The Cairo to Aswan train takes ~12 hours and it is difficult to sleep. The train stops often and locals like to talk loud and angry on their cellphones.
It was surprisingly cold but wearing my sweater and using my little down jacket as a blanket worked great while teeth around me chattered (my new Mammut down coat rocks for these trips).

Arrived and one of many "guides" was yelling Clin-Tone. He, two Swedish guys traveling the world and I walked to the nearby hotel (forgot name already). He passed me off to another guide who gave me an agenda:
2:00 Aswan Dam tour followed by Philae Temple by boat.
3:30 a.m. Convoy departure on the 26th for the 175 mile drive to Abu Simbel.
Once back to Aswan I have the a night on the felucca - arrive Luxor on 27th.

The dam was, well, a dam. They are quite excited about it and I learned to despise it over the course of the trip.
The British built the lower dam in 1898 and underestimated the Nile. The Russians helped build the high dam in 1971. Both dams did two jobs: provided electricity to a growing Egypt and wiped out 5000+ years of archeological treasure by flooding. Did I mention it displaced 120,000 Nubians that populated the area?

The Philae temple was one that UNESCO spent a fortune moving in 1980 from underwater to another island close by that the dams did not flood.
The temple is impressive and items date from 4th century BC to 400 AD.
I took quite a few pictures of the area.

We arrived back and I thought I would find a little Christmas celebration (or at least a beer). Not so easy to find either in a land that is 90% Sunni Muslim. I splurged and went to the Cataract Hotel that used to be the Kings palace. An amazing hotel and I was dressed nice enough to beg in and I was seated on the deck overlooking the Nile. Amazing hotel and grounds. A splurge of steak (tough), cocktail and beer pairs with the surroundings made for a nice evening. I was one of three people dining outside and we had a little band all to ourselves. Did I mention tourism is very low now due to the uprising?
Back to the hotel and 4 hours of sleep before Abu Simbel.

The main reason for the long trip to southern Egypt was Abu Simbel. This would be my post Christmas adventure. Up at 3:00, in van by 3:30, sat at a security checkpoint until 4:30 with 40-50 other vans, cars or busses making the same trek. The road evidently used to be dangerous so they thought it best to group tourists up to make them an easier mass target.

I had the pleasure of sitting in the tiny second seat across from "Peeing Squirrel". That was the name I gave to our driver who would pull over to pee in front of he bus often and then drive like a maniac to pass all the cars that had passed while he flashed them; all the while loudly chewing some kind of nuts. I named a lot of people on this trip, this was the one that entertained me the most.

Merry Christmas Abu Simbel. Another amazing UNESCO recovery from the dam (one of only 21). The amazing structure and tombs were carved onto the side of a mountain in the 13th century BC and were 108' high at their highest. Built by and for Ramses II (and Nefertari, favorite wife) they are amazing in size and detail.
The site had been forgotten and hidden under sand until discovered in 1813.
The site was cut into pieces and moved 688' back and 213' up to escape the rising water. Many, many photos.

The sheer mass of tourists arriving at the same time required a strategy since we only had two hours. Beeline past he crazy long bathroom lines to the ticket window. Walk past all the guides that can't get their groups together. Walk fast up the long trail to the temples for outside pictures before other humans get there (no inside tomb pics allowed).
For the most part this worked and I walked around the back to the entrance coffee shop, ordered coffee, toured the now empty visitors center and sat outside enjoying my coffee and solitude while the masses toured the tombs.
Once the crowds began to arrive at the coffee shop I went back and toured the tombs with relatively few humans. Worked like a charm. Back to the bus for more "peeing squirrel" adventures. He decided adding a few local friends to the van would be a good way to make extra $$'s so I had a fold down jump seat most of the ride back.

Once back I had a two hour break and then on to the felucca, a small sailboat that is a traditional Nile transport. I said goodbye to my Swedish friends and "Brazil" (we couldn't pronounce his name) who had been in the same van.
Down to the water and onto the "Mona Lisa" which would be my home for the night on the Nile. It appeared I might be alone and here comes the guide with the Swedes and Brazil. Evidently we were booked separately and so he made two trips?!? Muhammad was 1/2 the crew and his second question was would we like beer. I think I'm going to like Mona Lisa...

Felucca traditionally were only 7 meters long until recently when they grew into big business and are mostly much larger as to have tables, chairs, seating and maximize tourists. Luckily ours was only a deck with padded cushions and storage under for packs, etc. We were to sleep on deck which was unfortunately covered, covered with fabric depicting smiling teddy bears with soccer balls. Can't make this stuff up! I would much rather have the stars than creepy teddy bears overhead but I was outside and it was peaceful.

The four of us were the only tourists on the boat. We made a stop across from Aswan to Elaphantine island where there was an unearthed ancient cult center of the Temple of Khnum, or Ram god. These are still being excavated but were impressive 4th-1st century BC ruins. The rest of the island is inhabited by the displaced Nubians of which our boat captain hails from.

We all four thought we were sailing down the Nile to Edfu or Luxor but in reality we sailed in circles and anchored almost directly across the Nile from where we boarded. Evidently I meet my "guide" on the opposite shore at 6:30a to claim my train ticket and leave on the 7:00 train to Luxor. Hmmm, OK.
We had our lunch and dinner on the boat as well as our two bottles of beer each while we talked travel. The lucky Swedes are out for at least another year. It might have been a bad sign that the Captain offer hashish and the Brazilian accepted and ducked under the bow where the crew slept.

We went to sleep around 11:30 and I set my watch for a wake up. My trusty sleeping bag kept me warm and I slept the best, and longest of the trip so far.
I woke up, freaked out a bit that my pack was not by my head where I left it, found it under the boat by the "kitchen" and it was still locked, whew.
I knocked on the sleeping quarters for Cappy, no response. Tried again and then louder and he popped out a few minutes later looking rough. I reminded him that I needed to meet the guide soon and so he made tea. By the time he woke Muhammed, made tea,untethered the boat and started across the Nile I had missed my train.

As usual in my Mr Magoo travel it worked out better. I was added to a minibus with the Swedish guys and Brazil which meant I would visit the Temple of Horus in Edfu and the Temple of Kom Ombo on the way to Luxor. I would have spent the 27 on a train instead of seeing these great sites.
More on those and Luxor soon...