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Trip Start
Sep 01, 2004
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Trip End
Apr 25, 2005
Aswan, Egypt
Monday, September 20, 2004
We are sure glad that we are in Egypt in the Winter because we would just flat out melt during the Summer. I checked the temperature for today and it is 105 degrees. My fire fighter friends will understand this concept. We drink 6 to 8 liter bottles of water all day long and never have to pee. If we can't find water for an hour or so, then we even stop sweating. I really have no idea how the Islamic women walk around all day with big black outfits covering their entire bodies. They are tough women.
The Egyptian Museum in Cairo is huge. It is said that there are twice as many objects stored in the basement as they have displayed. Everything is amazing but the Museum itself is really just like an old warehouse. The descriptions are poorly written, if there is a description present. The most amazing thing is that the large items are displayed in the open on a platform that you can actually touch, not like in America where everything is under glass or behind a rope. The whole experience situation is geared so you have to hire a guide. We listened to a few of the guides descriptions and JoAnn decided she didn't need anyone to tell her, "this is an old knife, this is an old necklace". We enjoyed the beauty and actually probably came away with as much as we will ever be able to remember. The mummies were very neat, if not a little creepy, and all of the King Tut relics were unbelievable. Gold...Gold...Gold. Just those two sections make up about five percent of the museum. It's very tiring and we were exhausted by the time we finished.
We then decided that we should check on a flight to Morocco. Just a casual kind of thing. (again, the stupids visit the big city):^) We found the Air Egypt office after only thirty minutes to discover the flights are all full. We could wait an extra week and get a seat no problem. Another little issue is that we would have to buy a round trip ticket unless we had a Moroccan visa. Of course we don't have one. Armed with the address for the Moroccan Embassy we spring into high gear and make a plan. Things are no longer casual. We have an hour and a half to get a visa and a ticket before the Egyptian weekend kicks in and EVERYTHING closes. Knowing Cairo so well, yeh sure, we make a bee line for a travel agency to ask about alternatives. We go to "The Mile Of Travel Agencies" and ask a few pointed questions. We learned the Egyptian answer is always "across the street". We finally find "Royal Air Moroc", and find that if we leave one day early we can fly to Casablanca with them, one way, and that we won't need a visa. We race to find a pay phone that accepts one of our Egyptian phone cards, call the guy that is getting our train tickets and have them changed. We run back to the airline, buy our plane tickets and complete the transaction with fifteen minutes to spare. JoAnn gets so tired of chasing me. :^)
We left Cairo and took the night train to Aswan. That means that you get on the train at about 8:00pm and it arrives in Aswan at about 8:30 the next morning. Our compartment was a sleeper with two beds and JoAnn had the top bunk. She had better medication than I took so she actually got to sleep most of the trip. I really think the rails are very bad and thats the reason the rail car pitched and rolled so much.
Aswan is much smaller than Cairo and everything seems next to the River Nile.
We have visited several temple sites around the Aswan Dam, and have learned a great deal about the different cultures who lived in the Nile Valley since around 7600B.C. Many of the sites were being submerged by the water after they completed the dam, so UNESCO moved 12 of the most important ones to higher ground. This must have been an huge undertaking. One of them was almost 40,000 pieces. We have also enjoyed learning about the Egyptian Gods and the stories behind them.
JoAnn loves walking in the market at night(when it's cooler) and that's when all of the locals seem to be shopping. She almost got sick last night when we were walking down the "mile of butchers". The smell was a little tough to take. Food continues to be a challenge in Egypt. In Turkey I could always order Lamb something and be happy. I haven't found that survival food yet. At least we are not sick. Last night I had "Kantaki Bigeon". It turns out that it's "Kentucky Fried Pigeon". Strange pieces of meat. We leave for Luxor tomorrow by bus and it feels like it's time for a change. Thanks to everyone for writing. We really appreciate those who are taking care of things back home for us. Thanks Barbie, for the e-mail. JoAnn wants to write the next travel pod so you may actually get the straight scoop rather than my ramblings. Love to all.
Don and JoAnn
