Aswan

This really is the end of the world. It’s a dusty frontier town. Going south from here you travel into Sudan and the war that is happening. You don’t want to go there. Travel west and you start a very long journey across the Sahara. You really don’t want to go there either.

But Aswan been a pivotal place for centuries. It is located next to the only set of cataracts found on the Nile and so from this location it is possible to travel by boat all the way to the Nile delta on the Mediterranean.

It is a very dry place receiving less than 1mm of rain in a year. In 2021 there was such an unusual rain and flooding event that it drove the venomous black scorpion out of their lairs and into the streets where they stung over 500 people. Certainly an unusual place.

Since 1902 it has been the site of a dam built to tame the river. Egypt had been suffering from Nile flooding annually for centuries. This is called the Low Dam.

The High Dam, which is higher and more massive, was built to both tame the Nile and provide power generation to a country in dire need of electricity. Unfortunately the construction of the dam along with the ensuing filling of the lake behind the dam would submerge some very meaningful ancient Egyptian temples such as Abu Simbel and Philae Temple.

So the world sprang into action and proceeded to do the unthinkable and move these two beauties to higher ground block by block.

Abu Simbel is a day trip from Aswan so we elected to stay in Aswan and see the Philae Temple.

To get there you must hire a boat and driver to take you. We paid LE550 plus tip for a two person round trip ride. I’m sure we were taken but we just paid it as we were on a schedule and ultimately you are bargaining for very little money.

After a five minute boat ride the temple came into focus. The original island, on which the temple stood, was called “Boundary”, as the temple was considered to be the most southern most outpost of the Egyptian rulers.

It’s not a big temple but it does provide for some beautiful photos as you head in through the front entrance.

The symbols etched into the walls there are probably 30 feet tall.

Inside there are some beautiful rooms covered in hieroglyphics.

As at every other temple we saw the locals.

Below is the building known as “Pharaoh’s Bed”. It served as as the main entrance to Philae Temple.

It is believed to originally have a roof made of wooden timbers.

After our lovely visit we climbed back into our van and headed to the Aswan Airport for our flight to Cairo which is the last segment of this trip.

In Cairo we’ll see all the amazing Egyptian sites so make sure to you stay tuned in!