Nile Newcomer

 20-21 November 2024 I cannot report what the group did today, the 20th,  except to say that we flew to Cairo together.  Last night and all day today, I barely coped with the "traveler's curse," headache, upset stomach, overactive lower digestive tract. This ailment affected five of us and probably stemmed from the salads at the farewell dinner in Aswan.  I don't think the others visited the mosques in Cairo, as planned. They probably went shopping or to general, unescorted sightseeing. Meanwhile, I stayed in my room and missed the second farewell dinner at the Cairo Marriott. The night was very short.  On the 21st, most of us met in the lobby at 3am to catch the bus to the airport, which took about half an hour. There, we had to pass through three levels of security before boarding a tight, packed airbus, with a narrow aisle and no legroom, bound for London's Heathrow Airport. At Heathrow, we endured another two securithy gauntlets before scattering to find the...

 19 November 2024 Today has been a bit more leisurely but no less interesting than previous days. We started by visiting a spice market.  Although I was not particularly looking forward to that, because I don't cook much, I found it surprisingly appealing. The owner gave us hibiscus juice and a nice talk about his products. He began with medicinal teas, which I found so interesting that I purchased two lots: a tea meant to help stiff joints and another to open the sinuses while you drink it (inhaling the fumes).  Outside the shop, of course, we had to pass through a gauntlet of vendors, some not so aggressive, others very much so. In fact, last night after dinner we were accosted by several pre-teen girls who grabbed at my bag of purchases and blocked the way of some of my colleagues as we walked along. Hend was there to tell them off.  Then we took a small boat on the Nile to visit the Island of Philae, where there is another temple dedicated to Isis. Like the huge ...

 18 November 2024 We set off fairly early this morning for a 3.5-hour drive from Abu Simbel back to Aswan. On the way, we stopped for a quick view of the Grand Aswan Dam. The dam itself was not especially interesting to look at, but we did learn a bit about the history of its construction. An earlier dam not far down the Nile had been built by the British, but it could no longer keep up with the increasing demand for electricity by a growing and more prosperous population. To build the new one, Egypt turned for help to the Soviet Union, because the World Bank, controlled by the USA, refused to lend the necessary money. When the dam was finished in 1961, it had created one of the largest man-made reservoirs in the world, Lake Nasser.  Anyway, we finished our drive and entered the most luxurious hotel I have ever encountered, the Old Cataract, where many celebrities have stayed since it opened in 1900.  (The British built it in 1899.) Like the Winter Palace in Cairo, The Ol...

 17-18 November 2024 Late yesterday afternoon and evening, we had a chance to stick our feet into the Nile, and after the farewll dinner (to the yacht's crew) we danced to rhythmic drumming.  I got up very early this morning to see the full moon. After an early breakfast, we disembarked from our yacht and took a 3.5-hour bus ride to Abu Simbel, the site of the most famous of all the temples. This is  the one dedicated to Ramses II and his senior wife Nefertari. It was cut up and moved, piece-by-piece, 200 feet higher in the sheer granite cliff to avoid rising waters of Lake Nasser as the Aswan Dam was being built. The process was painstakingly designed and engineered to avoid damage to the priceless and fragile statues and reliefs. About 25,000 persons worked on it for over three years. Inside, carved into the granite behind the colossal statues, is the Temple of Rameses II, and off to one side is the Temple of Nefertari. Many of the illustrations inside document the vict...

 16 November 2024 I remembered to look for the sunrise this morning, having been told it was especially brilliant at this spot on the Nile. So a number of us sat on the upper deck with cups of coffee and waited. It was worth it.  Then it was off to the camel market. Camels are brought in from Sudan, where the economy depends heavily on the camel trade. Because of this dependency, the Sudanese try not to sell female camels to other countries, preferring to keep them in country for breeding of new stock. Still, as you will see in the photos below, female camels and their offspring, which are always sold as a package deal, do turn up in these camel markets. Once purchased, usually two or three at a time, the camels become either load bearers or camel meat for eating. Camel meat is very popular in Egypt, and, according to Hend, it tastes somewhat like beef. Unfortunately, we will not have a chance to try it. We traveled from our boat to the camel market via motorboat and pickup tr...