Day 1: We landed at Cairo International Airport towards dusk, and were almost immediately met by a Viking representative. After an excruciatingly long immigration procedure, we were driven to Cairo city, which can seem quite a distance from the airport considering the snaky evening rush hour traffic…

After a quick but delicious meal at Felfela, we were packed off into the train for Aswan, where we had our first experience of the ubiquitous demand for baksheesh from our guide and driver…..

Day 2: After an uncomfortable overnight train journey that lasted all of 14 hours, we at last chugged our way into Aswan. Stepping out into the heat and light was a sudden shock, especially since we had to walk to and fro a couple of times before we could locate our guide. Fortunately, the Aswan Oberoi where we were staying, was only a ferry ride away on the Elephant Island, and the karkade that the Oberoi reception welcomed us with was like nectar (I guess this was nectar!)

After a brief freshening up and short lunch of salad, salad, and dessert (salad), we headed off for our first glimpses of the grandeur of Egypt. What better place to start off than at the Aswan Unfinished Obelisk, which is a granite quarry that was the source for the famous Egyptian obelisks that adorn so many squares, piazzas, and circles all over the world! Apparently, all the granite in Egypt came from this one "workshop" in Aswan, though how such heavy blocks were transported all the way from Aswan to Luxor or Cairo still remains a mystery! Looks like the pharaohs got increasingly ambitious in commissioning bigger and bigger obelisks, until there was this one that just wouldn’t happen, and developed two cracks before it could be hewn out of the rock. Fortunately for us, this 137 feet high unfinished obelisk was an interesting demonstration of the technique that was employed in blasting the obelisk-to-be from its bedrock. There are still rows of slots where wooden wedges were driven in, and then soaked with water to expand and split the rock.

From the unfinished obelisk, we make our way to the Aswan high dam, whose concrete volume is reportedly 17 times that of the great pyramid and took 11 years and 30,000 Egyptians to build. Lake Nasser, the world's largest man-made lake, feeds the dam, and it is a really magnificent sight to behold, especially because of the crisp sun, blue sky, blue Nile waters, and desert sand: truly a photographer’s delight. (put photo) Unfortunately, the damming of the Nile resulted in the drowning of the Nubian region, whose inhabitants were relocated along the river valley.

From the ancient to the modern, back to the ancient temple of Isis at Philae, our next stop. That’s how amazing Aswan is. Whether old or new, temple of worship or feat of engineering, Aswan defines enormity.

The temple is located on the Agilqiyya Island, so the approach is by boats, which dock at the south of the old Aswan dam. The approach to the temple is quite unique, especially because the boat takes you past islands of rock, after which the temple rises magnificently out of the water as an image of order amid the natural randomness. An interesting story about this temple is that it was originally located on the island of Philae, which was completely submerged by the High Dam. The temple was taken apart and reconstructed bit by bit higher up where it now stands, on Agilqiyya Island. Apparently, there is a sound and light show in this temple, but we saved ours for the more showy one at Karnak. This was the first of the many Egyptian temples we were seeing, so reason gave way to excitement, and we clicked a huge bunch of photos!

A long day in the sun had enervated us so much that we had no energy but to drag ourselves off for an early dinner and a long sleep at the hotel.

© Vixabs Vacations Unlimited

May 01 2003