January 15, 2026

January 11 through January 14 aren’t loading properly. Probably due to the poor wi-fi we had on the boat. I’ll see if I can resurrect them when and if I have time. In the meantime here is January 15.

Kom Ombo, Egypt > Aswan, Eqypt

We got under sail about 05:30 this morning. We will travel the 40 or so kilometers to Aswan where our tours begin. This will be a long day. Our first tour is at 08:00 and is supposed to last 4 or 5 hours. Then have lunch on board, then another tour after lunch for 2 or 3 hours. We’ll see how that goes.

We went down for breakfast at 07:30, and V joined us a few minutes later. Feeling it was going to be a long day, I ate a little more than I usually do. My cappuccino and brioche, of course, but I also added two eggs over easy and some fruit. V had a good breakfast also. Mary even managed to grab some cereal and yogurt. It was just a little before 08:00 when we headed up the marble staircase to meet Hadi, our guide. PS. I have since learned that Hadi means “guide”.

We immediately headed out of the boat and up to the stairs to the street level where Hassan, our driver is. The first stop will be across the lower dam and then up to the upper Aswan dam. The Aswan dam is a massive earthen dam blocking the Nile River. It is crucial for controlling an annual Nile floods, generating electricity and providing irrigation.

It is approximately 3.8 km (2.4 miles) long, 111 meters (364 ft) high, with a width at the base of 980 meters (3,215 feet). Building the earthen dam used enough materials to build seventeen pyramids, took ten years to build and involved some 34,000 workers.    

Lake Nasser, named after the President of Egypt at the time, was created by the dam and is the world’s largest artificial lake. It actually spans across the boarder into Sudan.

The dam itself is really a product of the Cold War between the east and west. Tamale Abdel Nasser used the conflict between the east and west to get money for the dam. When the US and UK withdrew funding for the Aswan Dam in 1956, Egypt took control of the Suez Canal. Nasser moved the Suez under Egyptian sovereignty which ultimately led to a military conflict, but in order to avoid widening the conflict, the US and UK confirmed Egypt’s control of the canal.

Russia (the Soviet Union at the time) provided financial, technical and material support for the building of the dam. They also loaned $100 US in 1958 and another $225 US in 1960. The later was used to fund the electrical generation system of the dam. The cost of the dam isn’t just dollars. About 90,000 Nubian people were displaced for the area the dam filled.

Hundred of ancient Nubian archaeological sites, including villages, temples and fortifications were submerged under Lake Nasser. There were several major project at the time to save major monuments like Abu Simbel and the Philae temple complex. I vaguely remember the fund raising for Abu Simbel and the National Geographic Special about the saving of the Abu Simbel temple. That must mean it had a large impact on me at the time.

Our next stop was the Philae temple complex. The temple complex was originally located on Philae Island, near the expansive First Cataract of the Nile in Upper Egypt. A Cataract is a series of shallow rapids, rocks, and islets that made river travel difficult. Being European, I always think of Alexandria and Cairo, as being “Upper Egypt”, when in fact, it is “Lower Egypt”. The first cataract marked the ancient southern limit of Egypt.

After the construction of the Aswan Low Dam in 1902 the complex was repeatedly flooded. The construction of the modern dam would complete submerge with temple complex. Once known as the Pearl of the Nile led commitment by UNESCO member countries to save the temple complex. Since the time of the Ptolemaic Kingdom Philae was a popular site to visit. This was due to the tomb of Osiris which drew many pilgrims.

The Philae temple complex was dismantled and relocated to Agilkia island just a few hundred meters from the original temple site. Agilkia island was leveled to match the old contours of Philae island as best as possible. Then the temple was relocated. Now the fun part of visiting the Philae temple complex is getting to the temple complex. This is accomplished by taking a boat to the island.

Planning apparently wasn’t a big thing or maybe they just didn’t think tourists would want to visit the temple complex, but they didn’t provide sufficient docking space for one-hundred plus boats all vying for a place to load tourists. Or, maybe they thought the tourists would enjoy seeing the boats run into each other while they were trying to get close enough to the dock to pick up those same tourists. It was lots of fun to watch the chaos. It was actually probably more organized theater than chaos.

It is a short boat ride out to the island. At the island there was a little better docking space. We got out and headed up the stairs, so many stairs, to the top of the island where the temple complex is. Ok, it is another Egyptian temple. Yes, but it is very well preserved, although very damaged by Napoleon and the French army in the early 1800’s.

The ride back to the pickup point was uneventful. Off loading was not nearly as much fun and getting on the boat in the first place. But still fun to watch and be part of.

We left the Aswan Dam and headed to the quarry where the “unfinished” obelisk is. This is an interesting stop because you can imagine how they were cutting the obelisk out of the stone in the quarry. It looks like they probably spent months or years working on cutting what would have been the largest obelisk, then at some point they discovered it was cracked. Can you imagine the heartbreak when that occurred.

After that Hadi wanted to take us to the Nubian Perfumery so we could smell the various perfumes of ancient Egypt and see the various healing oils. Unfortunately for him he used the magic words – there is no obligation to buy. I immediately shut that stop down. We weren’t interested. I didn’t say it to him, but it sounded like yet another tourist trap.

At this point we combined the morning tour and the afternoon tour, since we had cut out enough of the time. We then proceeded to sailboat so we could ride in an ancient design of a sailboat to Kitchener Island (aka El Nabatat Island). Kitchener Island was the home of Lord Horatio Kitchener. Kitchener was credited for having won the Battle of Omdurman in 1898 securing control of the Sudan for England. For him it was a tranquil garden and personal sanctuary with stunning views of the desert. Now it is a popular weekend spot for the people from Aswan for relaxation, photography and enjoying nature’s contrast with the desert.

By the time we reached the island it has gone 13:00. We were all hungry and ready to go back to the boat. We were concerned that lunch would end before we got back.  We did a brisk walk of probably a third of the island and headed back to our boat. The captain understood our desire to get back to the big boat for lunch and rather than use the sail started up the motor. It still seemed like forever to get to the shore and van to take us back to the boat.

Hadi left us on the way back to the boat as the van driver dropped him off at the train station so he could get back home is Luxor at a reasonable hour. Hassan then drove on to the dock and let us out. We managed to get back on the boat just after it has gone 14:00. Lunch was scheduled to end at 14:30.

It was a buffet lunch with a whole roasted lamb on a spit. Like all the buffets so far there has been ample food. We filled ourselves up and returned to our cabins. I climbed into bed for a well-deserved nap. V was going up to the sun deck to get some sun.

I met Mary & V in the lounge just before it had gone 19:00. There was a Nubian Dance Show at 19:00. It was one of those thins for tourists. It may or may not have anything to do with historical accuracy. The did manage to get a few fun loving tourists to join them in the dance.

The show lasted about a half hour, then we made our way to the dinning room. It was ala carte tonight. Harry V was tired and left early to go to bed. Mary & I finished our dinner and headed up to bed as well.  

Buonanotte e ciao

Enrico e Maria