Aswan

Only a week into my trip and already I have managed to fall ill. My own fault really as I wasn't being particulary fussy about where or what I ate, and came down with a bout of the trots. I was due to leave Aswan a couple a days ago on a felucca (an egyptian sail boat) but didn't really fancy the prospect of having to hang my arse over the side of the boat every five minutes so I have spent the last couple days recovering in Aswan. Luckily there is a pretty good hospital in Aswan with english speaking doctors and I have got some medication and am well on my way to recovery. With any luck I will be on my way again tomorrow. Getting ill is generally part and parcel of going away on a trip like this, although I had not expected to fall ill quite so soon. It can be a pretty miserable experience at the time when you are on your own in a foreign country but it usually only lasts a couple of days and once you get better you pretty much forget it ever happened.

As you have gathered I've now left Cairo and took the overnight train to Aswan. I have visited the Aswan Dam which wasn't particulary exciting and the Philae temple, which was fairly interesting. The next day I had to get up 2:45am to join a convoy escorted by armed police to make the three hour drive to Abu Simbel. I'm not sure why this convoy has to leave so early or indeed if an armed convoy is that necessary since once we were on the road it was every minibus for himself and if you were too slow you got left behind. Abu Simbel is a very impressive temple with four large statues outside and lots wall carvings inside. The temple was actually submerged under Lake Nasser when the Aswan Dam was built, and I have no idea how they managed to fish it out and plonk it an island. Anyway I was very impressed with the temple and for my money it was better than pyramids.

In the evening I returned to the Philae temple for a "sound and light show" which I went to with rather low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. The temple complex looked great lit up at night. You can see the photo above; click on the photo to see more pictures.

With the sights done there isn't much else to do in Aswan, so it has been a pretty boring place to be holed up for the last two days. The hassle here is a bit worse than Cairo, and you have to haggle for absolutely everything including such things as buying a bottle of water or getting internet access. I must say I won't be too sorry to leave.

Cairo

I have been in Cairo for four days and have to say despite the hassle, congestion and pollution and I have really enjoyed it. I arrived at the airport late in the evening and after breezing through immigration got a cab into town with a complete psycho of a taxi of driver, although to be fair to him he was driving just like everyone else. Getting a cab Cairo is quite a scary affair. You really do fear for your life at some points as lane markings and traffic lights appear to have no significance whatsoever and road users appear completely oblivious to any other traffic as they tear around at 80 mph.

The people seem to be genuinely friendly and welcoming here. In fact you can't walk ten meters down the road without someone saying "Welcome!". You do get a bit of hassle, well quite a lot of hassle, as I was expecting but I have to say it's not really that bad and if you say no a few times they do leave you alone and don't get at all aggressive or nasty as I have experienced in other countries.

I have of course been to Giza and seen the pyramids which were spectacular. They are right on the edge on Cairo and the smog filled city does make for quite a strange backdrop. I also visited the Egyptian museum which is literally packed with artifacts but unfortunately also packed with visitors and noisy school children. They have some mummies on display here, it is quite eerie to see bodies that have remained intact for thousands of years.

I have spent today discovering the joys of trying to get a visa in Africa. I need to get a visa to visit Sudan. On visiting the Sudanese consul I was told that first I would need a letter recommendation from the British consul. Luckily the British consulate was just over the road so I spent two hours queuing here to find out that the British consul doesn't issue letters of recommendation but for a small fee of 200 Egyptian pounds (thats about 20 quid) I could get a letter from them saying they don't issue letters of recommendation and apparently that would do the trick. By the time I had finally gotten this letter the Sudanese consulate had of course shut. I'm booked on a train to Aswan tonight but it looks I may be returning at Cairo some point to continue this saga...