The ride to Aswan took about 14 hours and I must say that I've never spent a better night in a train, no kidding! The seats were like first class seats in an airplane, obviously older models but wide, comfortable and with lots of leg room. The overhead luggage compartment was big too, so you didn't need to squeeze your bags between your feet all the time. The best was that the seats could all be turned 180 degrees so that people could actually face each other if they wanted to and choose their direction. I've never seen that in a train before. Only little drawback was the breakfast - served in a huge cardboard box. Around eight in the morning I put the following note in my diary: "We are on the train to Aswan. About an hour ago we passed Luxor from where it is still 250 km to go. On the right handside everything's green, palm trees, tropical plants; directly next to the tracks there's a small side river of the Nile. On the left handside - moon landscape: grey, dusty hills of sand and stones. The tracks seem to separate two different worlds. Luckily I sit on the right handside, where there's more to see: the still river, unfortunately quite dirty, behind the river a small road, taken by cars or donkey carriages. Further beyond there are broad agricultural fields, some palm trees here and there, plus a few other exotic looking plants. Far at the horizon I can sense the Nile. Earlier on I saw a cruise ship passing by. Oh, it's breakfast time! A croissant, 2 soft rolls, and something that looks like a piece of dry cake. Everything served with cheese, olives, butter and fig jam. It doesn't look thrilling but I am hungry. The "dry cake" turns out to be a super sweet, sticky, marzipan-like mass, very delicious. Luckily, it was served with a handwash towel..."

Upon our arrival in Aswan we were picked up to go to our hotel. Located pretty much in the city centre and directly on the Nile, it had a beautiful window view from the breakfast room on the 6th floor (see pictures!). My first impression of Aswan: smaller but much nicer than Cairo! After a short briefing and snack for lunch we went for a stroll over the local market. Bazar might actually be the better word for my (European) understanding. Well, whatever you have ever heard about Arabic street markets, all about the bargaining and people harrassing you to come into their shops, all the smells, the noise, the animals and spices, the colours and impressions - it's all true! It was an amazing experience, although I must admit that I am not made for shopping the local way. I don't like to be touched and hissed at (a typical way of insulting or complimenting someone, especially female; also used to announce people on a bike trying to make their way through the crowds), neither am I the person who likes to bargain. It's not even fun to just look around, one second too long and the guy thinks you are interested in his shop and he won't stop coming after you until you get really angry. Quite annoying I must say. At least I am already half fluent in Arabic, having used my first words a thousand times today: "La shokran" - No thank you.

In the afternoon we decided to visit the High Dam of Aswan and Philae Temple on Agilkia Island. The High Dam cannot be photographed but it is an impressive construction, containing 18 times the amount of material used in the Cheops Pyramid. No wonder, since the Dam is 3600 m long, 111 m high and 980 m wide at the base! It took 35.000 workers (out of which 451 died during construction) and was completed in 1971 to create the world's largest artificial lake, Lake Nasser. In order to get there, Vincent handed us over to two local guides who put us on their minibuses and took off. The ride took quite a while and I swear we drove towards the middle of nowhere. Nothing but stones and grey desert along the way. It was the first time I wondered if Vincent had sold us and if we would ever come back alive. I remember I actually looked at the landscape thinking: 'If this is the last thing I see in my life, I wish I would have been kidnapped in a nicer place!'

Afterwards, we continued to Agilkia Island to visit the Isis temple complex of Philae. It was one of my favourites so far, dedicated to the ancient goddess Isis who was worshipped for her healing powers. The temple is located on a tiny island in the Nile, a little South of Aswan. We took over with a small boat and then spent an hour there. It was beautiful.

Later that evening we were invited for dinner in a small Nubian village, Nubia being the region between today's Egypt and Ethiopia. Most of their homeland has been flooded by the creation of Lake Nasser, so the Nubians were relocated around Aswan and have luckily preserved their own culture and language. Once more we had to take the boat today to reach their village. It was almost a 30-minute ride with three Nubian guys onboard. Half way through, they started to sing and play music on traditional instruments and it didn't take long until we were all joining in. Obviously, we couldn't sing in their language but repeating a chorus is not difficult and everybody was clapping hands. We even started dancing in the boat altogether, it was great! The dinner itself was good, though not spectacular, but we sat on the floor in a Nubian house without roof, so we could see the stars. The locals were friendly and sold some of their arts during dinner. - I got a henna tatoo around my left ankle...

We returned to the hotel around 11 pm, tired but happy.