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2nd June 2010
Up at the crack of dawn for 12 hour drive through the desert and Oasis to the Nubian side of the Nile. Our first sighting of the Nile was the impressive Aswan Bridge. We stayed in a local Nubian house in the courtyard and had a Nubian traditional meal. The Nubians were to be our guides over the next few days. Under the stars again tonight. The Nubian women painted henna tattoos on our hands.
3rd June 2010
Our Nubian hosts take us on a boat ride down the Nile. We had a camel ride through the dunes. Then we continued by boat to our motel, Isis on the Nile. Our motel was opposite the Souq. Katie and I went shopping and had MacDonalds for lunch (needed some Western Food).
After lunch we visited the Lotus Flower Memorial located on the west bank of the River Nile, the Egyptian Russian Friendship Monument is situated close to the High Dam being built to commemorate Russia's involvement when the dam was constructed . Based upon the five petals of an actual lotus flower, this Egyptian Russian Friendship Monument towers more than 70 metres into the air.
We then walked along the Aswan High Dam wall. Aswan High Dam, is a huge rockfill dam which captures the world's longest river, the Nile River, in the world's third largest reservoirs, Lake Nasser. The dam, known as Saad el Aali in Arabic, was completed in 1970 after ten years of work. In order to build the Aswan Dam both people and artifacts had to be moved. Over 90,000 Nubians had to be relocated. Those who had been living in Egypt were moved about 45 km away but the Sudanese Nubians were relocated 600 km from their homes. The government was also forced to develop one of the largest Abu Simel temple and dig for artifacts before the future lake would drown the land of the Nubians.
Leaving the dam we hopped on a boat to the Philae Temple. The temple of Isis at Philae is one of the most beautiful and best preserved Greco-Roman temples in Egypt. Most of the temple was built by the Ptolemaic rulers as part of their promotion of the cult of Isis, which lasted well into the Roman Period. Philae is an island in Lake Nasser, Egypt. It was formerly an island in the First Cataract of the Nile River and the previous site of an Ancient Egyptian temple complex in southern Egypt. The complex was dismantled and relocated to nearby Agilkia Island because of the construction of the Aswan Dam.
After tea Katie and I went back to the Souqs for more shopping. Another late night................
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