Aswan…………

………we sailed from Luxor to Aswan passing through the Esna Lock. As the boat was waiting to go into the lock swarms of boatmen came alongside urging passengers to buy their wares. The traders throw their goods up onto the deck of the boat with demands to buy, shirts, scarves, galabeya etc and these were landing in the swimming pool, on tables, back in the water – it was chaos, the air was filled with hurtling merchandise. I retreated down to our cabin. As I unwittingly turned on the light, goods were hurled into the cabin through the open window! I hurriedly stuffed them back out of the window into the boats below and slammed the window shut. Shopping is not a pleasant experience in Egypt, there is no chance to “look”. You are hassled and pestered if you even so much as glance at something (and even if you don’).
The temples and ancient sites are a completely different experience. You do have to run a short gauntlet of sellers, but once inside the only thing you have to be aware of is Egyptian men lurking behind pillars waiting to step into your photograph and then demanding appearance money! However the magnificent and sense of ancient presence is over whelming (or maybe it’s the 45degree heat!).
The Aswan High Dam was built in the 1960’s, flooding ancient Nubian villages, but the resulting increases in agriculture production and hydroelectricity have saved Egypt from famine. Lake Nasser is approximately 200 meters deep, which is as high as the Auckland Sky Tower. We visited a Nubian village and were nearly run down by boys on camels racing down the road to check out the local football match, which they watched over the fence from their camels stand.
There is a timelessness about Egypt which is captivating, however the contrasts and contradictions of wealth and poverty, the clashing of ancient and modern, the invisibility of local women dressed head to toe in Purdah against the scantily clad tourists make it a very complex experience.

Luxor........

…………was the beginning of the Nile Cruise for us and it is a perfect way to see Egypt. You are cocooned in the relative comfort of a floating hotel and can view the Nile as it’s been for thousands of years. Some hardy souls ‘do’ the Nile in ancient feluccas which look very romantic, but in temperatures of 45degrees, no loo’s and dodgy food, we decided prudence was the better part of valour. Our boat was very comfortable. The cabin staff did our room twice a day and each day folded our towels and extra blankets into hilarious ‘art works’.
Nobody was constantly asking us for money….. (tips were paid in a lump sum to be distributed at the end of the cruise……civilised!). We had trips each day to major sites along the way, accompanied by an Egyptologist, these were fantastic, but it was always good to come back to the air conditioned boat and a cold drink
Luxor depends on tourist trade and is rapidly resurrecting ancient sites – it is currently uncovering an 3 kilometre “Avenue of Sphinx” linking the temples of Luxor and Karnak. The avenue had been previously covered and subsequently built over. The down side of this is that the people living in the buildings along the site area were given no consultation and 2 days to clear out before the bulldozers demolished their homes with little or no compensation. The missing Sphinx in the Avenue have been commissioned to be rebuilt in China! ????????? What can you say………………

Cairo...............

………home of the Pyramids and the Sphinx……we rode camels (as you do!) into the desert and our guide took us the long way – (3 hours!). As we came over a sand dune the breathtaking sight of the ancient monuments made the discomfort and slightly terrifying experience worthwhile. A gang of Arabs drifted past on their camels and we could have been transported back thousands of years, except for the encroaching cityscape in the background. Cairo is home to 25 million people and growing. The Pyramids, once miles away from the city are now almost cheek with jowl to the sprawling slum.
We visited some Coptic churches carved into caves in the hills above the city rubbish dump. There we met a guy from California who had worked with the ‘rubbish dump’ people in the 1980’s. He was excited and thrilled that the inhabitants of this area were no longer living in cardboard boxes! We were shocked to see 5 million people living (albeit in ‘buildings’) on a rubbish dump, scavenging an existence from the refuse of 20 million fellow citizens.
All over the roads were chaotic – 6 lanes of traffic squeezed into 4 lane highways, cars weaving in and out with much horn blaring – we saw one rickety traffic light in 3 days and no traffic cops. Crossroads are very free form!
Pedestrians take their chances also - dodging through the traffic to get to the median barrier to leap over and dodge through to the other side. We made sure we never had to cross a road in three days!!!!!!
Egypt is definitely not like a gentle ramble around Europe, but it’s worth it.
To be continued……………..