2006 Egypt

31 December 2006, Sunday; Nubia Oasis Hotel, Aswan, LE50

We were due to board our Aswan train at 07h00 so planned to be awaiting a communal taxi on the corner by 06h00. I showered and packed the night before to facilitate our plans and so at 06h00 we found ourselves standing at the corner with a man in a galabiyya, paisley warm headscarf and old-fashioned rifle. On a crisp clear morning.

And so past the Colossi of Memnon for the last time with the sun rising there beyond the Nile. And down to the ferry for our last Luxor crossing. And in a taxi to the station with plenty of time to spare.

Colossi of Memnon facts

1390-1352BC.

Originally stood on either side of the doorway to Amenhotep III’s temple – the largest in Thebes.

16.6m high.

Carved from two blocks of quartzite from a quarry near Cairo.

Represent the deified pharaoh.

Damaged in earthquake of 27BC.

Temple destroyed by flood waters and stone used in other constructions.

Tourist destination in Graeco-Roman times. Greeks believed the statues represented Memnon who was slain by Achilles during the Trojan War.

Charl hunted down a takeaway breakfast from the same shop as yesterday (bread, cheese and eggs) – only this time they wanted to charge him LE30 for his purchases. In the end he paid LE10. He is becoming a very beady-eyed bargainer – enjoying the challenge of it all.

The train only came in at 08h00. While we waited we watched families arrive laden down with luggage for the New Year celebrations. One man getting out of first class introduced us to his three children. His two sons are studying medicine, his daughter engineering. And he was justifiably proud of them. Most people did not bother to take their luggage down through the underpass, but instead transferred it to the “exit” platform across the rail lines.

I was interested to find that like us many backpackers had chosen to travel first class. A mix of more money in the backpacking class and less need to be a “real” traveller?

First class was nice, but at double the price of second we are likely to go second again rather.

Our journey was pleasant enough with fields of sugar cane, views of the Nile, desert vistas. Coming into Aswan we saw whitewashed houses – fairly unusual.

We had some administrative odd sods to take care of first. So checked into the hotel I had booked from South Africa (four flights of stairs, not in the least attractive, ugly bathroom – complete with stompies stuffed into the crack beside the door, but clean enough and with soft mattresses). Like many hotels here it occupies only a portion of a building. Not sure why, but we got a discount from LE95 per night to LE50. A more realistic price for our room.

Then out to the post office to send our postcards on their way. And then to the Corniche to purchase a phone card in order to book our Abu Simbel hotel. We were struggling to achieve this on the rowdy public phone when the book shop owner / manager offered his help. He ended making several calls on our behalf and finding us a potential hotel at 30 Euros!

We wandered on down to the Aswan Moon restaurant for lunch and to confirm with Washington, the tourist-office-recommended felucca captain, that it is not possible to sail from Aswan to Edfu in one day – as called for in my original itinerary.

Back to the bookshop to reserve the Nubian House in Abu Simbel (the owner would not even take money to reimburse him for the phone calls), by taxi to the bus station to enquire about the bus (it departs at 08h00, but we cannot reserve a seat until 07h00 tomorrow), by the same (waiting) taxi to the train station to book a train to Qena (en route Hurghada) – a day earlier than previously planned having gained a day through losing the Edfu leg. There are always two spaces for queuing before each ticket window at the railway station – separated by a metal barrier. Into both spaces men seem to push with little regard to order. But we have now found that if I get into the queue, I get served first – the one space being in fact reserved for women. How civilised!

Then back through the market, this time stopping to price some goodies, to our hotel for a nap.

We strolled later along the Corniche in search of a beer for Charl. And ended at a five star hotel, sitting in an open-air bar on the Nile. Where young and wealthy Egyptian couples sat in low-voiced conversation and two Egyptian men arrived later with two western women in tow – los-gelukkies, says Charl. Later we dined in the souq on fried chicken and wandered the town with other shoppers. And were amazed to see that some store owners in the souq simply cover their pavement-displayed goods with a cloth and go home unperturbed for the night.