Chilling in Aswan

It is a half day drive from Luxor to Aswan in the south of Egypt. The road follows the Nile and it is fascinating to see how green the land right next to the Nile is, but how quickly it turns back into desert. With 95% of Egypt being desert, the available farmland is precious and there were people hard at work tending their crops. That said, there were also many men sat in cafes drinking tea and smoking shisha pipes. This seems to be the main occupation of many Egyptian men. Women are less frequently seen in public (presumably they are hard at work in the home). When you do see women out and about, many of them are dressed in full burkhas. Even dressing conservatively, it is impossible to blend in as a westerner here!

Aswan is smaller than Luxor but still relatively touristy (it has KFC and McDonalds!). The hotel is a definite improvement on the last one and even boasts a roof top pool and views of the Nile. It has been very pleasant sat on a sun lounger enjoying some chill time. To be honest, it is too hot to do much apart from sit in the shade catching up on emails and reading my Kindle (thanks to my friends who gave me this - it is the best present ever). Later today, we are taking a sunset feluuca cruise which I think is a "must do" in Egypt. I'm really looking forward to getting out on to the Nile and seeing Aswan from a different perspective.

Other than that, our time in Aswan has been about preparing ourselves for tomorrow's 20 hour ferry trip to Sudan - buying food, getting laundry done, packing a smaller bag, etc. Athena (the truck) has already left us with most of our stuff as she is going on a barge to Sudan. All land borders from Egypt to Sudan are closed so driving is not an option. The barge will take longer than the passenger  ferry so we are expecting to spend a couple of days waiting for her to catch up with us when we reach the other side. We are all secretly hoping that Athena is already en route but in reality I suspect she will still be sat at the port when we board our ferry tomorrow. This is Africa and patience is required!