Egypt Day 3 - Nile Cruise

Our second day in Aswan included an optional tour to Abu Simbel. When we heard that we had to get up at 2:30am for a 7 hour round trip bus ride to go see it, we decided NOT to. Our new Brazilian friends, Fabiano and Felismina, went and shared their pictures with us. We all called him “Brazilian Jones” because he wore an authentic Indiana Jones hat, and he was about as hot as Harrison Ford.


And before I go any further, I’ll go ahead and introduce the other two couples we hung out with on our Nile Cruise. It was quite an international party. This is Matthew and Rhianna from Perth, Australia. I’m sure I’ve not spelled her name correctly, but she told us she was named after the Fleetwood Mac song that was playing on the radio the day she was born. She said her mom didn’t spell it that way either because she just guessed based on how she thought it was pronounced in the song.


And speaking of spelling names correctly, I’m sure I’ll get this one wrong. This is Dragun and Ivana from Serbia. I don’t know how to spell either of their names, but I just know his sounds very much like Dragon and he was having to correct everyone’s pronunciation to give it just a bit more of a “u” sound. Ivana totally reminded us of Doris Proctor. They were very cool and invited us to visit them in Belgrade. I think we will!


We went on a city tour of Aswan. We saw the second biggest cathedral in Egypt, and this big mosque up on a hill overlooking the city.


It was the first time I personally got to see inside a mosque.


Here’s a shot of a typical building in Egypt. I’ve never seen so many incomplete buildings with rebar sticking out the top of pillars on the roof.


It was rather hot, so we stopped at a sidewalk café for some refreshment. It’s easy to read some Arabic. I subsequently passed out from the heat.


Next we started our cruise down the River Nile. The scenes along the way were visions of serenity and peace.


It was interesting to watch a sailboat adjust as it went under this very cool suspension bridge.




I just liked the colors in the water of this shot. It reminds me of a Monet.


This guy on a donkey made me laugh. I think he was wishing that he was on a cruise.


More images along the Nile. It was a beautiful day.


And then we spotted our sleeper train, so I took the customary pic for my dad who appreciates such things.


Next, Marty visited the Kom Ombo Temple while I napped, recovering from heat exhaustion.