Saturday, April 4, 2009

Aswan, Egypt

What a great day!

It started with a motorboat ride to the base of a sand dune. Here we mounted camels and trekked up the dune to St. Simeon Monastery.

The camel ride was very fun. I found out that my camel's name was Oscar and he was 3 years old. A few of the people were fearful and wanted to get off and walk.

The desert Monastery of St. Simeon, on the west bank of the Nile, was built in the 7th century AD. Once home to a community of around 300 monks, it was abandoned in the late 12th century after an attack. It was built as a fortress, and though the main buildings now lie largely in ruins, the imposing fortification walls remain. The lower levels of the complex, which comprised a church, living areas for the monks, stables and work quarters, are made of stone, while the upper levels are made of brick. In the roofless basilica, frescoes of the Apostles are still visible, their faces scratched out by Muslims.

After our tour we were given the option of taking the camels back to the boat or ride for about 1 hour on them to the Nubian village, our next stop of the day. We walked about ½ mile through this colorful village. We were given a glimpse of what life is like here. We were invited guests of a family to see what their dwelling was like. The Nubians are much darker skinned than Egyptians. They make baskets and beaded items for sale. Behind me on the wall was a purse I just had to have. It was the only one of its kind. I asked about the price and was told 70 EP (about $13.00) I said sold! The women shared tea and snacks with us and then asked if anyone would like a Henna tattoo. Four of us women volunteered and I am very pleased with the way mine turned out. (Photos to follow). It is supposed to last 1-2 weeks. We then were able to look into the sleeping quarters, kitchen and living area of the house. We went up on top to see wonderful views of the town. A bad thing happened here though - my sunglasses broke. It's a good thing I brought a spare pair.

We again retuned to our motorboat to be transferred to our home away from home for the next four nights, the M/S River Hathor. This is a very fancy ship. The rooms are large and have everything available including a TV with CNN, Fox movie channel, etc.

We had a little time to get acquainted with the ship and unpacked before being called for lunch. It was WONDERFUL when our choices were cheeseburgers (honestly, the best burger I've ever had), spaghetti bolognaise and a huge variety of salads and deserts.

At 3:00 we set out by felucca (a sail boat) to the Botanical Garden. It was a rather odd garden in that there were no flowers just a variety of trees from around the world. We had a problem on the way back to our ship, in the middle of the Nile River the wind was non-existent and out boat came to a screeching halt. Other people who had sailed before were not worried but I was. We were actually stationary for at least 20 minutes and we were finally able to get the attention of a power boat to tow us to our dock.

After our long day I desperately needed a shower and then felt so much better. Happy Hour was from 6-7 nightly and all of the cocktails were $3.50. I ordered one and it was a good thing I didn't order a second because at 7 we were all given a complimentary cocktail of our choice. For those of you that know I am not a drinker, I really got loopy after two drinks. They had loads of appetizers and then a short 30 minutes later it was time for our 6 course dinner! Too much food but at least now it is really good.

After dinner I discovered that there are electrical outlets out on the Sun Deck so I can type my diary there in the evenings.

I ended up going to bed at 9:20 but was up at 4:20 am.