Although within the political boundaries of Egypt, Aswan is distinctly Nubian, a very different culture than the north, much more African than Arab.
The general vibe is much more laid back and we spent 3 days visiting temples, wandering souqs for a bargain, drinking tea, watching sunsets, and smoking more sheesha.
Feluccas, (small Nubian sail boats) cruise the blue, beautiful Nile...
The Aswan souq has been paved over and cater completely to tourists (coming off the Nile cruise ships sailing between Luxor and Aswan). It does not have the same charm of the souqs in Morocco or Instanbul, but there is still some occasional cool finds.
Baskets and baskets of spices make wandering the souq a pleasant experience for the nose...
Know of any place where you can buy a purse AND a Sudanese sword?
Come on, make me WANT to buy the burqa... you've taken a risk, moved away from basic black, then you throw it on the creepiest mannequins ever and prop them up against a green corrugated metal back drop... definitely not Fierce.
A cheap, easy Egyptian staple is Koushry which is a bowl of small pasta noodles, topped with garbonzo beans, fried onions, tomato sauce and pepper. Carb bomb, but delicious.
And the secret to eating local?... learn to read Arabic numbers.
Roughly 300 km south of Aswan lies the town of Abu Simbel, which is home to the famous twin temples of Rameses II and his queen, Nefertari. The temples are stunning... fronted by 4 giant statues (20m) of the man himself... clearly he had no self confidence issues.
Looking good in profile...
Now if they change their menus to ancient hierogylphs, I am screwed.
Tourists have been visiting Egypt for centuries, but Western interest really ignitied in the 1800s, starting with the French. Apparently, it did not occur to Mousier LeCaros that defacing a 5000 year old monument was a bad idea...
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