Cruising the Nile

We were finally looking forward to leaving the big city behind and heading out into the real Egypt. After a 14 hour train journey we arrived in Aswan which is about as far south as the train goes. We got a cute hotel room overlooking the bustling souq or market for 30 egyptian pounds a night which is just over $5 total for both of us. We spent the next 3 1/2 days exploring the area. The people who live here are darker skin race and are called Nubians. The guys wear the full robes and scarves on their heads and we didn't see alot of the women in veils. Donkeys and horse carts rule the streets rather than the millions of taxis like in Cairo. We went to see the Tombs of the Nobles and also went to the Nubian musuem and village and saw the ruins of the ancient city. It was surprising to see the way that the people still live in the villages...similar to that of Fijian villages. We took a day tour (which left at 3:45am ugh!) to Abel Simel where we saw the amazingly huge Great Temple of Ramses II and the temple of Hathor...it was pretty impressive! Afterwards the tour took us to see the High Dam which was a big waste of money just a dam! and then to Philae Island where we saw the temple of Isis which was also impressive. Nigel put his bargaining skills to use and got a camelwool blanket for 30 egyptian down from 120 and I got a pair of sunglasses but they broke the next day :( supposed to be Prada too! We have learned to ignore the constant catcalling and every single guy saying to Nigel "Lucky man-how many camel?" Of course he knows he is lucky :) I can't imagine the hassles I would have if I was here alone because they don't seem to have any problem saying things even when I am with Nigel!
After Aswan we took the train to Luxor which is supposed to be the biggest outdoor musuem in the world. We got a room for only 12 egyptian a night which is nothing except that we ended up paying for it because we had money stolen out of our room while it was locked and we were watching tv in the lobby. The owner seemed to not be in on it and reimbursed me 300 egyptian but nothing was given back for Nigel's 150 euro or my necklace...sucks! Besides that we had a good time in Luxor. We saw the Luxor temple and the Karnak temple and then we took a trip across the Nile to see the Valley of Kings tombs and the huge temple of Hatshepsut which looks like it rises out of the desert. Nigel and I insist on doing everything the local way or cheap way so instead of taxing it to this place we walked along the desert mountain and I took a wrong turn and we ended up walking for ages...oops. We also hit up the Luxor musuem which had two royal mummies and you could see their toe and hair-gross. It was by far the best laid out musuem! We thought we would be stuck in Luxor for 3 more days because there weren't any more tickets available however there were tickets still on the blackmarket put there by the police, that's how corrupt it is, and our hotel manager was able to get us one for a little extra cash. So that was our trip down the Nile which was pretty beautiful scenery!
We took the overnight train back to Cairo then caught a train two hours later to Alexandria which is a city located in the north on the mediterranean sea where Cleopatra used to rule. We spent two days there wandering around the city and saw the library and planetarium which is the nicest building in all of Egypt! We went to the Roman catacombs where 300 bodies were once buried, which were discovered when a donkey happened to fall through the street. Apparently this happens alot as the new city is built directly over the ancient city. As soon as we went in the sight a police guard started calling to us and we stupidly followed him and then he had us running down a ravine, whispering and sneaking around to see the off limits catacombs which of course he wanted a tip for. He "accidently" touched my chest and kissed Nigel's cheek as well...that pretty much sums up the police here. Every person who does anything for you here, even if you don't ask, holds out their hand and asks for "baksheesh" or tips...even the little children that come up to you in the street. It gets kind of annoying and Nigel just flat out tells them "no, what for?" When we went back to our hotel to get our bags from reception to go catch our train I looked through my bag and realized my ipod speakers were gone....I couldn't believe it! Nigel and I raged on the employees there for a good hour because one of them obviously had to steal them out of my bag which was in their office but it did us no good. We thought about getting the police but didn't really see how it would help since it's just their word against ours...definitely makes you dislike a place when you keep getting robbed! So we left Alexandria a little disheartened and took the overnight bus to Dahab. We got the last two seats on the bus which also were the most uncomfortable two seats in the very back with zero leg room. It was worth it though because Dahab is a beautiful place from what we've seen so far. We are staying in a room right on the beach and there are lots of restaurants, bars, and dive centers all through the town...oh and lots of white people too for a change we aren't the only two! So now the job hunt begins! Hope you all are doing great! xoxo