The next morning I took a few photos from the train. As we pass near the Nile River, one can see the verdant area near the river. But in the distance the desert.
Notice the house with the unfinished brick pillars on the roof. One sees this phenomenon throughout Egypt. Basically, as a son is married and the new wife comes to live with the family, additional room is added to the house by building up. As the family members grow, new floors are added to the house.
Harvesting crops along the river.
Minaret in the distance with satellite dishes in the foreground. The minarets were originally built for a person to climb to the top and call out for the prayer time.
Yep, there is even a McDonald's in Aswan.
Here we are at the old original (low) dam build on the Nile.
After having already raised the height of the original dam two times due to overflooding, they finally decided to build a new dam upstream. With help from the Soviets, construction began on the High Dam in 1960. The Aswan High Dam is 3,830 m in length, 980 m wide at the base, 40 m wide at the crest and 111 m tall. It contains 43 million m³ of material. At maximum, 11,000 m³ of water can pass through the dam every second. Here one is looking along the High Dam with the Russian-Egyptian friendship monument of a Lotus Flower tower in the distance.
Me sitting on the dam with Lake Nasser in the background. It is one of the largest man-make lakes with a total surface area of 5,250 km² and a storage capacity of some 157 km³ of water. (By comparison, Lake Mead has a surface area of 640 km² and a storage capacity of 35.2 km³.
On the boat out to see the ruins from the island of Philae. The boy is preparing his wares to sell to us. Everywhere you go, someone is ready to sell you something.
The ruins from the island of Philae were moved to the island of Agilika once the dam was built and Lake Nasser filled up.
Temple of Isis. Isis embodied the role of a nourishing goddess and wife of Osiris, she was the object of a cult long after the introduction of Christianity. It was believed that Philae was one of those sacred places where a part of the mutilated body of Osiris was buried.
Some views inside.
The Trajan's Kiosk was certainly the icon of Philae Island, the structure most associated by people with the island. It is a beautiful structure of 14 massive columns with carved floral capitals, but simple in its design. Inside are reliefs showing Trajan as a pharaoh making offerings to Osiris, Isis and Horus. The Emperor Trajan lived around 100 AD.
A Coptic Church in Aswan.
Sunset over the Nile River in Aswan.
Enjoying a Stella beer during the sunset. Stella is a pretty good local Egyptian brew; I preferred it to the other local beer Sakkara.
Up close with a baby crocodile.
Notice the house with the unfinished brick pillars on the roof. One sees this phenomenon throughout Egypt. Basically, as a son is married and the new wife comes to live with the family, additional room is added to the house by building up. As the family members grow, new floors are added to the house.
Harvesting crops along the river.
Minaret in the distance with satellite dishes in the foreground. The minarets were originally built for a person to climb to the top and call out for the prayer time.
Yep, there is even a McDonald's in Aswan.
Here we are at the old original (low) dam build on the Nile.
After having already raised the height of the original dam two times due to overflooding, they finally decided to build a new dam upstream. With help from the Soviets, construction began on the High Dam in 1960. The Aswan High Dam is 3,830 m in length, 980 m wide at the base, 40 m wide at the crest and 111 m tall. It contains 43 million m³ of material. At maximum, 11,000 m³ of water can pass through the dam every second. Here one is looking along the High Dam with the Russian-Egyptian friendship monument of a Lotus Flower tower in the distance.
Me sitting on the dam with Lake Nasser in the background. It is one of the largest man-make lakes with a total surface area of 5,250 km² and a storage capacity of some 157 km³ of water. (By comparison, Lake Mead has a surface area of 640 km² and a storage capacity of 35.2 km³.
On the boat out to see the ruins from the island of Philae. The boy is preparing his wares to sell to us. Everywhere you go, someone is ready to sell you something.
The ruins from the island of Philae were moved to the island of Agilika once the dam was built and Lake Nasser filled up.
Temple of Isis. Isis embodied the role of a nourishing goddess and wife of Osiris, she was the object of a cult long after the introduction of Christianity. It was believed that Philae was one of those sacred places where a part of the mutilated body of Osiris was buried.
Some views inside.
The Trajan's Kiosk was certainly the icon of Philae Island, the structure most associated by people with the island. It is a beautiful structure of 14 massive columns with carved floral capitals, but simple in its design. Inside are reliefs showing Trajan as a pharaoh making offerings to Osiris, Isis and Horus. The Emperor Trajan lived around 100 AD.
A Coptic Church in Aswan.
Sunset over the Nile River in Aswan.
Enjoying a Stella beer during the sunset. Stella is a pretty good local Egyptian brew; I preferred it to the other local beer Sakkara.
Up close with a baby crocodile.
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