So anyway, first we went to Aswan. The air is much cleaner and we got in at like 6am, so we napped a little and then did the touristy thing. First, we ate lunch and walked through the souk (market). Then we went to the Tombs of the Nobles, which was on the West Bank (of Aswan). I guess there is also a Tomb of the Nobles in Luxor by the Valley of the Kings and all that, and I think there is a difference too. Like I think the Tomb of the Nobles that we went to was in an older kingdom or something.
We took a motor ferry across the river. Exciting!
I thought this table was cool because there was a notch carved in that was used as leverage when the people pulled the mummy from the falucca (boat) in the river outside the door and down the hill.
Our guide, holding some bones that belonged to the family of the guy the tomb was built for. Not creepy at all.
Some Coptic murals that clearly belonged to a different period.
Monastery at the top of the hill. It kind of sucked to be unexpectedly climbing a mountain of sand and rock in a skirt, but the view was really great, and I don't think a lot of tourists go to this place in general, so it was nice and relaxing. I'm not posting pictures of the view, because they are never as good as being there and it just feels a little sad.Oh-bah-deen (this means next, apparently), we wandered around a little bit, ate some ice cream, and then decided to take another motor boat to Elephantine Island. This was extremely exciting because first, as always, we had to barter a reasonable price for the boat. Once we had a good price, we got into the boat (a sailboat) only to be told that there was no wind and the boat couldn't go anywhere. So the guy waved down a motorboat and we transferred onto it. That was when we met this guy:
He was really nice, spoke really excellent Spanish, and sang a lot. Of course, this boat that we were on ran out of petrol and so we drifted in the middle of the Nile for like a half hour on the roof of this motorboat. So then a third boat had to rescue us and take us to the island. By the time we got there, the temple that we were going to see was closed and so we walked around the village, where our friend lived. In the village, we made another friend:
This dog started following us and he was so sweet so I just had to pet him. And then he just followed us around the whole time. My friend Kerry named him Rabie which I think was a dumb name but somehow very fitting. Anyway, Rabie was really sweet but I guess he hates kids because people here think stray dogs are pests and tend to throw rocks and stuff at them. So whenever we walked by some kids and the kids were like "Hallo! Hallo!" like they always do to foreigners, Rabie would get in and try to defend us.
The village itself was pretty run down but a lot of the buildings were painted bright colors and/or had really cute contrasting windows.After the Elephantine Island (this was a really packed day, by the way), we went to a sound and light show at the Temple of Isis at Philae. It was a little funny and melodramatic and overpriced. I have also decided that ancient architecture is really the most worth seeing in the morning with the natural sunlight. None of that over dramatic nighttime lighting from below for me.
Kerry, Novo, and Michelle on the motorboat to the island.
Some giant wall with giant relief carvings. They look kind of dumb in pictures, but in person, they're like, really really big. It was also interesting because the two figures on the left weren't finished, and I don't really know why.
The neighboring temple for the goddess Hathor. There was even a lame part in the sound and light show about how neglected Hathor felt next to Isis' big temple. Melodramatic.Then we ate on a restaurant boat and smoked shisha and played dominoes.
The next day, we went to the unfinished obelisk, which, as the name might imply, is a giant, unfinished obelisk. Not that interesting. Afterwards we went on a three hour bus ride to Abu Simbel, where there is a giant temple for Ramses II and a smaller temple for his favorite wife (out of 50) Neferteri.
This is another Hathor Temple, because I guess she was the goddess of love and mothers and cows, so she had a lot of temples, but this temple also pays a lot of tribute to Neferteri. I think the giant figures are of Neferteri dressed as Hathor, and of Ramses II. There are smaller figures at the knees of all the statues, and those are supposed to represent the 12 children that Nefertari and Ramses had together.
I snuck a photo even though I wasn't supposed to. But this was one of my favorite temples. I am a big fan of well preserved temples with giant relief paintings.
Ramses II's temple to himself. Deep inside, there is a chamber that has four sitting statues of himself and some other gods. It's really cool because originally, on the days of Ramses' coronation and his birthday, sunlight would reach deep into the temple to light these statues. Except the one on the far left, because he's the god of darkness. It's on different days now because they had to relocate the temples uphill a little bit when they flooded Nasser Lake.
Also, in case you might not have noticed, it is really big. Those are cops sitting by the feet of the statue on the right. And on the left side, those piles of rocks are the fallen torso of the broken one. I was looking at the rocks, and noticed that his ear was like almost as big as me. I always wonder what it is like to be that full of yourself.
For a little baksheesh (tip), they let us hold the Key of the Nile, or whatever, and take pictures.
Then we went to a museum. I was burnt out, so I didn't care that much, but there was some cool stuff. You know how people don't usually touch things in museums? They don't really care so much about that here. In any given place, there seem to be a lot of Egyptians just taking pictures of each other with their camera phones. I bet it's to put on their myspaces. After the museum, we took a train to Luxor, but I think I'll make that a separate post.
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