We arrived in Aswan at 11:00 am after a relatively OK night. We were offered an (unofficial?) upgrade to a sleeper car but declined so the six of us were a little crowded, especially considering Paul and Daniel were both very tall men. Connor took the bullet for the group and slept underneath the seats, a feat that made us both proud and totally grossed out all at the same time. Midway through the night, Tessa followed suit, giving the rest of us some more room to get some sleep.

When we arrived in Aswan, our local agent wasn't there yet, so we were swarmed by every cab driver in town. We've got to say we certainly feel welcome every place we go! Ha ha!

Eventually, our agent arrived but we didn't need to take a cab since our hotel was only moments from the train station. It was called Hotel Nubanil and although it wasn't the nicest place we've stayed in, it certainly had some good points. The staff was great and although we wanted to eat out on the street, we gave in and ate twice in the hotel, enjoying it immensely, because (we are ashamed to say) it tasted "just like home" (chicken the first day, steak the second). Our rooms were relatively clean, both air-conditioned, and we got shampoo and towels, so we felt like royalty compared to other places we've stayed.

We gave ourselves a few hours to recover from the train and then met with a driver who took us, with an English speaking guide, to the high dam and then to Philae Temple. If you think Connor and Tessa are just on vacation, think again. Our guide spoke very quickly and then quizzed us on what he said. The kids learned all about how a dam works. Next, we learned about the background of the temple. We marvelled that Philae Temple was moved stone by stone to preserve the temple because of the flooding caused by the first dam (just downstream from the high dam). It was very hot but we enjoyed the tour, although our guide told us it was his fourth time doing it that day and if we thought we were tired, we should think about how he must be feeling.

When evening came, we hit the streets, braving the bazaar and market place. Oh, my!!! Chaos!! Every vendor rushed out, offering us a "looky look," with "no pressure!", "for your beautiful ladies!!", "I give you cheap", because "you from Canada? Hey, Canada DRYYYYY!!!!". Margaret found it easier to just smile and say no. Barry tried to tease some vendors, telling them he was from Egypt, but the moment we made eye contact, they would follow and follow, so it was better just to walk. It made us sad because we would have liked to have looked and enjoyed all the art and fabric, but because it was so high pressure, it got very tiring. We bought some dessert pastry and fruit but couldn't find any food that really inspired us to experiment or risk our (knock on wood) good health so far, so we ended up trying a glass of sugar cane juice and settling for a good, fresh pizza in a place that was much less busy. Margaret was worried about eating fresh fruit off the street so she washed everything with soap and peeled it all before we ate it. It was delicious and we were glad to get some fruit into the kids.