Aswan Dam and Philae Temple

Overnight, we sailed to Aswan. I really liked Aswan and would definitely go back there. We went to the Aswan Dam and saw Lake Nasser. We were there for all of 15 minutes, but really, that was plenty of time.
We had to take a detour from Aswan to the boat dock to Philae because President Hosni Mubarak was in town and security was high and some roads were blocked as well. As we traveled through the barren desert's twisty roads,
all I could think of was the bus crash that had occurred in Aswan a few days prior to our visit, killing I believe nine tourists.

The Temple at Philae was very nice, especially since it was on an island.
The boat ride there was fabulous chaos. Our driver had to jockey into position, banging into other boats all the way.
The engine was smoking the whole time but we made it without fail.
On the departure, I took one last look and saw that the last shop at the bazaar was selling flags, but I hadn't walked that far down. Too late, I was on the boat. Craig was returning later that evening to see the sound and light show so I asked him to get one, but the bazaar was closed.
Night views

Our last stop on the bus was at a perfumery. I get a horrible headache anytime I go into anyplace with heavy perfume and I was expecting agony. However, the perfumery was not so much perfumes as oils so the scents didn't travel and permeate the air. We got an excellent demonstration of glass blowing

and I bought a couple of nice glass bottles that were made on site.

That afternoon, we all went on a boat ride. We were supposed to go on a felucca, the traditional Egyptian sailboat, but believe it or not, it was too windy! The boat was fun anyway. Craig and the kids sat on top. The crew were all under 18 years of age which was a bit unnerving, but they are born sailors and were in control. As we were cruising, kids on floating boards, like makeshift boogie boards, would navigate amongst many fast moving boats, paddle over by hand, latch onto the side of the boat and sing to us for money. Some people paid them to let go! I did not get a photo of any of them because I do think they would have asked for money and I just didn't want to encourage their dangerous behavior. It was a very interesting (read: crazy) experience how people really will do almost anything for money.
Mausoleum of Aga Khan III whose son, Prince Aly Khan, married Rita Hayworth
I tell you what, McDonald's has some prime real estate in Egypt!

Later that afternoon, we went into town to take a look-see and shop and find an ATM - all were successes.
The market was visually stimulating, but the hawkers trying to entice you into their shop can be very wearing. We were fairly wise to it by now and ignored a lot of them. Owen really wanted a musical instrument and he was successful. I hate haggling so much that it actually helped to bring the price down as I was about to walk out of the shop from sheer annoyance. Egyptians need to be less pushy because if they were, I might have actually browsed.
The train station
Arrivals board
Pickled fish
Peanuts!