Passant told us to be on the bus at 5 am and to bring out pillows. Normally, we are in a small van and didn't see where we would be able to use pillows. Today was special, since Abu Simbel is 3 hours south of Aswan. We were in a big tour bus - just the 16 of us. We all spread out and went back to sleep since there is really nothing to see except desert.
We did see the sunrise:
The engineering feat of Abu Simbel is just incredible. I have seen pictures, but nothing prepares you for the sheer size of these temples. Abu Simbel was built for Pharaoh Ramses II and next door is a smaller temple for his queen, Nefertiti.
I had my picture taken holding the key to the door - big key - big door.
Another digression - this one on security. We have all heard the stories about the tourists that were killed here several years back. Also at Christmas time some Coptic Christians were killed. Both in Jordan and Egypt, we have had security police riding on the buses. The rule is that every group of more than 10 people has to have a guard. In Jordan, they were young men dressed in paramilitary garb, a blue camo jacket and beret and of course a gun. In Egypt, the guard is a young man dressed in a suit and tie - with a gun. I don't really know what they would do if we were attacked. I do know that I think about where would be a safe place to be if guns started blazing, because I am not sure how much training these guys have.
In Egypt there is also armed security at the sites. For instance at the top of the ridge at Abu Simbel:
I also saw them at the top of the Valley of the Kings, riding on camels at the pyramids and walking around with rifles at the pyramids. When we were in the Coptic area, the on the ground security was even more intense. Strangely, I didn't really feel any threat. None of these guys looked particularly serious at the time. Perhaps, if things were tense, they would have seemed different.
Looking past Queen N's to R's. The people look like ants.
On the way back to the bus, it was covered and shady. Looking back at a view of the lake formed by the dam. It goes into Sudan.
On the 3 hour ride back, we stopped to take pictures of the mirage. (I just thought that mirages played with your mind - I didn't realize that they could be photographed.)
Back at our hotel we rested in the afternoon. That evening was a tour of the Aswan Spice Market. Maggi & I bought galabeyas for the grandchildren. We are planning on having our own galabeya party when we get home. We were on our own for dinner that night, but Passant knew an Egyptian pizza parlor that was at the end of the market. We all decided that sounded like fun. We also got to see the celebration when Egypt won the Africa's Cup in soccer. (When there isn't any drinking the celebration is a whole lot safer.)
Egyptian pizza is made with filo dough. It has lots of good stuff inside including green olives.
Our final day in Aswan had the event that we had all been either looking forward to or dreading - the famous camel ride. Chuck and I had saved ourselves for this. In order to see St. Simeon's Monastery, it is required. Through the whole trip Dave kept asking Chuck if he was going to do it. I think that Dave was hoping that Chuck would chicken out and then he could keep him company!
To get to the monastery we rode the camels uphill for about 15 minutes. We had then chosen to ride cross country to the Nubian village, because riding a camel downhill is really unpleasant. Actually riding the camel for 45 minutes is pretty unpleasant, also. I wasn't sure that my legs would move when we finally got there.
I made a movie of John on the camel. He was the most experienced of us and makes it look easy. The most important thing is that you must lean back when the camel is getting the hind legs up and then quickly forward when it moves the front legs.
My camel guy put a rock for me to stand on so that I would be able to get on the camel's back. They are pretty tall, even when on the ground.
The first part of the trip wasn't too bad. We all made it to the monastery without much problem.
The camels rested while we had a nice tour of this ruin. At its height there were more than 900 monks. It also hosted travelers.
Then we were off cross country. We had to stop and pose for pictures. My camel guy handed me the rein while he took my picture. This made me nervous. My camel (Micky Mouse) seemed to be a bit of a trouble maker. He stretched his head around so that the mouth was very near my leg. He tried to move between 2 other camels so that I had to pull my legs in so they wouldn't get squished. Here he is neck wrestling with Chuck's camel:
Everyone was put in line for the photo session.
Here are Larry, Dave, me, John & Don:
Larry was loving this. He was taking pictures all the time. He even took them over his shoulder. Maggi on the other hand was not a happy camper. Her camel just got down on its own at the entrance to the Nubian town - I cannot believe how quickly she hopped off. She said that she would walk the rest of the way.
My method of getting off was to bring my left leg over the front saddle post and slide down. This worked really well at the monastery. At the Nubian village, my leg wouldn't move. My camel guy had to grab it and lift it over for me. Then I could slide down - but I wasn't sure about walking. Camel riding hurts in a whole different way than horseback riding!!
This camel footprint shows why camels are so good on sand:
We were happy to sit and relax while our Nubian host served us tea and told us about his life:
That's Linda, John, Penny, Don, Kathleen & Fran.
Nubian Living Room:
We took a boat back to a restaurant right on the Nile for lunch.
After our nap time, we went to the Nubian museum. This was another small one where the exhibits were really showcased. Chuck and I could spend much more time in a museum like this.
I thought this gold comb with the mother and baby giraffes was exquisite.
That night we went to an outdoor restaurant where we had grilled meat AGAIN.
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