On our third day in Egypt, we checked out of
Oasis Hotel and hopped on the bus to get to Cairo Airport. Not all of the 36 members of our group were on the same flight, some of them already left earlier than us. We were combined with another group on a bus different from ours the day before. The bus wasn't as nice but it was a very short trip to the airport anyway.
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| At the airport |
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| Airport departure area |
We flew Egypt Air from Cairo to Aswan and it was our first time flying with them. I was pleasantly surprised to find the cabin looking nice, and what impressed me the most was the stairs to get on the plane. Unlike the narrow, wobbly ones I usually find elsewhere (especially in Indonesia!), the stairs were wide (I think at least 2m wide) and very very sturdy. The plane windows were all scratched up though...
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| Our plane |
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| Egypt Air cabin |
From the plane looking out, it was the desert as far as the eyes could see aside from Nile River.
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| Desert |
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| Nile River and the civilisation around it |
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| Nile River |
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| More desert |
The Aswan Airport felt like it was in the middle of the desert. It was further south compared to Cairo so the air wasn't as cool. I still wouldn't say it's hot though, ... just very bright.
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| Bus ride from the plane to the terminal |
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| Our plane |
On the day that we arrived, there was a large event going on in Aswan and the congregation was at the airport at the same time as we were. Thus, our tour bus weren't able to pick us up right away. We waited for approximately half an hour until the situation cleared and we walked to our bus where the the group members who flew earlier in the morning were already waiting. It was more than a half hour wait, and it could've been boring if not for another group that was stuck at the airport with us: a group of older Chinese tourists who were entertaining themselves by dancing and push up challenges! :D
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| Aswan Airport |
From the airport, the bus took us to
Aswan High Dam. We had our lunches on the bus to save time. It was some sandwiches packed by our cruise. Aswan was very different from Cairo. It was desert on either side of the road most of the way to the dam.
We started the dam tour with a brief explanation of how it was built and the politics that coloured the construction, after which we had some free time for pictures. It was so large and tall, we weren't able to see the bottom part of the dam from where we were. The Aswan High Dam was built with assistance from the Soviets in the 60's. To commemorate this relationship they built a monument called Arab-Soviet Friendship monument in the shape of a Lotus flower.
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| Arab-Soviet Friendship monument |
After a very brief free time at the high dam, we loaded back in the bus to go to our next destination. That was our chance to finish whatever we wanted to finish from our lunch.
The bus ride didn't take very long. We walked to a small docking area and snuggled ourselves in a boat. In comparison to the open waters boat rides I am used to for our beach getaways, this ride on River Nile was like a walk in the park. So smooth! Therefore, we propped ourselves right at the boat point for some pictures. A couple of girls followed suit afterwards.
We got a little excited when the
Philae Temple came to sight. The water surrounding the temple gave it a romantic atmosphere.
Our boat dropped us off on the deck and we gathered right by the temple entrance to start the tour. The current location of the temple is actually not the original. In the ancient time, around 380 BC, the oldest part of the temple was built and was dedicated to Isis. The newer part of this temple was constructed during the Ptolemaic kingdom. From the original location that was affected by flood caused by the low dam construction, the temple was dismantled in 40,000 pieces and has been relocated to the current location. They were able to relocate the temple almost exactly the same as the original.
Here on this temple Michael our guide told us the mythology of
Isis and Osiris. He asked if anyone knew the story and Miss Kiki nodded excitedly next to me. In the middle of the story-telling Michael stopped and asked Miss Kiki a question (as she was the only one who expressed that she knew the story). I was impressed she was able to answer it and after that it was like a puppy unleashed. She raised her hands every few minutes hoping to chip in to the story. I chuckled under my breath thinking if he regretted asking that first question. Lol...
On the pylons of the temple we could see carvings of Isis and a few other characters, but the carvings on the left pylon was heavily disfigured. It is believed that other religions after the ancient Egyptians had done this deliberately.
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| Pylons of Philae Temple |
The temple of Philae had been used by many different worshippers, including Christians who carved this cross on the wall. This happens later in the history.
The history part of the tour for Philae temple ended here, and we were given about 40 minutes to explore and take pictures. It was finally time to channel our inner models :D
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| Scratched out carvings |
We got together with the rest of the group at the appointed time and hopped back on the boat and into our bus.
We checked in into our Nile Cruise that evening, had dinner on board and rested for the evening. That was our 3rd day in Egypt, please look forward to the next post!
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