Jan 6, 2013 - Parte 5 - Hola, Habib!

Nao sei porque exatamente (deve ser minha cor de cuia ou o sorriso aberto e verdadeiro da Re) mas quase sempre escutamos saudacoes das pessoas nas ruas em espanhol. Pode ser um Hola, ou um Como estas?, e sempre somos confundidos como espanhois. Soh depois que percebem que nao respondemos direito, perguntam de onde somos. E depois que falamos, a proxima etapa eh abrir um sorriso e falar: Ba-ra-sil!!! I love Ba-ra-sil! Ronaldo, romario, (ate um bebeto eu ja escutei!). Eh o mundo conhecendo profundamente nossa cultura e tradicoes brasileiras...

Apr 26, 2012 - Aswan

ASWAN From Cairo we took the overnight train to Aswan- 1st class sleeper – very nice. We had arranged a bus trip from Aswan to Abu Simbel, left at 4am in an armed convoy of about 20+ vehicles. Abu Simbel is the home to Ramses II and his queen Hefertari's temples. These temples were rescued from an area that was to be flooded when the High Dam was put in at Aswan. These massive temples were sliced apart and moved 60m up from the river bank. The temple entrance is guarded by 4 huge statues of Ramses, inside more statues and wall engravings...

Mar 31, 2012 - Aswan

Thursday 29th March Wadi Halfa to Ferry across Lake Nasser After resting in the hotel and not doing much at all yesterday, today is the day we are heading off towards the ferry and to Aswan in Egypt. We were up early and headed off to breakfast and had our usual Wadi Halfa breakfast of egg, ful, felafels and bread. We bought some extra snacks for the ferry as well as an additional bag to hold all the extra stuff we now have. At 12, we were picked up in a “minibus” that could easily have doubled for a prison van (appropriate really when we...

Mar 25, 2012 - Egypt - Aswan

19th March 2012 Aswan (Bed No 3) The train sleeper upgrade was definitely worth it. The cabin was basic with a bunk bed and a little wash basin. The toilets, well, not quite up to our standards, but they served their purpose. At least we had a great 10 hours uninterrupted sleep, a filling breakfast and ready to hit the road for another day. Today a visit by bus out of town takes us to the High Dam, a modern feat of engineering, the by product being the creation of Lake Nasser (the world’s largest artificial lake). The lake is highly...

Mar 25, 2012 - Egypt - Aswan & Kom Ombo

20th March 2012 Back to Aswan (Bed No 4 - Cruise) A short flight back to our hotel in Aswan, quickly collecting our suitcases, hopping onto a bus and off we went for lunch on our 5 Star Nile Cruiser “The Moon Goddess”. This was a relaxing evening, as we sat on the deck talking, drinking and taking in the scenery. Our entertainment before dinner was a Nubian dancing show. The music was loud and joyful with the sound of their drums. The show was very interactive and you had no choice when you were dragger onto the stage but join in and dance....

Jan 24, 2012 - Day 6 of our trip

We will be sailing all day today on the Nile river on a felucca. Tonight we will anchor in the Nile and sleep overnight onboard the felucca. This will be very different than a cruise ship...no late night buffet or 24 hour room service! There are no toilet or shower facilities on our felucca so there will be a small boat docked next to us with a toilet and a small shower.

Jan 23, 2012 - Day 5 of our trip

There are no plans with our group today so we will be driving to a city called Abu Simbel to see a beautiful temple there. You can see in the pictures how massive it is! It will be a long drive for us, about 3-4 hours, so we will have to leave very early in the morning to get there and spend a few hours before we have to drive back. This temple was moved block by block to its current location because it was being threatened by flooding.

Jan 22, 2012 - Day 4 of our trip

Our train will arrive in the morning and we will have some free time until we board our felucca (a type of boat, the pictures show what it looks like)for our ride to a Nubian family home. The Nubians are a group of people in Egypt, they have darker skin and live with more african culture than egyptian culture. We will eat in their home and have a traditional meal (wish me luck!!)

Aug 2, 2011 - Day 5-Aswan to Abu Simbel

Surprisingly we did not have to wake up at the crack of dawn to catch a plane to Abu Simbel like all the other Contiki tours had to. I skipped the cruise's breakfast and ate my cereal on the bus. We drove to the airport in Aswan. We went through security which was a metal detector and xray machine. Our waters were allowed in. Sherif showed us a picture of Nefertari that we would see in the temple. He also complimented my dress. He had us sit down and he gave us some background info on the temples. I wanted to look around at the shops in the...

Aug 1, 2011 - Day 4-Aswan

We get off the train and it is hot! We need to go down a long flight of stairs and then up a different flight of stairs. Thank goodness I didn't have my suitcase at that moment. Surprisingly everyone managed to carry their suitcases up and down all those stairs. We got out of the train station and there was our bus. While on the bus, Sherif spoke to us about the day's schedule and clothing. We wound up on the MS Miriam and not the Madea or Carmen. We got upgraded!!! We were with Trafalgar and Insight Vacations. We boarded the ship and were...

Apr 15, 2011 - Aswan/Nile River

When we arrived in Aswan we checked into another nice hotel and were taken out to see High dam (the world's largest dam) and the Philae Temple, that was removed and rebuilt stone by stone when the High dam was built in the 60s. That night we went to a Nubian restaurant where the staff performed Nubian songs and dances. On the 13th we had an even earlier start (330am) to join our police escort out to Abu Simbel. We got back to Aswan just before lunch and boarded our Felucca for an amazing 2 night Nile sailing trip. For the next two days we...

Apr 7, 2011 - Aswan dam

In Aswan to see dam and where the obelisks were quarried, life was very hard there. Then went to McDonald s for lunch with friends. Going to take felluca sailboat ride this pm then visit a nubian village, they were all displaced when the dam was built. Tomorrow to Abu Simbel temple which was taken apart and moved to higher grounds. Saw cleopatra cartouches, Coptic Christian markings and Greek influence on temples. we have seen so many hieroglyphs that our private guide explains that we decipher some on our own. Enjoying our Nile cruise,...