Aswan, Nubian village and Abu Simbel

A trip to the south of Egypt to Luxor and Aswan is a classic tourist route. Besides numerous significant monuments,beautiful Nile river and lavish green farms (especially appreciated in this desert country) along the way, the extraordinary heat is often stressed if you visit in July. The heat is not an exaggeration.
We arrived at Aswan first and back tracked to Luxor. Aswan is Egypt's southernmost city sitting on the banks of a particularly beautiful stretch of the Nile. The first thing I did upon arrival is to shop for Fulucca trip. Touts in Luxor and Aswan are notorious schemers. Bargaining with a dozen touts in a 50 C degree knowing that you will be ripped off one way or another is not a quite pleasant first experience in Aswan. A ferry trip to the Elephantine Island was followed that evening. On the Island we were guided by a Nubian old man through a small Nubian village. Nubia is the homeland of one of Africa's earliest black civilizations, with a history which can be traced from 5000 B.C. Most of Nubia today is situated in the north of Sudan and the south of Egypt. Nubia has its own very distinct culture although a major part of the modern Nubian population became totally Arabized and some claimed to be Arab. They appear to have a very dark skin. Their culture is somewhat similar to the Swahili culture on the Indian Ocean Coast in Eastern Africa.
Second morning, Lynnet and I took a 3.5 hours bus ride to Abu Simbel for a peek of the magnificent Great Temple of Abu Simbel from Ramses II, 3200 years ago.