Takin’ control of this here vacation

Today’s one of those days that I feel like Ron is just itching to find a way to travel without me. It must coincide with the portion of the trip that I designed by myself, choosing sites that are of specific interest to me.  We started with a market. We drove over to the Aswan souk – which is a market, about 7 blocks long, filled with stores and restaurants and little shops.  I love markets.  I had read on many sites that the merchants were very aggressive in this particular market but I did not find this to be so.  Perhaps it was that we were strolling through with Mossallamy but we were really just fine.  We made some of our first purchases of the trip here at a little t-shirt stand where we purchased beautiful Egyptian cotton shirts for under $4 each.  The store was run by a father and his son, who watched the transaction from about 5 feet away and then sidled over, looking at me.  He was about 10.  He had a piece of pink cotton candy he was eating and he finally approached and offered me a piece of it.  He was really interested in my camera and so I showed him the pictures I was taking, including one of him, and then I let him take a few pictures on his own, which he was pretty psyched about.  His name is Joseph and here’s a pic of him (sorry it’s so dark) and here’s one of the pics he took!   

Mossallamy says the market is open until about 11pm.  It was absolutely hopping while we were there.  Here’s a couple of my favorite shots (this time with good lighting!)

We strolled around the market for about an hour and then headed back towards our boat for the last night on board.  As we exited, I saw a group of young people, handing out paper flowers. Mossallamy said they are raising money for the homeless and then he went into his pocket to give them a little something and so I felt that I should as well.  And we were waved over to table where, to show that the charity is legitimate, each and every donation is documented and the donor is given a receipt.  I gave 10 Egyptian pounds…about 50 cents.  And they wrote out a receipt.  Here’s the guys writing the receipts.

Our plan was to pack up and move to the Movenpick Hotel in Aswan for one night.  Mossallamy traveled over with us to get us checked in.  This resort is absolutely beautiful.  We have a room with two balconies, overlooking the Nile and their fantastic pool.  The restaurants are gorgeous, the lobby is ornate.  If this thing were in Hawaii it would be $500 per night.  Here it shows $140 on booking.com.  We had lunch in the restaurant and ordered two lentil soups (they have lentil soup everywhere…do you notice I still have not had ONE complaint about the food?), an order of hummus, another of a cheese puff dish, some babaghanoush and an order of garlic bread.  Plus a 1.5 liter water.  Total bill?  9 Dollars.  As soon as I finish typing this, I’m treating myself to room service ice cream delivery.  $1.  Here’s our room and the hotel/pool grounds.  Look at the bottom picture.  I managed to get a shot of a bachelorette party that’s staying here with us.  They’re loud, outrageous and prone to singing and dancing on a whim…in the lobby, by the pool.  

So we’re all checked in and we move to the other part of the Aswan tour I picked out.  I want to go see a museum called Animalia.  Mossallamy has never heard of it.  Many calls are made to the home office and Mossallamy asks me to show him the information I have on Animalia and he says, ok, he’ll set it up.  We are picked up by boat at the front of our hotel and we hop on.  Mossallamy seems happy with our travel enthusiasm but a little apprehensive about this site I’ve picked out.  Ron appreciates the palpable apprehension but he’s still game.  I smile my most winning smile and feel confident that he wouldn’t abandon me in a foreign county.  We ride for awhile and then pull up to this “dock” where we are supposed to get out:

Now, of course, Ron is looking less happy with me and even I’m a little confused as to where we’re headed, but we walk to the top of a hill and there’s nothing there and so here is Mossallamy on his cell phone trying to see what we’re supposed to do.

We are soon met by Mohammed…simple mix-up…we arrived at the wrong not-a-dock – there was another not-a-dock we were supposed to use a bit down the island.  This is Mohammed.  He owns Animalia, which is basically a museum he built out of his house ( he must have an extremely tolerant wife), which highlights Nubian culture.  The museum is called a “homemade museum” and is basically what would result if you, Stephen, led people around your house and showed them your Grateful Dead collection or if I wanted to invite people into my kitchen to talk about my collection of kitchen chickens and roosters.  But Mohammed is way better than we are.  His museum is perfect!  He guides you through, showing you how the Nubians used the date palm tree, showing the endless items they made with the date palm.  He shows the architectural building style and rationale (mud brick – heat dispersion).  He has a little natural history collection of the Nubian animals and geology.  All carefully and intuitively displayed in his little house.  I know it sounds crazy and unlikely, but if you ever find yourself in Aswan, go to Mohammed’s museum!  It is $1 to visit if you want the guided tour and 50 cents if you just want to stroll around. I was so proud of myself – Ron was happy, Mossallamy  was happy.  Mossallamy and Mohammed exchanged contact information so they can set up more tours with other clients!!

Here’s a few shots of the building you walk up to and the interior:

After we toured the house, Mohammed took us around his little Nubian village.  There are about 3000 Nubians living on this little island.  Life is simple, resources are used to their fullest and finest and as we strolled around, we were, as ever, greeted by curious, wide-smiling children.  Here’s the village (check out that air conditioner in the first shot – it was awesome because this little village has communal sinks and bathrooms in the village center. I have no idea who the VIP with the AC is).  And while you’re at it, check out the Nubian “street light” in that same pic.

Vindicated, we returned to the hotel and parted ways with Mossallamy.  We were sad to see him go.  I think (hope?) he had a good time with us.  We try as hard as we can when we travel to be accepting, enthusiastic and non-judgmental. It is definitely a learned skill for me.  If Grace is really bored, she could slip some really damning stuff into the comments section.

Headed back to Cairo tomorrow – to Marwa, who is waiting for us, I hope!  It’s a funny day here for us – Inauguration Day and we’re thousands and thousands of miles away and it’s funny that Marwa, of all people, offered the perspective that seems wisest.  To paraphrase, she says that the best thing we can do is support our institutions and our process and our transfer of power – those are the things that keep a country strong.  And so today I focus only on that and nothing more.

Talk to you from Cairo!