Saturday, June 6, 2020

5/24/2011 Convoy from Abu Simbel to Aswan, Nile cruise/Sonesta Moon Goddess, lunch, felucca sail, Sound and Light show Philae, dinner, Nubian show/entertainment

Breakfast buffet.  Yogurt, black olives, cheeses, meats, cucumbers are what Richard has.  I have a plain omelet, mini pastries, and tea.  Before heading to Aswan I need to get some money.  It's a short walk from our hotel to the bank in town.  $500.00 USD gets me 2977.50 LE.



Bank in town

Town



















We are heading back to Aswan by way of vehicle CONVOY.  There are tour vans, cars, large tour buses.  So many!  We line up and leave at 9:30 am.

Our transport to Aswan

Convoy


I walked from our vehicle to the back of the line and this was the view-Lake Nasser


Large tour buses have their own line up

Our driver is very nice and has his young daughter with him.  Some nice scenery.  Took us around 3 1/2 hours to drive from Abu Simbel to Aswan.























Our driver and his daughter

NILE CRUISE/SONESTA MOON GODDESS.  This is the ship for our Nile cruise.  We have 4 nights for this with a great itinerary.  I picked this company-Sonesta-and this particular ship-Moon Goddess-from research I had done.  There are only a handful of ships cruising the Nile River now due to the revolution.  This ship is only about 1/3 occupied.  We get a information sheet about the ship.  Each day we will also get the  schedule printed out.  We are assigned to cabin #412.  It's more spacious than I expected which is nice.  We have 2 single beds, a tiny table and 1 chair by the bed, a decent size bathroom.  Large sliding glass door leads out to our balcony which has a small table and 2 chairs.  It is time for lunch which is being served at 1:00 pm just about when we arrive.  We get to the dining room and are assigned a table that has 6 others already seated.  A couple with their adult son.  The husband is Egyptian and they're in Egypt for a family reunion of sorts and this cruise is something extra they decided to do.  The other 3 adults are a married couple and the wife's best friend.  It's a lovely group.  Friendly and easy to talk to.  Lunch is a buffet.  There is fish, 2 kinds of chicken, beef dish, rice, potatoes, vegetables, beans, soup, 8 different cold salads, sliced meats, cheeses, variety of breads and rolls, 8 kinds of desserts.  Enough food to feed an army.  Shame there's less than 50 of us here.  Even though the ship is not at full capacity it doesn't seem to be impacting on the food or the quality of service.  Since our excursion isn't for several hours we go back to our cabin to unpack.  I get together laundry to be dropped off.

Today's schedule















































Reception area

Our cabin #412



















Our balcony



View from our balcony

Our one hour FELUCCA sail is arranged for 4:00 pm.  As we leave the ship we are each given a card which we will return when we get back on the ship.  I guess this is to make sure no one gets left behind.  The felucca sail was quite nice and I think we all enjoyed just relaxing with the slight breeze helping with the heat.  Tea and cookies were served.  This felucca was different than the one we had for our private sail.  Bench for seating along the sides.  It was a pleasant experience.

Sailing past our ship Moon Goddess


Other Nile cruise ships


Our former hotel Movenpick








We return to the ship about 5:15 pm.  Check out the pool and sun deck area.  The pool bar/sun deck has tea time at 5:30 pm.  The pool looks inviting.  Hope we get to use it!

Pool bar



I can picture this area full of passengers having tea, drinks when the ship is at full capacity

Pool is small but fine for us due to small number of passengers

SOUND AND LIGHT SHOW-PHILAE.  Since we didn't go to the sound and light show at Abu Simbel it's been arranged for Richard and I to go to the one at Philae tonight.  We attend the first show which starts at 7:00 pm.  Our guide is Mohamed.  We need to go by boat to reach Philae.  Unfortunately tonight is French night!  There were English headsets but mine conked out so Richard graciously gave me his.  It was crowded and I think the one at Abu Simbel would have been better.  It was just ok.  We learn about the history of the temple.  Had to be moved to higher ground Agilkia Island due to Aswan High Dam, Lake Nasser.  Original location is now underwater Lake Nasser.  We listen to actors playing parts of the legend of Isis and her husband Osiris.  Osiris had been murdered by his brother Set.  Set cut up his body and scattered the pieces throughout Egypt.  Isis retrieved them, reassembled Osiris, brought him back to life.  She conceived a child Horus but then Osiris was claimed by death as his rebirth only temporary.  Eventually Horus overthrew Set and claimed the throne.  Osiris represents Maat-cosmic and social order.  Set represents violence and chaos.  Different light colors illuminate the buildings.  That was cool.  Because of the lack of lighting and my own low level of photography most of my pictures are mediocre.  We will return here for an excursion during the day before our cruise ends.




Admission ticket

Temple of Philae

Boats ferry you across to the island

































Leaving

Our guide Mohamed

Back on the ship it's time for dinner.  8:00 pm.  This is not buffet but we are given menus with choices.  Appetizer/starter choices were duck breast Chinese, beef carpaccio, Greek salad, onion soup, chicken soup.  Richard had beef carpaccio and I got the Greek salad.  We both got chicken soup.  Entree/main choices are seafood pasta which Richard selected, chicken kabob with peppers & onion and rice which I got.  Others were some kind of beef, veal scallopini, and a vegetarian option.  Dessert choices-I had the Black Forest ice cream, Richard went for the Baba rum with fruit.  Also assorted cheeses with fruit.  Cokes for me, Stella beer for Richard.  Wow-fantastic meal!  Overnight in Aswan.

Why I only have this picture from our dinner is beyond me!


















Entertainment tonight is in the Lounge Bar starting at 9:30 pm.  NUBIAN SHOW-MUSIC AND DANCING.  Very nice.  After the show the lounge bar becomes a discotheque but we don't stay for that as we're tired.  We say goodnight to our new friends who have opted to stay longer.  They're younger than us!







Some passengers cracking up so this must have been something funny!



No comments:

Post a Comment

Planning and preparation Egypt 2011

I have long been interested in ancient civilizations.  Egypt has been on my horizon for years-the oldest destination on earth.  Before the...