Flight to Aswan

On Wednesday, we fly to Aswan. The local airline is perfectly fine—much more comfortable than, for example, Ryanair—and based on what I had researched beforehand, also completely safe. Traveling from Cairo to Aswan by car would have taken more than 11 hours. By plane, it took only 1 hour and 20 minutes.

From the airport, we take a taxi ordered through the Careem app, a Dubai-based competitor to Bolt and Uber. The driver gives us his phone number as well, in case we need his services again in the coming days.

Our accommodation is located away from the larger city, in a small Nubian village inhabited by local Black Nubians. The guesthouse is decorated accordingly—brightly painted and full of color. Many Nubians were forced to relocate to the Aswan area in the 1960s when the Aswan High Dam was built, flooding their ancient settlements along the Nile. The dam was constructed to better control flooding, secure water supplies, and generate electricity at the new hydroelectric power station.

During the construction of the dam, many ancient temples were carefully relocated to new sites. However, a significant number of historical areas were lost beneath the rising waters.