Our cruise
is officially over after breakfast. I will say the staff on this cruise are the
most helpful, kind, and nice people we have ever met. Being on a smaller ship
means fewer choices of foods but the array was more than adequate. Of course
one must adapt to a different culture and if you hope for beef being abundantly
present, you would be disappointed. The fish and chicken are delicious and well
prepared. Food is served really hot as it should be. The A/C is very brisk in
our cabin and we had to often turn it down. This was a concern for us as we
didn't want to be "hot" so we were not at all disappointed. The
interior of the boat is older looking by our standards, but clean and that is
what matters to us. This boat has earned 5 stars, which is not really
comparable to our 5 stars but never substandard. There is a nice jewelry store
onboard with many lovely things. I already have a cartouche or I would have
gotten on there. The owner has just beautiful ones he makes them and they are
quite unique, available in silver, gold, or a mixture. The other shop carries
clothing and other items, even a few thing like shampoo. Clearly the people who
work, work very hard to make a living. The Nile River by Luxor and on our
cruise was so refreshing. I really can't comment to the actual cleanliness of
the river, but people here drink from it. You can see locals dip their cups in
the river for a drink. I personally will not do this! As far as the surrounding
area near tourist destinations, it is kept up pretty well. As I said on our
carriage ride to the more local back streets of Aswan, this is not the case.
The point to be made is the Nile Cruise was a very positive experience. I may
not say that if I was on a big bus with 30-40 people but having 4 of us with 1
guide, it was quite nice, very personal. Ya'lla has a fabulous staff here in
Egypt and they hired guides that met their standards with no problem. We
enjoyed the company of out traveling companions David and Brenda from Oregon as
well.
After
breakfast our pick up time was 7:15a and we were on our way to Aswan airport
for our flight to Abu Simbel. Here we parted ways with David and Brenda. They
head directly back to Cairo and will visit the museum today and fly home at 2a
Saturday morning! It is a quick flight to Abu Simbel, we barely reached
altitude and we were descending for our arrival! On our descent I saw the Abu
Simbel temple but sadly I could not get my camera our in time to take a
photograph. I will need to look for one when I get internet service again it
was a breathtaking sight. There are also pyramid shaped mountains but in
reality there are no pyramids in upper Egypt (southern Egypt). The pyramids are
all in lower Egypt (northern Egypt). On arrival our Ya'lla guide was waiting
for us at the door where he took us directly to the bus that would take us to
the Temple. It is a short ride, maybe 15 minutes. He got our tickets and took
us directly to the temple. Guides are not allowed to take people in and talk
inside so he gave us all sorts of information before we went in. He has 8x10
photos to show us what we will see and explain it to us. This temple is
different in that it was carved into a mountain of rock, built over a 25 year
span and one of the most prodigious feats of engineering in Egypt. The entire
complex of temples was moved to its present location 90 feet above its old site
to protect it from the rising water of the Nile when the Aswan Dam was built in
the early sixties. There is a film and photos to show you how they managed to
cut apart this temple and reassemble it above the old site. I'm not sure if I
mentioned before that 14 Temples were moved when the dam was built. Of these
temples 4 were given to other countries, 1 is in the Met in NYC, I forget where
the other went but then 10 were reassembled near their original sites.
Abu Simbel Temples for Ramses II and Nefertiti
Our visit
was up and we were taken back to the airport by bus. Within 10 minutes we were
boarding and on our way to Cairo with a quick stop in Aswan to let passengers off and pick up a few. We were
there just minutes and didn't even get off the plane. It is just over an hour
to Cairo. Maged was waiting for us in his very efficient fashion. He said our
flight was early and there is no doubt it was because we left Aswan early. If
he were not so efficient we would have been waiting for him. A short walk to
the van where cold water was waiting for us then on our way to the hotel. I
will say we are exhausted and looking forward to eating dinner and just going
to bed. We didn't have lunch but we always carry nuts or something with us to
snack on. I have a slight sore throat and I hope it is just from exhaustion but
I am popping a lot of On Guard beadlets!
When we
arrived at the hotel Maged took care of check in just like he and the other
Ya'lla people take care of boarding passes, check in, luggage, everything. We
were upgraded to a "Preferred Customer" room, which is in the newer
section and quite elaborate. There is a luxurious bed and flat screen TV. We
just see a tip of the Pyramids but the room is so posh it is a great trade off.
At 6p we went to the pool restaurant to eat the delicious grilled veal chops
with sides of rice, French fries, grilled veggies and appetizers of the Sambossek, Hummus, and glass of Egyptian red wine. After that it was off to bed
for us. A few minutes to read and I was out. We are looking forward to sleeping
in and taking our time to pack and prepare for our flight home on early Sunday
morning.
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