Last day of Nile Cruise: Aswan. Up early of course for our day in Aswan. In the Memphis Tours minibus and off to see the Unfinished Obelisk, the two dams, and the Philae Temple. Options for the Nubian Village and the Fellouca Cruise we didn't take. The Unfinished Obelisk was for the Karnak Temple three days (for our boat) downstream - it was 61 metres long and weighed 1200 tonnes. After two years they had painstakingly carved three sides of it out of the solid granite at the Aswan quarry which was the only source of granite in Egypt when it developed a crack and was useless. Start again dudes with your bronze and basalt hand tools. The quarry was huge and you could see where each of the obelisks and statue blocks were carved out. The Aswan Dam or Dams were next. First one built by the British in 1898 to regulate the Nile flooding and allow three not one crop per year downstream (for their Egyptian Cotton fields). The second upstream and much bigger one built during the Cold War by the USSR when the US blocked World Bank funding. The resulting Lake Nasser is 500 km long and powers a massive hydroelectric station. Dam is very heavily guarded with tanks, armored cars and multiple checkpoints including a mobile xray vehicle to scan passing vehicles after the physical inspection by armed soldiers. From the dam we went back down to the British Dam to board a Fellouca to the Philae Island Temple which was relocated by Unesco after the first dam flooded the original site. The temple was under water for quite a while and tourists used to visit the upper parts above water by boat. We had our own on board Nubian hawker on the way over- no pressure and reasonable prices so we were happy to buy from him. Jeannie bought a nice amethyst stone necklace. Trailing our hands in the dam water and it was quite cold. Cool breeze blowing off the water as we motored across the dam, a welcome break from the heat of the southern desert.
The morning's tour finished, we headed back for the boat. Said our goodbyes to Sayed- he had been a very likable and entertaining guide and he was catching the train back hame to Luxor. Went to Macca for Wifi but none there but they re-directed us up the road and around the corner. Sayed had repeatedly warned us to not leave the boat as Aswan was notorious for thieves and robbers, but if we HAD to go, to take no money or bags and stay in a tight group. The wifi cafe was closed so we wandered around looking for an alternate. I wandered around the corner and there was Sayed trailing his luggage along to the train station and running into his ex-tour group completely ignoring his advice. He told us about the Movenpick hotel on Elephantine Island (with free ferry over the Nile) so we headed back up the esplanade and eventually found it. Movenpick was a grand hotel - fantastic views over Aswan from thirteenth floor restaurant but we spent a couple of very nice hours down in the air-conditioned bar area with WIFI (at last), ice cold beers and continual free snacks. Reluctantly headed back into the heat toward the boat. On the way Sayed's (and a friendly shopkeeper's) warning manifested. A robed man cut in between us from behind then signaled to a horse and carriage. Two young boys jumped out and accosted us carrying papyrus papers over their arm. While they were trying to distract us the hand under the papyrus was trying to delve into the ladies bags and our pockets - all this 50 metres from our boat and the tourist police stationed there. We kept pushing their hands away and moving them away from us and eventually they gave up. The last nights onboard entertainment were Nubian singers and dancers. Average performance- half of it was the "non-dark" Nubians except for one taking the piss out of the passengers who were dragged up as "volunteers". We declined the invitations. We'd provided enough entertainment the night before- the bellydancing was on continuous loop on the tv on the staircase landing. Packed ready for the early start next day flying to Abu Simble further up the Nile at the southern border of Egypt.