Aswan

Well, after a massive 14 hours train ride (most of which was spent sleeping or listening to Shooting Stars) we arrived in an incredibly hot place in the middle of the desert on the banks of the Nile called Aswan. Aswan was very cool, it has the exciting hustle and bustle that Cairo had, but was about a million times smaller (literally). We chilled in Aswan then took a boat up the Nile to a Neubian village for a feed and some learning (so much learning when you are a tourist...). The boat ride was sick, totally calm, super warm, sun setting. We stopped at a beach for a bit and just chilled, with the golden sands of the Sahara on one side and the Nile on the other.. so we played Hacky Sack. This is where we chilled on the beach on the Nile. Crouching there is Big Jim who is on the tour with us. He is a semi-old dude from the States, real good sort. All the people in the group are absolutely super.. Canadians, Aussies, Poms, Americans, Brazilian and a couple of Kiwis. All good looking (which is the most important thing).

The next morning we got up at 4am.... yes, 4AM!! That is early on this side of the world too. We then joined a convoy to Abu Simbel. Firstly, all tourist have to travel in convoys of buses with police escorts in case of terrorists, its really not necessary though, I haven't seen any terrorists lately, but so so so many police with AK-47s lurking about. Secondly, Abu Simbel is a place with some really old rock stuff, just like all the other really old rock stuff we have seen. So many temples in Egypt.

See, big old stone things. It hard to comprehend the age of all the stuff we see, which makes it all hard to appreciate. What you can appreciate it the millions of tourists, mostly inappropriately dressed Russians.

Well, that was Aswan. Generally for me things are going very very well. The food here is awesome, the people I am meeting are fantastic, and we only shower every couple of days, I am living the dream! And did I mention the Shisha? I think I am addicted, but its just like eating apples....