still had some time to just hang out, so we goofed off on the hotel grounds. We wandered a bit while I took more photos and just enjoyed each other. Eventually we got our bags, and checked out, but we were incredibly bummed to leave The Old Cataract. It was hands down one of the best hotels we have ever stayed at. We met Amir (our tour guide for the next 4 days) in the lobby, and he led us to the car, introduced us to our driver, and we were off.

Before, we headed to the boat we had a couple other places to visit. We were first taken to High Dam. It took 10 years to build and sits on the Nile River. It aids in creating electricity, preventing flooding, and irrigation, as well. The dam is massive & also creates the reservoir to the south, Lake Nasser. Lake Nasser is one of the largest man-made lakes & stretches from Aswan into northern Sudan. On the property of the dam is also the beautiful friendship monument for Egypt & the Soviet Union (now Russia). The monument was built to honor the friendship because Russia aided in funding the build of High Dam. We explored the beautiful monument for just a few minutes, but made sure not to miss it!

From the dam we headed to the boating docks for Philae Temple. The second temple we visited thus far on our trip. Our guide got us a boat driver who slowly moved us across the river to the small island that was home to the relocate Philae Temple. Yes, relocated. Prior to the High Dam, the Nile was frequently flooding, and many temples and villages were casualties of these natural events. So, eventually, Philae Temple was taken apart stone by stone & relocated to its new island. This beautiful river-surrounded temple was truly special!

While there, we had some interesting things happen. After Amir did the informative walk through, we were approached by one of the guards. He took us down the side of the temple to show us a secret spot. This was where you could see where the water levels would hit. The next thing we knew, he had Brad and I sit on a rock together and he insisted on taking our photo... He had Brad put his arm around me and kiss me over and over... and honestly, due to Islamic manners and tradition, it was sooooo awkward and I was incredibly uncomfortable, and how no idea how to react. I wasn't sure where it was going. ..but that ended up being all it was. We headed back up, but of course the man wanted a tip.  (Egyptians wanted to be tipped for everything. Nothing is ever free. Remember that.) Brad took care of it and we just kept on exploring after that while keeping an arms length from anyone working there and ignoring any information that anyone (aside from our guide) tried to give us because we knew they just wanted money. This was even confirmed with us by our guide as well.

After we finished visiting Philae, we headed back to the boat. Our guide told us that we would need to tip the boat driver which surprised us a bit, as everything else was included in our tour package, but we did as Amir told us. We got back in the car and Amir offered to take us to a couple of shops. We turned down the Alabaster shop since we had been there the day before and felt it was nothing noteworthy, but decided to go to the perfume shop since, well, why not. We had the time.  

When we got there, they first showed us how they make the decorative glass perfume bottles, and then it was off for a smelling extravaganza. It wasn't all perfumes, much of it was actually just essential oils. It was right up my alley. There were some truly magnificent scents. ...but what's next I still can't believe happened. So basically, they offer a very heavy oil that they say is great for massages. Then they offer you a quick massage. I didn't want a massage, and funny enough, and as I found out later, Brad didn't want one either. Neither of us wanted to outright say "no", and it sort of turned into, "well, do you", "sure, why not" sort of thing. Once again, as things happen it Egypt, things got awkward and weird (cultural differences). First, we were separated. I was led by a woman in her Islamic garb up stairs to another room in the shop. I was taken behind a partition where there were one or two other Egyptian woman sitting. I was instructed to take my shirt off and lay on the padded bench seat that lined the partition. First, I should mention, I am a bit of a germ-a-phobe and am really uncomfortable being touched by people I don’t know, and I really had to tell myself it was going to be okay laying on that old bench seat, practically topless. The next thing I knew, I had this old Muslim woman rubbing the thickest oil onto my bare back, down along the waistline of my skirt, and then pulling my bra straps down to get my shoulders. When she was finished, I sat up to put my shirt on as she pulled out a small bag of money from the top of her blouse insinuating that I needed to tip her. I pulled out my wallet and gave her $2 USD which was a lot by Egypt standards. I was so excited to leave that room, I basically ran out. I was soooo sticky, and I could smell the sweet oil on my skin. I hated the feeling of having my shirt glued to my back, and feeling the oil on the waist band of my skirt. In the end, we ended up buying a bottle of mint oil to help with my respiratory infection, and bottle of perfume for me to take back to the states.

When I talked to Brad about it later, he too explained that his scenario was uncomfortable. Apparently, he didn't even get a partition. The man just had him take his shirt off & lay on the bench seat in the area we were sitting. haha! Those were not the dreams that massages are made of.

After our slight nightmare of being rubbed down in a cultural fashion, we were back in the car, relieved it was over, & escorted to the river cruise boat.

...to be continued.