On this leg of the cruise my first stop is at the temple at Kom Ombo. This is dedicated to Horus the elder and the crocodile God Sobek. Sacred crocodiles used to bask on a sand bank near here and their mummified remains are in the adjoining Chapel of Hathor, the wife of Horus. Back on board the Nile Monarch we slowly cruised along the river to berth at the town of Aswan
There I headed into the labyrinth of narrow souks in the bazaar, packed with small shops, stalls and people sitting with their goods piled high on a rag or blanket. Egyptian music emanated from every cranny and the smells of spices wafted through the air from the countless vendors with their heaps of coriander, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon and saffron. A farmer sat with piles of fresh vegetables in colourful mounds next to the carcass of a cow, disappearing to the swift strokes of the butcher’s flashing knife. Three women, covered from head to toe in black robes, squatted on the dirt of the street, trading eggs, surrounded by rough wooden cages full of pigeons. I signalled to the first woman pointing to my camera. Her weathered face broke into a broad creased grin as she held out her hand, ‘Baksheesh’. Having got the shot I passed her a couple of Egyptian pounds, about 40p. Her companions beckoned me to take their photographs too but I’d got what I was looking for and walked off. A cry from behind made me turn round and look on the ground where the women were pointing to some money I had dropped.
After the wonders of the ancient world the Aswan Dam is a massive tribute to 20th century technology. Opened in 1971 it has transformed the economy and topography of the country. Stopping the Nile created LakeNasser the world’s largest artificial lake. The dam provides Egypt with much of its electricity, essential for industry. It controls the flow of the Nile so that agriculture is no longer reliant on the twice annual flooding of the river to irrigate the land. The dam also wiped out most of Nubia as Nile side villages were flooded and their inhabitants moved from ancestral lands to settle in and around Aswan.
In the third part of this series I will continue my tour of the attractions around Aswan.
My trip was organised by Libra Holidays
Egypt -Nile Cruising - Part I
EgyptNile Cruising Luxor - Part III
Egypt Nile Cruising Thebes - Part IV
