The Land Before Time: Papyrus XIV - Aswan Dam, Elephantine Island

Ok let me give you an introduction about the world's longest river - Nile. First take a look at the map below.

Nile River is about 6650km long. This length is TWICE the distance between Singapore and Taipei! The flow originates at Lake Victoria (in Tanzania) and flows northwards, through 11 African countries, before splitting into a delta at North Egypt and discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. The stretch of Nile we can see in Egypt is probably the final 20% of its entirety.

The entire Nile Basin spans a pretty huge portion of Africa!

Took a boat ride across Nile to Elephantine Island, which is situated in the middle of two river banks.

Felucca spotted! Nice reflection by the way...haha.

Residents of Elephantine Island playing in this little lagoon.

Ruins of Elephantine Island. This island is so named probably because the island looks like an elephant tusk from aerial view.

Another huge archeological site. Though it's just an island in the middle of Nile River, it's pretty huge! Didn't visit its residential area.

Is that a maze?

Ruins everywhere.

Ruins = No shelter = Hot!! Lol.

At the other corner the ruins are darker in colour. Shadow effect??

A strip of blue cutting through the sandy ground. Pretty!

I wanted to visit this temple on top of the hill at the opposite bank. The view from the top must be fantastic. Unfortunately there is no time =(

View from the highest point of the Elephantine ruins. The main Aswan city can be seen in the distance, across Nile.

There are a lot of cruise ships along the bank! Taking a Nile Cruise is one of the recommended tourist activities in Egypt, but we chose not to since it's pretty expensive and exploration is limited.

I would say Nile River is the prettiest river I've seen so far in all my travels. So far I've seen rivers that either run through urbanized cities, or forested areas with rich vegetation and greenery on both banks. Nile is special because it runs through a desert, in which its sandy background seems to accentuate its blue-ness and beauty.

Finally a sheltered area to rest! The view from the opening is just amazing!

There are several islands on the First Cataract of Nile. The smaller ones are rich in vegetation, but carry the risk in being flooded.

That tiny island in front is actually a restaurant! Only accessible by boat - looks pretty high class.

I'm so exhausted. Is that a tomb for me to sleep in?

Aswan is famous for its dam. We visited the Aswan High Dam (which replaced the previous Aswan Low Dam). As you can see from the diagram, the dam divides the river into a higher section and lower section.

This is the lower section of the dam, facing northwards.

Some dam structures. Aswan Dam is built mainly to prevent flooding of the downstream portion (which includes Luxor and Cairo).

This is the higher section of the dam. By holding back water, Aswan Dam creates a huge reservoir, called Lake Nasser.

Lake Nasser. Why is the water soooooo BLUE?!

TLBT Tip No.14: Just remember that tourists have no rights in Egypt. It's worse if you go free-and-easy or don't have any local guide with you. Local people are free to rip you off whenever they like, since no price is ever stated in black and white. For essential services like bus or boat rides, you can't just say 'no' and walk away. Despite knowing the exact price (from the guidebook), we were often quoted many times more. We were once rejected from taking a local minibus as the bus driver wanted us to take a cab instead. When I tried to ask for the price, he quoted a price 10 times of what I knew. Obviously a tactic to deter me from taking his bus...sigh. (In the end we walked instead haha) As long as you keep an open mind about this, and try to be more willing to part with a little more money, it shouldn't be a problem. Money can solve a lot of things in a third world country. Anyway the rip-off price is still considered affordable (by SG standards). To feel better, just treat the money as a donation to the poor. =)

The Land Before Time: Papyrus XIII - Aswan, First Cataract of Nile

After leaving Luxor, we headed for Aswan, which is further south along Nile River. Yes...the weather is still as hot, hovering around the 40 degC mark during the day.

Though the land area of Egypt is so large, settlements mostly occupy the regions close to Nile River. The unmarked areas are just...pure barren desert.

A comfy 3-hour train ride from Luxor to Aswan. The train is almost empty. Looks like locals don't really take this kind of 'high class' train.

Along the train ride, observed quite a few settlements built atop these sandy hills.

How cute! Our hotel towels are folded skilfully into the shape of a snake!

A sumptuous half chicken meal! The chicken was heavenly, the curry was delicious and the rice was tasty! (don't really like that white sauce on the left side though...)

Streets of Aswan

Nice to see something white amongst all the yellowish brick-ish coloured buildings. Is this a mosque? Or a church? *confused*

This very Egyptian-looking structure seems like a judicial court. (judging from the scale symbols)

Woah...looks like the residence of some rich sultan haha...

Nubian Museum. Ideal place to take cover from the sweltering heat.

Not sure if photography is allowed but I took some pictures anyway. This museum exhibits artifacts relating to the Nubian Kingdom. Nubia is a region around southern Egypt and northern Sudan, with Nubian people forming a distinct ethnic group.

Precious stones on display.

Aswan Bazaar. This is definitely much less crowded than the one in Cairo, which hardly has space to maneuver.

You can find all kinds of rojak groceries and sundries here (literally 杂货). The souvenir stalls have the most aggressive shopkeepers. Understandable since the locals don't buy souvenirs right?

After several days in Egypt, we're getting tired of having to ask the price and then try to bargain, whenever we buy anything (be it bottled water or souvenirs). Why can't they just be transparent about the prices?! Anyway I think my bargaining skills leveled up tremendously after this trip lol.

TLBT Tip No.13: After drinking plain bottled water all the time, you may want to 'reward' yourself once in a while by buying carbonated drinks or juice instead, like Fanta orange juice. BUT these drinks are best drunk cold, and it's very easy for liquids to heat up under the scorching heat if you just store it inside your bag. Hence it's advisable to drink all of it right after buying it from the fridge...but then again small bottles are usually more expensive (per volume) and you need to store liquids just in case. Therefore good planning is required even when buying drinks and quenching your thirst. But when you're on the verge of dehydration, drinking sweetened drinks does make you slightly more refreshed and energetic, be it chilled or warm.

Yeah...thanks to the sun I often get to drink warm water, which soothes my throat and prevents me from getting sore throat lol.

Aswan Bazaar is famous for spices. I'm already sufficiently spiced up by the sun, so no thanks lol.

More strange looking spices. What's that azure blue powder over there? Copper sulphate??!!

This time we tried another stall, for the same half-chicken meal. Equally delicious! By the way, see the way the put the pita bread on the table. The appearance of the bread isn't that appetizing in the first place and yet they still treat it this way lol.

Walking along the Corniche and admiring the beauty of Nile.

The clear blue waters, the azure sky, and the smooth sandy hills creates a wonderful contrast of nature.

This part of Nile is known as the First Cataract of Nile. 'Cataract' refers to a shallow region of a river with rapid flow, so shallow that rocks often protrude out from the riverbed, making it difficult for ships/boats to navigate through.

Stumbled into Ferial Gardens while strolling along the Corniche (river bank). After days of seeing sand and rocks, it was really great to see such greenery. Of course this comes with a small entrance fee, probably due to the high maintenance of those vegetation that does not naturally grow in such arid desert climate.

I mentioned earlier that Nile River gets more beautiful as you travel south. Indeed...Nile at Cairo looks like a typical city river, Nile at Luxor looks plain and Nile at Aswan is....just amazing!

A once-in-lifetime shot with the prettiest part of the world's longest river.

The contrast with the dry sand/rocks at the background makes the water look really appealing.

The traditional Egyptian sailing boat - Felucca - the best way to tour Nile River.

This is an imperfect spot to sit down peacefully and watch the river and its bustling activities (all the feluccas/boats/cruise etc). It would be perfect if not for the hot weather haha.

Famous local Egyptian food - Kushari. It contains a rojak of ingredients, such as rice, lentils, chickpeas, macaroni and fried onion. Cheap and filling!