Day 3, 4/20, Aswan

We sailed again wtih Autif, this time to Elephantine island. It was just Krystin and I becuase Jaimee stayed back at the hotel to work on her school paper. We headed to Elephantine island, which got it's name from some rock formations that vaguely resemble elephants. K-Dog and I toured ths small Aswan museum and saw some mummies (and a lot of goats). Mummies are cool. We explored the ruins of the Temple of Khnum, and the Temple of Satet, and the Graeco-Roman Necropolis of the Sacred Rams (where they buried the sacrificial animals). The guide was funny and kept asking us about American expressions like "Oh my God" and "wow!". Most of the guides speak English very well, as well as several other languages like French and German.

After Elephantine, we rode to the High Dam, which really wasn't much to look at. Picture the Hoover dam but a lot less interesting. The dam is essential to life on the Nile valley now, and allows them some security. When the dam was built, several Nubian villages and ruins were submerged. Lake Nassur is large and beautiful, but it's strange to think about all of the history buried beneath it.

We took at motorboat to the Philae Ruins, which were relocated because the dam had submerged them. Huge and beautiful. This was also the fist time we really saw a lot of other tourists, but it wasn't that bad. The hieroglyphics were so detailed and exactly the Egypt that I came hoping to see and experience. We explored the ruins for about an hour and headed back to meet Jaimee for lunch.

After a lunch of fuul, amiyah and fresh fruit, we set sail for another Nubian village to get henna tattos. We landed in an awkward situation at the first house, becuase the woman claimed to know henna, and kept us waiting in her bedroom for like 20 minutes. The whole time her young children kept at us, asking for money and trying to take things from us. Little Fatima almost made off with my wallet. Sneaky. Once we realized that this woman had no idea what she was doing, we thanked her and got out of there.

We met a man on the path who took us to his sister's house and we ended up getting our henna there. The house was beautiful, painted blue and covered with murals. It was also almost all open air- no roof just a courtyard, except for the few rooms. They made us tea, chatted with us, and painted beautiful henna on our hands. It was the perfect experience.

We trekked back to the boat and sailed around for another hour or so before checking out of Keylany hoetl and boarding a train to Luxor. That is where I am now, and I'll write about my experiences today when I get a chance.

Also, I miss Leo.

Cheers,
Angela