Egypt - Part 3 -Exploring Amazing Aswan - Cruising along Nile River

Aswan is a city on the Nile River located in Southern Egypt with some remarkable archaeological sites worth visiting. For many, this is the starting or the ending point of a Nile Cruise. For us it was the starting point. 

With stunning views of the magnificent Abu Simbel, peaceful boat ride to Philae temple, visit to the Nubian village sailing along the Felucca, Aswan is a city of rich historical treasures also offering stunning Nile views. Let me take you all around the amazing city of Aswan.

We reached Aswan from Cairo late night and were put up in Henan Aswan Hotel. After a long tiring day we freshened up and hit the bed instantly for a good peaceful sleep. 

Aswan High Dam

The High Dam at Aswan is one of the most impressive feats of engineering design in the whole of the African continent. It is said to be the largest embankment dam built across the River Nile. The dam was built to help control the flooding of the Nile river. The building of the Aswan High Dam resulted in the creation of Lake Nasser, making it one of the largest man-made lakes in the world.

Philae Temple

Philae is an island in the reservoir of the Aswan Low Dam. You need to take a boat to visit this Philae temple since it is on an island. 

This sacred site has dazzled travelers with its magnificent work and is one of Nubia's most important monument sites. 

Highly recommend to take a guide or expert in Egyptology with you to hear the history of this place while you focus on the architecture and beautiful wall carvings. 

This place is very clean, preserved well, less crowded too. The location is quite lovely and picturesque.

We took a boat and returned to bus. People can opt for Light and Sound show in the night. I have heard that visiting the temple complex at night while it is lit up adds a completely different dimension to your experience.

Hopping onto Nile River Cruise – Another iconic Moment of my Egypt Trip

We were super excited now since it was time for another dream come true moment. Sailing along the Nile Cruise J. We got down from our bus and "Alexander The Great" cruise was waiting near the port to welcome us. 

We checked into the cruise and were given cabin keys. We were super excited to see our tiny luxurious cabin which had nice view of the towns on both the sides of the river. 

Then we went to the middle and upper decks to check out all the luxuries on board – shops, spa, bar, restaurant, dance floor. Best was the top deck – small bar, swimming pool with relaxing chairs. As the cruise started sailing, we sat on the relaxing chairs in the top deck with a nice drink and an amazing view of the towns passing by. 

Cruise stopped at King Mina port in the night. Time for shopping now 😊

As our ship docked here, it was looking even more beautiful with the brightly lit towns in the backdrop. 

We had a great time shopping needless to say. But one particular souvenir which I feel everyone should take back from Egypt is the mud art. You can chose the designs you want and get your name also designed on the art. 

One tip while shopping in Egypt you can bargain to your best price with the shop keepers. So bargain kings and queens, you can apply your wittiest bargain skills here and trust me it works😊. We returned back to cruise with lot of shopping bags, had yummy dinner onboard cruise and slept. 

Nubian village – Get a taste of the Nubian way of life

Today it was a fun filled day planned with a trip to Nubian Village to get a taste of their culture and their way of living. We could already get a glimpse of the same from our cruise itself. 

In order to reach this village you need to hire a private Felucca boat ride. When our ship docked here, we saw that boat was already arranged for us. 

The boat ride was serene with reflection of vibrant colors of the village on the waters of the Nile River.

We first visited one traditional house where in we were welcomed with their local drink. They had decorated their home interiors very artistically. 

Colorful paintings were hanging on the wall and they had crocodiles in small cages kept in their home. You can hold baby crock in your hand and click pictures. 

Next, we took a walk through the Nubian Village. This is a very interesting small town with its own culture. Camels moved around the streets, many shop owners displayed their ware and sold local products with much Nubian handicraft being on sale. 

Clicked few pictures of Nubian shops, their streets, camels and hopped back onto the boat to get back into the cruise. Egypt is also famous for different varieties of masks. The boatman on the Felucca boat was selling some really cool masks. I picked up one mask and during our return journey off course photo session was required with Nile river on the backdrop 😊

I understand that most of you are looking forward to read next about Abu Simbel , an iconic landmark of Egypt. Well it is so huge and magnificent that it cannot be covered in this blog, In fact one blog exclusively is required only for Abu Simbel. So please wait for my next blog 😊