Aswan

Aswan in 1980 was small enough to explore entirely on foot, which I did after the day's tour activities were finished. The tour group stayed in a hotel on a tiny island directly across the Nile from Aswan. When you stepped out of the hotel, this was the view. We stayed in Aswan as it was a convenient stopping point after flying south from Cairo, visiting Abu Simbel and touring the Aswan Dam.

After dinner, I was eager to explore the town my own for awhile after spending the entire day doing structured activities with the tour group. None of the tour group members were interested in going with me. They all stayed in their rooms.

So off I went to visit Aswan on my own. I ran into the Aswan Chief of Police, who had been a guest speaker for part of the daytime tour. He was a very amiable man and invited me back to the police station for tea, where we chatted for over an hour about ancient Egypt, the history of Aswan and modern Egyptian culture.

Afterwards, I continued to explore Aswan on foot and did a little shopping. As I waited for the ferry to take me back across the Nile to my hotel, the magnificent sunset provided a beautiful backdrop for a lone felucca.


The view from my hotel balcony was like something out of a Hollywood movie.

I loved watching the feluccas float by.


We sailed around the area in our own felucca the next day with a local guide, stopping at the north end of the island to visit the botanical garden.