Aswan

I guess it's high time I write about my Easter holidays now. I will start by writing about Aswan, where Chiara and I spent some eventful days in the beginning of our vacation. Aswan is a small town by the Nile in southern Egypt, in an area full of historical monuments, so obviously, our visit contained quite a few temple trips. One of the most notable temple sights we visited was Abu Simbel, which lies even further south than Aswan, close to the border with Sudan. Here Pharaoh Ramses II, probably the most modest ruler in history, built a Great Temple in honour of himself, and a smaller one dedicated to the cow-goddess Hathor, simultaneously honouring his wife Nefertari. I can understand the woman: if my husband built such extravagant temples for himself, I would also demand he built at least a small one for me. One where I was depicted as actually being about the same height as him, instead of one where he is portrayed as a giant, whereas the statues of me don't even reach his knee, as is the case with the Great Temple.

When the Aswan High Dam was built to regulate the flow of the Nile and supply Egypt with power some 40 years ago, its monstrous reservoir Lake Nasser drowned a whole valley, and had it not been for the fact that UNESCO moved them, these temples (and many others) would now be crumbling away on the bottom of the lake. I found especially the Great Temple very fascinating. Lining the entrance to the temple are four giant statues of Ramses II, inside carvings depict the mighty Pharaoh slaying his enemies, then we see him making his offerings to the gods, and in the innermost room he is portrayed sitting on his throne, next to the gods. It renders such an imposing image of the Pharaoh - it is not hard to imagine what awe and fear he must have inspired in his subjects. It is one of those places which makes you feel very, very small - even more than 3000 years later.

The Great Temple at Abu Simbel

Ramses II and his minuscule wife

The Temple of Hathor at Abu Simbel, decorated with statues of Ramses and Nefertari

Lake Nasser, the largest artificial lake in the world according to my faithful Lonely Planet

The Aswan High Dam

We also made a day trip to the temples of Edfu and Kom Ombo north of Aswan. The temple at Edfu was built for the falcon god Horus, and is the best preserved temple in Egypt. What I found most interesting was seeing the solar barque inside the temple, which was used for parading the statue of Horus about during celebrations. I've seen these boats depicted in many temples before, but never seen a real one, so I very much enjoyed that. Well, to be completely honest, I still haven't seen a real one. The one in Edfu temple is just a replica, as the Europeans (in this case the French) of course stole the real thing. As it always goes.

The temple at Kom Ombo is also dedicated to Horus, as well as my personal favourite among the Egyptian gods, the crocodile Sobek. Come on, you must admit that having a crocodile god is pretty awesome! The temple is beautifully situated at a bend in the Nile, and is very nicely decorated. The site also contains a crocodile museum, where you among other things can enjoy the sight of mummified crocodiles. I don't know why we have discontinued that proud tradition?

Edfu

Replica of solar barque at Edfu

Kom Ombo

Sobek, the crocodile god

The mummified crocodiles

The last temple we visited was the Temple of Isis at Philae, where we attended a sound and light show. It was absolutely stunning: seeing the beautiful temple lit up by night, perched on a green little island in the Nile. It was definitely the most atmospheric temple visit we have undertaken.

Philae by night

Aswan itself is a small, laidback town. Its great contrasts are beautiful: the land by the Nile is extremely lush and green, but immediately behind are rolling, sandy hills. I guess the biggest proper sight here is the Aswan Museum, followed by the ruins of the ancient settlement of Abu on Elephantine Island, but we also spent a lot of time just wandering around the Nubian villages on that same island, visiting the unofficial Nubian museum Animalia which a family has turned part of their traditional Nubian house into, having a look at another traditional Nubian house called Baba Dool, and sailing by felucca to Kitchener's Island, where we walked in the lovely botanical gardens. We came to Aswan for the amazing monuments in the area, but it is the beauty of the Nile and the landscape surrounding it, in addition to the serene atmospere in which you feel as though you have all the time in the world, which makes it such an enthralling place - maybe even my favourite in Egypt.

The lush landscape of Elephantine Island

Me on the roof of the unofficial Nubian museum, Animalia

Baby crocodiles at Animalia. Who doesn't want a crocodile (or three)  in a bucket?

One of the walls at Animalia, decorated with protective symbols to keep evil out

The Nubian house Baba Dool

Me in a village on Elephantine Island

Sailing by felucca to Kitchener's Island

Me in the botanical gardens on Kitchener's Island

Even some of our dinners were quite unforgettable. One night we went for dinner in the restaurant 1902 at the elegant, colonial Old Cataract Hotel, where many an imporant person has stayed, among them Aga Khan, Winston Churchill and Agatha Christie. The place was beautiful and the food exquisite - we had a really great time. Another night we dined at a Nubian restaurant on a small island in the Nile, which was also a pretty awesome setting for a dinner.

The Old Cataract Hotel

1902 at the Old Cataract

Chiara and I dining at 1902

Chiara at the Nubian restaurant Ad-Dukka, situated on a small island in the Nile

The last thing we did before leaving Aswan was to take a boat to a peaceful beach on the west bank of the Nile and swim. Yes, you heard right: I went swimming in the Nile! Beat that!

Swimming in the Nile!