On July 16 we had a 515am flight to Aswan for our 4 day 3 night Nile Cruise. The first day/night was just staying in Aswan. After getting picked up at the airport around 7a our new guide gave us about an hour to get settled in before our tour of the Aswan High Dam and the Temple of Isis on the island of Philae.
Visiting Aswan High Dam
What is special about Aswan High Dam is that it contains 18 times the material used in the Great Pyramid of Khufu and created Lake Nasser, one of the worlds largest artificial lakes. The creation of Lake Nasser created problems, as the water levels were high for the Temple of Isis and later Abu Simbel. So UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) came in and had the temple moved.
Temple of Isis Dedicated to the Egyptian Goddess Isis
Temple of Isis was originally on the island of Phile and moved stone by stone between 1972-1980 and reconstructed 20 meters higher on nearby Agilika island. If they had not moved the temple it would have entirely disappeared due to the rising waters of lake Nasar due to the high dam.
“Hello, where are you from?”
You have to watch out at the temples. What happens is you are approached by friendly workers that say “Hello, where are you from? Can I take your picture? Show you around?” If you take the bait then they want money afterwards. Jeanette always fell for it. I always said “no thank you,” smiled and moved on. Jeanette just needs to learn how to say “no!”
This extra info is for all you Egyptologist out there (haha).
XOXO – John & Jeanette
(Sent 8/1/18)
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