Aswan
Egypt'S Southern City, Where The Nile Breaks Over Granite Islands And The Architecture, Food And Language Turn Nubian: A Riverfront Souk, Feluccas Under Sail, The Unfinished Obelisk Still Lying In Its Quarry, The High Dam That Rearranged The Country, And The Best Regional Museum In The South · Aswan, Aswan
Aswan is where Egypt stops being Mediterranean and starts being African. The Nile breaks over granite here at the First Cataract, which is why the ancient frontier was drawn at this point and why the river is suddenly full of islands and black rock instead of running flat between fields. The city is Nubian in food, music, architecture and language, and the villages across the water on Elephantine and the west bank are painted in blues and ochres that look nothing like anywhere downstream. What you do here is slow: a felucca under sail at five in the afternoon, the souk in the evening when the heat goes, the Nubian Museum which is the best regional museum in the country, the Unfinished Obelisk still lying cracked in its quarry, and the High Dam that drowned Nubia and rearranged Egypt. It is also the base for Philae and Abu Simbel, both of which have their own rows, and the southern end of every Nile cruise.
On the east bank of the Nile at the First Cataract, with Elephantine and the Nubian villages opposite, Aswan, Aswan, Egypt
The city works to its own clock rather than opening hours: the souk is busiest in the evening and quiet in the heat of the afternoon, feluccas sail when there is wind and passengers, and the ferries to Elephantine run through the day for a few pounds. The Nubian Museum, the Unfinished Obelisk and the botanical garden on Kitchener's Island keep daytime hours and charge separately; the High Dam is crossed by road with a viewpoint and a security presence. Friday midday is quiet. Aswan is the hottest city in Egypt and everything shifts earlier in summer and later into the evening. Trains from Cairo and Luxor arrive at the central station, flights land fifteen minutes out, and almost every Nile cruise either starts or finishes at the quays here.