Day 47: Aswan
The team was very happy to be in the ‘civilized’ world again and after a continental breakfast the team donned their cameras in preparation for their tourist activities. Our first port of call was the Aswan granite quarry to see the Unfinished Oblisk. This granite quarry provided most of the pink granite used throughout the Egyptian Empire, with some of the rock traveling as far as Alexandria and Lebanon. The Unfinished Oblisk was the largest Oblisk ever to be commissioned by the Egyptian Empire, unfortunately while carving out this huge granite object a significant crack developed ruining what is thought to be over eight months of work. It was then off to the Philae Temple, which is actually a collection of temples built on a small island just above the Old Dam, which is the first of the two dam walls to be built. The remarkable part about the Philae Temple is that when the Old Dam was constructed the Temple used to spend over seven months fully submerged, until finally after the construction of the High Dam, the second of the two dam walls, UNESCO commissioned the relocation of the temple. This Temple complex was then relocated, exactly to original specifications to a nearby island that was above the level of the water. After completing the tourist activities for the day, it was then back to the hotel to get some well earned R & R. For dinner it was off to another traditional Nubian Village, which was situated about thirty minutes up river. For a special treat Waugie had organized a camel ride for the last few kilometers, sadly only the three Bristow Boyz were brave/silly enough to take up the challenge.
The Unfinished Oblisk.
The Philae Temple.
COMMENTS