Day 35: Oct 9th: Dam

Today we woke at 6am (its starting to wear on us) to catch the Aswan Dams and the Temple of Isis before the heat could. The dams were quite impressive. The larger and older of the two was 4 kilometers long and 1 km wide! It was built with the help of an English engineer in 1902 and was the largest in the world at the time. The newer one was built with the Soviets in the second half of the twentieth century. Together they produce quite a bit of electricity for Egypt as well as for other countries. They also prevent flooding and make a larger agricultural area possible. It created Lake Nassar, the largest man-made lake in Egypt (most likely the largest in general). They were cool, but the Hoover dam is cooler in my opinion.

After a quick stop at the dams, we made our way to the Temple of Isis (aka Philae), which was formerly underwater, and was moved stone by stone to a man-made island in the 1800's. To get there we had to take a motorized (loud and smelly) version of a felucca (we had taken the real thing in Cairo) to even get to the temple. There were mobs of boats and people and salesmen, but it was still beautiful.

After a quick stop on the Symphony (our boat)we took a group felucca ride around Elephantine Island and the Botanical Gardens (former Kitchner's Island, another Englishman). It was quite beautiful and the breeze took some of the noon heat away.

We got back just in time for lunch at 1pm, which was as always a buffet- and a pretty good one at that. Since we've been feeling so much better these days, we've been able to appretiate the food more (although I'm still relying mostly on soup (its just so gooood)).

Post-mealtime we threw on the old bathing suits (an awesome one-piece for me) and hit the pool deck. We lounged, napped, took a dip, and then awaited tea time at sunset (around 5:10). We were lucky enough to be one of the boats tied on the outside (there were two other boats between us and land). We had an excellent view of the sun setting lazily over the feluccas carrying crowds of people. It was magical. But really.

Just then, one of the waiters (not the one in love with Alicia) came over to the table of Lebanese honeymooners to perform a magic trick. It was pretty cool, but we were skeptical as you might imagine. He held out a napkin and had them put in a wooden toothpick. He folded the napkin around it and then had them break it into pieces while it was in the napkin. Then they blew some magic on it and he unfolded the napkin to reveal a whole toothpick. Amazing! (How easily we are entertained).

Tonights entertainment was the "Nubian party." It was short but very fun and energetic. Not nearly as weird as the last one. They pulled all of us up onto the dance floor to dance to their drums. Then before we knew it, the show was all over and we were sitting in our seats staring at an empty stage listening to Dolly Parton sing/cry. I guess they had another show to do on the next boat.
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