Aswan & Luxor January 2-6th
I took a 5 day trip with Eslam to Aswan, a beautiful city in what is known as “Upper Egypt” near Luxor and the Sudanese border. It is peaceful, relaxing, and the place where the Nubian people live. We took what felt like the longest train ride of my life! It was about 13 hours in “First class” seating during the day. It was quite an experience. Thankfully, since Ive been here, my stomach has held up pretty well with the food, shockingly. I only had one issue with what Im thinking was some hibiscus tea I drank in a Nubian village in Aswan. Eslam’s cousin is a very high up major with the Aswan Tourist police, and so he was able to have his police escort us everywhere for free. It was amazing. He even got us Egyptian prices for the hotel. We paid 10 dollars a night. As we arrived at the train station, a police truck appeared, my bags were taken, and we were driven to our hotel and to get some food. I was so exhausted with only 3 hours of sleep that I felt scared, not trusting, and just cranky. Food+Sleep+Shelter=a happy Savanna. I wanted to skip the formalities and all the talk, but of course, in this country, it seems common to greet each other, sit and have coffee or tea, and then go about one’s way. I was way too impatient for this, as we hadnt eaten in 12 hours. I am finding the challenges yet again with the language barrier, as it is a helpless feeling not being able to understand what others are planning and controlling for you. As many know me, I am not one to not want to be in the “know” and so having someone else take control in a country that Im unfamiliar with in translation, can be somewhat helpful but also quite unnerving. We were able to travel everywhere with a police escort if needed, and found our way around the city. I am so grateful to have had Eslam with me as I would have been hassled and harassed mostly everywhere by vendors and men. The Nile, referred to in Arabic here as “Nil” is so beautiful. We were able to travel to Philae island and temple where his cousin works to see the famous temple there. It is stunning. We then continued our way with 2 escorts to Nubia Island, where the Nubian people live. They are very dark in skin color, African, and quite friendly people. We were able to be in their village after normal hours, at sunset, to visit with a particular woman named Zuba. Zuba and her sisters are known for their henna tatooing. We took a “felucca” motor boat over to the island, and I quite an interesting experience. The boat filled up very quickly with covered women all in black from head to foot, each side reserved for men and women. Eslam and I were not allowed to sit on the same side as women and men are separated. I was the only white foreign woman sitting on the women’s side. The stares were curious, mysterious looking, and also intimidating to me. I was humbled of course, and did my best to respect them. As we got off of the boat, I noticed men speaking to Eslam very intensely. They were asking him about me and if we were married. I have come to understand in travelling with Eslam for 6 days, people are always staring, particularly because he is Egyptian and me foreign. It is like there are mixed judgements on both sides. One on his side in them believing he is taking advantage of a foreign woman for marriage and to leave the country and the other on me believing that I am promiscous and wild. We have mostly gone along with it because it makes things much easier in conversation and negotiation. People are much more willing to give us a break knowing he is Egyptian for sure but also knowing that we are “married.” I have had a good laugh out of this, but at the same time, I see how important it is here. We have had to sleep in separate rooms for sure the nights here, as they charge Americans double if not triple what an Egyptian would pay and also because it is illegal here to have relations with anyone you are not married to. No matter if we are travelling as friend or otherwise, we arent allowed. Thankfully, though, we have run into situations where he has been able to prevent people from totally taking advantage of me in dealing with money. They automatically respect him when they see that he is Egyptian. We travelled to Luxor 2 nights ago, staying in a one star hotel with no hot water, dirty at that, no toilet paper or towels. We were situated across from the Luxor Temple, but behind the Souq bizarre and across the street from the call to prayer tower. Ugh. Thank goodness for my earplugs! The bizarre is full of beautiful scarves, statues, Egyptian rugs, silver, and trinkets. We took an early day trip to The Valley of the Kings, Queens, and Hatchepsut’s temple. We had our own private tour guide and were able to walk into many of the tombs. I was amazed at all the elderly men working in the mountain with large rocks, escavating…wearing their long galabiyyas and scarves wrapped around their heads. Many of the tombs are closed for restoration or simply because the Egyptian government doesn’t want tourism to ruin the tombs. There is definitely an amazing energy about each place. Before, in Aswan, we took a private convoy to Abu Simbel, one of the most fascinating tombs in the world. We left the hotel with police escorts at 4am and I woke to the sunrise of the most beautiful desert. It was exactly as magical as I pictured it. Vast, big, sandy, beautiful desert with blue skies. There was a mirage that lasted for about 5 minutes in the distance that appeared to be water, but obviously wasn’t.:) I was grateful to Eslam’s cousin for taking us there. We dined in the police quarters and walked down the corniche on the Nile. The weather has been cool at night and warm during the day. I have had no idea of time or day which is quite liberating. Egyptians sleep very late and stay up late. Everyday Im learning new words in Arabic, a language I find pretty difficult.
I took a 5 day trip with Eslam to Aswan, a beautiful city in what is known as “Upper Egypt” near Luxor and the Sudanese border. It is peaceful, relaxing, and the place where the Nubian people live. We took what felt like the longest train ride of my life! It was about 13 hours in “First class” seating during the day. It was quite an experience. Thankfully, since Ive been here, my stomach has held up pretty well with the food, shockingly. I only had one issue with what Im thinking was some hibiscus tea I drank in a Nubian village in Aswan. Eslam’s cousin is a very high up major with the Aswan Tourist police, and so he was able to have his police escort us everywhere for free. It was amazing. He even got us Egyptian prices for the hotel. We paid 10 dollars a night. As we arrived at the train station, a police truck appeared, my bags were taken, and we were driven to our hotel and to get some food. I was so exhausted with only 3 hours of sleep that I felt scared, not trusting, and just cranky. Food+Sleep+Shelter=a happy Savanna. I wanted to skip the formalities and all the talk, but of course, in this country, it seems common to greet each other, sit and have coffee or tea, and then go about one’s way. I was way too impatient for this, as we hadnt eaten in 12 hours. I am finding the challenges yet again with the language barrier, as it is a helpless feeling not being able to understand what others are planning and controlling for you. As many know me, I am not one to not want to be in the “know” and so having someone else take control in a country that Im unfamiliar with in translation, can be somewhat helpful but also quite unnerving. We were able to travel everywhere with a police escort if needed, and found our way around the city. I am so grateful to have had Eslam with me as I would have been hassled and harassed mostly everywhere by vendors and men. The Nile, referred to in Arabic here as “Nil” is so beautiful. We were able to travel to Philae island and temple where his cousin works to see the famous temple there. It is stunning. We then continued our way with 2 escorts to Nubia Island, where the Nubian people live. They are very dark in skin color, African, and quite friendly people. We were able to be in their village after normal hours, at sunset, to visit with a particular woman named Zuba. Zuba and her sisters are known for their henna tatooing. We took a “felucca” motor boat over to the island, and I quite an interesting experience. The boat filled up very quickly with covered women all in black from head to foot, each side reserved for men and women. Eslam and I were not allowed to sit on the same side as women and men are separated. I was the only white foreign woman sitting on the women’s side. The stares were curious, mysterious looking, and also intimidating to me. I was humbled of course, and did my best to respect them. As we got off of the boat, I noticed men speaking to Eslam very intensely. They were asking him about me and if we were married. I have come to understand in travelling with Eslam for 6 days, people are always staring, particularly because he is Egyptian and me foreign. It is like there are mixed judgements on both sides. One on his side in them believing he is taking advantage of a foreign woman for marriage and to leave the country and the other on me believing that I am promiscous and wild. We have mostly gone along with it because it makes things much easier in conversation and negotiation. People are much more willing to give us a break knowing he is Egyptian for sure but also knowing that we are “married.” I have had a good laugh out of this, but at the same time, I see how important it is here. We have had to sleep in separate rooms for sure the nights here, as they charge Americans double if not triple what an Egyptian would pay and also because it is illegal here to have relations with anyone you are not married to. No matter if we are travelling as friend or otherwise, we arent allowed. Thankfully, though, we have run into situations where he has been able to prevent people from totally taking advantage of me in dealing with money. They automatically respect him when they see that he is Egyptian. We travelled to Luxor 2 nights ago, staying in a one star hotel with no hot water, dirty at that, no toilet paper or towels. We were situated across from the Luxor Temple, but behind the Souq bizarre and across the street from the call to prayer tower. Ugh. Thank goodness for my earplugs! The bizarre is full of beautiful scarves, statues, Egyptian rugs, silver, and trinkets. We took an early day trip to The Valley of the Kings, Queens, and Hatchepsut’s temple. We had our own private tour guide and were able to walk into many of the tombs. I was amazed at all the elderly men working in the mountain with large rocks, escavating…wearing their long galabiyyas and scarves wrapped around their heads. Many of the tombs are closed for restoration or simply because the Egyptian government doesn’t want tourism to ruin the tombs. There is definitely an amazing energy about each place. Before, in Aswan, we took a private convoy to Abu Simbel, one of the most fascinating tombs in the world. We left the hotel with police escorts at 4am and I woke to the sunrise of the most beautiful desert. It was exactly as magical as I pictured it. Vast, big, sandy, beautiful desert with blue skies. There was a mirage that lasted for about 5 minutes in the distance that appeared to be water, but obviously wasn’t.:) I was grateful to Eslam’s cousin for taking us there. We dined in the police quarters and walked down the corniche on the Nile. The weather has been cool at night and warm during the day. I have had no idea of time or day which is quite liberating. Egyptians sleep very late and stay up late. Everyday Im learning new words in Arabic, a language I find pretty difficult.
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