A Cruise on Lake Nasser, Egypt. Day Two

A Day in the Souk

We spent most of the second day of our excursion in Aswan, at the delightful downtown market. Before exploring Aswan we began with the buffet breakfast in the dining room of the Basma Hotel.

  

 

After breakfast we walked through the hotel courtyard checking out the view of the local neighborhood and the crisp view across the Nile where we could see the Movenpick Hotel on its island location and the poster-like view of the Aga Khan Mausoleum in the distance above it.

  

  

 

There was quite a collection of river cruise boats docked nearby.

 

We noticed this rather stern looking lady gracing the center of the courtyard near the pool. The writing on the base of the statue said "Moukhtar" and "The Urn Carrier".  Mahmoud Mokhtar was a significant, if sometimes underappreciated artist in the modern Egyptian sculpture world. There is indeed an urn but it's on the other side of the statue. You can either photograph the face or the urn; we chose the face.

Apparently we have passed by Moukhtar's most prominent public work many times, "the statue of Saad Zaghloul, standing at the end of Qasr El- Nil Bridge in Cairo, hand raised atop his lotus columned pedestal" - next time, I'll be taking a photo.

Our initial plan for the day was to take a walk down the hill into town, strolling along the Nile Corniche and head to the local market we have visited in the past.

As we left the hotel entrance several taxi drivers stood eagerly awaiting the chance to take us to any local destination.  But I also noticed a couple of signs that might be worth photographing.  It turns out that there was a sculpture workshop taking place at the Basma.  I totally missed the sculptors hard at work in the background but fortunately, Linda took note.

  

 

We  were persuaded by a taxi driver to take one of the available taxis instead of walking the mile or so to the market and saved our walking for the market. Besides we're always happy to support the people of Aswan and pay a couple dollars for a taxi.

 

We planned on shopping for dates, peanuts and karkaday (Egyptian hibiscus tea) for a friend.  Thinking about the volume of items, we decided to keep our eyes open for a small suitcase to carry our purchases.  We hadn't gotten very far into the market area before spotting a suitable small roller bag.  The price?  Only 4000 Egyptian (about $80. Are you kidding me?)  I countered at 1000.  As I left the shop, we settled at 1200 ($24) A good price?  Hard to say;  we'll see how it holds up over time.

A couple of blocks into the market street, we encountered a "freelance" spice merchant.  He led us around the corner to "his" shop where we climbed the stairs to the second floor which was well stocked with both spices and sales people.

  

Our sales consultant, Hiyam, explained the benefits of many herbal teas, incense and spices.  In the end, we chose to purchase some "memory tea" along with some sandalwood incense.  All parties were pleased.

Returning to the main street of the market, of course, we stopped at another spice display and a jewelry shop.

This spice merchant offered us Dom, instead of the usual tea and we gladly tried out the sweet juice. Dom juice has a slight gingerbread taste.

  

This vendor put together a blend of herbs and spices to make genuine "Nubian tea".  We purchased a good-sized package.

We had reached this spice shop with the help of a friendly young man who just happened to have a family in the spice and tea business.  As luck would have it, he also has an uncle with a jewelry shop and his cousin, working in the shop, would be happy to show us a variety of silver items.  Of course, we followed him to the shop - after all, he had my newly purchased suitcase in hand and was already headed north.

Linda is the jewelry aficionado and enjoyed the display.  It was an impressive collection. There were piles of shiny, newly minted bracelets and rings that didn't have much appeal to Linda but after s few minutes the vendor brought out the vintage pieces. Now he's talking Linda's language. He only brings out these items for "the special kind of people".
 

  

 

 

There were a couple of vintage pieces that attracted particular attention. Pretty, but in the end, these were not among the purchased items.

  

 

We reached a possible decision point.  What would our total cost be for the selected items.  Cousin Ali entered a number into the calculator for our consideration.  Linda looked on in anticipation as Che Guevara stood by behind Ali. (note the photo on the shelf) Che Guevara is, in fact, the name of the shop.

 

 Linda reacted with awesome surprise.  More negotiation would ensue.

 

In the end, there was mutual agreement on the list of items and a total price. Ali was a quiet, no pressure gentleman and we can recommend this shop to anyone looking for silver jewelry in Aswan. Remember the name of the shop - Che Guevara.

We worked our way through the remainder of the souk, pausing at a few more colorful shops.

  

 

We wandered off the main path a couple of times to visit the local food vendors.  Here, we stopped to watch a baker turning out thin sheets of desert "sun bread."

By late afternoon we had returned to the Nile Cornish across from the Movenpick and began looking for a ride to take us to our favorite Nubian restaurant. There is a free ferry to this restaurant but it is further south than where we were starting out. The Nubian restaurant, El Dokka, is on an island across from the Old Cataract Hotel. Tired out from our day in the market, we hired a felucca to sail the short distance upstream.  

 

  

 

We enjoyed the ride, watching so many types of sail and power boats glide up and down the river as we passed the famed Old Cataract hotel. Was that Agatha Christie's ghost sitting at the typewriter that I saw in a window?

 

We departed our felucca and climbed the stairs to el Dokka.  We were fortunate to find a seat before a large group of tourists arrived claiming almost all seats in this popular spot. 

    

  

After an enjoyable dinner of a tagine of okra with meat and mixed girl (not my typo. It was listed thus on the menu), we returned from the island and took a tuk-tuk ($2.00fare) up the hill past Archangel Michael's Coptic Cathedral to the Basma where we enjoyed an Um Ali dessert and a coffee in the lobby before retiring to our room.
    

We prepared for a very early departure for the airport the next morning to catch our flight to Abu Simbel where we would begin the four day cruise back down Lake Nasser to Aswan.

Many more photos at this Flickr album, of course!

A Cruise on Lake Nassar, Egypt. Day One

Our big outing this winter in Egypt consisted of trip to a spot near the southern border of Egypt where we had booked a four day cruise on Lake Nasser from Abu Simbel to Aswan.

Aswan is a quiet town in comparison to Cairo with only 379,000 residents in the metro area compared to Cairo's 23 million.  We have been in Aswan several times, usually at one end of a river cruise between Luxor and Aswan.  The last time we visited Abu Simbel, we noted cruise boats on the lake and decided it would be interesting to cruise the lake behind the high dam at Aswan.

We purchased a tour from Travel Trails Tours located on a quiet street in a neighborhood not far from the new Grand Egyptian Museum.  In the photo below, you can see the "brain trust" in their office endeavoring to complete our credit  card payment. Or how many Egyptian men does it take to make the credit card machine work.

We left the office with a printed itinerary containing the telephone numbers of Hazem, the General Manager and the company's representatives in Aswan and Abu Simbel. It is comforting to have this kind of information before setting out on a trip in Egypt.

Our first day consisted of travel to Aswan.  A car from the travel agency picked us up at our apartment and drove us to Cairo International Airport, the domestic terminal (Terminal 2), where we boarded an Air Cairo jet for the one hour flight south along the Nile to Aswan.  This map shows the general plan of the trip:

 

We left our apartment around noon and arrived in plenty of time for our 3:00 p.m. departure on Air Cairo.  As we glided along the Ring Road to cross the Nile and swung north toward the airport, I had another chance to grab some photos of the numerous billboards hanging from buildings that form part of the "Giza Visual Identity Project." (see previous post.)

 

At the airport while waiting for the plane, I noted the pillar with an Aswan travel poster featuring the mausoleum of Aga Khan high above the Nile. Note that the font uses the key of life for the "t" in Egypt. A nice touch.

Playing on the nearby television screens was video of Gazan refugees streaming north along the coastline, on Egypt's cable channel "Extra News" -  a frequent image here.

  

 

We flew south via Air Cairo, a new airline to us as we have previously made the journey via Egypt Air.  Flying aboard a Brazilian Embraer 190 with 2x2 seating, we had a comfortable space and I had a window seat.  The one hour flight gave us a good overview of the geography of Egypt as we followed the Nile to the south.  It was interesting to see how much evidence of water flow is present in the hills of the desert.

  

 

As we neared Aswan, we saw considerable agricultural activity along and near the narrow strip of green that borders the river.  The photo below, on the right, displaying the rectangular features is part of the Benban Solar Park, according to Wikipedia this is the world's fourth largest solar plant.  The location is 40 miles northwest of Aswan.

  

 

Approaching the airport, numerous Aswan landmarks appeared.

A: The city of Aswan lies to the south of the High Dam

B: One of the Lake Nasser cruise boats

C: The giant lotus shaped monument to Russian-Egypt friendship.

D: The High Dam holding back the waters of the Nile to form Lake Nasser

E: The Aswan airport

F: The Kalabsha Temple on an island in Lake Nasser - one of our destinations.

 

On the ground, the airport has a small-town 1960's feel.  We stopped at the statue of the Egyptian goddess Selkit before claiming our bags and proceeding out front to meet our travel representative.

  

 

We were met by Ashraf, a representative of the travel agency who drove us into town to the Basma Hotel.  We spent two nights in the lovely hotel before flying the additional one hundred and fifty miles south to Abu Simbel to begin our cruise aboard a Steigenberger cruise boat, the M/S Omar el Khayam.

The Basma Hotel was a delightful place for a stay with marble columns, beautiful artwork and nicely appointed and comfortable sofas.  It was approaching dusk as we arrived at the Basma so we decided to dine in the hotel which was serving a buffet dinner.  After a satisfying dinner, we strolled across the garden, noting the view of the city and returned to the attractive lobby.

  

More photos at this Flickr Album, of course.

Updated 2/27/2025 to identify the Benban Solar Park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annual Gasoline Price Post

Annual report on gasoline prices in Egypt

Well, price not prices; the government sets the retail price and all stations charge the same amount. As usual we check the price of 92 octane, the grade used by the vast majority of motorists.

 

This year the price is up 22% over last year for the Egyptian motorist, rising from 12.5 EGP per liter to 15.25

Doing the conversion from Egyptian currency to US Dollars and liters to gallons we arrive at $1.15 per gallon. This is unlikely to garner much sympathy in the minds of Americans for the 22% increase.

 

Note that gasoline is pumped by a smiling attendant at the Taqa station where we stopped near our apartment to fill up our friend Roshdy's Toyota.  You might also note that he holds a wad of cash in his hand to provide change.

 

The window washing is not exactly a free service since the driver is expected to tip the employee doing the washing. I handed over a 20 pound note (about 40 cents) for the service, thinking back to "the good old days" when a 5 pound note would handle the job.

Below is a summary of  gasoline prices for the past few years.  In shows the relative stability of price in dollars as high inflation constantly hammers the local buyer.  The annual inflation rate in the Egyptian economy is about 24%.  (More details on that can be found here.)

 

 

		EGP	US$
Year		per liter	per gallon
2007		1.50	1.04
2011		1.42	0.93
2013		1.85	1.04
2014		1.85	1.01
2016		2.60	1.26
2017		3.50	0.74
2018		5.00	1.11
2019		6.75	1.46
2020		7.75	1.83
2021		COVID	COVID
2022		8.50	2.05
2023		9.25	1.19
2024		11.50	1.41
2024		11.50	1.09
2024		12.50	1.00
2025		15.25	1.15

 

 

Another Visit to Champ Pet Shop

We've been back to the Champ Pet Shop a few more times to buy more canned cat food for Kitty Kat, our building's cat that we feed and take care of during our three month stay.

  

 

Here's a better look at the shop and it's neighbors. Located on the busy Lebeny Street across from the old and long abandoned Siag Hotel, the shop is sandwiched into a block anchored by the Angogo auto dealership and a building supply shop. There's a radiator store and a "Magic Kids Station" at the end of the block also.  Across the street are a number of medical offices.

 

These small shops are typical of the older neighborhood where we live. Out in the suburbs, an auto dealer would look much like an American dealership - large and brightly lit.

Our friend, Roshdy, dropped us off and drove on to attend to another errand while we shopped. We picked up about a dozen cans of cat food this time and waited for the return of our ride back to the apartment.  Abdl Rahman, Champ's manager and gracious host, offered us two chairs to sit in while we waited and sent his assistant for tea and coffee for us, of course.

 

While we were waiting for the tea to arrive, Abdl Rahman showed us a few items that he thought our cat might enjoy: a laser pointer to chase, and also a robotic mouse that rolls across the floor dragging a tail.  What cat owner could resist this example of twenty-first century robotics! Of course, I bought it - at the reasonable price of just over four dollars. It's rechargeable through a USB port just like a mobile phone.

    

 

Kitty Kat was intrigued and a bit wary at first but now loves to chase it. She needs the exercise and diversion. Now that she is getting regular meals, she has begun to put on weight - or does that weight have something to do with the large Tomcat that has been hanging around the front door to the building. Time will tell.

More pictures at this Flickr album, of course (along with sign translations by Google).

New Windows for the Cairo Condo

Last year, we installed a new door to the front balcony. It worked so well at reducing traffic noise from the Ring Road that we decided to replace the two windows on the same side of the apartment with similar technology.

We contacted our window contractor, Mr. Ramadan, who came to measure the openings on a Thursday night.  While the old units are "sliders" which work well for easy opening, we almost never open them.  The cold air, noise and dust leaks in around the edges of these units.

 

The new units swing inward to open but seal very tightly and have triple-pane glass.  They arrived with a protective plastic coating on the frames.

We agreed on a price and I paid a three-quarters deposit.  A week later Mr. Ramadan called to tell us that the new custom made units were ready and we scheduled the installation for the following night.

He arrived with his two assistants and they went right to work, removing the old window near my office area.

 

The procedure for each window is to drill anchor holes in the frame, fasten the window unit in place with screws, use foam sealant around the exterior of the unit and then seal the interior with silicon caulk.

The hardest part of the job is to seal the outside with spray foam. This is a two-man job. The young man with the yellow hat does the actual sealing. Since we are on the eighth floor, the job of the second man is to hold on to the belt of the first man so that he doesn't fall out. It's important to stay on friendly terms with your assistant.

 

After about an hour and a half, with the job complete, we all had tea and I counted out the remainder of the cash.  Price for the two window units was 16,000 EGP - about $320 - with three-quarters of that paid in advance.

The crew did a nice job of cleaning up (OUR broom, glass cleaner and rags, of course) and left the two old window units by the front, door while Mr. Ramadan supervised and I took his picture 

    

 

While the windows hold out any cold air and dust, the principal advantage is noise reduction. We can now easily carry on a conversation between rooms. They do all that and add some personality to the room.

 

Later, the" rubabekia" (junk man) picked up the windows and gave me 1500 EGP for them, bringing the total cost of the project down to around $290. A real bargain in our eyes.