Day 3
Discover Egypt
We wake at 05:30 and leave for the airport for our 08:00 flight. Once at the gate we find that the flight is delayed and we are told that they are unsure what time the flight will leave. We eventually board our flight and arrive in Aswan about 13:00. As we come out of the airport the heat hits you like a brick wall, the wind is so hot and it is like standing in front of a sand blaster. The temperature is about 45 degrees and normally is about 5 degrees hotter than Cairo. We check into our hotel and get settled in before our trip around elephant island by motor boat later. The motor boat is called the rolling stone and is captained by Ally. It chugs slowly across the Nile to the island where we pick up a local guild who will explain the history of this beautiful and scenic area. We go past an old hotel and are told this is where Death on the Nile was written. The banks of the river and island are a lush green of reeds and palm trees and the water shimmers in the late afternoon sun. We drop our guild off and head off again down river until we come to s spot at which we tie up and chill out. I ask if they have any beer on board and am told no, but the can arrange for some to be delivered (we are in the middle of know where but are told this will not be a problem). Some of the group go for a swim in the Nile as I watch and soak up the amazing picturesque view of the upper Nile river. We are then invited by Ally to climb the sand dunes which Mark the start of the Sahara desert. The climb is steep and hard going for some of us but the view is worth the effort. When we return to the boat we find the beer has been delivered and it is so nice to get a nice cold beer in this heat. We spend the rest of the evening on the boat just chatting and chilling, drinking beer and listening to music. Then about 21:00 we head back to the hotel. We say our good nights and go off to bed, it's a 03:30 start in the morning for our 3 hour drive to Abu Simbul