Aswan High Dam and Abu Sambal

Sun is lighting the far shore on our last morning on board Sun Goddess. A small village, perhaps even a deserted ancient village can now be seen on the other side of the river. We bid adieu to the balcony views of river traffic.

This is the original or Old Aswan Dam.

Security is strong at the entrance to the High Aswan Dam. Just beyond this point is a machine gun-manned pillbox.

We on the New Aswan Dam.

There is a small temple near the location of the dam. It is visible as we depart.

We fly on a Dash-9 propeller plane to Abu Sambal.

Abu Sambal is another of the reconstructed temples that would have been destroyed by the formation of Lake Naser.

There are two temples here. One dedicated to Ramses and one to Neferteri. On this day, the second temple is a bridge too far.

Jerash

Today we drive north of Amman to the Roman ruins of Jerash before driving four hours south to our hotel at the gates of Petra. The ride to Jerash is hilly. The road is windy. Housing has become sparser. There are many greenhouse complexes.

Jerash is the largest and best-preserved Roman ruins in Jordan.

Tombs from a pre-Roman era have been found.

Mo pours water on the mosaics to show us that the dust of the area obscures the wonder of the mosaic. The demonstration also serves to show how well the mosaics have lasted over the millenia.

Super Mo knows all!

This is a huge ruin with only a small percentage of the city excavated. Most remains buried under the modern city. Pictured here the forum at the far end.

Our group heading off on the 2 mile trek to the far end of the complex. Carol walks part of the way with Juan Carlos. Today its CJ's hip that fails. He finds a spot in the shade to rest.

Returning to the visitor center, Mo promises a reward of half pomegranate and half orange juice.

Mo's first restaurant selection is a home run. Lunch is a Jordanian feast! It finishes with a luscious chocolate cake for Peggy's birthday.

Once we are south of Amman, we drive for hours across the high desert.

This is the transition between driving on a flat high desert and the mountains.

The descent into Petra is steep enough to require a safety off ramp for trucks.

The road gets windier and steeper the closer we get to Petra.

Only 3 miles to Petra.

Temple of Philae, and Felucca Ride

More scenes from our cruise south on the River Nile. This dahabiya boat is attempting to sail.

Sun Goddess has the strangest pool. It is in the shape of an 'H'. Most of it is only inches deep. It's more a wading, socializing, and drinking pool. The one part over CJ's shoulder is the deep section with parts at over six feet.

Approaching Aswan

Relaxing on the sun deck with a Saccara local beer.

The Temple of Philae was located on an island. The Aswan Dam caused it to be flooded. UNESCO organized for it to be disassembled and reconstructed on a manmade island once the dam was finished and Lake Nasser formed.

Temple of Philae

It is nearly impossible to believe this temple was disassembled block by block and reassembled on this manmade island. They did an amazing job.

This is the first, and only mate, of the skiff taking us to the temple.

The Temple of Philae.

Note the square hole in the wall. At some point this temple was buried and a city was built on top of it. That hole was where they inserted a building's beam of the upper city.

View of the banks of Lake Nasser from the Temple of Philae.

Returning to Aswan. Note the number of boats ferrying tourists to the temple.

The following are scenes from the streets of Aswan. It is part modern city, part older city, part dirty third-world city. It is part modern dress and part Islamic dress.

The day concludes with a Felucca ride.

This is the mausoleum of Aga Khan.

We pass by Old Cataract Hotel the place where Agatha Christie wrote Death on the Nile and they filmed some of the scenes of the movie.

On the return trip, the boat opens a small Nubian bazaar for us. Carol now has a new Nubian bracelet.

A celebration of Nubian song compels members of our group to dance.

There are so many boats carrying tourists for a dusk sail that they appear to be racing. This is the view from the balcony of our room on the boat.

Some of these fellows sail like CJ. On a couple of occasions, it appeared they were going to ram our ship just below our room.

This is our final meeting with Carol's guardian angel. He may retire on his tip.

Following dinner, there is a Nubian cultural presentation. It begins with music and song. The performer engages the audience. Lainy from Vail is his partner.

Eventually they have much of our group dancing.