Egypt and Jordan Travelogue

The Seven Pillars of Wisdom

2004-04-21T09:30:00.000+08:00

The Seven Pillars of Wisdom is a large rock formation that named after Thomas Edward (TE) Lawrence, also named Lawrence of Arabia's book. It's located just beside the main road to Wadi Rum, just south of junction to Diseh. Whether you're on a tour package or not, or with a guide or not, usually you won't be brought to Seven Pillars of Wisdom or even stop by the main road to have a look on it. The logic is that the attraction is easy to reach and see.

So keep a look up when boarding the jeep from the Desert Highway to Wadi Rum village. As we sat behind the pick-ups, so I had no way to ask the jeep driver to stop for a while when we passed through the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, but it's good enough by just viewing from the moving jeep. Or else you may need to pay additional charge to visit it from Wadi Rum.

Rum Intersection at Rashdiya

2004-04-21T08:30:00.000+08:00

The taxi driver kept promoting his tour guide, and he even took out his mobile phone (yes, mobile phone on desert highway, Jordan is not undeveloped after all) to call the tour guide to discuss about the price (and may be, who knows, since he was talking in Arab language, asked for his rewards).

I had actually made a booking with Attayak Ali which recommended by Ruth's Jordan Jubilee. We opted for "A Day with the Bedouin" with overnight in desert, and visits in 4x4. It would costed us 25 JD per person if 3 person in a group or less, or 20 JD is more than 3 person. (Price has since increase - 40 JD per person for up to 2 person, 35 JD for 3 and 30 JD per person for 4 person and above).

So when the taxi driver told us the price is about 20 JD for about the same itinerary in Wadi Rum, I was still thinking it's a steal. So we ended up agreed to join the tour instead of the originally we booked. It turned out to be one of the worst we made during our whole trip in Egypt and Jordan.

The famous Rum Intersection that leads to Wadi Rum from Desert Highway at Rashdiya, with our taxi driver and his taxi.

As expected, our taxi driver dropped us at the intersection to Rum Village from Desert Highways instead of Rum Village itself. At this point, I don't think we had much choice except to join the tour guide that our taxi driver contacted. To add salt to the grain, the tour guide kept chasing us to board the pick-up without much desire to negotiate with us.

We were later taken directly to the tour guide, Mohammed's house without going through Wadi Rum's Visitors Center. But according to Lonely Planet Jordan guide book, you will be able to arrange a guide at the visitors centre based on the next available guide on the roster there.

Bus and Taxi to Wadi Rum

2004-04-21T08:00:00.000+08:00

4 of us who decided to go to Wadi Rum, that's Wei Heng, me, Tim and Chris woke up early in the morning to catch the bus to Wadi Rum.Actually we weren't so early, it was already about after 7 am. I rushed to main bus/minibus station at Ar-Reem Street, which is just a walking distance from Petra Hotel. To my surprise, there was hardly any bus in sight. What greeted me instead was few people that directed me to taxi. I tried to ask for the bus to Wadi Rum, but everybody there seems didn't know or uncertain about it. Finally a taxi drive came to me and offered to drive us to Wadi Rum for JOD 10 per taxi.

The fare was quite a bargain, Tim and I both thought so. So we happily departed in his taxi. And as you expected, but to our surprise at that time, the taxi driver started to promote his tour guides in Wadi Rum halfway into the highway.

The six lane wide Desert Highway, a surprise to me that thought such a good highway won't exists in Middle East.

Street View of Aqaba

2004-04-20T21:00:00.000+08:00

Along King Hussein St (Corniche), which runs more or less north-south along the coast through the centre of the town, and follows the Gulf of Aqaba around to the west as far as Israel and the Palestinian Territories, and to the south as far as Saudi Arabia.

At central Aqaba

A Night In Aqaba

2004-04-20T20:30:00.000+08:00

Aqaba, is just a gulf (Guft of Aqaba) from Eilat of Israel. The night view was superb. Actually, Taba of Egypt is just further down.

At a square in Aqaba, along the King Hussein Street (Corniche), the main street in Aqaba.

A corner of Aqaba Castle (Mamluk Fort), built firstly by the Crusaders in the 13th century, then by Mamluks during the reign of Sultan Qansur al-Ghuri (1510-1517). It was renovated and enlarged by the Otoomans in 1587 and 1628.

Entrance to the Aqaba Castle. We reached there at night, so it's closed. Just beside the fort was Aqaba Museum and visitor's centre.

Dinner at Aqaba

2004-04-20T20:00:00.000+08:00

After settled down and had a shower, the first thing to do of course, was to have a full dinner. The restaurants are plenty, although with English sign were more scarce. Tim, the Canadian guy we met at the immigration, joined us. The dinner costs me about JOD 1.50, plus drink of JOD 0.75 - expensive! Anyway, it's desert country after all. So expect to pay about the same for a bottle of mineral water too.

Excellent View from Rooftop of Petra Hotel

2004-04-20T19:30:00.000+08:00

It's also possible to sleep on the rooftop of Petra Hotel, for about JOD 1.00. The rooftop not very clean though, and it might getting very cold at night during winter. So sleeping bag and even camp is best to have. The rooftop however, provides great view of Aqaba and Gulf of Aqaba and its neighbouring countries.

Petra Hotel

2004-04-20T19:00:00.000+08:00

After immigration clearance, we boarded a service taxi to Aqaba town center for JOD 1 each after some bargaining. The shock that I had was that everything in Jordan was very much more expensive than in Egypt.

We headed to Petra Hotel, a very clean and comfortable hotel that has lift to each floor! Almost all foreign tourists on the ferry came to Petra Hotel together, including Wei Heng and me. We paid JOD 2.50 each for a 4 single beds' room with attached bathroom, together with Jim and Chris.

Bus to Aqaba Immigration

2004-04-20T17:30:00.000+08:00

After alighting from the ferry in Aqaba port, there was bus that brought us to Aqaba immigration building, free of charge. As only foreign tourists (not of Arab origin I believe) were allowed to alight from the ferry first before of the pack, so there were only few of us on the bus.

Jordan Visa

2004-04-20T17:00:00.000+08:00

As at our time of arrival, the 14-days tourist visa for Jordan costs ....... $0. Yes, it's free. It's a special ASEZ visa that introduced by Aqaba Special Econimic Zone Authority. All arrival by Aqaba should be able to get the visa free, which is only valid for 2 weeks. For longer period, there is a stamp on the passport that stated that you need to report to police before 14 days.

Slow Ferry really Slowwww.......

2004-04-20T16:30:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, we called the Nuweiba port ferry ticket office to check the departure time of the ferry from Nuweiba Egypt to Aqaba Jordan, we were told it's on 11 am and 12 pm for slow and catamaran (fast ferry). When we reached there, the ticket officer told us it's actually on 12 pm and 3 pm. Guess what, we thought the slower ferry should arrive about the same time with the fast catamaran as there was 3 hours gap. And it's cheaper too at USD $32 each. But it's not case. The slow ferry only departed on 2 pm! 2 hours late. And half way we can saw the fast catamaran sailed passed us.

The slow ferry carried almost everything, and it spent a lot of time loading these lorries, thus the delay.

There supposed to be a few classes of 'cabins' on the ferry. But I am not sure, because we only been asked to pay 1 price, and that's USD $32. We walked all over the ferry, virtually nobody care about our class of tickets. So we settled ourselves into this air-conditioning lounge. Here Chris from England came to join us, as we're the few foreign faces on the ferry. Beside, we also met a German guy who paid a tour agent to arrange for him. He was not happy with the arrangement, including the promised 'high speed catamaran', but ended up together on the same ferry with us.

On the roof of the ferry there was a canteen, and a lot of Arabs and Africans that seated themselves here. Basically there is few things to buy here.

The ferry we took. There was Jordan immigration on the ship where we'd submitted our passports to them, only to re-took our passports at Aqaba immigration. We also left the ferry first with other tourists before others did, so there were only few of us who took the bus that brought us from the Aqaba port to the immigration building. Here we met another nice guy from Canada Tim. So you can guess also that at the Jordan immigration, only few of us occupied all the counter.

Tip: There is money changer on the ferry itself. The rate is about the same you can get in Jordan.

Tip: Nobody will tell you that you need to submit the passport to the Jordan immigration ON the ferry. So keep a lookout. Anyway it's of no harm if you don't manage to submit it. Just wait a little while longer at Aqaba customs.

Dolphin in Red Sea Gulf of Aqaba

2004-04-20T16:00:00.000+08:00

It's possible to see Dolphin swimming around the ferry when the ferry half way to Aqaba. Too bad I noticed it too late and had too few time to get a proper shoot. But it seemed like all local passengers (although most of them didn't understand English, but we still managed to get their meaning) of the ferry knew about it, except tourist. I guess this was the only advantage of taking this slower ferry.

There was simply a lot of fish in Red Sea. Here the fishes swam around the ferry before departure.

Telephone in Egypt

2004-04-20T15:30:00.000+08:00

I purchased a phone card to call back to Malaysia at the Nuweiba immigration building for EGP 10. Talked about 1 minutes and 30 seconds, at it costs me EGP 7! Communication in Egypt really expensive. I used my Singapore mobile phone and roamed in Egypt and I was really consent with my phone bill. I really hated 1 insurance agent who called us but didn't want to hanged up the phone even though I told her I am now overseas, until I told her I had no money to chat with her! Really annoyed those insurance agents.

Goodbye Egypt

2004-04-20T15:00:00.000+08:00

Last look of Sinai of Egypt and Nuweiba port. Good bye Egypt, hope to see you again.

Nuweiba Port

2004-04-20T12:00:00.000+08:00

Nuweiba Sea Port

Waiting Area before going through the immigration. Wait here or wait in a hall after the immigration as they won't let you go to the ferry too early.

Immigration building was under renovation, so the appearance was so-so. There were special counters that specially for tourists, which were virtually no need to queue.

After immigration it's a short distance to the ferry. They arranged the bus to ferry us there, right in front of the ferry. It seemed like tourists get privileged treatment everywhere. We no need to checked in our luggages, got own counters for immigration, allowed to have a seat in the bus, and also allowed to board the ferry first.

The Way to Nuwaiba

2004-04-20T11:30:00.000+08:00

Sinai is after all a desert that filled with barren and jagged mountains and desert sand dunes.

Some part of Sinai has been declared protected area to preserve its natural environment. Right out of Dahab to the interior is Saint Katherine Protectorate.

Landmark marking arrival into Nuweiba

Service Taxi to Nuweiba

2004-04-20T10:00:00.000+08:00

We had searched for service taxi to Nuweiba yesterday night. We agreed to pay the driver EGP 30 each, as was the only person who approached us. The agreed price was for 4 person, and when Julia decided to join us, we still needed to pay the same price! Anyway, be it 4 or 5 person, the price was expensive in a non air-conditioned car.

Actually there suppose to be bus to Nuweiba in the morning, but afraid that we might not be able to catch the ferry to Jordan in time, we decided to pay more for the service taxi. To be fair, the taxi driver was responsible. He brought us to the Nuweiba port ticket office first to buy the ferry tickets. After that we boarded the taxi again, and he drove us to the entrance of the port. The distance was not that far, but anyhow it's nice that at least they did what they said, and brought us right to the Nuweiba port, without the need for us to turn back to buy the ferry tickets again.

It was a small taxi, so as usual, big luggages went to the top.

Last Look at Dahab

2004-04-20T09:30:00.000+08:00

Dahab beach front, along Masbat area.

Small bazaar at Dahab, all closed in the early morning hour. Tourists also nowhere to be seen.

Goodbye Dahab

2004-04-20T09:00:00.000+08:00

Today was our last day in Egypt. We carried our backpacks to go to Mashraba of Assalah to take taxi to Nuweiba. Everybody who saw us was so friendly. The bided us farewell and invited us to come back again. But all of them only wanted to take photo with Wei Heng.

Same with this guy from another restaurant.

Met with Another Asian

2004-04-19T20:00:00.000+08:00

At the evening stroll we met with Julia. She was from Taiwan this time. She ended up traveled with us to Jordan before going to Jerusalem.

Red Sea

2004-04-19T18:00:00.000+08:00

We finally woke up by the evening. It's late so snorkeling was no longer viable. However I still decided to have a swim in the Red Sea. Actually the beach along Dahab was not so beautiful. It's more famous for diving and snorkeling. Red Sea has long been selected as one of the Seven Underwater Wonders of the World. But nevertheless, I had swimed in the Red Sea.

No Appearance in Dahab

2004-04-19T17:00:00.000+08:00

This afternoon, it's very hard to imagine a person as 'kiasu' (mean afraid to lose in Hokkien) as me, nowhere to be seen in Dahab. Instead, I stayed in the hotel room for the whole afternoon, sleeping. We were simply too tired, and too lack of sleep after the hike to Mt Sinai. We had to ignore all those who came to find us, including Teresa who missed the bus to Cairo and came to ask us to go for a swim.

St Katherine's Monastery

2004-04-19T12:00:00.000+08:00

When we came down from Mt. Sinai, the Monastery of St Katherine was not opened yet. So everybody was waiting at the entrance beside Central Tower.

Bell Tower of Church of St Katherine

Moses's Burning Bush where Moses heard the voice of God coming from.

Beautiful paintings in Monastery of St. Catherine, also called Monastery of Transfiguration or Monastery of Burning Bush.

Well of Moses

At entrance to Basilica of the Transfiguration (Church of Saint Katherine), outside fresco depicting the Transfiguration of Christ.

Basilica of the Transfiguration or Church of Saint Catherine interior. Photography is not allowed, so this photo was taken from outside by Sing Wei.

Monastery of St Catherine

2004-04-19T11:00:00.000+08:00

The first view of St Katherine Monastery from Steps of Repentance

Great view of St Katherine's Monastery from Steps of Repentance.

Elijah's Basin

2004-04-19T10:00:00.000+08:00

Elijah's Basin is a small plateau below the Mt Sinai summit, dominated by a 500 years old cypress tree which marking the spot where the prophet Elijah heard the voice of God.

Camel seen at Elijah's Basin

Steps of Repentance

2004-04-19T09:30:00.000+08:00

We decided to get down Mt Sinai following 3750 Steps of Repentance, which laid by a monk as a form of penance. The Steps start just beside the stores below Mt Sinai summit.

Gate along the way on Steps of Repentance.

Steps of Repentance has really a lot of steps. It's lucky that we used it to go down Mt Sinai, and not go up.

Toilet on Mt Sinai

2004-04-19T09:00:00.000+08:00

Composting toiet on Mt Sinai. You have to brave the very strong wind to get to the toilet, which is on the edge. Toilet usage is free of charge, but no water.

Steps to Summit

2004-04-19T08:30:00.000+08:00

After dawn, the steep steps to the Mt Sinai summit. There are food and drink stalls just beside beginning of the steps.

Spectacular View from Mt Sinai

2004-04-19T08:00:00.000+08:00

Bare, jagged mountains of Sinai, with plunging valley.

Although unable to view the sunrise, but the beautiful scenery more than still made the hike worthwhile.

Greek Orthodox Chapel

2004-04-19T07:30:00.000+08:00

On the summit of Mt Sinai, there is a Greek Orthodox Chapel, but it was locked.

Gebel Katarina

2004-04-19T07:00:00.000+08:00

Gebel Musa (Mt Sinai) is not the mountain directly behind the St Katherine's Monastery. And on the summit of Mt Sinai, the higher mountain Gebel Katarina is in sight.

Disappointing Sunrise

2004-04-19T06:00:00.000+08:00

We were so eagerly waiting for the sunrise. The sun did rise, when it doesn't? But we unable to view it as it's too cloudy. What a waste.

Still too cloudy.

At Mt Sinai Summit

2004-04-19T05:00:00.000+08:00

We reached the summit of Mt Sinai at about 4 am, after 3 hours of long hard hike. It was very cold at the top. To make matter worse, the wind was very strong. This made me couldn't get any rest. But arrived the summit early did have an advantage. We can scouted around for better position to view the sunrise, although initially we were not sure which direction is it. But it's better than to squeeze with lots of tourists that continued to flood the summit right until dawn.

Mt Sinai summit packed with people, and made me very uncomfortable with strong cold wind.

Tip: If you get cold, there are people who is renting blanket for EGP 10 each. Expensive!

Christians, Muslims and Jews believe that God delivered its Ten Commandments to the Moses at Mt Sinai summit. So there were a lot of faithful who sang, prayed and, as in this photo, read the bible, loudly!

Mt Sinai Hike

2004-04-19T04:00:00.000+08:00

Our van departed Dahab at 11 pm and arrived at St Katherine's Monastery 2 hours later. Sing Wei and Herman were in different bus, but we arrived about the same time. Yet they insisted didn't want to climb, so Wei Heng and I started to climb Mt Sinai (Gebel Musa) which stands at 2285 meter by using "camel trail". Since it's called "camel trail", you can expect a lot of camels that can be hired to hike up Mt Sinai. Been dropped in completely darkness, actually I had difficulty to find the trail starting point. Other than followed other tourists, these camels also provided confirmation whether we were on our direction.

Our climb started at 1 am, with little moon, and it's completely dark. Photo was taken by Wei Heng, and it was not purposely crop that way, but it's too dark till could not framed properly. Our torch light also got problem of battery used up too fast, which forced us to hike in faint lighting.

There are a few stores selling drinks mostly along the camel trail, usually light up with candle only.

The last part of the hike was steps to the summit. It was cold, and windy hike.

Dahab at Night

2004-04-18T21:00:00.000+08:00

We supposed to have a nice rest before hiking Mount Sinai. But who could? It's beautiful and romantic, although might get boring in the long run.

Laid Back and Relax in Dahab

2004-04-18T18:00:00.000+08:00

Actually there was nothing much to do in Dahab other than swimming, snorkeling and diving. So I really had a relaxed day in Dahab, just strolling along the beach of Red Sea. The most regrettable decision that I made was to not snorkeling today, to save some energy for the Mount Sinai hike later in the night. Eventually I didn't have any energy at all after came back from Mt Sinai.

Herman and Wei Heng at beach front of Dahab

While strolled along Dahab beach, we met Teresa Kwan from Hong Kong. Just imagined can speak Cantonese in Egypt! But she was interesting girl, came to our room a few times just for chatting. One time even wanted to sell us her unused film, as she was returning to Hong Kong soon. But nobody used film camera! Eventually Herman bought from her for EGP 10. She brought us to here, Jays Restaurant, to have a drink. It's very nice atmosphere.

Tour to St Catherine Monastery and Mt Sinai

2004-04-18T15:00:00.000+08:00

Since we were unable to go to St Katherine Monastery and Mt Sinai in the morning, so now we had to find a tour to go there at night, and return in the next morning. Amir from Seven Heaven Hotel insisted on EGP 50 per person, although his birthday is same with Wei Heng's birthday. We thought it's a bit expensive, so we asked around for taxi to St Catherine Monastery and Mount Sinai. The lowest we can get was EGP 50 per taxi one way. Quite cheap, but later another staff in Seven Heaven Hotel quoted us EGP 40, which pretty much the standard price, but we just booked the tour with the hotel.

A Lot of Great Food

2004-04-18T14:00:00.000+08:00

The main benefit of having Sing Wei and Herman as travel mates was that they really liked to eat. Whenever wherever they would also prepared a lot of food. For dinner and lunch, you can be assured that it's the most delicious and full meal if following them, just like the lunch we had in Dahab.

Seven Hotel Hotel

2004-04-18T13:00:00.000+08:00

We decided to head to Seven Heaven Hotel at Masbat area which the Korean guy Park Jang Tae introduced to us instead of staying with same hotel with Sing Wei and Herman, which located at Mashraba area of Assalah, as it's expensive and a bit far from the beach. It turned out to be a very nice choice. What surprise me was I anticipating a lot of Korean and Japanese in the Seven Heaven Hotel, yet I saw only few, mostly were Western tourists.

Seven Heaven Hotel Reception area on the left, diving area on the right.

Garden Hut as Seven Heaven Hotel called it, costs EGP 10 per night per hut. The hut has 2 beds, area is small but comfortable with fan only.

No Way to Mt Sinai

2004-04-18T11:00:00.000+08:00

When we bought the ticket, the clerk told us the bus can reach by 7 am. It's too optimistic. Our bus reached Dahab only at 11 am. By then, our plan to go straight to Mt Sinai (Gebel Musa) was no longer viable as the bus to St. Katherine's Monastery had departed. We were a bit at a lost now. Lonely Planet said there supposed to be service taxi, but none in sight. I not even sure if we were at bus station. Finally we followed the guide that came to pick up Sing Wei and Herman (yes, they're still on the tour that they booked in Cairo), and took the local bus to Dahab's Assalah, where most budget hotels located, for EGP 1 each.

Beautiful Sinai from the Bus

2004-04-18T10:00:00.000+08:00

I able to had a glance of Sinai from the bus before arrived at Dahab as the sun had rose.

Before Sharm el-Sheikh, road in Sinai runs along Red Sea Gulf of Suez

Sinai row upon serried row of barren, jagged, red-brown mountains

Beautiful Sinai mountains and desert plains

Big board announcing arrival in Dahab. This is the junction that leads to Dahab.

Bus Ride from Luxor to Dahab

2004-04-18T09:00:00.000+08:00

The bus eventually reached Dahab after 17 hours after departing from Luxor. About an hour earlier almost all passengers on the bus had alighted at Sharm el-Sheikh. The bus air-conditioning was not very cold, and I can felt I was sweating when the sun appeared again. At night, the bus made a stop at shop house. This was the only stop I was aware of, as other time I mostly fell deep in sleep. The problem with this shop house was it's completely dark, without electricity. Only candle was scarce until the whole toilet was lit up with 1 faint candle only. It was quite scary experience. Nevertheless, this was the longest bus trip that I took so far in my life.

Meet Back Travel Mates Again

2004-04-17T18:00:00.000+08:00

Finally we met back with Sing Wei and Herman at Luxor bus station. Behind was the bus that brought us to Dahab. And in Luxor, you still can see donkey carriage.

An Interesting Korean

2004-04-17T16:00:00.000+08:00

Park Jang Tae, boyfriend of Lee Sang Hee, came to find Mando to ask Mando helps him to sell the train tickets as his schedule had change due to arrival of his girlfriend. It was interesting to see how he bargained with Mando. :) Park really travelled to a lot of places. He gave us a lot of advise when knew that we're going to Dahab and Petra.

Lunch by Mando

2004-04-17T15:30:00.000+08:00

On the way to search for place for lunch, we met Mando, the guy that with Lee Sang Hee yesterday night. He invited us to El Salam Hotel, where he worked as cook, to have lunch. This was the first time in whole Egypt we found a place that offers Malaysia or Malay food, nasi goreng, mee goreng and etc. We ordered 2 nasi goreng and 2 cokes for EGP 15. Mando is an interesting person, although I not sure if it's true, then the Korean told us that Mando is pretty famous in Korea, due to appearance in TV.

This time he wants miniature fan

2004-04-17T15:00:00.000+08:00

When I was in Cairo, the Claridge Hotel owner wanted to buy my mobile phone. Now in Luxor, the Oases Hotel owner wanted to buy my miniature electrical fan that I used to cool the intense heat for EGP 10. I denied and he kept haggled with me until I had to promise him to bring him one if I have friends that come to Egypt. I probably will not do that since I don't want my friends, if any of them visit Egypt, to fall into Luxor West Bank tout. Finally, he took a pen. I had prepared a few pen to 'give away' after reading somewhere about it that even a pen can make Eygptian happy.

Waiting at Oases Hotel

2004-04-17T14:30:00.000+08:00

We backed to Oases (Oasis) Hotel by midday, as I didn't have much energy left to walk anymore. The kind hotel owner let us relaxed at hotel lobby for nearly 2 hours.

Along Corniche el-Nil

2004-04-17T13:30:00.000+08:00

I didn't really enjoyed Luxor Corniche. I would still prefer wonderful Alexandria and picturesque Aswan. May be Luxor has too many cruise ships that blocked the view, and the weather was hot. Nevertheless, strolled along the Nile was enjoyable.

Mummification Museum

2004-04-17T13:00:00.000+08:00

Mummification Museum located along Corniche el-Nil, along the Nile riverside. Admission is EGP 20. As usual half price if you have ISIC card. I wanted to visit this Mummification Museum although we had visited a lot of museum just because of the word 'mummy'. This museum as its name, exhibits a lot of mummies, mummification tools and some photos to show the mummification processes.

A mummified ram covered with a glided cartonnage mask. Ram was considered to be symbol of god Khnum.

Coffin and mummy of a cat, sacred animal of goddes Bastet.

Vertical section of a skull where one can see the resin used in the mummification process and the linen cloth used to fill the cavity from where the brain was removed.

Mummies of an Ibis and a baboon (in the naos), symbols of Thot, god of science and knowledge.

Even mummy of a fish!

Turned Back

2004-04-17T12:00:00.000+08:00

Initially we thought of paying Karnak Temple Complex a visit. After all it's of grandest scale in Thebes (Luxor). But again we decided to give it a miss too with the excuse that we had been there yesterday night for Sound and Light Show. But the main reason was because I felt I was very tired and weak, and very much liked to rest.

Egyptian Hospitality

2004-04-17T11:30:00.000+08:00

Although there were simply too much touts and scams in Egypt, but the hospitality of ordinary Egyptian people cannot be denied. Today, again, groups of kids surrounded us and kept chanted "Hello" and "Welcome to Egypt". I felt so warm.

Luxor Museum

2004-04-17T11:00:00.000+08:00

We walked down Corniche el-Nil along the Nile towards Karnak Temple. On the way we passed thru Luxor Museum. We decided to give it a miss again. I felt that there were already simply too many museum we had visited.

Luxor Museum

Good News

2004-04-17T10:30:00.000+08:00

We finally got in touched again with Sing Wei and Herman. To our surprise, their trip and our trip now merged again. We are going to Dahab in the same bus later in the day.

Luxor Temple

2004-04-17T10:00:00.000+08:00

Luxor Temple was largely built by New Kingdom pharaoh Amenhotep III. We decided to view Luxor Temple from outside only, guess we were getting temple-scare. In view was first Pylon raised by Ramses II with colossal statues of Ramses II and a pink granite obelisk in front of it.

Part of Luxor Temple in Thebes, old name of Luxor.

Bus Ticket to Dahab

2004-04-17T09:00:00.000+08:00

The first thing we did in the morning was to buy our bus tickets to Dahab later in the evening. We came yesterday night to buy the tickets but the counter had closed. The bus would depart Luxor at 5 pm and will go to Sharm el-Sheikh and Dahab. To Dahab costs EGP 100 each. The bus station actually is just a booth selling the bus tickets, and just a short distance from Luxor Temple.

A Miss and A Meet

2004-04-16T23:30:00.000+08:00

On the way back from Temples of Karnak, we saw the Luxor Temple were beautifully lighten up. We decided to come back to snap some photo after some rest. It was the tired day after all. However, when we backed again, the light had been off. What a disappointment.

However when we walked around Luxor street, a girl called us. She was the Korean girl Lee Sang Hee that we met in Aswan Marwa Hotel. What a coincident. Through her we also met with her very interesting boyfriend the next day, and Mando, an Egyptian who cooked Malaysia food.

Finally a BIG meal

2004-04-16T22:00:00.000+08:00

Finally had a big delicious dinner at a Luxor restaurant after came back from Karnak Temple Complex and returned the bicycles. There were a whole chicken and a pizza for EGP 20. This was so far the better meal that I ate in Egypt.

Fruit Juice Drinking Stall

2004-04-16T21:00:00.000+08:00

Enjoyed orange juice for just EGP 1.5. There are a lot of fruit juice selling stall in Egypt. Not so hygienic, but it's cheap, and never makes my stomach aches.

Karnak Temple at Night

2004-04-16T19:00:00.000+08:00

Alighted from ferry we cycled to Karnak Temple to catch Sound and Light Show. Along the way, we asked around for direction, attracted lots of kids asking for tips. When we ignored them, they even asked for the pen we used. Really wondering what happen to the great Egyptian civilization and their pride. On the other hand, we met a very good English speaking police officer at Karnak Temple while waiting for Sound and Light Show. I guess he must be one of the few rich in Egypt. Anyway the Sound and Light Show costs EGP 50.

Karnak Temple is a spectacular complex of sanctuaries, kiosks, pylons and obelisks, all dedicated to the Theban gods and to the greater glory of Egypt's pharaohs. At Avenue of Ram-Headed Sphinxes with First Pylon in the background while waiting for Sound and Light Shoiw.

Temples of Karnak at Avenue of Ram-Headed Sphinxes and First Pylon at night.

Light up at Karnak Temple wall decorations.

Statues of Middle Kingdom pharaohs in front of 7th pylon lighted up at night.

Ferry at Nile

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Nile at Luxor viewed from West Bank. Anchored in the river side was public baladi ferry that we took to cross the Nile. On our return ferry, there was even a bakery on ferry selling some cookies for EGP 1 each.

Medinat Habu

2004-04-16T17:00:00.000+08:00

Passed thru Medinat Habu, second in size only to Karnak Temple. We decided to give it a miss, as it was too late and we were too tired.

Valley of the Queens

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Valley of the Queens from the entrance. Admission costs EGP 12 (EGP 6 for student). Not quite really interesting in my opinion.

The most famous and most pretty tomb - Tomb of Nefertari, wife of Ramses II, not to be confused with Nefertiti, wife of Akhenaten. It's still closed for restoration and preservation.

Inside Tomb of Amen_Khopshef (Amunherkhepshef), son of Ramses III.

Brighly coloured reliefs inside Tomb of Prince Kha_Em Wast (Khaemwaset), son of Ramses III.

Lone Bicycle

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By the evening, with the intense heat, Luxor West Bank was almost deserted.

Valley of the Kings

2004-04-16T14:00:00.000+08:00

Valley of the Kings as viewing from hill, located behind Deir al-Bahri, or Temple of Hatshepsut.

It's a hard 'walk' after all. The minor problem was we would not be able to get into the tombs without admission ticket, and the path the brought us to Valley of the Kings landed us deep inside the valley. So we had to walked all the way to the entrance. Midway we hopped into a tram. A guy came to check our ticket,but we didn't have it, and we couldn't explain anything as he didn't understand English. He shouted as if wanted the guide to come to chase us away, but luckily nobody paid attention to him.

The tombs in Valley of the Kings are labeled with lots of details. The admission ticket which costs EGP 30 (EGP 15 for ISIC) allows entrance into 3 tombs, excluding Tomb of Tutankhamun (EGP 40, EGP 20 for student). We entered into 4 with the ticket, due to a kind guide that didn't tear our tickets.

Staircase leading to entrance of Tomb of Ramses I. Yes, it's steep.

Decoration and wall painting inside Tomb of Ramses I was of superb quality.

Inside Tombs of Tausert (Tawasret) and Setnakht (Sethnakht, Setnakhte) has astronomical ceiling decoration. When we wanted to enter into this tomb, the guide didn't tear our tickets, and even allowed us to take photograph. Out of goodwill, we wanted to pay him EGP 1 as baksheesh, or tips. But he didn't want, said it's 'small money' and demanded EGP 10. We just took back the money and walked away. They must had been pampered too much.

The route to back to Deir al-Bahri, meaned Monastery of the North, so called because early Christian used to use it as monastery, or more commonly known as Temple of Hatshepsut, from Valley of the Kings.

Hike to Valley of the Kings

2004-04-16T13:00:00.000+08:00

Everybody was advised us not to cycle to Valley of the Kings, as it's long hard ride. So we decided to 'walk' (hike should be more appropriate) over the hill behind Temple of Hatshepsut to Valley of the Kings instead. The path starts at beside the canteen or rest area at a corner in front of the Temple of Hatshepsut. We asked few people before got to the correct path. It was noon, and it's intensely heat and hot! Just imagine when I saw a cave and entered it, just like I immediately stepped into an air-conditioning room from hot oven. To make matter worse, I got very weak, may be due to not ate enough food for the past few days.

If you choose to walk to Valley of the Kings, you will be rewarded with great view of Temple of Hatshepsut in amphitheatre setting.

Temple of Hatshepsut when viewed from higher level of the hill.

Hiked up the steep hill. There were police checkpoint up at the hill, and some donkeys that hired by tourists passed through us. The walk to Valley of the Kings was comparatively easy, just took us less than an hour. However, when came back to Deir al-Bahri (our bicycle was there), we lost our way. At the top of the hill, the path and surface looked all the same. Finally we found our way and returned in 90 minutes. So make sure you remembered some landmark if you want to hike this hill.

Temple of Hatshepsut (Deir al-Bahri)

2004-04-16T12:00:00.000+08:00

Temple of Hatshepsut is a partly rock-cut, partly freestanding structure at sheer limestone cliffs of the eastern face of the Theban mountain. Hatshepsut ruled as Pharaoh for 20 years with support of Amun priesthood, while Tuthmosis III, supposed to be successor, was then too young.

Restored statues of Hatshepsut, wearing a false beard, on the uppermost floor of Hatshepsut Temple. She is wearing the twin crown of Upper and Lower Egypt.

Inside The Temple of Hatshepsut Hathor Chapel, columns with the head of Hathor.

Wall painting showing god Anubis and gifts.

Tram at Monuments

2004-04-16T11:30:00.000+08:00

At some of the monuments in Luxor West Bank, there are trams that act as trolley system to bring tourists closer to the monuments from the parking area that is located quite a distance away, due to heavy traffic. This tram brought us to Deir al-Bahri for EGP 1 each. They collected the money together with admission ticket of Deir al-Bahri with costs EGP 6 (EGP 12 for adult), so initially we still thought the tram was free of charge.

Shortcut to Hatshepsut

2004-04-16T11:00:00.000+08:00

Dirt track that leading to Deir al-Bahri (Temple of Hatshepsut). While we cycled to Deir al-Bahri, we saw this road that can go straight to Hatshepsut, instead of cycling a big round by following the tarred road. Actually the saved distance was not that much, but we can saved some energy by following this shortcut.

Some sites saw along the shortcut to Hatshepsut, which I believe is Assasif Tombs. On the day, only a tourist couple visited them guided by a local guide.

Tombs of Nobles

2004-04-16T10:00:00.000+08:00

Tombs of Nobles is nestled in the foothills and among the houses of the old village of Gurna (Sheikh Abd al-Gurna). There are more than 400 tombs there! We gave them a miss, as we were running out of time due to slow cycling.

Admission Ticket for Luxor West Bank

2004-04-16T09:30:00.000+08:00

At the time of our visit, admission tickets to monuments no longer need to be bought centrally at Antiquities Inspectorate ticket office at Gurna, except for Tombs of Nobles and Medinat Habu. Besides, as with other monuments across Egypt, there is also no longer photography costs.

Colossi of Memnon

2004-04-16T09:00:00.000+08:00

Colossi of Memnon was remains of what was once the largest complex on the West Bank, which was built by Amenhotep III as his funerary temple. Colossi of Memnon is just beside to main road to other attractions of West Bank, and no admission ticket needed.

Bicycle Renting Scam

2004-04-16T08:00:00.000+08:00

We rented 2 bicycles for EGP 5 each. It was very cheap, and without hesitation we decided to rent it. We paid him EGP 50, but to our surprise, we just gave back the change of EGP 35. Guess what? The EGP 5 was for the bicycles' locks! After haggled with him, he decided to gave back additional EGP 2.

Lesson learnt was always paid exact amount to him, and asked clearly about other charges. Besides, checked the bicycle properly as we later found out that one of our bicycle was not so smooth in cycling. Anyway, the shop was the only one opened in the early morning on our way to the jetty, and the shop owner was quite friendly too. You can find more shops on the West Bank.

Bicycle on the Luxor West Bank

2004-04-16T07:00:00.000+08:00

We went out in the early morning, and went straight to the West Bank. I was a little bit felt sorry to the Oasis Hotel owner as had to lie to him. We decided to rent bicycles to travel around West Bank.

Baladi ferry is the fastest way to cross the Nile to the West Bank. Bicycle can be brought with no extra charge. It was a bit hard to bring the bicycles to the ferry, as there were quite a lot of staircases. Anyway, there was always people offering to help, but most likely they will ask for tips after helping. We paid EGP 2 each for the return trip. We should have paid only one-way, and pay again when back. Luckily the guy wrote us a paper that we didn't understand what it's, as it's in Arabic. But the paper note usable, and we're not been charged again when wanted to back to East Bank. So make sure you get one if you're been ordered to pay for return trip.

Oasis Hotel and Tout

2004-04-15T22:00:00.000+08:00

As predicted, once we stepped down of the train, there were a lot of touts surrounding us to get us to their hotel. One of them even knew where we stayed in Aswan, obviously the Marwa Hotel some what got information exchange with the guy. This guy was actually from Grand Hotel, which Marwa Hotel introduced to us too. And we're actually intended to stay there too! But this guy was really spoilt my mood.

Anyway, we still headed to Grand Hotel. On the way, Oasis Hotel owner saw us and offered us EGP 10 per room per night. At Grand Hotel, I saw that guy again. I couldn't stopped wondering what would happened if he didn't act aggressively at the train station just now. We would have followed him! I was just too scare to fall into another scam again, so I tried to avoid as many touts as possible.

But we still didn't manage to stay at Grand Hotel at the end. Just about we wanted to step into Grand Hotel, the light went off. Wei Heng said it looked no good. So we headed back to Oasis Hotel which we saw still got electricity. Anyway, few minutes later, the electricity was backed, but we were not going back to Grand Hotel anymore.

As usual, Oasis Hotel owner also pushed us to take out West Bank tour with him. 3 of us just said that we're too tired and lied him that we're going to stay around Luxor the next day. Only then we had a good rest.

Aswan Train Station

2004-04-15T20:30:00.000+08:00

As it was already a bit late, we decided to go straight to Luxor, skipping Edfu which we initially intended to visit. With this decision, we could traveled together with the China guy we met at Marwa Hotel together to Luxor too. The train fare to Luxor costs EGP 17 after discount with ISIC card. It was cheap, and the train departed punctually.

Building of Aswan Train Station

What you pay is what you get!

2004-04-15T20:00:00.000+08:00

We paid EGP 50 each for the trip to Abu Simbel, Aswan High Dam, Philae Island and and Unfinished Obelisk. It was considered cheap, but with few downsides.

1. No air-cond. This was the worst, as the weather there during the time was hot, really hot, with hot air.
2. No tour guide. We were dropped at the place and left to walk around.
3. Slow. The vehicle was far inferior than the big buses that other tourists took. Ended up we arrived much later, and had to squeezed with other tourists.
4. Skipped itinerary. The van driver encouraged us to skip the unfinished obelisk, by saying it was unattractive. Ended up most of the tourists decided not to visit it, so we had to joined the crowd.
5. Normal lunch. Still ok as we were very hungry. :)
6. All not inclusive. You will be surprised that everything is not included, other than the bring you there. Everything else, pay yourself.

It seemed like it's the case if you book the tour from those budget hotels. Not sure of the price for those 'higher-end' tour package though.

Inclusive of this lunch?

2004-04-15T18:00:00.000+08:00

Our tour package inclusive of a lunch. We quite looking forward to it as it's already quite late when we reached back Marwa Hotel. So that was the lunch, cooked by a staff there himself. Quite surprisingly, it was delicious, may be we're just too hungry.

Boat to Philae Island

2004-04-15T17:30:00.000+08:00

The boat that took us to Philae (Agilkia) Island. The boat sailor dropped us on the island and waited for us, along with lots of other boats. Luckily he still can recognized us when wanted to back from Philae Island.

Once reached the jetty, the boat sailor requested for more money, although before departing we had agreed on to the price we paid. We were shocked, but we just walked away, as the price was actually told by the our tour guide too. (Actually was just a van driver, as he never guided us)

Philae Island and Isis Temple Complex

2004-04-15T17:00:00.000+08:00

Philae Island was actually have submerged below water of the reservoir created by the old Aswan Dam. Between 1972 and 1980, the massive temple was disassembled and removed stone by stone from island of Philae and reconstructed 20 m higher at nearby Agilkia Island. It's dedicated to god Isis.

To get to Philae Island, we shared a boat with those who travelled with us in the van. We had to pay the boat ourself, as it was, again, not included with the tour package. So, to enjoy the stunning aura and romantic surrounding the Philae Island and Isis Temple, we had to pay EGP 4 for the boat and EGP 10 (EGP 20 without ISIC) for the admission. Anyway, I couldn't really enjoyed it as the heat made me quite suffering.

The first pylon facing the outer temple court. It's 18 m high towers with reliefs of Ptolemy XII (Cleopatra's father) smiting enemies.

Kiosk of Trajan, or Pharaoh's Bed. Originally main entrance to the Temple, inside Roman Emperor Trajan is depicted making offerings to Isis, Orisis and Horus.

Wall carvings in Temple of Isis

Aswan High Dam

2004-04-15T16:30:00.000+08:00

High Dam or El Saad al Aali in Arabic was an engineering miracle when it was built in 1960s. It's not to be confused with old Aswan Dam, which is much smaller and 6 km downstream. To visit High Dam, we need to pay EGP 5 each as admission was not included in tour package.

A view from the vantage point in the middle of High Dam towards the "Lotus Flower" tower which honouring Soviet-Egyptian friendship and cooperation. The vantage point in on the dam itself, so you won't be able to have a full view of the dam itself.

Nile after the Aswan High Dam. As we were on top of High Dam, there were the best scenery other than Lake Nasser behind the dam. To the right you will find a lot of power generators.

How to beat the crowd at Abu Simbel

2004-04-15T16:00:00.000+08:00

Well, you won't be able if you join the tour that comes from Aswan in the early morning. However, after Temple of Hathor, there is a path that leads to the back of the temples and then to the entrance. It can considers to be off the beaten path. Not many tourists walk here, and you can see how the hill specifically built to mimic the actual location of the temples.

Souvenir in Abu Simbel

2004-04-15T15:30:00.000+08:00

There were simply too many of merchants, young and adult, tried to sell souvenir to us, from the moments we arrived until we left the Abu Simbel temple compound. The most common hold by those sellers is post cards, selling at EGP 20 for a stack of 10 pieces. It was not too expensive, nor not too cheap. But we still bought 3 stacks of it altogether. The only problem was just too many of them.

There were some souvenir shop around too, just outside of the temple compound, you won't be able to miss it. Besides, there was an ice cream seller after Temple of Hathor. As usual, giving the hot weather, he had quite a decent business.

Lake Nasser

2004-04-15T15:00:00.000+08:00

Calm water in Lake Nasser, which created by Aswan High Dam viewed from Temples of Abu Simbel. It's also world largest artificial lake. The building of High Dam at Aswan caused rising water that threatened to flood a lot of great monuments, included Temples of Abu Simbel. Thus, UNESCO launched massive rescue operation to save the monuments. The greatest achievement must be the preservation of temples of Abu Simbel, where it's cut into more than 2000 pieces each weighed 10 to 40 tonnes, and relocated to higher ground 210 m away and 65 m higher than original ground. When you're here, you will know why it's a great achievement.

Temples of Abu Simbel

2004-04-15T14:30:00.000+08:00

Great Temple of Ramses II and Temple of Hathor are just besides each other. The hill that contains them is man-made.

There were simply too may tourists arrived together at roughly the same time. But you have no way to beat it unless you come by flight or stay overnight in Abu Simbel.

Tip: Admission to Abu Simbel is EGP 39 (half price for student)

Temple of Hathor

2004-04-15T14:00:00.000+08:00

Temple of Hathor is dedicated to Queen Nefertari, wife of Ramses II. Rock cut facade contains 6 massive standing statues, of which 4 represent Ramses and 2 represent Nefertari. What unusual here is statue of Nefertari is same height with statue of Ramses. Other smaller figures are of Ramessid princes and pricesses.

Giant statues of Ramses and Nefertari. Notice that legs which are in walking style. Most likely the temple was built when the King and Queen where still alive.

Inside the hall of the Temple of Hathor, 6 pillars are crowned with Hathor capitals and its walls are adorned with beautiful reliefs which depict Nefertari before Hathor and Mut, Nefertari honouring Ramses, and Ramses being valiant and victorious.

Rliefs on the wall

Another beautiful reliefs

Unbelievable Abu Simbel Miracle

2004-04-15T12:30:00.000+08:00

The innermost chamber is scared sanctuary with small altar and 4 statues. The temple is aligned in such a way that on 22 February and 22 October every year, the first rays of the rising sun reach across the Nile, penetrate the temple and move along the hypostyle hall, through the vestibule and into the sanctuary, and illuminate the statue of Ra-Harakhty, Ramses II and Amun, except Ptah. Before relocation due to Aswan Dam rising water level, the phenomenon happened on 21st instead of 22nd.

It's simply incredible to apprehend how ancient Egyptian people can have such a great knowledge in science, which doesn't seem to exists in current generation of Egyptian.

Great Temple of Ramses II

2004-04-15T12:00:00.000+08:00

Great Temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel, which only was rediscovered in 1813, was carved out of the mountain on the west bank of the Nile between 1274 and 1244 BC, and was dedicated to the gods Ra-Harakhty, Amun and Ptah and Ramses II pharaoh himself. But mostly, with its four colossal statues of Ramses II addressing the river, it was designed as a show of strength, an awesome quarteted sentinel watching over any boats sailing into Ramses II's lands from the south.

Famous colossal statues of Ramses II sit majestically, with accompany of larger than life size statues of pharaoh's mother Queen Tuya, his wife Nefertari and some of their children at this massive rock-cut facade. Above the entrance is figure of the falcon-headed sun god Ra-Harakhty.

Large hall inside the Great Temple of Ramses II, supported by eight columns, each fronted by a 10-m high statue of Ramses. The roof is decorated with vultures, which are protective figures symbolizing the goddess Nekhbet.

Reliefs on the wall of the temple, this photo taken by Sing Wei.

Other wall reliefs at other hall.

Hot Hot Hot!

2004-04-15T11:30:00.000+08:00

It was a very hot day in Abu Simbel. To made the matter worse, the microbus, or more accurately, the van that took us for the trip was without air-conditioning! So just imagine, when the air the blew onto your face was actually hot! So it's a good idea to pay more to more reputable tour agent to get an air-cond bus if travelling in summer.

A very stupid idea

2004-04-15T06:00:00.000+08:00

Only buses and microbuses arranged by hotels or tour operators can travel to Abu Simbel in police convoy. So every buses have to arrive at the checkpoint early, by 5 am! Those buses that arrive earlier have to wait and queue up along the road for departure in police convoy. It's total useless in my opinion. Firstly, I hardly saw any police, other than when passed through the checkpoint to Abu Simbel, and once at checkpoint along the road, and at Abu Simbel itself. Secondly, obviously some bus drivers drove faster, some slower. So it ended up all buses were scattering around the road, and at some point I believed that bus in front of our van was at least 3 km away! What convoy was that? Anyway, that's the requirement, if you like to visit Abu Simbel as a day trip from Aswan.

We actually booked our trip previous day with Marwa Hotel for EGP 50 each. We shopped around but seemed like all hotels also quite firmed with EGP 50. So we just booked with Marwa Hotel as good gesture, as I think the hotel was good. That proved to be good decision too. As we're leaving to Luxor today, so we checked out at 4 am, before departed to Abu Simbel, and they allowed us to keep our bags in a room, free of charge. Beside, when we returned, they allowed us to bath for free too. Good service!

Tip: There will be sunrise on the east on the way to Abu Simbel. If you want to view, sit on the left side of the bus. And make sure you stay awake.

Caleche (Hantour)

2004-04-14T23:00:00.000+08:00

Caleche, or hantour is a carriage pulled by horse or horses. The Nubian Museum is located at a bit southern corner of Aswan, so you took a caleche to went back to the train station at the northern end of Aswan, mainly due to tiredness.

The Caleche, horse and its rider. Most people recommends it for travel at Luxor to or from Karnak Temple. But we took it in Aswan, and it's a good experience too. The Caleche in Aswan is almost the same with those in Luxor too.

Nubian Museum

2004-04-14T20:00:00.000+08:00

Nubian Museum, which loosely based on traditional Nubian architecture (here is the entrance), showcases a great selections of Nubian antiquities from 4500 BC to present day. Most importantly is the relics are properly arranged, displayed and with clearly written explanation. Opening time is a bit odd, from 9 am - 1 pm and then from 5 pm to 9 pm. But that's good too, as we chose to visit it after evening, when all other sights had closed. Admission is EGP 20 (EGP 10 for ISIC).

Mummy of a ram with a gilded cartonnage mask.

Two statue of a hawk, which also is the symbol of god Horus.

The building of Aswan High Dam caused a lot of monuments to submerge under water, prompted massive UNESCO project to relocate them. Here you can see the relocation process, including those of Abu Simbel. In photo is Abu Simbel at its original location.

You can get a feel of Nubian folk culture here, with a model of Nubian house.

Felucca

2004-04-14T17:30:00.000+08:00

Feluccas are traditional canvas-sailed boats of the Nile. As said before, the Nile is at its most picturesque in Aswan, and everybody is recommended to take a felucca to enjoy the scenery. Some people even uses the felucca to travel from Aswan to Luxor or Edfu, which may lasts from 2 or 3 days.

We took the felucca to crossed the Nile from Elephantine Island to Aswan East Bank. Initially we thought of take the felucca to travel around Kitchener's Island first, but called it off after unable to get our price despite bargained hard. Ended up we paid about EGP 10 for the felucca to sailed just 2 of us to East Bank. However, the felucca sailed slowly, enabled us to enjoy the scenic view.

The sailor controlled to sail of felucca so that felucca wouldn't sail too fast.

On board a felucca.

Old Cataract Hotel

2004-04-14T17:00:00.000+08:00

Old Cataract Hotel is one of the most famous and historic hotel in Aswan, with Moorish-style building perched atop a granite hill at the Nile River's edge. Here the Old Cataract Hotel was seen from Elephantine Island.

Ruins of Abu

2004-04-14T16:30:00.001+08:00

Hiding after the lush garden beside Aswan Museum is Ruins of Abu. Excavations still going on and it has several reconstructed buildings that spanned from around 3000 BC to the 14th century AD. I had to commended that most of the structures here are clearly labeled.

Nilometer

2004-04-14T16:30:00.000+08:00

Nilometer was used to record the level of the river, and it's the main attraction at the corner of Ruins of Abu and Elephantine Island. Indeed they're 2 nilometers there. We nearly missed out on the Nilometer, because we didn't know how Nilometer should looked like at all. So it was a bit of surprise when we found out that Nilometer was actually a series of staircase and its linkway to the Nile River.

Nilometer of Temple of Khnum is below the southern balustrade of the Khnum temple terrace, with a dried up sacred lake but was more likely a basin for measuring the Nile's maximum level.

Nilometer of Satet Temple, located just a short walk from Nilometer of Khnum Temple.

Aswan Museum

2004-04-14T16:00:00.000+08:00

Yes, museum again. I guess you should more surprise if a country with at least 5000 years of history doesn't have much museum. But I still felt that I had a bit burnt 0ut with so many museum. Obviously in such a short span of time, I wouldn't be able to slowly appreciate the priceless treasures in so many museums. Anyway, we still came to Aswan Museum, which charges admission fee of EGP 10 (EGP 5 for ISIC). The museum doesn't have too much things to see, but Ruins of Abu is definitely worth a visit.

A small sarcophagus of pottery contains a mummy of child wrapped in layers of linen.

An ancient granite. The Egyptian believe that the gift displayed on its flat surface would be magically transformed into real food and drink that could be enjoyed in perpetuity of the god.

Aswan Museum

Elephantine Island Nubian Village

2004-04-14T14:30:00.000+08:00

To get to Elephantine Village, we went back to Aswan East Bank from Tombs of Nobles and walked to next landing point for public ferry, south of landing point for public ferry to Tombs of Nobles. The ferry took us straight to the Nubian Villages Siou and Koti.

This shady path runs from north to south across Elephantine Island, and links Siou and Koti Nubian Villages. There were numerous alleys in Nubian Villages, which made us nearly got lost. Luckily got a Western tourist who came to find his friend in the Nubian village (in the front), and they took us along and showed us the way to Aswan Museum.

Kubbet al-Hawa

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The only reason that you gonna climb to the hill top to Kubbet al-Hawa is for the fantastic and picturesque view of the Nile and Aswan. Seen here is Elephantine Island in the Nile River.

Nile River is at its most picturesque in Aswan. Looked towards East Bank of Aswan.

Tombs of Nobles

2004-04-14T13:00:00.000+08:00

Tombs of Nobles on the high cliff at West Bank of Aswan, are honeycombed with the tombs of princes, governors (nomarchs), keepers of the Gate of the South and other dignitaries of ancient Elaphantine. The easiet way up is to use the stairs that cut across the hill diagonally. On the hilltop is Kubbet al-Hawa, which is further hike away from Tombs of Nobles.

Painting reliefs decoration in one of the tomb at Tombs of Nobles

Crossing Nile River

2004-04-14T12:30:00.000+08:00

Public ferry in Aswan carried us across Nile River to West Bank for just EGP 1. It was embarassed that initially I sat with Wei Heng, and the front of the boat, which were all women. Only later when I felt weird that I noticed front of the boat is for women, so I moved to the back.

There were 3 boarding point for public ferry. 2 of them will carry you to Elephantine Island, from where you can board another ferry to West Bank. The one we took carried us straight away to West Bank, right next to the Tombs of Nobles.