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Night Location: Aswan, Egypt (on board Nile Cruiser)
Mummysode of the Day: Mum was greatly offended by the Hasslers once more. Gemma was proposed to yesterday while buying her Egyptian costume. The shop owner made his intentions clear by saying, "I go to your Mother and offer her 1000 camels." As Mum walked past a stall today, a man offered her 3 camels. In stark contrast to Gemma's marriage offer Mum was highly affronted and replied, "No. No camels." The man laughed and said, "Welcome to Egypt!" She confided to Amber later, "I am past my bloom."
After a leisured breakfast we stepped out into the Nubian city of Aswan. After a short bus trip we arrived at the High Dam. This dam was built under the leadership of President Nasser and as such, the lake behind the dam bears his name. This is the third largest lake in the world and holds enough water to supply Egypt for 370 years. In one section it is over 300km wide. It is heavily patrolled by Egyptian military as it is the life source of Egypt.
Leaving the dam, we boarded a small tin fishing boat and made our way to an island housing the Temple of Philae, dedicated to the goddess Isis. Built during the late Ptolemaic period it was never finished and there are some columns where the carving has not been commenced.
During the Roman period, this temple was used by Christians as first a Monastery and then a Cathedral. It therefore housed a Christian altar as well as Coptic crosses carved into the limestone. Also during the Roman period, Egyptians were forced to build an adjoining structure that was never used as anything. To show their contempt for this, alongside beautiful reliefs of the Roman Emperor dressed as a pharaoh being blessed by gods, is a long list of all the world's swear words in hieroglyphs.
On the way back to the boat we stopped at the central jewellery store as this region is famous for its gold. From ancient times, the Nubian lands have been mined for gold as it is granite country. Amber bought a necklace with a pendant cartouche with her and David's names inscribed in hieroglyphs.
We returned to the boat just before lunch. The entire boat trip Mum has had difficulty locating her room culminating in today's effort. She attempted to go back to the room by herself and couldn't understand why the lock kept spinning. She thought the locks must have been changed during our outing, she checked the key several times but did not check the room number. She was rescued by another passenger who suggested she may be on the other side of the boat, which she was.
Following lunch and a siesta we embarked on our Felucca adventure. The budget version of this tour involves 3 nights on one of these little sail boats with no toilet or shower. It was a beautiful way to spend the afternoon but it would be less than ideal in the Egyptian heat. We zigzagged across the Nile and around the Elephantine islands enjoying the breeze and the sunset and running our hands through the cool water of the Nile.
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