Doing the tourist-thing in Aswan

(25 November 2011)

Last night we admired the view of Aswan from the roof of the Hathor Hotel after sunset. The mosques are beautifully lit and you can hear the prayers over the speakers.

The street was bustling with cars hooting as they do in Egypt. The view of the river was stunning and the lights are overwhelming after weeks in the desert.

Johan spent the afternoon haggling with a horse and carriage driver to help him get hold of beer, which he found after going this way and that and spending as much time looking for change for the fare.

The guys also produced a bottle of Cirrus they saved all the way from the Cape Winelands which was great and made us feel better about going home in a week or two.

After sun-downers we had dinner at a restaurant across the street. We bumped into JT, Ria and Imraan again and we had a merry feast with Stella.

We slept like babies regardless of the noise in the street and had breakfast of egg, bread, jam and coffee (included in the EP110 price per room). Since the bikes haven’t been loaded on the barge in Wadi Halfa yet, we had to kill time and visited the souq (market) around the corner. The people are relentless in trying to persuade you into their shops and I am a real sucker being too polite at first. After a while I just put on my sunglasses (which I fixed for this exact purpose) and ignored the shouts of: “Everything in shop free!!”, “I give you money!” and “No hassle, honest!” We heard it all and more. One guy even shouted to me: “I love you!!” Madness.

An older man dressed in a brown gown said we must enter his shop and that he’s a Nubian and we can just have a look. He looked more sincere and we thought we’d give it a go. Inside he started telling a he likes South Africans and that Nubian people are nicer than Egyptians and that all the scarfs are EP20, no 15.. wait, for us any scarf for EP10! He gave us two bracelets and made us Nubian tea for free. We tried to decline, but to no avail. In the end we had a nice long chat with him and the guy that brought the tea and ended up buying a bracelet and scarf for Tania for EP80, marked down from EP280. We didn’t really want to buy it, but he was so persistent and we felt obliged after the tea and gifts. The people really are very persuasive and crafty in their tactics. You leave feeling you cheated them, but you went out just to have a look.

Here is Tania having Nubian tea:

We were so tired after the souq experience that we headed for MacDonald’s on our way back to the hotel. We passed another shop and took a steal photo of the sign (we are a bit careful with the camera as there are police everywhere in anticipation of the elections next week).

I also took a close-up. You can only imagine the hassle inside if the thought of putting up a sign like that:

MacD’s on the roof. Shameless, I know, but it’s been a long trip!

We’ve been away from home for more than 80 days and it’s starting to show:

Cheers from Aswan