The Trip That Keeps Growing

Day 13 19 Oct Aswan to Cairo

This morning we had to say goodbye to our fabulous crew. We spent an amazing 7 days on the Nefertiti, seeing sights most of us had only dreamed of seeing. For us, the cruise was the highlight of the tour. Later in the morning we flew back to Cairo, but not before we made one last stop in Aswan – the Aswan High Dam.

The Aswan High Dam forever changed the agricultural rhythms of Egypt. Once subject to devastating Nile floods, Egyptian farmers looked to the Aswan High Dam as a way of improving their ability to control their crops. However, the large reservoir it created displaced nearly 10,000 of the indigenous Nubian people who lived in the region and created Egypt’s own lost city of Atlantis, as the waters swallowed up both homes and priceless archaeological ruins. And during our previous day’s visits, we saw the extraordinary engineering knowledge and skill that was required to save Abu Simbel and the Temple of Philae.

The dam was completed on 21 July 1970, after 11 years of construction and costing over $1 billion dollars. It is two miles across. At first President Nassar got pledges of financial support from both the United States and England, but upon learning of a secret weapons deal between Egypt and Russia in 1956, both countries pulled their support. As a result, Nasser nationalized the British and French-owned Suez Canal, hoping to use the canal’s tolls to pay for the dam. This led to the Suez Canal Crisis in which Israel, Britain and France all attacked Egypt. Intervening action by the US, UN and the Soviet Union force England and France to withdrawal leaving the Suez Canal in Egypt’s control. Combining tolls from the canal and loans from the Soviet Union, Nasser was able to build his dam. Today, on the dam, is a memorial to the Soviet Union for their assistance and support. Nasser died just two months after the dam was completed. The reservoir created by the dam was named in his honor and is 300 miles long, 10 miles wide, and 300 feet deep. The dam is powered by 12 turbines which generated 10 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year.

From the dam we were able to see another temple, the Temple of Kalabsha, dedicated to the Nubian God Mandaulis, the sun god of Lower Nubia. This temple also had to be moved when the dam was built. If you are lucky, as you look at the lakefront by the dam you can spot crocodiles sunning themselves, but we were not one of the lucky ones today.

Leaving the dam, we drove to the Aswan airport for our charter flight back to Cairo. For a small airport – we were the only passengers in the building – their security is unbelievable. You first go through security at the entrance to the airport, where all electronics, shoes, watches, and everything (including handkerchiefs) must be removed from pockets. They have a metal detector, but I am not sure it works well – it beeps for everyone. And you still have to go through a full pat down. Then you get your luggage – which was scanned separately and go through another security checkpoint. Again, same procedure, except for watches and shoes. And another full pat down. Finally, you reach the ticket counter, get your tickets, check your luggage and proceed to a third checkpoint – this time shoes as well had to come off and again, another full pat down. I will never complain about US security requirements! While we waited in the terminal, Bill was able to watch 6 F-16s take off – the Egyptian Air Force shares the runways with the town of Aswan. Soon we were able to board our plane and this time it was a jet. The OAT group that arrived from Cairo was a much larger group then ours, so a bigger plane was needed. So, we each got a row by ourselves. It was about an hour flight.

Arriving back at the Intercontinental Hotel, we had the rest of the afternoon to relax or do some shopping. There were people on this trip that would shop everyday – I honestly do not know how they are going to get all their purchases home in the suitcases they brought.

At 6 PM we again met in the Ambassador’s Lounge for snacks (well a meal for most of us), drinks, and lively conversation. Our little group has really come together over the past 19 days, and it was fun to reminisce about all our experiences that we have had. The food was plentiful, so none of us felt like going to dinner when the Lounge closed at 8PM. An early night for us as tomorrow we visit Giza.