We flew this morning from Cairo to Aswan, in the south of Egypt.
We looked at the Aswan High Dam and Lake Nasser and the earlier British dam. Then we took a boat over to the Philae Temple, or Temple of Isis, and spent a fair amount of time exploring it.
Next, we proceeded to our riverboat, the Amwaj Livingstone, named after the famed explorer of the Nile. It’s a very nice vessel, much nicer than the one we were on many years ago with a group of major donors to the late Maxwell Institute.
After lunch and a bit of rest — Aswan is quite warm – we took a small boat up the Nile to visit a Nubian village. Along the way, we passed the tomb of the Agha Khan and the tombs of a number of ancient pharaonic governors of the region. We also passed by Elephantine Island, to which I think I’ll devote a column sometime soon.
The Nile is picturesque and unpolluted here and, in the evening, the area is truly beautiful. The contrast between the green valley, on the one hand, and, on the other, the surrounding granite cliffs and sand dunes is (I think) remarkably pleasant.
If all goes according to plan, we’ll be doing this trip again next year with Cruise Lady.
Posted from Aswan, Egypt
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