My itinerary stated that after landing in Aswan I would check into the hotel, visit the Abu Simbel Temple, and enjoy lunch at the Islands Restaurant in the Middle of the Nile. As delightful as that sounded, what actually happened was much more delicious with adventure. As it turned out, Adel has a family-owned hotel in Aswan (he was born and raised there) that his brother oversees. Adel would be meeting me in Aswan the following morning for more temple tours but was leaving me in the very capable hands of his brother, Raheem. All was arranged so that I would be picked up from the airport and connected straightaway to Adel’s brother. In the video you’ll see Adel’s brother carrying the only two pieces of luggage I carried through my entire visit to the continent.
It was too early for lunch just yet, and I’ll be honest, since I would be staying overnight, I really wanted to find a bottle of red to wine down with later. I settled down in my room, but soon left out and asked Raheem was there a store I could possibly walk to and find a bottle of wine. He, in his best effort at English told me about the Bob Marley store. It was just this way, then that way, then straight and I would see it. Sounded easy enough, right? Soon after I began my journey, I ran into 3 kids around 6 to 10 years old. They didn’t understand English I didn’t understand Arabic, but the words “Bob Marley” “where” and gestures of drinking was understood between us. They graciously began showing me the way, through straightaways, sharp turns, and narrow passages we traveled, a little troop we were. It was so fun; I had a blast and felt completely safe. The Energy of the village reminded me of the Lakeside area I lived in in Mexico. The make-shift store didn’t have any wine but did have beer. I bought one, and my 3 new friends’ whatever snacks they wanted. By the time I returned to the hotel lunch was ready, and I was famished. I enjoyed the beer with lunch.
The hotel was located in an area close to the water. After lunch Raheem escorted me down a path that led to a small boat with three sailors who were waiting just for me. I wasn’t quite sure where we were headed, but it was a beautiful day, and I was game for whatever unfolded. We started gently sailing down Nile and I sat back and took in the serene beauty of it all. There was a lot of activity on the Nile, small boats taking tourist to and from restaurants and other places along the Nile. I soon gathered that peddling wares along the banks was probably how some families supported themselves. There was this young boy who latched on and rode along side our boat to sing to me for money, this was common practice. I guess it is a big deal to sing in English, he sung row, row, row your boat. But I felt bad because I didn’t have any change to give him. There was a family who passed by our boat and boy were they partying. Sun shining, music blasting, sky as blue as the water, it was electrifying!
First stop was the Aswan Botanical Garden. I was helped off the boat by my sailors and told where to find them when I was done visiting. I thought, “how cool to have this beautiful day to leisurely explore.” The botanical garden was lovely, I visited the museum and received a one-on-one tour from a genuinely nice man, who was probably bored and glad to see someone stop in. I bought a book that told of the history and all the species in the garden. I also met an adolescent who became attached to me. I’m thinking in not the most appropriate way. What can I say? I’m sure he’d been trained to flirt to high heaven for a sale. He sold bracelets, I bought 2 and he gave me one. I wore it for a long time after our memorable encounter. He didn’t know English very well, a cute little fellow though.
My sailors were waiting just where they said We arrived, I discovered, at an ancient tomb sight. I decided not to walk up the incline to visit the tombs there, I had done enough walking in the garden. Instead, pictures were taken, and I returned to the boat. I especially appreciated the Nobles tombs along the banks of the Nile.
By then I was quite comfortable with my sailors, they had been my personal escorts for the day and boy did I enjoy them as this video indicates. I was in my element.
It had been a wonderful day, and my Soul was full. If I ever were to live anywhere in the country of Egypt, it would be Aswan. The Energy of Aswan is familiar to my Soul. In the morning Adel would pick me up and escort me to the Temple of the Goddess of Isis. Afterwards, we would board a cruise ship to cruise the Nile River for a few days. If I weren’t pleasantly exhausted, the excitement of visiting the Goddess’ (whose life-size face is tattooed on my right leg), temple would have definitely kept me awake. But as it should be, I slept like a baby…Stay tuned.