The very modern and comfortable night train took us down to Aswan in about 12 hours. Two airplane style meals are served and the smartly designed cabin has enough room for two twin beds, a basin, and best of all, air con. loved it and had a great night of sleep. :) soon after we woke up we arrived in Aswan. fully rejuvinated and ready for more adventure!
first victory of the day came when we successfully bargained the taxi ride from EL10 down to EL5 (Egyptian pounds). when we arrived at our hotel, we were greeted by the staff with some very refreshing pomegranate juice. what a treat, especially when it's 100F outside! the hotel also has an excellent rooftop cafe. budget price with mid-range service, and "free" actually means FREE as is defined in oxford dictionary. quite a contrast to our experience in Cairo. we were impressed!
we rested a little bit and then ventured out to Elepantine island to visit some Nubian villages. After shooting off numerous touts for felucca ride and traps for motorboat we finally got on the right ferry (and paid the right fare). here, even a simple thing as riding a ferry can be tricky. we just gotta keep our light bulbs on all the time. :) once we arrived at the island, we were greeted by the chief of the village. he's quite a celebrity himself within traveller's circle, partially because his name is in the bible - lonely planet. Growing up, he 
spent much time with an egyptologist who schooled him, particularly on his language skills. he can now speak 4 languages. i am quite impressed. he showed us around the village and recounted a bit of the history in the area and invited us to his house for tea (left picture). it was an enjoyable walk and of course there's no such thing as free in Egypt, we made a generous "donation" to help the village but it was well worth the experience.
spent much time with an egyptologist who schooled him, particularly on his language skills. he can now speak 4 languages. i am quite impressed. he showed us around the village and recounted a bit of the history in the area and invited us to his house for tea (left picture). it was an enjoyable walk and of course there's no such thing as free in Egypt, we made a generous "donation" to help the village but it was well worth the experience.in the evening we went out to celebrate Pascal's birthday. after 20 minutes of walk and about 100 times of "la shukran" ("no thanks" in Arabic) we arrived at our 5 star oasis - Old Cataract hotel, we hummed happy birthday song and had a quiet dinner there on the terrace, listened to the Nubian live music, enjoyed the beautiful sunset and just watch the Nile go by and imagine the s
cene depicted in Agatha Cristie's death on the Nile , and best of all, not having to deal with the touts coming from all directions.
cene depicted in Agatha Cristie's death on the Nile , and best of all, not having to deal with the touts coming from all directions.it was so relaxing that we forgot to take a picture of us. :( so you can only see me holding death on the Nile with my Nubian Hut drink in front of me (left picture). we spent a few relaxing hours here and as soon as we walked out, the reality struck and we were again attacked by taxi drivers and horse carriage tout. good time is over! another about 50 "la shukran" later we were back to our hotel and got to bed early for our 3 0'clock morning call next day.
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Lulu's Egypt Trip - Cleopatra style!!
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