from suez to asswan

from suez to asswan

so, i finally arrived in asswan, the city on the nile, where i have to wait for the ferry to sudan. the ship is the only legal alternative to reach sudan from egypt, if one wants to avoid the airplane. ferries go only mondays and friday, and as the ferry tomorrow is full, i'm stuck here untill friday.

on the way i couldn't avoid sightseeing entirely ;-) i visited 2 coptic monasteries near al Zafaranah, 2 hours south of suez , namely sant paula and sant antonius. st. paula, where i arrived first, was closed to visitors when i arrived there, but on the 12km i walked there from the highway i met a very nice guy who prayed and volunteered at the monastery, and helped me to enter. so i could enjoy the spirit of the monastery in silence, but on the other hand, some places were not accessible for me, as the monks were praying there.

i had a very nice time with the volunteers there, i just had to keep secret that i 'm an atheist as i might have got expelled if they found that out. some of them are tattooed with a cross on the aorta.

the other monastery, st. antonius, was only 21km away, but with a big mountain range to cross. by road one drives some 100km, but i took the direct way, afoot. the monks and volunteers were very worried about me, because some years ago a tourist died of thirst after he got lost on the way. after i showed them how to navigate with map and GPS they tried to frighten me with horror stories like man-eating beduins, but failed.

on the way i didn't meet any people at all, a very sad mountain desert. it was very cold, even though the sun was shining, i weared a bonnet and gloves. so i was very happy to find a small cave in a steep slope, to escape the icy storm overnight.
i arrived at st. antonius on a friday, so it was quite crowded by christian egyptians. after the visit it was very easy to find a car driving me to cairo. i didn't intend to stay in cairo, and drove straight to the railway station. the ride to asswan took 14 hours.

asswan and it's environment is full of temples and museums to visit, but i'll mainly relax, and take walks along the opposite side of the nile, where it's very calm and i can enjoy the fresh air of the fields, after i breathed in only "desert air" during the last 2 weeks.

the population here is mixed with arabs and nubians. seems like some tourists here have their own way of getting to know the nubians, as during the first 24 hours here, i had 3 encounters with nubian boys offering sex to me. something i had not expected in a muslim country.