Abu Simbel and Aswan
A day of many flights: first, a 6a from Cairo to Aswan. Connect to a 9a to Abu Simbel (delayed, of course, because aren't all critical connections delayed?). A couple of hours in Abu Simbel, then another (delayed) flight back to Aswan. Though only 30 minutes long, it seems longer both as it is the third flight of the day and due to the turbulant air rising off the scorching desert. 11 hours after our wake-up call, we are eating a late lunch after many hours of travel and only two hours at the temple. <phew> At least they're all jets. It's like a day trip to Chicago for a two-hour meeting. Only with sand. And really big statues.
It's probably a good thing that Abu Simbel is early in the trip. At this point, it is impressive and beautiful, the many Ramses statues novel and lovely. A week on, a more discerning eye might criticize the proportions or the simplicity of the temple. The miracle of Abu Simbel lies more in its continued existance than its construction. It was built by the inevitable Ramses II to project power and presence into Nubia. The colossal statues of himself, looking sternly south up the Nile, are not there to honor the gods, but rather to glorify man. After the Aswan high dam was constructed, there was a massive international effort to raise dozens of Nubian temples due to be permanently inundated. Abu Simbel is the most famous of these, now become a town and a center of Nubian resettlement in addition to a tourist site.
Our hotel in Aswan is, at least, suitably restorative. We have the pleasure of staying for a night at the Old Cataract , built in the early 1900s to house eager tourists setting off on winter cruises down the Nile. It is a graceful building on a hill overlooking the river and a small island. As with all old colonial hotels, it offers creaky floors and little lighting, but also a fabulous tea on the verandah where one can watch the sun set while enjoying freshly baked scones. In this case, substitute croissants for scones, as the hotel is now run by Sofitel.
After a lovely nap, we walk uphill in the cooling night (about time, the high was over 40° C today!) to the Nubian museum. This is one of the existing examples of small, local museums, and highlights the finds from Aswan south. There is a fascinating set of photos on the temple rescue project of the 60s and an exhibit on modern Nubian life.. Small but well-designed and interesting, this museum highlights an aspect of Egyptian history sometimes neglected. After the fall of the dynasties, Egyptian culture survived in the south, and there was even a Nubian dynasty of Pharoahs. Those of you humming Aida, either version, are in the right place.
The Nubian museum is also an excellent example of the security measures in place throughout tourist sites. A special branch of the police manages the sites, hotels, boats, and transit routes used by tourists. Each site, no matter how remote, has a metal detector and most have X-ray machines as well. Some have two in rapid succession. Hotels have metal detectors at the door, as do the boats. They ring constantly as people walk near them or carry luggage through them. Most of the ruins use the detectors and wands well, just like an airport. Sometimes, though, they just wave you through and at least one X-ray machine seemed to have been modified to become the guards' beverage holder. Hotels seem a bit bashful about the metal detectors and wands -- you're paying a lot of money to stay in a very nice hotel, but they're going to search your bag every time you come in? A balance between safety and privacy is attempted. This very obvious attention is due to terrorism, but not 9/11 as so many assume. It is part of a massive national campaign after the Karnak massacre of '97. Most Americans have forgotten it, but it's probably far more relevant to Egypt than the Twin Towers. How sad to have a selection of atrocities to react to.
Our hotel has CNN, which allows us the opportunity to check in on the world. The Red Sox are in the ALCS, Ahnold was elected governor of California, and Croatia is running commercials for tourism describing itself as "how Europe used to be". Ok... Something's clearly amiss with the satellite dish.