Aswan

So this is our second day in Aswan, and I'm still continuously amazed by everything around me. Aswan is nothing like Cairo - it's a lot more serene and relaxing. The hotel we're staying at, the Isis Corniche, is absolutely breathtaking - our room overlooks the Nile, as does the pool and the restaurant where breakfast is served. I feel like I haven't woken up yet.

Yesterday, after getting off the train, we arrived at the hotel. After settling in a bit, we relaxed by the pool and our photo group met to briefly discuss how our class would work. Then at 4:30, we left on a boat to go to the Nubian villages. The people there are more "African" than the people of Egypt. They have a culture of their own and even speak their own dialect of Arabic, called Nubian, which is mutually unintelligible from Arabic. In other words, Arabic speakers can't understand their speech. We walked around the village for a while, the whole time being swarmed by vendors trying to sell us everything from spices to jewelry to knives. And yes, I bought a knife made by the people on the island - its handle is made from camel bone and the sheath has cobra skin embossed on it. It's a somewhat late birthday present for my brother - I think he'll absolutely love it.

This morning we woke up fairly early and had a pretty full day. First we went to the Botanical Gardens, located on an island not too far from our hotel. While the flowers and trees were incredible, it was also extremely hot - the plants made the atmosphere a lot more humid, so we were dripping in sweat by the time we left. Our next stop was Nubian Restaurant (and go figure, it was a Nubian restaurant). The dining experience was quite unique - unlike any place I'd been before. First pita bread was brought out, along with a number of dips and sides to eat it with. Picky eater that I am, I did dabble and try a few things, but I wasn't terribly receptive to anything. The tahini sauce, of course, was delicious. The main course was a choice of chicken, beef, or fish.

We went back to the mainland and then we took a bus to the High Dam of Aswan. Huge history lesson aside, it was basically built by the Soviets after the U.S. rescinded their offer to build it. I wasn't terribly fascinated. It created Lake Nasser, the world's largest artificial lake, which is pretty incredible. That aside, it was just lots of concrete and power plants.

Our final stop was Philae temple, which was more than words can describe. It was the first time I'd seen hieroglyphics in person, and I can't even fathom the incredible amount of work it must have taken to carve those. The temple was dedicated to Isis, the goddess of magic and love. There's too much history in it to describe it all, but I'll include pictures in the post that follows this.