Egypt: Day 3 (Aswan Dam)

Day 2 was such a busy day. It was a day full of excitement surrounding the visits to such historical sites as the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx and the ancient capital of Memphis and its necropolis Sakkara. Upon return to the hotel in Gezira Island, we realized that we had gotten our second wind back with the ride back from Sakkara. So the four of us that went to this trip together decided to explore the neigborhood. A tour mate had previously walked around the surroundings in search of shopping on day 1 reported that it's an easy walk to the stores. Unfortunately, we turned left when we should have turned right or something and instead found a Christian church. We got curious and asked the guard (gated and manned by guard)if we could go and visit and to our surprise was allowed entry.







Afterwards, we continued our search for the stores and found them, thankfully. However, there was nothing that was a must-buy, so we just moved on. Surprisingly, some of the stores have a Black Friday sale (after Thanksgiving trip)sign on the window. Another surprise was the presence of a beverage store, like a miniature Beverages and More. In a Muslim country, we were surprised to find a liquor store.

This is the unpleasant part of this guided tour. For day 3, we were to take a plane ride to Aswan, where we will board a boat for a cruise of the Nile. The unpleasant part is that our call time to congregate at the lobby of the hotel is 2:30 am (YIKES!) Yes. I have heard from my brother that group tours carry crazy hours. It's no vacation at all. However, with the distance of the next stop, it was understandable.

The hotel graciously prepared a Continental breakfast for us and the other tour bus. And by 3:30 am, we were on the way to the airport.

The flight was quick and uneventful. The tour crew took care of our luggage and soon we were leaving airport on to Aswan Dam. We went straight to Aswan Dam from the airport. Too early to check in to the hotel.

It was nearly 8 am when we got to Aswan Dam and there were other tour buses there already. It must be very hot here during the mid day, because we could feel the heat starting to rise already.
















High Dam


Old dam



The Soviet-Egyptian Friendship Monument commerates the partnership of the then Soviet Union and Egypt in the construction of the dam.











Nearby Lake Nasser is a large man-made reservoir between Egypt and Sudan. The following is from this site:

The area that is now filled with the waters of Lake Nasser was previously part of Nubia, the homeland of the Nubian people of Sudan and Egypt. The Nubians are a 7000-year strong civilization who owned land along the Nile in Nubia where they practiced agriculture, fishing, cattle-raising, and other activities. The region also hosted large monuments and temples dating back to ancient Egypt. The construction of the Aswan High Dam thus flooded large parts of Nubia and submerged the land of these people and monuments of great historical importance under the newly created lake. Thousands of Nubian families had to be displaced and the UNESCO helped the engineers, historians, and archeologists relocated several monuments to higher grounds. The Abu Simbel temples are one of the finest examples of such relocation. The Nubian people of Egypt still complain about their displacement since many of them are now forced to live away from the Nile that earlier served as the lifeline of these people.

We have visited a Nubian village in Aswan where some of them relocated. It was said that they were displaced easily because they have no representations and have not formed a government.


The camera caught the Lake Nasser moody.




Cruise on the lake is offered.


Aswan


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