Its a 12 hour train ride to Aswan and the good news was that the train was on time. Got to hotel in Aswan at 9 am. I had stayed at this hotel before and it has changed for the good, showers with hot water all day, an air conditioner that works, A view of the Nile out the window and now the window has glass in it. In fact the entire town has improved with more hotels being built and the Cataract Hotel where Agatha Christie wrote "Death on the Nile" is under going a complete remodel.
Tonight we go up through the cataracts to a Nubian Village to have dinner at a friends house. While some may have a dog or cat for a pet he has crocodiles he caught himself on Lake Nasser. He says they protect the house. They stay in there own pen in one of the rooms. The cataracts are basically rock islands some with only enough room for the boat to get through and at night, with no lights, he will bring us back in the dark. To make it worse the river will be several feet higher and the current much stronger then due to releases from the dam.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Tourist Day, Cairo
"We do not even risk the adventure alone, for the heros of all time have gone before us, the labyrinth is thoroughly known. We have only to follow the thread of the heros path, and where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god....., where we had thought to travel outward, we come to the center of our own existence, and where we had thought to be alone, we will be with all the world."
Joseph Campbell 1990
Today we took a tourist day. Met up with the Oasis group and nine of us went to the Pyramids, the Sphinx, and the Egyptian Museum. With four million cars, many motor cycles, numerous horse and donkey carts and a few camels traffic does not move fast. The little over 20 miles we covered today took almost 4 hours by minibus with the driver making a number of u turns to try and find a street where traffic was moving. No doubt some day Cairo may become the first city to achieve total grid lock. On one elevated highway we saw many passengers get out and walk to avoid the wait.
The Egyptian Museum is an incredible place. We had a great guide which really helped. At the Pyramids got to see the Solar Boat Museum which houses an over 100 foot long boat made of cedar from Lebanem which was buried by the Pyramid. It is nicely displayed above the pit it was excaveted from. At 6:00 we meet at hotel to head for the train station for the 12 hour train ride to Aswan.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Cairo
"If you don't go when you want to go, when you do go ,you'll be gone."
After getting to bed at 2am, I was awake at 6am. Had to find a place to change money then took a cab into town. Walked the downtown area but nothing seemed photogenic so was back to the hotel at 5pm.
Living in a small town it is nice to get to a big city once in a while. New York is great for a few days along with Istanbul, Paris, Havana but Cairo has never been a favorite. It seems to big and crowded and some one is always trying to hustle you. Not as bad as the panhadlers in San Francisco but makes photographing difficult. Egypt will be a lot better outside Cairo but the Pyramids, The Egypt Museum, the Citadel, and the Markets are a must see. Just with more sleep first.
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