Aswan is a town that sits along the Nile with its lush river banks and holds around 300,000 people — ten hours south by car from Cairo.

From the map above, you can see Aswan touches the northern most tip of Nubia. Nubian is a fabulous lifestyle. One that is care-free, loving, rich with culture, expressive dancing and kindness.

Aswan is a popular travel destination for three reasons: 1) Aswan has several local landmarks to explore. 2) People stay in Aswan and take a day trip to Abu Simbel Temple 3) It will either start or end your journey on the Nile via (cruise) boat.

What to do in Aswan

Abu Simbel is a three-hour drive south from Aswan, near the border of Sudan. Along the way, you pass the “High Dam,” an interesting stop for historical references to global powers injecting money into a system to gain an ally-type thing.

But, regardless of how it was built, it creates the largest man-made lake in the world, Lake Nasser.

One of my favorite structural stops in Egypt was the local Philae Temple. You have to get there by boat because it’s perched on top of an island. Sounds pretty sweet, right? This temple would have been destroyed from dams in the area being built. International groups stepped in (as is often the case in Egypt), and funded a project to move the temple to a higher island. So there’s that…

A remnant of the British rule of the early 1900s left a decent but aging botanical garden on the west side of the river. It’s a great place to just sit back and enjoy the Nile views.

You can take a felucca ride across the river to get to the gardens. Or you can just take a felucca ride for the fun of it.. There’s also a Nubian Museum in case you are interested in learning about these fascinating people.

A Night in Aswan

Egypt’s a rush — There’s so much to see and an insane amount of history to take in. Aswan was no different. But, when one of the things to do in Aswan is relaxing on a felucca riding up and down the Nile at sunset, we thought that sounded lovely.

We walked down the Nile where Nubians were hanging around. They could tell (tourists) we wanted a ride on a felucca, so there really wasn’t any need to ask.

They waved out to the Nile, and a felucca almost immediately turned its sail and headed our way. We hopped aboard and took in the sights.

Outside the riverbanks, it’s all desert. It’s fascinating to see the dramatic change.

Other feluccas were out sailing. I couldn’t help but snap a few pics.

Heading to Town

Heading to town is like the greatest feeling in the world. It’s these moments that could spawn anything. Like the classic getting lost and ending up in a police station…just kidding. But it’s energy because you don’t know what to expect .

Tourist harassment is another element to walking to town. Harassment might be too harsh. How about, tourist attraction. Not only are you excited b/c you don’t know what to expect, you also get everyone looking at you from across the street, everyone honking at you and taxis that pull over (or horse carts) and plead with you to get in. Is this welcomed attraction? I find it bloody annoying — especially when they guilt trip you for not spending your money on them! I like walking! I digress…

The sun was falling further behind the sand dunes, and Aswan was beginning to transform into a soft-orange glow. A wide promenade lined with trees gave us a good view of the Nile as we walked.

Aswan is definitely one of the more dreamy towns we’ve visited.

Marketplace

Eventually, we planned to come to this market we had heard about. You know, just walk along and check stuff out.

One minor issue, the street we had to cross was double sided with traffic creating three lanes instead of the suggested two. Deep breath…and run! It’s also always smart to wait for a local and cross when they cross. Simple enough.

We entered the market of shops and vendors lined through winding alleyways. One of the first carts we came across had these beautiful looking, reddish-green apples. The cart was wooden and a younger male was tending to them.

I stepped in front of him and asked, “How much?” He smiled, thought for a minute and said, “100,” which is about 10x the actual price. “No, no, no, Ten?” I asked. “Fifteen,” he responds. We agree and I thank him. I place the apples in my backpack for later use. Always handy to have apples around.

Another young male had become interested in us while we were purchasing the apples and walked over to see where we were from.
“I’m from Alexandria,” his smiling face said. Finally, I thought to myself. I was waiting to meet someone from Alexandria. I had heard the people are different and I could kind of see it in the man we were speaking with.

He was essentially a mid 20s Egyptian John Travolta - hair slicked back and button down shirt. We walked with him over to his shop/stall full of clothing he had designed. “All women and baby’s clothes,” he said with a smile. Good to speak with a young Egyptian entrepreneur.

We didn’t walk too far before we found a small crepe stand. An Arabic brand of Nutella sat on the counter and we pointed to bananas. “Lah sa maht?” (Please). Perfect.

God. I couldn’t wait. Banana/Nutella crepes are my kryptonite.

While we were waiting, two little boys happened upon us. They playfully asked for money, while laughing and mocking each other. They seemed like two kids out having fun. The crepe stand owner informed us one of them worked just around the corner.

A third boy showed up a little while later that did not speak English well. His tone was different. He wanted money and he didn’t want to play games.

“La shukraan.” No, thank you, I told the boy. This is what we were told by our guide to tell people when they were asking for money.

The crepe was finished and with many thanks, we said goodbye to the crepe stand.

The three little boys continued to follow us as we ate and enjoyed the crepe. We passed an older man that saw the kids following after us and yelled at them to back off. They pleaded with him, but he was stern. The kids went away and we were once again left to the crepe and the sights and sounds of a busy marketplace.

The crepe itself was delicious, dripping Nutella and sweet banana chunks. The actual pancake part of the crepe had crunchy toasted edges with warm chewy bites.

Mint Shisha & Turkish Coffee

The shops we passed had fish from Lake Nasser stuffed in ice. Spices filled shops with color and aroma.  Bread shops were taking down their product and wrapping it for the next day. Someone was cooking a goat or a lamb on a spit with a wok in front of them frying some type of bread.

We were hoping to find a cafe that suited us. A few of the cafes we passed didn’t have women sitting, and we decided to wait until we found one with other women. We walked a little further and finally found one. It was right on the corner, just down from the train station. 

“Two Turkish coffees and a mint shisha.” Perfect.   

Shisha, or Hookah, is a waterpipe that can be smoked with flavored tobacco. When visiting Muslim countries, alcohol and pubs are usually nonexistent. They are often replaced by shisha cafes.

A mint shisha with a Turkish coffee, by the way, is a delight. The Turkish coffee is very rich with chocolate, bitter coffee notes, and the shisha delivers a soft, smooth minty taste. We sat and enjoyed watching people as they came and went.

Closing Out the Night

Satisfied with our little excursion, we decided to head back.

But something was nagging at me. I’m usually always left thinking, there has to be more I can do to assimilate. I can’t help it. What is the best way I can present myself to a culture and not be disrespectful? Also, how do I make it so I’m not flaunting money around in front of people that earn an average of $6,800 per year?

For Egyptians to travel outside of their homeland is almost unheard of because the poverty levels are so low.

When we arrived back at our boat, the horse carriage taxi man came running up to us after we had earlier denied his services.

“Why you no want the horse? You think he gets fed now because you don’t take him? He suffers.”

Sometimes, the differences in two worlds collide.

If you have so much money to travel to Egypt, surely you have $0.50 to take a horse and carriage to the market. It’s how we make money here…

He went on to ask if we wanted any beer or cigarettes.

“La shukraan,”

We enjoyed the rest of the night on the boat’s balcony, looking up at the stars and talking. It was one of those days you’re just smiling because you’re happy.