Firstly, a bit of an apology for the delay here, I have been slightly side tracked and have no excuse really! However, all is well and now back on track.

Although we were up early, thanks Dad for that, we didn’t miss the opportunity to head up on deck and check out Aswan in the morning light. In fact the Nile was even busy at this time of day. As I looked out over the Nile and Aswan spread along its banks, I had a slight feeling that today was going to be slightly hectic! Not to mention the first day that we received our first towel creature!

We left the Viking Princess and took a coach through Aswan to our first stop of the day, but you could already tell that Aswan was a more quick paced way life and more developed, with what seemed like the hustle and bustle of a good sized town.

The Unfinished Obelisk is the quarry site of possibly many of Egypt’s Obelisks, but this particular one has remained her because as they were preparing it they cracked it. The imperfections meant simple that it was left in the quarry never to be used.

In this day and age the production of such a large stone Obelisk, which incidentally is one piece, is probably less impressive. However, in Ancient Egyptian times they would have carved the obelisk’s out of the rock with some very basic tools. The story wouldn’t end there either, they would then remove it from the quarry and transport it down the Nile. Which from our point of view looking back seems an almost impossibility. Hat’s off to the Ancient Egyptians on this one I think!

The Unfinished Obelisk VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

After we had taken all this in and negotiated the Egyptian sales technique once again, we boarded the coach and headed on.

Next up was a brief stop at the High Dam of Aswan, which is a lovely stop. A definitive photo opportunity, but not exactly my cup of tea! It wasn’t long before we were back on board our coach and off again!

This was a stop I was truly looking forward to, the Philae Temple. Which is an island Temple, very cool! Now interesting enough this picturesque temple used to be on Philae Island, but continuous flooding meant that it had to be moved. In fact that’s exactly what they did and you can hardly even tell really.

The temple and the setting is stunning to say the least with the rock springing up from the water, topped with the ancient temple and a few plants, its amazing to see as you approach by boat. In fact when you arrive it is even more amazing and truly seems to be a setting from some film. Although there is evidence of the expensive time consuming move, it’s more than obvious that it was well worth the effort.

Philae Temple VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We left Philae Temple with a little regret that w  didn’t have more time to explore it, but alas our next stop was beckoning us.

As we headed back through Aswan we stopped off at a Papyrus Gallery, where they explained how it was made at speed! Now when I say at speed I mean literally in about a minute. Blink and you will miss it ! Even so, both me and my Dad brought a couple of them as we thought they would make excellent gifts for those waiting back home for us.

We then returned to the Viking Princess for another three course lunch with our friends on our table. Which was as ever good food and even better company.

We spent the afternoon reading and chilling out on deck, before taking another three course dinner with our friends at around eight. After which we headed to the Lounge to grab a beer and check out the Nubian entertainment. Incidentally this lead to me joining in with some embarrassing dancing, more so than usual. Although some of the dances seemed a little familiar and not unlike the old Hokey Cokey and Congo. Although that could have been the beer.

Nubian Entertainment VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL