We awoke yesterday to find ourselves at Aswan. After breakfast on board, we visited Philae, the High Dam, and the Unfinished Obelisk. Philae, an island in the Nile, was the site of an ancient temple complex, which was dismantled and relocated to a nearby island to prevent its being flooded by the Aswan Dam, completed in 1970. The Unfinished Obelisk is the largest of the known ancient Egyptian obelisks, one third larger than any other. Carved directly out bedrock, it would have been about 137 feet tall and weigh almost 1,200 tons.
After lunch, we spent the afternoon sailing on a felucca, sail boats that have plied the Nile since antiquity and are still built to the traditional design. We loafed again, but after our hectic sightseeing in Cairo and Alexandria, we felt glad to do as little as possible, while still staying awake.
We enjoyed a farewell dinner on board. Why was it a farewell dinner, when there'll be another dinner tomorrow? Because some of our party are continuing on an extension tour of Lake Nasser. But it was also a farewell to loafing.
Today we're to drive through the Great Western Desert to Abu Simbel, where we'll explore the Ramses II and Queen Nefertari Temples. Like Philae, these were part of a massive relocation project to save them from the waters of the High Dam.
After lunch, we're to fly back to Cairo.
Today we're to drive through the Great Western Desert to Abu Simbel, where we'll explore the Ramses II and Queen Nefertari Temples. Like Philae, these were part of a massive relocation project to save them from the waters of the High Dam.
After lunch, we're to fly back to Cairo.
[written while still in New York, based on the offical itinerary. I look forward to reporting some of my observations when we return.
2010-2011 Anchises-an Old Man’s Journal All Rights Reserved
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