Arrival in Aswan

To say we were anxious to get off the train would be a major understatement. Of course, we were late in arriving. This was no Eurostar train. While the trip was to have been non-stop to Luxor and then on to Aswan, I noticed the train made many more stops throughout the night and into the morning. Apparently, no one was getting on or off, but the train had to stop either for other trains or due to switching tracks or some other technical reason. We left an hour and a half late from Cairo and we arrived a little more than two hours late in to Aswan at about 11:30am. During the morning hours, I watched the country go by and I did find that the area along the Nile in Upper Egypt was beautiful: fertile fields, animals working the fields with the farmers, acre upon acre of palm trees. Really a lovely view. Now, if only the train window were clean...

The minute we were out on the curb in Aswan with our luggage, we knew we would like Aswan more than Cairo. This was the kind of town we preferred: local color, manageable, with clean air, and not too crowded. Our local rep. escorted us to the van that literally drove three minutes down the road to our hotel. We chose the Iberotel, which had only opened half a year ago. It was huge with marble everywhere. As we were checking in, I mentioned to our rep. that I noticed that the cruise voucher listed only four people and since we were five, I wanted to make sure we would have a bed for Avery. He assured me in a very “don’t worry, be happy” kind of way that we would. We went up to our rooms and guess what – no extra bed even here (despite the hotel voucher listing the five of us). I phoned the front desk and asked for a rollaway. They were all out of rollaways. To make a long story short, we moved rooms. The hotel manager upgraded us into larger rooms, both with sofa beds and balconies over-looking the Nile and the Tombs of Aswan. The manager personally showed us the rooms and then had water and sweets sent up. Very nice. He also informed me that while the handwritten voucher listed the “extra bed,” our tour company had not booked our reservation that way. Needless to say, I made it clear to the rep. (who was still waiting in the lobby) that I did not expect to have the same issue with either of the subsequent accommodations the tour company had booked for us. I think I scared him because the next morning another guy from the company showed up to introduce us to our guide.

We all needed the day to recover from the train ride. Josh said he was pretending last night never happened and he did not want to speak of it ever again. We lounged by the pool all afternoon. Unfortunately, the water temperature was very cold. In fact, it was so cold that the girls didn’t even want to swim -- strange since the air temperature was at least 80 or 90 degrees. But the temps here drop significantly at night so in that case if the pool isn’t heated it can’t ever get too warm. The pool was located right on the Nile with great views of the tombs on the West bank. The same beautiful view we enjoyed later for dinner from our balconies.

The town of Aswan is situated on the East bank of the river. There are no bridges so the only way to cross is by boat. The river is full of feluccas (crude wooden sailboats) ferreting tourists around as well as small motorboats, and of course, the larger river cruise boats – similar to the one we’d be embarking tomorrow.

Unfortunately, Avery did not appear to be bouncing back from his illness. While he hadn’t vomited since the first half of the train ride, he was listless, tired and developed a high fever. He felt much better on ibuprofen, but as soon as it wore off (3 to 4 hours) he was miserable. He slept most of the afternoon and it was clear he was not a candidate to go out on the town in Aswan. However, I did manage to get him a haircut. He was overdue, and his fever made it clear that with the upcoming heat, the long hair would not be comfortable. He was okay for the first 10 minutes in the chair and then for the next 10 minutes he cried to go back to the room. I thought it’d be fun to document the year by all the places that Avery got his hair cut. Recall, his last visit to the paruccherie was in Santa Maria di Leuca in Puglia where he got an unbelievable haircut for eight euros. Here in Aswan, he was less fortunate, not only was he sick, but he received a haphazard haircut. I knew the minute the hairdresser picked up the scissors and cut the first locks, that the scissors were old and dull and therefore very imprecise. Good thing hair grows; and we can get it shaped up more nicely in Italy.

Unlike Avery, the girls were ready to hit the town – particularly after spotting the bowling alley next door to the hotel. So I stayed in the room with Avery and Josh took the girls bowling. Apparently, it was a tiny, four-lane bowling alley, and they were the only “rollers” in the place. When the bowlers returned. I learned that Olivia was upset by Josh’s performance when he bowled for her and got his only gutter ball. In fact, she had a fit. It seems our children are more competitive than I thought. In any case, I had ordered room service and we ate out on the balcony. Avery was asleep in the other room. Or so we thought, until a naked boy in his underpants came strolling down the hall and found us next door. I will say, though, that the cup-o-noodles that we’d purchased back at the Mall in Cairo did come in handy!

This evening there was a large wedding at the hotel. An American Pakastani boy marrying an Egyptian girl -- or the other way around, depending on who you asked. They put on quite a show in the lobby with dancers and drummers and singing and everyone could join in and dance. It was really very fun to watch and to see all the colorful outfits and hennas on the women.