Aswan

Our Nile river cruise ended this morning and we were bussed into Aswan which a city on the Nile just downstream of the Low Aswan Dam.

Our accommodations here are the Sofitel Old Cataract Hotel. Here's what Wikipedia says about the hotel:

The hotel was built in 1899 by Thomas Cook to house European travelers. Its guests have included Tsar Nicholas II, Winston Churchill, Howard Carter, Margaret Thatcher, Jimmy Carter, François Mitterrand, Princess Diana, Queen Noor and Agatha Christie, who set portions of her novel Death on the Nile at the hotel. The 1978 film of the novel was shot at the hotel.

Quite a deluxe place it was. Our tour company, Scenic, always puts us in great hotels.

A shot of the entryway grounds.

A few shots of the interior.

The outdoor patio restaurant.

Our first activity today was visiting the "Nubian" village.

From Wikipedia" Nubians are an ethnolinguistic group of Africans indigenous to present-day Sudan and southern Egypt who originate from the early inhabitants of the central Nile valley, believed to be one of the earliest cradles of civilization.

The Nubian village was a ways down (or up) the river. We passed some interesting things. One is that at these young boys paddle like mad on a surfboard to intercept the boat - then they hang on and sing songs in English that they think we will like. I can't remember all the songs but there was Frere Jacques, Guantanamera, etc. I gave them some money yesterday when we visited the Philae Temple but not today.

This is obviously a different duo from the prev two. Look at the way the little bugger looks at me when the video ends. I think we just made a another terrorist.

A bunch of shots taken on the way to the Nubian Village.

So we get to the landing point and are met by a bunch of goats.

I don't know why but I really like goats, just looking at them - not eating them.

We go to the Nubian farmer's house where we're going to have tea.

It's all pretty hokey stuff but I'm sure the farmer and his family was happy to see us and I'm sur Scenic gave them a bit of money for their effort. Terri seemed to like the tea. I'm not a tea drinker so I opted out.

The farmer and his wife.

The farmer's house was a pretty dismal affair but to them it might have been a palace. The main room where I suspect the farmer and his wife slept even had some air conditioning.

One of the kids bedrooms.